Nurses at Olympia Fields Hospital in Chicago's south suburbs strike against Prime Healthcare

Nurses from Prime Healthcare swapped stethoscopes for protest signs Tuesday, as thousands were on the picket line across the U.S.

About 100 nurses in the Chicago area went on strike for the day.

At Prime Healthcare Services Olympia Fields Hospital in the south suburbs, the nurses were fired up after some firings. They went on strike beginning at 7 a.m.

"This is bigger than any one nurse," nurse Kelly Watts told her fellow striking colleagues. "This is about protecting our patients, our hospitals, and the entire community."

Their beef with parent company Prime Healthcare is over the termination of two staff members that began as suspensions, which the nurses call retaliatory.

Prime Healthcare denies the retaliation allegations. But one nurse said she lost her job after accusations of loitering and soliciting when, according to her account, she was talking to colleagues off the clock about fighting for better conditions at Olympia Fields Hospital.

"It's overdue for nurses to have a voice and have protection over our license," said fired Olympia Fields nurse Hilary Ferrell. "For far too long, we've had unsafe conditions, and that puts our license at risk, and that puts our patients at risk, and no matter how much we voice our opinions about it, we're not seeing much change."

Karlie Thorne, a former emergency room nurse at St. Mary of Nazareth, said she too was fired for trying to form a union.

"I think it's unfortunate to see the ways that nurses are being treated," Thorne said, "especially, you know, just a few years ago, nurses all around the country were, you know, health care heroes, and now you're firing us because it doesn't benefit your bottom line —  that being a union."

Tuesday was not the first time, nor the only place, where frustrated Prime Healthcare nurses were making noise.

Health care workers also hit the picket line at sister hospital St. Mary of Nazareth in Chicago on Tuesday. They also saw a colleague fired for what they said was trying to speak up for patients.

The St. Mary and Olympia Fields nurses are upset with a Prime Healthcare decision to consolidate maternal care. The decision accelerated the nurses' efforts to unionize.

A few weeks ago, the hospital system announced cuts to obstetric services at St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, and Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago's Norwood Park community.

Olympia Fields Hospital will take over maternal care services from other suburban facilities.

The nurses do not think the cuts are fair to pregnant women, or to health care workers who might see an influx of patients because of the consolidation.

"These patients could suddenly face an emergency and then all of a sudden, they have to either call 911 or emergently go to their hospital," said St. Mary of Nazareth nurse Kyle Schutter, "and if they can't do that quickly or in a concise manner, it could be to the detriment of child and to the mother."

In a statement from Prime Healthcare on the occasion of a one-day strike earlier this month, a spokesperson denied allegations that the hospital retaliated against employees for exercising their rights.

The spokesman added, "We will continue engaging constructively with our nurses while ensuring that the patients and communities we are privileged to serve continue receiving the care they depend upon."

A Prime Healthcare spokesperson also said the strike and pickets on Tuesday will not disrupt patient care.

Nurses at hospitals in Nevada and California were also set to hold sympathy strikes to support the one happening in Olympia Fields.

In total, nearly 3,000 hospital workers were on strike or picketing Tuesday.

Back in Olympia Fields, striking nurses plan to hold a rally at 10:30 a.m.