Nurses on strike-is it even possible?

StNeotser, ASN, RN · Jul 29, 2009

I think I would have answered as your class did, just because I couldn't bear to think that a patient would die because of a strike.

I'm in the USA, where are you?

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Jul 29, 2009

Plenty of management and PTB to cover pts. That's not a problem.

Why there will never be a 100% strike is that nurses can never come together. We are too busy tearing each other down.

We can't even get >6% of our RNs to join our professional nurses association. We can't even agree on unions.

Heck, there's a thread where nurses will still work if they had their salary capped at an outrageous level!

Nurses are our own worst enemy...we advocate for our pts but never for ourselves.

TigerGalLE, BSN, RN · Jul 29, 2009

CardiacRN is exactly right. We kill ourselves everyday to make sure our patients get the best care possible. I don't think I could sit at home on strike while my patients are suffering.

patrice meursault · Jul 29, 2009

Why does the concept of a strike shock you? Nurses have gone on strike in the past. One must take care of yourself to take care of others. We need to look out for each other first. Better working conditions=better patient care.

RNs go on strike for patient care issues many times..not just a salary raise.

When a union does go on strike, they usually give hospital administration ample time and warning before going on strike. The union usually allows for nurses in certain areas to continue to work (ie PICU, L+D, ER-trauma). But if the hospital does not take the threat and warning seriously (ie cancel outpatient procedures, contact PMDs) then that is not nursings fault.

The public would be stupid to choose to go to a hospital while RNs are on strike. Then it is up to the public to make a decision on where to go. Not our fault again.

What bothers me is my fellow RNs who cross a picketline to earn big cash to work during a strike. If you don't agree w/ a strike fine, but at least respect your fellow RN brethren and support those fighting to better our profession.

miss81, BSN, RN · Jul 29, 2009

Are you in the US? Here in Canada (and I can't speak for all of canada of course) nurses do strike and we can be very successful in getting our point across! Nurses are a large powerful group and can be a very powerful agent of change when they work together to advocate for patients and our colleagues. Here we have seen patients suffer because nurses were leaving in droves for higher paying jobs and better working conditions and many were retiring. The nurse patient ratio rose to 10:1 in some surgical units and heart surgeries were being cancelled because the OR's didn't have enough nurses trained to assist. The government refused to treat nurses any different from any other civil servants when negotiating a salary and shift diff's. We knew that the nursing shortage was affecting patient care! Our system was 1000 RN's short and it was no trouble to tell. RN's were being mandated to work overtime and forced to 24 hours shifts.

We did go on strike, but our unions had agreements with the government to have what we call "essential services." Which means the minimum number of nurses needed to run the essential services in the hospital were in house. The OR's were shut down except for emergent procedures, ER's were for emergent cases only, many of the GI and heart procedure that were not considered emergent were cancelled. The public and the government soon noticed that the healthcare system was paralyzed without nurses working to their full capacity and weren't long coming up with an agreement that addressed the recruitment of new grads and retention of experienced RN's & pay scale. This has in turn enhanced patient care by allowing for a better nurse:patient ratios and more well balanced work/home life for nurses, which of course affects how they care for patients.

As students you need to be aware that a strike is not always the answer, but sometimes nurses need to get political and act as agents of change for the healthcare system, patients and the profession! We are not martyrs and we no longer need to be submissive. Sometimes we need to stand up and be heard and when we strike, we are heard!

patrice meursault · Jul 29, 2009

We as nurses here in the USA could be the most powerful lobbying organization EVER--bigger and stronger than the NRA, drug company lobbyists, etc.... if only we could get our act together. Imagine what we could do to improve work conditions, improve staffing ratios, make our workplaces safer, better education and funding for education, increase salaries for RN professors, increase respect of the profession, reduce uneeded paperwork. Heck, we hardly have a say in all the potential changes to our healthcare system. Do you ever hear about Obama or other big politicians say "let's hear what nurses think since they ARE the backbone of our healthcare system"?

