First Unionized Hospital in Texas

Generally I have concerns about unions but I think this is great. I've spent so many years trying to get nurses to stick together so we could make postive changes and nothing has ever worked. If a union is what it takes to start finding good solutions to nursing and healthcare problems - I'm all for it. I am just amazed that there hasn't been some sort of backlash. Guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

Wow!! I am suprised the hospital didn't do anything in it's power to keep that from happening!! Our hospital, back in the day, which was on a Wednsday(LOL), heard one small peep about a union and the secret service seemed to come from the catacombs and put a kibosh on the whole thing!!

Oh, there's plenty of backlash, at least in the sense that the whole hospital indurstry in Texas tried to fight this. But the nurses of Texas are a pretty amazing bunch and hung tough to win. And we can all hope that with the support of CNA/NNOC their first contract will set a new standard for Texas hospitals.

This is a testament to the greatness of those nurses in Houston. They have my utmost respect. Banded together now with the backing of NNOC they can make their hospital a safer place for their patients. Check out this journal article that studied hospitals in California and found that hospitals with a nurse’s union had a "significantly predicted lower risk-adjusted AMI mortality."

http://www.massnurses.org/News/2002/002004/study.htm

By the way this study was published in a journal for hospital administrators. Pretty cool that they admitted that unions that they so vigorously fight against, have a hand in improving outcomes for patients.

That's awesome. Now if they could only do something about Group One, Texas would be a much better and less feared place to work.

It seems like yesterday that I first considered CNA/NNOC as a professional organization that could provide the tools to improve patient care and nursing working conditions in Texas. Most of my peers have just resigned themselves to nearly daily short-staffing and then to add insult to injury we are asked to clock out on time! Short staffed simply means there are not enough nurses to care for all the patients...so each nurse assumes more patients than they can actually take care of. There are many nurses at my facility who clock out on time and then sit at the computer for hours to document all of their patient care. When asked why they are doing this they seem like this is what every nurse does...after all, if your director scolds you too much for clocking out late it will show up on your annual evaluation as a demerit resulting in a reduced wage increase or none at all!! Even tho' you delivered the best possible nursing care and ensured your patients were safe the demerits for clocking out late will never override the good work you did. So being good by clocking out on time and then staying and working off the clock has many implications. First, nursing administration will think you are providing all this great nursing to an above normal patient care load within your assigned shift...so if you can do it then everyone else can. Secondly, your employer gets to take advantage of your great work and keep his expenses down by not paying overtime...makes him appear that his facility is managing their budget and their nurses! Then, you have the nurses who may get the same heavy patient loads as you and they get out on time...but their patients haven't been turned, IV's are infiltrated,medications not given, IV tubing not labeled, abnormal lab values haven't been called to the physician...you know the nurses I'm talking about...and yet they do not complain about or refuse their assignments. Seems to me nurses have adopted the "abused spouse syndrome"...we can't seem to win in either situations so we'll just keep our mouths shut...at least if we don't complain about our work loads and clock out on time my boss will be happy.
Well, wake up Texas and smell our blue bells! We want safe nurse-to-patient ratios and real whistle-blower protections. CNA/NNOC-Texas is offering us an escape mechinism from this abuse. Stand united, let the public know what is transpiring within hospital rooms. Let us take control of our profession...hospital management has nearly destroyed us...nurses are leaving the bedside by the droves to protect their professional licenses...non-union nurses have little if any pension plans, no early retirement health benefits, large health insurance co-payments, no protection (in Texas) from being fired, and, most importantly little if any say in their patient care practice. Texas it is past time to end this abusive relationship with our employers...get on board with CNA/NNOC-Texas.

It will be a good thing when every nurse in this country realizes and truly believes that it is NOT OK for the employer to steal from you. That is exactly what is happening when you are expected to clock out and then keep working. We are not their slaves!

Let it be our culture that we are on the clock as long as we are doing our tasks of nursing (which certainly includes the paperwork/charting)! If they want us out on time, they need to assign us a safe workload. Nurse to Patient Ratios are so important.

And believe me, there are nurses out there available to work. The hospital just has to make it so the nurses want to come to work at their facility.

Thanks divacath08 for your story...another case of abused nurses...we must unite across this huge state and put an end to employer manipulation of our profession! My hospital is doing everything it can, legal and not-so-legal to keep our voices silenced...we have caught on. CNA/NNOC Texas nurses will be glad to meet with you and your co-workers to help you bring democracy to your workplace. We trained all of our nurses how to respond to anti-union tactics, such as when asked by your supervisor, "how do you feel about this 'union' thing?" Your immediate response is, "I don't think this is something we need to be discussing." Repeat it as often as necessary and report these type questions to your HR director...via email...and keep a copy for yourself. Hang in there, Texas nurses, a new day is dawning....