Nurses are one of the first to feel reductions in staffing. Elliott (2010) reports, "We 're watching hospitals continue to try to cut back, and it 's always nursing. And if you don 't have enough nurses at the bedside, patients suffer”. Many of us do not consider the ramification of this situation unless faced with a crisis medical situation. If we enter an emergency room we expect to have a nurse, certified nurse assistant, respiratory therapist, x-ray technologist and physician to care for us. What if the staffing does not allow a nurse to remain present at the bedside to treat your condition? What if a life-threatening situation ensues due to lack of attention by medical personnel? This is not acceptable when faced with critical situations.
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Hospitals with low nurse staffing levels tend to have higher rates of poor patient outcomes such as pneumonia, shock, cardiac arrest, and urinary tract infections, according to research funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and others (“Hospital Nurse Staffing And Quality of Care”). This indicates that patients are not receiving the necessary attention that can aid in prevention of these disease …show more content…
It has a unique set of customers that rely on the accuracy and care that is provided to them. This is where management and the front line workers communication is vital for everyone to understand the specific issues that workers face in day to day care of patients. Top challenges facing healthcare workers today are work overload, lack of advancement opportunities, poor salary, too few staff, poor organizational culture, lack of mentoring and lack of time with patients (Fields, 2011). The issues of economics, organizational structure and lack of advancement opportunities could align with other industries but poor availability of staff at the bedside and lacking time with patients is specific to the healthcare industry. Unions must learn how to negotiate with management about this unique category of workers and how to meet the needs of healthcare workers in a stressed environment. Although there are many factors that point to union involvement in healthcare today, there are a few negative issues involved.
One area of concern for unionization of Healthcare would be when unions create an environment that allows healthcare workers who are unsafe or not meeting patient care
Hospitals with low nurse staffing levels tend to have higher rates of poor patient outcomes such as pneumonia, shock, cardiac arrest, and urinary tract infections, according to research funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and others (“Hospital Nurse Staffing And Quality of Care”). This indicates that patients are not receiving the necessary attention that can aid in prevention of these disease …show more content…
It has a unique set of customers that rely on the accuracy and care that is provided to them. This is where management and the front line workers communication is vital for everyone to understand the specific issues that workers face in day to day care of patients. Top challenges facing healthcare workers today are work overload, lack of advancement opportunities, poor salary, too few staff, poor organizational culture, lack of mentoring and lack of time with patients (Fields, 2011). The issues of economics, organizational structure and lack of advancement opportunities could align with other industries but poor availability of staff at the bedside and lacking time with patients is specific to the healthcare industry. Unions must learn how to negotiate with management about this unique category of workers and how to meet the needs of healthcare workers in a stressed environment. Although there are many factors that point to union involvement in healthcare today, there are a few negative issues involved.
One area of concern for unionization of Healthcare would be when unions create an environment that allows healthcare workers who are unsafe or not meeting patient care