Almost two years after voting to unionize, registered nurses at a Corona hospital are wearing their United Nurses Associations of California shirts and bargaining with management.

In January 2013, Corona Regional Medical Center nurses voted to form a union. Afterward, the hospital’s parent company, Universal Health Services Inc., filed successive appeals contesting the legitimacy of the election.

The National Labor Relations Board, which heard the appeals, announced in June that the appeals had no merit, and certified the union to represent the nurses.

Although the hospital has declined to publicly explain its objections to the vote, union representatives said the hospital contended nurses were coerced by physicians to vote for the union.

Flo Bautista, one of five nurses elected by her colleagues to represent them, said Tuesday the contract talks with Universal have so far focused on patients.

“What’s important to nurses is to set standards for safe patient care,” Bautista said.

In an emailed statement, hospital spokeswoman Linda Pearson wrote, “We are looking forward to developing a durable, sustainable, modern contract that emphasizes what we hope are our mutual goals of providing the highest quality care to our patients and community in today’s health care environment.”

She declined to discuss negotiations.

Bautista said the hospital’s decision to eliminate most positions for certified nurses’ aides and licensed vocational nurses has compromised RNs’ ability to do their jobs.

Pearson said she could not confirm whether nurses’ aides and vocational nurses were returning. According to the nurses, three nurses’ aides are on staff, but the hospital has no vocational nurses.

“We’re afraid of losing lives because of the physical and mental things we do. We’re running around putting out fires,” Bautista said. “Doctors get angry. I’d be bathing a patient and he’d want me to deal with other patients. Am I supposed to leave and let the patient freeze?”

Bautista, 59, a nurse for 30 years, the past three at Corona Regional, works on the medical/surgical floor.

The nurses met for the first time with Universal attorneys for three days in September and will resume bargaining in November. The meeting was “cordial and professional,” Bautista said.

Janine Wakehouse, 53, who works on the recovery/surgical services floor and also represents the nurses in bargaining, said her team met with nurses Tuesday at a Corona hotel to answer questions about union dues and when a contract would be ready for a vote.

Dues won’t be payable until an agreement on a contract is reached, she told them, and that might not happen for several months. The union will represent about 280 nurses, Wakehouse said. Those in management positions are exempted.

The agenda for the November meeting, she said, will include proposals about the nurse-to-patient ratios and other patient-care issues.

Kevin Bash, a Norco city councilman and hospital board member, said “everyone’s on board” with the union.

“There’s a new spirit and new chemistry at the hospital.”

Dr. Nalin Nanayakkara, the hospital’s chief of staff, could not be reached for comment about the union and how it might affect physicians.

Contact the writer: pfischetti@pe.com