Nursing Unions

In the United States, there is an ongoing debate about the viability and usefulness of unions in the workplace. A union is an organized group of workers who work together and use their strength to have a voice in the workplace (“How do unions work,” n.d.). The healthcare industry has become one of the main targets of union organizing efforts. Unions do not just focus on giving nurses a voice, but they also advocate for patients. Unions understand that in order to provide excellent patient care hospitals have to be adequately staffed. Along with being adequately staffed, hospitals also have to make sure their nurses are not being overworked. Proper staffing and better hours are two of the most common issues nursing unions fight for.
Staffing is one of the most important contributing factors to a nurse being able to provide safe, quality patient care. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2004) “hospitals with low nurse staffing levels tend to have higher rates of poor patient outcomes such …show more content…
(n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2017, from https://www.unionplus.org/page/how-do-unions-work. McHugh, M. D., Berez, J., & Small, D. S. (2013). Hospitals with higher nurse staffing had lower odds of readmissions penalties than hospitals with lower staffing. Health Affairs (Project Hope), 32(10), 1740–1747. http://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0613
New York State Nurses Association. (n.d). Mandatory overtime. Retrieved April 7, 2017 from https://www.nysna.org/mandatory-overtime#.WOwb0RjMzGI Nursing journal study shows nurses unions improve patient outcomes in hospitals: Patients treated for heart attacks have lower mortality rate at RN-unionized hospitals. (2002). Massachusetts Nurse, 72(2), 1-6.
Stimpfel, A. W., Sloane, D. M., & Aiken, L. H. (2012). The longer the shifts for hospital Nurses, the higher the levels of burnout and patient dissatisfaction. Health Affairs (Project Hope), 31(11), 2501–2509.