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Nurses and Labor Unions

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Nurses and Labor Unions
Industrial Labor Relations
Mgmt 4531.01
Spring 2011
Strength In Numbers
Nurses and Labor Unions
Justine Steele

Strength in Numbers – Nurses and Labor Unions

The mission is successful negotiation of fair wages, safe working conditions and exemplary patient care. Can the nation’s labor unions help nursing healthcare professionals meet these mission goals? Battles are currently being fought to preserve and reform the Nation’s healthcare system. Along with proposed changes to the affordability and accessibility of medical care, healthcare providers will be faced with challenges of patient-to-provider ratios, rising costs, falling salaries/benefits and change in patient care roles. Will quality care be provided and will the compensation and benefits be commensurate to the level of provider care and patient needs for the nursing profession? How can labor unions propose to support the nursing profession in this changing environment? General union philosophy contends that there is strength in numbers. Workers banding together will allow providers and patients mutual benefits from the upcoming changes and challenges.
The Nurses
The healthcare industry is the fastest growing industry in the nation. Some factors contributing to this trend are the aging of the United States population, the growing numbers of those reaching retirement age and the increase in illnesses which were once primarily diagnosed as adult illnesses (i.e. diabetes, obesity). With increases in the patient count, it is reassuring to know that nurses in the workforce are expected to increase by approximately 22% over the next few years (BLS). The Nursing sector of the healthcare industry has many levels of service, both in the private and public venues, as indicated in the chart below: Data series | Employment,
2009 | Home health aides | 399,600 | Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses | 263,520 | Medical and health services managers | 34,100 | Nursing


Cited: Affairs, Office of Public. NLRB. 28 April 2010. 30 April 2011 <http://www.nlrb.gov/search/nlrbsearch/cypress%20fairbanks%20medical%20center>. Ashack, Elizabeth A. U. S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. 23 February 2011. 17 April 2011 <http://www.bls.gov/opub/cwc/pr>. Bush, Haydn. "Nursing unions reach pact after era of rising tentions." H&HN: Hospitals & Health Networks 11 April 2009: 83-84. Gomstyn, Alice. "Thousands of Nurses Strike in Minnesota." 10 June 2010. ABC News. 30 April 2011 <http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Media/thousands-nurses-strike-minnesota/story?id=10875712>. H.O.P.E. HOPE Local 123. 2008. 17 April 2011 <http://www.hopetx.org/about-us/>. Jack Needleman, Ph.D, Peter Buerhaus, Ph.D.,R.N., V., et al. "Nurse Staffing and Inpatient Hospital Mortality." The New England Journal of Medicine (n.d.): 1037. Occupational Employment Statistics. 2009. 18 April 2001 <http://www.bls.gov/oes>. Rotenberk, Lori. "Nurse super-union sets agenda, aims to get staff ration laws passed." H&HN Magazine December 2009. SEIU. SEIU.org. August 2008. 29 April 2011 <http://www.seiu.org/a/ourunion/fast-facts.php>. Selden, Jonathan. Austin Business Journal. 19 September 2005. 17 April 2011 <http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2005/09/19/story4.html>.
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