Explain how Unions Work in Nursing

[Anonymous]

This just in: Kent Hospital in RI voted 2:1 NOT to unionize..

Again I will say that unions did their job years ago. The government has enacted laws to cover most, note most, of the issues unions did.

Please don't compare nursing to factory work.

If the shop steward has his/her own agenda and it's not yours you are SOL. Once a steward is elected you lose your voice until the next election.

I will deal with my boss on my own. I am a big girl now..Literally...LOLL

WR,,, three commas for Becca

[nursinghumor]

Don't you think, I can list hospitals that have just voted to go union.

Besides, are nursing and factory work all that different? Are hospitals getting more and more like assembly lines each day? Get the most patients in and out for the least expense? To hell with quality of care, squeeze as much as you can out of Nursing, Environmental, Respiratory, Dietary, etc.

If the government was doing the job and enacting laws to protect us, nurses wouldn't be leaving the floors in droves due to poor working conditions.

The important difference being that when an overworked factory worker makes a mistake, product quality suffers. When a nurse makes, or doesn't catch a mistake made, people can die.

I beg to differ that the government has done anything to help the situation of the typical hospital staff nurse specifically. Maybe you can give some examples.

What laws has the government enacted to deal with Mandatory Overtime? Some states have them, but they've got no teeth.

What laws are in place to enforce safe nurse to patient ratios? Californa is the only state I've heard of and they've having a tough time getting them implemented.

What laws are in place to protect "whistle blowers" that report unsafe patient conditions? Latest laws say we have to protect "our employers" interests.

Sounds like you've had some personal issues with your shop steward, I don't think it's fair to generalize your experience to all union stewards. Like nurses, there are some that will do what's best for the group, and others that are only looking out for themselves. Just like anything else.

If you give up, lay down and die, sure nothings going to improve. If you get proactive, have a legitimate issue and make a stink, you'd be surprised how quickly you can get an elected union official to step down or change their tune.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinghumor.com

[Anonymous]

I've never had to put wood in the wood stove.. Have you??


WR,,, three commas for Becca


Maine Medical Center has tried to get the union in several times and evey time THE NURSES voted it down..And you wanna know why..Cuz Maine HAD a manufacturing base at one time and many unions. Not anymore..

No one can make me work Mandatory Overtime.. I am an at will employee.. I vote with my feet..
My local hospital has a 4:1 ratio on Med/Surg on days.. And no UNION....

I have never had a shop steward. I nevered worked in a Union Hospital as an Employee. I worked in one as a traveler. And yes they had good pay but horrible staffing.. If there are no nurse there are no nurses..

And I hardly lie down and give up.. I vote with my feet. I don't work in hospitals anymore and I believe you are trying to get away from them to aren't you???

I have a personal issue with someone telling me what I want from my job and telling me they are gonna talk to my boss for me.. I am a big girl..

I don't have to worry about shoving out a union steward.. I wouldn't vote union to begin with.. I am into preventative practices..LOLLLL


WR,,, three commas for Becca

[nursinghumor]

[ QUOTE ]
No one can make me work Mandatory Overtime.. I am an at will employee.. I vote with my feet..
My local hospital has a 4:1 ratio on Med/Surg on days.. And no UNION....

I have never had a shop steward. I nevered worked in a Union Hospital as an Employee. I worked in one as a traveler. And yes they had good pay but horrible staffing.. If there are no nurse there are no nurses..


You're fortunate as a traveler, most nurses working in hospitals do not have that choice, to work mandatory overtime or not. They need their jobs.

Their employers see no reason to give it to them.

To quote:

"More than 500,000 licensed nurses have left the nursing profession because of poor working conditions. Inadequate staffing, mandatory overtime and insufficient compensation head the list of reasons. Unfortunately, there appears to be no end in sight to the number of active nurses leaving the profession. A recent AFT Healthcare poll showed that more than 20 percent of active nurses were planning to leave the nursing profession in the next two to three years because of stress and workplace conditions."
http://www.aft.org/issues/mand_overtime.html

It's great that you can speak for yourself, but don't kid yourself that you're able to speak for other nurses as well. Working as a traveler isn't the same as being on staff and having to deal with issues on a permanent basis.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinghumor.com

[nursinghumor]

[ QUOTE ]
And I hardly lie down and give up.. I vote with my feet. I don't work in hospitals anymore and I believe you are trying to get away from them to aren't you???