Two million plus........ man ..... imagine what we could do!!!!! Not even have to go on a strike!

It is time to wake up as a profession! Instead we keep on stabbing each other in the back all the time.

Can I get an "AMEN!!!!!!"

rachelgeorgina · Jul 29, 2009

Ive been a pt in hospital when nurses have gone on strike before. We have minimal staffing on the unit and rest of the staff (on and off duty) donned their uniforms and went to the strike. We survived!

I agree with reply #1. How can 100% of nurses go on strike? It just isn't realistic. Who is going to take care of the hundreds of thousands of hospital patients who need to be bathed, tolieted, have their lines changed, be given their meds x10 trillion times in a shift, comforted etc?

Fiona59 · Jul 29, 2009

Western Canada here.

Yes, we can go on strike. LPNs walked out a few years back. Continuing Care ground to a halt because suddenly Managers and families had to care for their elderly patients. Only out for three days and legislated back to work and the union fined. But the wages were increased.

The RN's in Acute Care walked the picket line with their LPN co-workers on their off time.

jdub3 · Jul 29, 2009

It may be necessary in the future. The majority of the U.S. doesn't want what BHO is pushing, never stopped a lib though. I have no doubt what is being pushed will not be good for nursing.

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Jul 29, 2009

We as nurses here in the USA could be the most powerful lobbying organization EVER--bigger and stronger than the NRA, drug company lobbyists, etc.... if only we could get our act together. Imagine what we could do to improve work conditions, improve staffing ratios, make our workplaces safer, better education and funding for education, increase salaries for RN professors, increase respect of the profession, reduce uneeded paperwork. Heck, we hardly have a say in all the potential changes to our healthcare system. Do you ever hear about Obama or other big politicians say "let's hear what nurses think since they ARE the backbone of our healthcare system"?
Two million plus........ man ..... imagine what we could do!!!!! Not even have to go on a strike!
It is time to wake up as a profession! Instead we keep on stabbing each other in the back all the time.
Can I get an "AMEN!!!!!!"

Amen!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 30, 2009

i would absolutely go on strike. i've done it before; i'll do it again. i would do it for something as altruistic as "better patient care" and as selfish as better salary and working conditions. yes, nurses help people, but it's also a job and we're entitled to a living wage for doing it.

when i went on strike (in 1979), the union gave administration plenty of warning so they could move the patients out of the hospital or (heaven forbid!) negotiate with the union in good faith and avert the strike. administration chose to ignore the warnings. the union warned them more strongly. they ignored the warnings. suddenly, the week before the strike, nurse were threatened that we'd all be fired if we went on strike. the issues were great enough -- some salary and benefit related, others patient care related -- that the nurses in the union held firm. so, in the 24 hours before the strike, there was a flurry of activity as the hospital tried to move all the patients into other hospitals around the city. some were too ill to move, others couldn't be placed. all the "gucci nurses" (you know, the ones that go to work in nice suits) prepared to don the white polyester of the times and roll up their sleeves.

i was scheduled to work at 7 am when the strike started and even though i had a family to support, i was out there on the picket lines at 7am, waving my picket sign and chanting while the tv news crews filmed away. (at the time i was 5'8" and 127 pounds, blonde and in my early 20s -- i was on all the newscasts!) despite threats of being fired, the night nurses left their patients at 7am, leaving them with lpns and nas -- and the nurse manager, the sole rn. the strike lasted all day, but one administration knew for sure that we rns would go out on strike, suddenly their negotiating techniques became a whole lot more reasonable as did their offers. the strike was concluded before the end of my shift, and i was back at work mopping up after the mess the gucci nurses had left. i think it was the only time i ever wore my cap, other than at the pinning ceremony.

nurses on strike -- it is possible. but only if we band together for our common good rather than trying to tear each other down. thirty years ago, it was doable. i'm not so sure about today . . .