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.
I will say a couple of thing you address. Sometimes you will find a job that is the best in pay, insurance,retirement. If you do be lucky in that. On the other hand the person who takes all your problems to upper management has to have a very BIG backbone. They are there for the hospital and Nurses come in second so they have to learn how to balance. This is your Unit Manager. IF you have a good one she can keep balance for many grievances.. She is there to save them money so when she stays within her budget, staff(agency none or limited),she is rewarded with a bonus each month. Many of them want that and become nonchalant to their staff. They give you an ear and listen but basically that's as far as it goes. When nothing changes you know she is not taking your concerns to the powers that be. A good UM will weigh the pros/cons and if it will help a good deal will fight for this in her very persuasive way. Remember their hands are also tied but not as tight as the floor staff. Your Charge nurse can also have a good amount of power if something is wrong and needs to be fixed. These 2 together can truly get improvement in areas but sadly the majority of places have "yes mams"which produces no improvement.
Also if you were suppose to have a 1:1 ratio in ICU then you are very lucky. Most ICU have for 40 yrs and continue to have 2:1 ratio which I think is a good #. I worked ICU for 10 yrs and was happy with that. I hear some now have a 3:1 and that's all over(union, non union immaterial)..Nursing is not like it use to be and it will never be that way again......
I will go out on a limb here and say the POLITICS have NOTHING to do with anyone's choice whether they like or dislike a union.. I personally hate politics and when union crossed our minds that had nothing to do with it...
Specializes in Pediatric Nursing and Educational Technology.
In an ideal world there would be no need or desire for nurses to be part of a union. If nurses were true independently functioning professionals then unions would be an anathema. The reality is that nurses are employees often of large corporations that have profit as their primary goal; nurses are expensive and do not generate revenue. That puts us automatically in an adverserial relationship with management. A union, which is your legal right to form, gives strength in numbers by allowing you to negotiate working conditions as a group rather than as an individual. The drawback is a loss of that individual negotiating right, as well as strict adherence to working rules agreed upon between the union and management. This often means extra perks will go to those with more seniority rather that who is performing better.
As hospitals become more dominated by for-profit corporations the need for nursing unions will only grow.
In an ideal world there would be no need or desire for nurses to be part of a union. If nurses were true independently functioning professionals then unions would be an anathema. The reality is that nurses are employees often of large corporations that have profit as their primary goal; nurses are expensive and do not generate revenue. That puts us automatically in an adverserial relationship with management. A union, which is your legal right to form, gives strength in numbers by allowing you to negotiate working conditions as a group rather than as an individual. The drawback is a loss of that individual negotiating right, as well as strict adherence to working rules agreed upon between the union and management. This often means extra perks will go to those with more seniority rather that who is performing better.
As hospitals become more dominated by for-profit corporations the need for nursing unions will only grow.
In my over 45 years of nursing primarily in intensive care units, and head of several important nursing committees, this is my take. There are too many nurses who work just for a salary, do NOT speak up about anything, and go on their merry way. It was not this way many years ago but with the advent of 12 hour shifts, many nurses work for more than 1 employer and there are many nurses from other cultures where speaking up is not allowed. Plus, even in management you can see that the important nursing exec jobs have been diminished in power, so even if you have a voice it is not carried through to the few in power to do anything about it. Of course, communication is the most important tool we have but too few use it, most (the every growing senior managers) still do NOT understand what nurses do nor do they ask.
National Nurses United (National Nurses United) is a good place to start. They can provide you with the training and resources...online and out of sight of management...you need to begin organizing. As nurses, we either hang together or hospital administrators will cheerfully let us hang separately.
Yeah Magnet isn't all what is it cracked up to be. It is more a benefit for the facility & not the "actual" nurses. The hospital gets to advertise they are Magnet which holds them higher than a not Magnet because the "supposedly" treat their nurse better. Not the case. Once they achieve it they can pretty much do what they want. I found the union i was part of did so much more for the nurses then Magnet ever did. But at last the hospitals in general hate the Unions & will do anything to keep up the fight between management & the nurses. No respect at all for the union contract. Actually disgusting how they behave sometimes. If you can go Union do it. In the long run so much better than being Magnet. As for union being the "bad" word, that is just liberal & Democrat BS. They either picked up from college or their lib parents. Education can break the divide.
Unions like corporations aren't inherently good or evil. It depends on how they are run both locally and nationally. That said after working with patients since 1968 i much prefer working in a unionized facility.The contract gives you protection and a legal basis when you speak up about Nursing issues and patient safety that are non existent in a non unionized facility.
The dues and the seemingly constant striking (I won't say the name of the hospital chain) at some points is really obnoxious. When I was at a union hospital I generally didn't care about anything they did unless they were bargaining for higher pay, but even then I wasn't much bothered.
I realize that probably made me a bad nurse, but I just don't see the point with a lot of the stuff they do. Unions were created out of necessity and used to be a good thing, but people have ruined them in many cases and it's just too much.
Other than having "backup" with a union rep and a bit of safety when it comes to reporting concerns on the job, I could take it or leave it.
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Dafabb, LPN
123 Posts
I will say a couple of thing you address. Sometimes you will find a job that is the best in pay, insurance,retirement. If you do be lucky in that. On the other hand the person who takes all your problems to upper management has to have a very BIG backbone. They are there for the hospital and Nurses come in second so they have to learn how to balance. This is your Unit Manager. IF you have a good one she can keep balance for many grievances.. She is there to save them money so when she stays within her budget, staff(agency none or limited),she is rewarded with a bonus each month. Many of them want that and become nonchalant to their staff. They give you an ear and listen but basically that's as far as it goes. When nothing changes you know she is not taking your concerns to the powers that be. A good UM will weigh the pros/cons and if it will help a good deal will fight for this in her very persuasive way. Remember their hands are also tied but not as tight as the floor staff. Your Charge nurse can also have a good amount of power if something is wrong and needs to be fixed. These 2 together can truly get improvement in areas but sadly the majority of places have "yes mams"which produces no improvement.
Also if you were suppose to have a 1:1 ratio in ICU then you are very lucky. Most ICU have for 40 yrs and continue to have 2:1 ratio which I think is a good #. I worked ICU for 10 yrs and was happy with that. I hear some now have a 3:1 and that's all over(union, non union immaterial)..Nursing is not like it use to be and it will never be that way again......