For our communities in this new economy, a nursing strike is both an anomaly and a history lesson. When was the last time any union walked out on contract negotiations and benefited by picketing? Airlines? Autoworkers? Air traffic controllers? I ask this question only because today’s worker has numerous villains to point to for her job insecurity: technology, organizational outsourcing, off-shore outsourcing, and significant changes to the revenue stream that cause total re-examination of every organizational expense. That discussion is at the heart of health care reform. Nurses can bring a powerful, respected voice to our nation’s conscience as we mull the future.
History and to some degree, the American Way, are filled with moments in time when people banded together to ensure their ability to perform quality work in safe conditions, for decent pay or died trying. In 2001 and today, the nurses’ union is using a powerful, rarely-used tool to make a dent in this larger discussion.
There are 1,000 angles to the conditions and drama leading up to a nursing strike. In 2010, both sides feel they have good reason to hold firm. Negotiation sticking points, reported to be staffing levels that ensure safe care for patients and compensation for this highly skilled workforce have been negotiated to conclusion in the past. I am confident they will again.
Nurses, alongside physicians, therapists, pharmacists and technicians comprise tireless teams that really do strive for the most innovative and effective approaches to health care. These professionals care for us and our community every day. Perhaps we don’t do enough to recognize their unique roles in our lives… or do so only when touched.
Hospital administrators care deeply about patients, the quality of care and their duties to be prudent financial stewards of their hospitals.
Communities need to trust their hospitals, just as they trust the local police force or bridge inspectors. Members of high performing teams need to trust one another. This will be a lasting side effect of the current labor issue. While the negotiations around compensation and patient safety will ultimately get settled, we watch unfold the confluence of American values: quality, service and compassion delivered to us and our loved ones when we need it most. I want to be cared for or operated on in a setting that is devoid of tension, distrust and bitterness.
I send an open request to both sides from the community: Compromise, find common ground and return to the mission of health care, serving patients.
~ Cynthia Bemis Abrams is a guest contributor.
In 1984, the first time the nurses struck metro hospitals, I worked at Sister Kenny Institute in a department that worked with people trying to find work, so I was directly involved, but I crossed the picket line to get to and from work. In 1984, I had a lot of empathy for the nurses and their issues.
Today, I have friends who work in administrative roles in hospitals. I also have a close friend who started nursing school when she turned 50 and who has turned out to be a great nurse. Her first RN job was at one of the hospitals currently involved in negotiations. Don’t mention staffing issues to her. She lived through being the new RN on a critical care unit while more senior RNs left her to do their work while they sat at the station and chatted through their shift. When she finally complained to her supervisor, she was labeled a trouble-maker; union officials weren’t sympathetic either. She left and is now working at a skilled nursing facility, a non-union shop, and loving her job and profession.
This is not the only friend who has told me a similar story. And, I personally lived through a similar situation.
I had nothing but good things to say about nurses until 1998, when I had a hip replacement replaced a second time at a metro hospital not currently involved in the strike. The nursing care I received was horrible. I could hear nurses chatting outside my door while my call light was dinging. And they ignored me. On more than one occasion I ended up calling one of my sisters, at home, who then called the nursing station to come and help me. Being disabled, on a bedpan for more than an hour after hip replacement surgery is painful. I’m sure I was labeled as a problem patient, but other friends with disabilities also dread being hospitalized because of the poor care we’ve received.
I was raised in a pro-union household. I tend to hold union members in high standing. My sister is a teacher who once was on strike. My oldest sister is an LPN. My employer was one of the last hold out employers with a traditional pension plan. We changed last year. To get through the recession many employers have asked staff to voluntarily take days off without pay or other creative solutions to avoid layoff.
My advice to the nurses union rank and file? Stop negotiating through the media and start talking for real.