Labor unions are employee organizations established for safeguarding and promoting member interests. In most instances, union advocacy entails collective bargaining that aims to improve personnel working conditions, hours, benefits, and wages (Full Beaker, 2017). When it comes to the field of nursing, unions work more rigorously in the event of a dearth of nursing staff, as nursing practitioners do not wish to jeopardize their jobs in a period of job scarcity (Marquis & Huston, 2017).
I am a cardiac nurse employed at XYZ hospital. In my workplace, unions have a central part to play. Union involvement in our hospital system benefits nursing staff as well as the overall healthcare system. Unions’ presence improves job security, wages, salary rise, education reimbursement working conditions, and seniority advantages, among other things.
Not every nurse practitioner is an inborn leader or even wishes to be one; however, every nurse is capable of learning to lead within the bounds of his/ her role. A union’s presence would influence how nursing leaders communicate with subordinates (i.e., nursing staff). Nursing leaders possess skills like conflict management/ resolution, effective communication, and team project management, which prove vital to effective leader-subordinate communication.
As unionization has commonly been linked to increased employee voice when it comes to deciding work conditions, workplace environmental improvements are seen where unions exist. Unionization results in changes in management behavior, thereby resulting in an improved workplace environment. Nursing union representation may have significant implications, including nursing staff participation in healthcare organizational governance, collegial physician-nurse relationships, just procedures when it comes to the resolution of nurse-supervisor conflicts, and avenues for continuous professional growth. Additionally, unionization can influence elements of nursing revealed to be interacting with the work environment of nursing staff, like nursing retention rates, shift length, and staffing levels (Dube, Kaplan & Thompson, 2016).
References
Dube, A., Kaplan, E., & Thompson, O. (2016). Nurses Unions and patient outcomes. ILR Review, 69(4), 803–833. DOI: 10.1177/0019793916644251.
Full Beaker. (2017). Should I join a nurses union? Pros and cons. Retrieved from https://nurse.org/articles/pros-and-cons-nursing-unions/
Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C.J. (2017). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (9th ed). Philadelphia: LWW.
