I really don't understand. I am a newish nurse that landed my "dream job" in the icu. My hospital is the biggest and best in the area and we are currently on a journey to magnet. I feel like I was lied to about how this would help nurses and we would be supported and taken care of.
In my icu we have a very high acuity. We are constantly short staffed and tripled. 1:1 for ccrt pts is advertised but never actually happens!
I have seen a patient self extubate during the holy interdisciplinary rounds due to that nurse being tripled and spread out across the unit. None of the bosses said any thing and just went on to round on the next patient.
The majority of our assistants will not help unless asked and it's like pulling teeth just to get them to help with a blood sugar check. Often they are sitting on their cellphones or just catching up on gossip. But since they have worked there a long time it is widely accepted by the staff.
We have are losing staff nurses left and right.
I have been talked down to by our surgeons and blatantly disrespected on more than one occasion for trying to help a patient but not enough to be considered abusive so that I could report it. Once, I calmly asked a doc to update the close family members of a dying patient at their request. Since a distant family had been updated, the doctor was visibly offended and proceeded to call my charge nurse and say "I got in her face" which was completely false. Luckily the charge was within ear shot and heard everything. This was swept under the rug.
During my new nurse orientation the nursing instructor preached against unions especially since we were going magnet and would have so many benefits.
I feel like a strong nurse union could solve many of our problems and help our patient care. But the majority of nurses I have talked to are completely against it. I can't understand this for the life of me.
Sadly, my dream job has turned to hell. I love my sick patients and family but sick of being overworked, tripled, never even getting a lunch break, all while being talked down to and humiliated by the Dr.s that see me as a stupid new nurse.
The hospital I work at just had all the techs and service workers unionize. The hospital policy in force before was a standard annual raise of 3%, up to 5% if you did really well on your review. The union contract gives them 2% annually. They also lost 2 paid days off per year. Of course, now they pay dues on top of it. In return, they got "solidarity."
As I said earlier, I'm not "anti-union" in that I don't go around and share my opinion on the subject nor do I try to influence others. However, the union just doesn't seem worth it to me. On top of that, they are way too political for my liking. There's a reason they are in decline.
I'm quite certain that you would feel otherwise if you were wrongly accused and your job hung in the balance or you were exploited and denied your rights as an employee. Most employers treat nurses as a renewable commodity and as long as there is a steady stream of applicants, you and I are only viewed as a means to an end. If you think this can't or won't happen to you, your extremely naive or trusting.
I'm quite certain that you would feel otherwise if you were wrongly accused and your job hung in the balance or you were exploited and denied your rights as an employee. Most employers treat nurses as a renewable commodity and as long as there is a steady stream of applicants, you and I are only viewed as a means to an end. If you think this can't or won't happen to you, your extremely naive or trusting.
If I were to be exploited, denied my rights, and wrongfully terminated, I would have a plethora of legal avenues to pursue. Like I said, I'm just giving my opinion, since that is what the OP asked for. You certainly don't have to agree.
I'm quite certain that you would feel otherwise if you were wrongly accused and your job hung in the balance or you were exploited and denied your rights as an employee. Most employers treat nurses as a renewable commodity and as long as there is a steady stream of applicants, you and I are only viewed as a means to an end. If you think this can't or won't happen to you, your extremely naive or trusting.
Some of us can stand on their own two feet, some need unions. As Jcint said, there are many legal avenues one can pursue if you are wrongfully accused or otherwise. Every employee is a renewable/replaceable commodity- Union or not. And if any employer I ever work for brings in a union, I won't join.
And there are union dues, fees, etc., correct? And unions also have a political agenda, which is something that everyone might not agree with. So to be fair, each way has its advantage.
I agree that either way has its advantages and disadvantages. Fortunately for us we are not required to join or pay dues (which are tax deductible BTW) if we don’t want to although everyone enjoys the same privileges regardless. We also aren’t forced to strike as we have a no-strike clause. The union has given us a much stronger voice in patient care issues including staffing, overtime, safety and environment on top of pay and benefits. Also for anyone who has run into a psycho manager (and many of us have) there are benefits, legal and otherwise that protect us and our jobs. I haven’t had to avail myself of them because their very presence seems to keep management in line. My experience working in a union facility, after working in non-union ones, has been overall positive and I’m not seeing evidence that they are the boogeyman others seem to believe. At least ours isn’t.
