INCREDIBLE CNA/NNOC victory in Houston.

[Chico David]

I'm posting this fast, and don't yet have all the details, but here is what I do know:

CNA just won a representation election for the RNs at Cypress Fairbanks Hospital, a part of the Tenet chain in Houston Texas.

Other than a small number of RNs employed by the federal government, this represents the first unionized nurses in the entire state a very tough organizing environment. It is the first major fruits of a three year statewide campaign.

The election was run under an organizing agreement won at the bargaining table by Tenet nurses in California.

Don't yet have numbers or other details, will make a second post when I do. I've met some of these Texas nurses and they are just the greatest. This is only the first of many organizing victories to come in this state.

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

More unions = more strikes = more money for those of us who work strike hospitals.

To read what one of America's greatest writers thought about people who do that, go here:

http://dawn.thot.net/scab.html

[Bortaz, MSN, RN]

To read what one of America's greatest writers thought about people who do that, go here:

http://dawn.thot.net/scab.html

What makes Jack London any more of an expert about this subject than picu?

[RN4MERCY]

The nnu has managed to unionize ONE facility in Texas and now you expect that Texas nurses will fall in line and unionize? Are you kidding? Good Luck in your future organizations in our great state!

Wow. Thanks for wishing us luck; at the very least nurses will need that in the face of an all out attack on their patients and nursing practice by guys like union-busters who make a seedy living by trying to intimidate, oppress and silence nurses to keep them in servitude to a greedy industry.

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity" (first attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca). So, I believe that, rather than "falling in line" as you put it, Texas nurses, (just like any professional nurse is expected to do), will arm themselves with the facts, by collecting and analyzing the available data. Then they will meet and discuss their ideas, strategies and options and formulate a care plan for their patients and their profession. The plan will be evidence-based and designed to be an effective intervention that will help remove the barriers to their ability to give safe care to their patients.

So, rather than "falling in line," I believe Texas nurses, will be leading the reform effort aimed at regaining control of their practice. When nurses are prepared with the facts and they have an opportunity to vote to unionize, I think they will do so. Historically, Texans understand the benefit of acting collectively and belonging to a union.

Let me try a very simple analogy here; the NNOC Union is to nurses as the USA is to Texas. The former Republic of Texas could not enforce its border claims, but the United States had the collective strength and the political will to help it do so. In 1845 it joined the United States as the 28th State. Yes, there have been some struggles and disagreements to be sure, but it's been an association that has protected and benefitted a supermajority of the people.

[RN4MERCY]

What makes Jack London any more of an expert about this subject than picu?

You're being facetious, right? Jack London never worked as a scab, but he creatively wrote down his opinions on the subject.

picu admits to scabbing for the money and she writes here and there about how much she looks forward to the opportunity to take advantage of strikes by siding with unscrupulous employers for personal gain. She's acting as an accomplice in the subordination of nurses; she's being bought off with the bosses' money and used to further their interests.

Unfortunately her actions serve to undermine the profession of nursing. Her actions undermine the work of the true professionals who are trying to retain their independent right to control the environment of care as patient advocates.

[PICUPNP]

Not a woman......

[PICUPNP]

To read what one of America's greatest writers thought about people who do that, go here:

http://dawn.thot.net/scab.html

Don't believe in god.

Love my wife and children.

And I don't walk out on patients for ANY reason!

London is worm dirt...who gives a s**t.....

[PICUPNP]

You're being facetious, right? Jack London never worked as a scab, but he creatively wrote down his opinions on the subject.

picu admits to scabbing for the money and she writes here and there about how much she looks forward to the opportunity to take advantage of strikes by siding with unscrupulous employers for personal gain. She's acting as an accomplice in the subordination of nurses; she's being bought off with the bosses' money and used to further their interests.

Unfortunately her actions serve to undermine the profession of nursing. Her actions undermine the work of the true professionals who are trying to retain their independent right to control the environment of care as patient advocates.

Sorry but "true professionals don't walk out on their patients.

[RN4MERCY]

Sorry but "true professionals don't walk out on their patients.

Sorry, but you apparently have an uninformed perspective. Who said anything about walking out on their patients?

True professionals don't ignore the harm perpetrated against their patients by hospital administrators who deliberately and chronically short-staff the patient care units. True professionals speak up and inform management of their requests for additional staff to be called in to meet the needs of their patients. And when management ignores or refuses to accept their responsibility to create and maintain a healthy work environment, true professionals don't turn their back on their duty to act, which, IMHO is a defacto form of walking out on patients. True professionals will act collectively to change those circumstances that are against the interests of their patients.

I'm reposting some information that you may have missed regarding a strike action and what you are calling "walking out on patients." (I'm assuming you've never participated as part of a collective professional patient advocacy association of union nurses such as the CNA/NNOC, UAN, or NNU.)

A 10 day notice is issued before a strike so that ill patients can be transferred and elective admissions or surgery can be post-poned or cancelled if necessary. Better yet, the notice of a strike gives patients and providers the choice to receive/arrange for care in a hospital that is less hostile to their interests and the nurses who advocate for them. In the event of a strike, nurses on the picket line form teams and carry beepers in case they're needed for any true patient emergencies.

For patient abandonment to occur, the nurse must:

a) Have first accepted the patient assignment, thus establishing a nurse-patient relationship, and then,

b) Severed that nurse-patient relationship without giving reasonable notice to the appropriate person (e.g., supervisor, patient) so that arrangements can be made for continuation of nursing care by others.

A nurse-patient relationship begins when responsibility for nursing care of a patient is accepted by the nurse. Failure to notify the employing agency that the nurse will not appear to work an assigned shift is not considered patient abandonment, nor is refusal to accept an assignment considered patient abandonment.

Once the nurse has accepted responsibility for nursing care of a patient, severing of the nurse-patient relationship without reasonable notice may lead to discipline of a nurse's license and charges of patient abandonment.

RNs must exercise critical judgement regarding their individual ability to provide safe patient care when declining or accepting requests to work overtime. A fatigued and/or sleep deprived RN may have a diminished ability to provide safe, effective patient care. Refusal to work additional hours or shifts would not be considered patient abandonment.

[PICUPNP]

Your assumption is right nor would I ever. Even if NNU shows up on our doorstep, I wouldn't have to pay their dues due to RTW state..

[forrester]

Sorry but "true professionals don't walk out on their patients.

So I guess the millions of professionals who are unionized aren't professional?

Don't worry about PICUPNP, scabs and administrators are what they are...scabs and administrators.

We can't let this movement be hindered by these people, they have hindered the profession of nursing for too long now.

[vlynnieg]

It's my understanding that the hospital in Houston has had a union for TWO YEARS and still no contract. So, what exactly is the union doing for them?!? My hospital just recently faced their onslaught and fell by a mere 3% margin. Almost all of our staffing ratios were as good or better than the ones they negotiated in CA, and the ones that weren't were only one patient more than their ratio. MANY of my collegues that were for it are only now doing their research and stating had they known some of the things they have now discovered, they would have never voted them in. Unions do not protect anyone from corporate greed, they are simply another corporation wanting a piece of the pie, and their hand is in our pocket to get it. Thanks, but no thanks! Thank GOD for Texas being a right to work state!

[syndromal65]

Sounds like the union in Houston is doing one helluva job for the nurses! Good grief, sounds more like a nightmare to me.