I have a personal issue with someone telling me what I want from my job and telling me they are gonna talk to my boss for me.. I am a big girl..

[/ QUOTE ]


As a "big girl" I don't think you'd get very far negotiating with management. Very few individual nurses do. Individuals are too easy to brush aside, ignore or fire if they're being a nusiance.

I do a day here/there through the agency, but I've be on the Nurse Entrepreneur Track for almost seven years. It puts me in contact with a large number of nurses (from union and non-union hospitals) looking for career alternatives at http://www.nursingentrepreneurs.com

On top of that my wife is an ICU nurse working in a Union Shop. We discuss conditions there vs her old hospital which was non-union daily.

You're entitled to a personal opinion, long as you don't suggest you're talking for others who are working in hospitals day to day and dealing with extremely frustrating conditions that they can't simply walk away from.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinghumor.com

[Anonymous]

Let me ask you something.. I can't talk for nurses but union people i.e. shop stewards can???


Is that your premise here. And why aren't you confronting 1mg.epi.. Is it because he is a man and a former Marine..

Really he is a cream puff..


WR,,, three commas for Becca

As for negotiating with the big wigs. I left Fresenius two years ago to travel. I was making less than $25/hour. They told me I would be back. And guess what I am .. Back working in a Fresenius unit. NOT for Fresenius and I am making more than $34.. So don't tell me I can't negotiate all by my little womanly self... It's just like the Fram oil filter.. You can pay me now or you can pay me later.. Later usually costs more.. BTW Fresenius offered me 30% to come back after 2 months traveling... Maybe some nurses can't negotiate. Maybe you should take your own advice and not speak for those of us who can..

The big problem with nurses is the fact that they have let others speak for them for too long and don't realize the clout they really have..

People come to a hospital for nursing nothing else.. Not for the soft beds or the great food.. And certainly not for doctoring.. I suppose you didn't even know that I haven't worked in a hosptial setting for over 4 years..


WR,,, three commas for Becca

Would you care to discuss filling the wood stove.???

[nursinghumor]

[ QUOTE ]
Is that your premise here. And why aren't you confronting 1mg.epi.. Is it because he is a man and a former Marine..

Really he is a cream puff..

[/ QUOTE ]


Haven't had the pleasure yet, where did he post?

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinghumor.com

[Anonymous]

In this thread a few posts above mine...



WR,,, three commas for Becca


And I believe he summed it up rather elegantly and well. Succint even..WooRAH..Semper Fi..

[nursinghumor]

[ QUOTE ]
Let me ask you something.. I can't talk for nurses but union people i.e. shop stewards can???

[/ QUOTE ]



They can and do speak for Unionized Nurses working in hospitals.

Clearly you haven't been there in their shoes and cannot speak for them from experience.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinghumor.com

[nursinghumor]

[ QUOTE ]
A rep from a union will try to organize a group to push for the union telling people, "IT WILL BE GOOD."

The Nurses will vote to have a union. If the union is voted in the rep will say, "This is good."

The union rep will arbitrate to get us pay raises that we would have gotten any ways, and he will say, "This is good."

Then on our pay day we will pay our union dues, most of which will go to the union rep, and he will say, "THIS IS GOOD."

[/ QUOTE ]

Heh, heh,

That fits unions in general. Clearly they are not as desperately "needed" in most industries as they once were. They're still hanging around in a lot of places where they've outlived their usefulness.

In Nursing however, working conditions are getting progressively worse with the nursing shortage and nurses leaving the field. It's a vicious cycle.

Don't think too many Unionized nurses are bitching about their dues though. Not when it protects them from arbitrary dismissals and rampant abuse being dished out by hospitals.

Far as salaries go, statistically unionized nurses make 10-15% more per hour than their non-union counterparts.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinghumor.com