Nursing Unions

[NurseyPoo7]

I've seen plenty of you mention nursing unions. I live in DE but work in MD and have yet to hear anyone around my work or nursin school mention a nursing union. How do you find out if there is one? Is there supposed to be one for every state? Or is it something done by the place of employment? What kind of things can the nursing union do for you?

[Iam46yearsold]

I have to agree with ChicoDavid. It's management's job to manage employees, i.e. counsel them when their behavior needs to change and initiate disciplinary action if appropriate. The union's job in disciplines is to provide support and fair treatment.

The best parts of belonging to a union (that haven't been mentioned):

--The ability to speak up and advocate for patients and to address unsafe conditions without fear of retaliation or loss of your job.

--Having a contract in writing that locks in your benefits and work conditions and that you can point to the moment a manager fails to follow negotiated terms. (It's also nice to know what percentages my pay raises will be and when up to three years in advance, to make sound financial decisions!).

--If you're in an RN union, the ability to join with other RNs to fight legislatively for things that matter like staffing ratios and to fight against bills that would allow hospitals to replace RNs with less qualified personnel.

Here in Texas I have always and have often advocated for patients rights and needs, without any fear of reprisal.

Here again jsrRN points out that a unions prime purpose is strictly financially motivated.

[jsrRN]

I think that my previous posting speaks for itself.

[juliachloe]

How do you go about trying to get a union into your hospital? The past 6 months have brought about cutbacks at my hospital. Recently, there was a hospital-wide layoff and now, despite management's reassurance, everyone is walking on eggshells worried about their job. One particular person in management has made the unit a terrible place to work. This person hasn't been very supportive of the staff in response to this layoff. They think we should suck it up & move on. They don't want to be bothered with the staff's unhappiness. This person has also been making changes to policies/procedures without informing the staff but yet still holding us accountable. Nurse-patient ratios went up and everyone worries that the patients' safety may be at risk. Everyone is afraid to report these actions to upper management for fear it will cost them their job. What can we do?

[Chico David, BSN, RN]

How do you go about trying to get a union into your hospital? The past 6 months have brought about cutbacks at my hospital. Recently, there was a hospital-wide layoff and now, despite management's reassurance, everyone is walking on eggshells worried about their job. One particular person in management has made the unit a terrible place to work. This person hasn't been very supportive of the staff in response to this layoff. They think we should suck it up & move on. They don't want to be bothered with the staff's unhappiness. This person has also been making changes to policies/procedures without informing the staff but yet still holding us accountable. Nurse-patient ratios went up and everyone worries that the patients' safety may be at risk. Everyone is afraid to report these actions to upper management for fear it will cost them their job. What can we do?

That pretty much sums up the reasons that nurses seek unions. Fear of unfair management, arbitrary changes in your working conditions and unsafe workloads. Unions start organizing campaigns in response to calls from nurses. Find out if your state nurses organization does collective bargaining. Or try CNA/NNOC, which is national if your state organization doesn't. Or contact the Central Labor Council - local association of unions - in your county and ask them who organizes nurses in your area. And good luck.