Teachers and Nurses create the big one...

[Mindful]

American Federation of Teachers [ 1.5 million members ] and National Federation of Nurses [ 34,000 members ] in 5 northerner states come together... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/14/american-federation-of-teachers-nurses-union_n_2685298.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

[lkulmann]

I'm all for Union protection. I want to be an organizer/representative. Where do I sign on :)

[HazelLPN, LPN]

It's hard to picture how this benefits the nurses who will be only 2% of the union membership. Nurses and teachers have very different needs in collective bargaining representation and the nurses should not expect attention from the union in excess of their proportion of its membership.

As a school nurse who works for a large urban district where school nurses are represented by the National Education Association, I can tell you that school nurses and teachers do not have much different needs in having a voice in their working conditions.

We are there for the benefit of our students. The teachers who I work with understand the need of the school nurse. The school nurses where I work have their own bargaining unit and representation on the bargaining team. The teachers are strong advocates for the school nurses and vice-versa. Teachers can't teach the students if they are not kept safe and healthy. We work together and work well together...and need each other.

I don't know much about the AFT except that they are a smaller union than the NEA.

I've never been in a school where it was the "teachers vs the school nurse". If anything, the school nurse is central to the staff and given all of the support possible.

As a school nurse who works for a large urban district where school nurses are represented by the National Education Association, I can tell you that school nurses and teachers do not have much different needs in having a voice in their working conditions.

As an RN who has lived with teachers my entire life, including the last 14 with my wife, I can tell you that we have very different needs.

I will admit, however, that while I thoroughly understand the needs of school teachers and bedside hospital nurses, I do not know much about school nurses. Perhaps a school nurse's role is sufficiently different than bedside nurses that they are better represented as teachers than as nurses.

For accuracy, I'll also point out that NEA is not a union but rather a professional organization like the ANA and the AMA.

Most (or all) teachers in California are represented by CTA, the California Teacher's Association which is a labor union.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

Wish we had a union right now. We might be merging with a larger organization, and boy are we getting scr*wed.. I think that unions are not the reason lazy people keep their jobs. We have no union and have PLENTY of lazy staff. It's more likely that poor policy and ineffectual management keep slackers on board.

[smoke over fire]

I really hope these anti-union nurses stick to their principles and leave these union hospitals, post haste so my friends who are pro-union can take those well paying, benefited jobs!

[S.G.]

I got protection from my union in the one facility I worked at that was unionized. There was no mandatory overtime. We worked well as a team, and we were better able to fight against the changes to our healthcare and PTO that the hospital wanted to make. We had excellent PTO and healthcare benefits that would have been drastically changed had the union not been negotiating on behalf of the nurses.

However, the union also has drawbacks. We had a nurse who had several disciplinary issues in our ICU. I hated following her because I got shoddy report and was always cleaning up a mess. She missed meds, didn't care properly for the pt, was late for her shift, etc. Regardless of numerous complaints from other staff members, the union protected her and she was never laid off. She was put on probation once and removed promptly when she complained to her union representative. I also have huge moral issues with strikes. I will never go on strike even if I support the union because I have an obligation to my patients. I cannot withhold care in order to obtain or maintain benefits for myself. I would be more likely to search for employment elsewhere if I don't like the new contract.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

To me [poor care is just cause to discipline a nurse. It there is no improvement termination may be necessary. Management needs to document facts.

I know a nurse who had worked pediatrics and PICU. When she came to adult ICU she really didn't notice the subtle signs of deteriorating condition such as tachycardia and hypotension.

After a near miss incident her first week out of orientation she was written up and suspended. At the second step meeting with management, HR, and the labor representative from the union management agreed to let her transfer back to peds. She was not suspended and no discipline was placed in her record.

The other option of more orientation with a preceptor was turned down by management.

[S.G.]

To me [poor care is just cause to discipline a nurse. It there is no improvement termination may be necessary. Management needs to document facts.

I agree and think that documentation may have been the issue at my facility. The hospital and union did not work well together...