[megmermaid]

HELLO! We do have an union! It's called the ANA.
There are more nurses than any other health care profession yet we have hardly any power or voice on Capitol Hill. Almost every doctor you meet will be a member of the AMA (which is therefore a very powerful organization), but very few nurses are members of their professional organization the ANA. If EVERY nurse became a member, the ANA would be a very powerful organization-and nursing would have one unified voice.
Yes, I know this is in my perfect world but it seriously makes me sad to think that this organization works very hard for the interest of nursing with so few members compared to the potential.
OK, I'm getting off the soapbox now.

[rmprn]

I wanted to join the ANA, even went to the website to join (like my nursing instructors told us to back when I was in school). But I can't afford the dues !! Maybe if it cost a less to join, more nurses could and would. I have two kids and a mortgage, and they have proirity over the ANA.

[nowplayingEDRN]

Underpaid is a chronic complaint among our co-workers across the world and yes, I agree agency nursing is one answer but working for an agency is not the answer for everyone and I am sorry to say, working for a unionized facility is not always an answer either. If you have a family, most agencies will give you, the nurse benefits for free but tell them you have a family and you will end up paying more for a family plan that if you stayed where you are. On the other end, not all unions will work for the good of the nurses they supposedly represent, being easily bought out by perks from the hospital administration (had that happen too). You might want to look into working for the government as a nurse. Now I will admit, yes the pay is usually less than working in the civilian sector (but they are getting better so that they have a higher retention of nurses) but the benefits are over all better than working agency or regular hospital and the work load and work environment is much better, with more professional respect and the ability to make a difference in the lives of our patients. PS: Union dues/ professional organization dues are usually very costly and toss that in with the cost of benefits and you are looking at a serious problem that further fuels the lack of pay problem for our highly skilled profession.