[1mg.epi]

I think I am going to keep doing what I am doing in nursing. I did once worked in a factory. I was a production manager in a large screen printing/ graphics company in Hawaii. I did notice a difference between nursing and working in a factory. I get warm all over when a patient is discharged that was doing poorly and now doing well due to nursing. I never got that over printing a tee shirt. And trust me the management dynamics, the work environment, and the stress, and workers needs is totally different in a hospital than a factory.

[1mg.epi]

Just to add 2 cents more. Nursinghumor was so right about unions a few posts ago. Unions had a important place in past history. KEY WORD "PAST HISTORY". To me, Unions is one of the reasons factories are leaving. Having to paying a person more than a nurse makes to put a bolt on an engine. To me, unions have helped people rite out of a job.

[Anonymous]

Hey man you're talking to yourself,,,,,)))



WR,,, three commas for Becca

[Anonymous]

Here's an interesting article.


www.dimag.com/dinews/2004051301.shtml


WR,,, three commas for Becca

[1mg.epi]

Dude had a little too much union stress. But is that not a shame when they striked they put patients in danger. and as a healthcare worker would this not be in conflict with your ethics for caring for people?

[Anonymous]

I think the thing that bothers me the most is that once I vote for the union I lose my individual voice. And every time something comes up, such as a strike, it has to be voted on..Seems to me that one spends all their time voting etc. If I have a problem I can take care of it in a timely manner on my own..


Again JMHO

WR,,, three commas for Becca

[1mg.epi]

If I feel that I have the need to strike, I just quit and get another job. There are plenty out there that pay will.

[JeannieTaylor]

It all depends on the Union. I think the key problem is that the 'due paying participants' give up their power and act like someone else is going to take care of everything. In states that have Teacher Unions, typically the pay is great and the benefits even better.
Some countries have national Nurse Unions...do some Internet Research and look into it.
When humans are involved there is always room for corruption so as the members of any Union, the members need to be active participants not SHEEPLE!!!

This is an interesting time in history for Nursing in the US and it is time with or without a Union for Nurses to stand up and demand what is a perfect opportunity to do so - from Pay to working conditions to rights for the patients. The phrase, 'If Momma Ain't Happy, AIn't No One Happy' can easily to translated into: 'If Yer RN ain't treated well by Admin. then you as the patient ain't gonna be treated well.' Trickle down effect. Perhaps we need to enlist society at large to the plight of Nursing...God knows they are the ones who get the short end of the stick in the end. Nothing more powerful than letting people know that if the standards in hospitals slip, then as a patient they can lose their life. We need to make people aware that the Health Insurance Industry is to blame for a lot of this crapola.

[XYpicuRN]

WR is wrong wrong wrong. Having worked in a non-union hospital, and now a union hospital...there is an incredible difference. (And the reason jobs are moving overseas is not because of unions, it's because of corporate greed! CEO salaries have increased over 1000% in the past 2 decades. Can you say that about the average American worker?)

I work in a hospital that is represented by my professional organization, as opposed to a non-nursing shop. My monthly dues pay for my representation and also pay my membership to the SNA, ANA and UAN.

What has representation gotten me? Nursing empowerment, excellent staffing ratios, great wages and benefits and protection from unfair or hostile managers or policies. Because of representation we have a collaborative relationship with our hospital administration as opposed to a patriarchal one.

On another point - WR said above that she is an "at will employee" and as such could refuse mandatory overtime. I don't suppose you've considered that your licensed duty to your patients overrides your "at willingness" and that should you refuse to care for your patients after your shift if no relief was available - that would be considered patient abandonment, and you could lose your license. (Actually - a nurse who abandons their patients should lose their license!)

Being a traveling nurse permits you to not be involved in your place of work. But for those of us who don't travel, union representation allows us to take an active and collaborative role in the places we work. It gives us a voice. It gives us power. And if you work in a union hospital and don't feel empowered - get involved in the union and make changes. A union is only as good as the leadership of the union and the willingness of the members to take collective action.

Getting back to the original post, our union is our state nursing association (WSNA - Washington State Nurses Association), although some nursing bargaining units use non-nursing unions. (Another hospital in town uses a non-nursing union. They pay higher dues than we do and their dues do not pay for membership in the state nursing association or the ANA!) We elect our local unit officers from within our bargaining unit and have a representative from WSNA who assists us as needed and attends our meetings. We seek volunteers to serve on a negotiation committee every 3 years (or so) to negotiate a new contract with the hospital. After the negotiation committee and hospital reach a tentative agreement, the members of the bargaining unit (the RNs who are members of WSNA) vote on the contract. This becomes the legal document under which nurses work. We just completed negotiations (I was on the team) and have achieved a excellent contract!

There is no negotiation in non-union hospitals. A good nursing union equals nursing empowerment.

[Anonymous]

Sure can't say it about the American worker. .Because so many of them worked union.LOLLL Would you like to post your views on jobs going overseas to shoe workers, clothing workers.. As a matter of fact there is a union or was for clothing workers and what did they do for their paying members. Talk to a paper maker about unions...


I have had a nursing license for 24 years and have never worked mandatory overtime. And I've never lost my license. You are wrong wrong wrong wrong. Many times mandatory overtime consists of working overtime tomorrow and I can say I won't work tomorrow. I haven't taken the assignment and therefore there is no abandonment. And doesn't your union fight so you don't have to work overtime..I speak for myself. I don't have to have anyone speak for me.. I have told supervisiors,, which do you need,, an RN 3 days a week or an open FTE ..Works every time..

You are right a union is only as good as it's leaders. I don't suppose you've ever worked with nurses who would stab you in the back as soon as look at you.. And nurses don't stick up for each other.. If they did they wouldn't need a union..LOLLL

I wouldn't tout the ANA too much it hasn't done much for many. And if the ANA is so great why do you need a union ..Why won't the ANA fight for us????

WR,,, three commas for Becca

P.S. How come if your hospital's union is so great that other hospital hasn't figured that out?? And how come thousands of other nurses haven't jumped on the band wagon. Are they all wrong wrong wrong....

Are you sure you aren't management in wolves clothing.

P.P.S.S. If I couldn't talk to the CEO personally I wouldn't work there.