Union Question

Skill level and total years of nursing usuall win.

Seniority is usually only called upon as the deciding/deal breaker factor.

ie: two nurses with OB experience, one has five years outside the hospital in question but the same start date as the other. Nurse with total years of experience will usually get it. Takes nerve to grieve some choices.

edit: what I'm trying to say is seniority is only used when both applicants have equal skills and experiences. And often when it comes to that, it's best to leave the choice with management because ultimately do you really want to work in a place that doesn't want you?

So hours worked on a unit is used only as the deciding factor if all else is equal in a union hospital?

i.e., Nurse A and Nurse B have relatively equivalent OB backgrounds and experiences but Nurse A is slightly better but Nurse B has logged in more hours on the unit ... will Nurse B get the job?

Skill level and total years of nursing usuall win.

Seniority is usually only called upon as the deciding/deal breaker factor.

ie: two nurses with OB experience, one has five years outside the hospital in question but the same start date as the other. Nurse with total years of experience will usually get it. Takes nerve to grieve some choices.

edit: what I'm trying to say is seniority is only used when both applicants have equal skills and experiences. And often when it comes to that, it's best to leave the choice with management because ultimately do you really want to work in a place that doesn't want you?

You are absolutely right about this. Many times there is a misconception that seniority automatically wins. Not true.

You are absolutely right about this. Many times there is a misconception that seniority automatically wins. Not true.

Senority within a unit for the same jobs rules most times. If both nurses are trained and work in the same unit,doing similar work and a job is posted,start date as a RN or hospital employee(depending on contract language) rules. I have worked in union hospitals most of my career,and senority is also a card that wins. Unless people with more senority and no training in that work apply. But even here, many union states we r all trainable so senority rules again. In my hospital unit senority goes before hospital wide when applying for a on the unit job.

What if nurse A (who was hired 3 months after nurse B) has more education and better evaluations than nurse B? Do managers take education and performance into account or does seniority in terms of hours worked on a unit take precedence in a union hospital?

What if nurse A (who was hired 3 months after nurse B) has more education and better evaluations than nurse B? Do managers take education and performance into account or does seniority in terms of hours worked on a unit take precedence in a union hospital?

I would imagine they would want to and should be able to, but in a strong union hospital,senority rules. Senority ,however the hospital/union defines it, is a major player in all job decision. Not always the best way but with a union there is very little room for grey.