If Iwere to be exploited, denied my rights, and wrongfully terminated, I would have a plethora of legal avenues to pursue.
Please tell us what they are because I know for certain that I don’t have the funds to pay for legal counsel to fight a wrongful termination. The retainer alone is astronimical if you can even find an attorney interested in the case. Have you experienced this because if you have not then you might find yourself eating your words.
Interesting, I was just assured by a union supporter that this is not possible. ?♂️
The poster left out the part about already having experience which lines up exactly with what I said about pay scales. They are determined by experience not by how smart you think you are.
Most employment lawyers work on contingency, so as long as you have a legitimate case there really isn't going to be an issue finding representation that will cost you nothing out of pocket up-front.
Please tell us what they are because I know for certain that I don’t have the funds to pay for legal counsel to fight a wrongful termination. The retainer alone is astronimical if you can even find an attorney interested in the case. Have you experienced this because if you have not then you might find yourself eating your words.
As stated above, if you are truly a victim of wrongful termination, and especially if your employee rights were violated, you will have no trouble finding an attorney who will enter into a contingency agreement. You will also have the full backing of the EEOC at absolutely no cost to you. On the other hand, if your case is frivolous, you are correct in saying that you will have a difficult time.
If I were to be exploited, denied my rights, and wrongfully terminated, I would have a plethora of legal avenues to pursue. Like I said, I'm just giving my opinion, since that is what the OP asked for. You certainly don't have to agree.
You truly believe that? In some cases yes, but just imagine all of the workplace injustices that you have seen and/or heard about. Undoubtedly you have seen/heard of many. Yet how many of them have gone to court? There are several threads of people complaining on this very website about things that could travel to a courtroom and their hospital management are sweeping them under the rug. In an ideal world all injustices would be dealt with in a court of law. In the real world where you and me live that just doesn't happen. Hospital systems know that they have legions of lawyers on staff, and any lawyer you hire knows it. So if they think the case can in any way be challenged you would require a similarly-sized staff of your own. How many RN's do you know that can afford a legion of lawyers to defend their case? A lawyer staff that size certainly wouldn't work for free and you would require some payment. It would only be in sure-fire cases where the lawyers work for a % of the winnings but even those 'sure fire' cases aren't so sure. That is the main reason why injustices like this continue to go around, no one will help you. In many non-union facilities things go to arbitration, you are not allowed to bring in lawyers for those arbitrations and you cannot challenge them once they made their decision. That doesn't happen with unions as the union itself will step in and assist you.
You truly believe that? In some cases yes, but just imagine all of the workplace injustices that you have seen and/or heard about. Undoubtedly you have seen/heard of many. Yet how many of them have gone to court? There are several threads of people complaining on this very website about things that could travel to a courtroom and their hospital management are sweeping them under the rug. In an ideal world all injustices would be dealt with in a court of law. In the real world where you and me live that just doesn't happen. Hospital systems know that they have legions of lawyers on staff, and any lawyer you hire knows it. So if they think the case can in any way be challenged you would require a similarly-sized staff of your own. How many RN's do you know that can afford a legion of lawyers to defend their case? A lawyer staff that size certainly wouldn't work for free and you would require some payment. It would only be in sure-fire cases where the lawyers work for a % of the winnings but even those 'sure fire' cases aren't so sure. That is the main reason why injustices like this continue to go around, no one will help you. In many non-union facilities things go to arbitration, you are not allowed to bring in lawyers for those arbitrations and you cannot challenge them once they made their decision. That doesn't happen with unions as the union itself will step in and assist you.
If you have a legitimate case of wrongful termination or of the violation of your rights by an employer, you will have no trouble finding the help you need. If, on the other hand, you have a case that is all accusation with no evidence, or one in which the violation by the employer is your subjective opinion, than I would agree with you. Not all "injustices" go to court, true, but in many cases of true employer misconduct, they don't go to court because the employer settles beforehand.
Honestly, everyone has a different experience and a different opinion. I don't particularly care if anyone else is pro-union. I simply kindly disagree.
guest974915
275 Posts
I'm quite certain that you would feel otherwise if you were wrongly accused and your job hung in the balance or you were exploited and denied your rights as an employee. Most employers treat nurses as a renewable commodity and as long as there is a steady stream of applicants, you and I are only viewed as a means to an end. If you think this can't or won't happen to you, your extremely naive or trusting.