A Voice in Policy and Procedure
By forming a union, nurses gain a voice in hospital policies and procedures. Rather than having decisions made arbitrarily without our input, we negotiate over the policies that affect our patients, our profession, and our future.
Here are some examples:
1. Scheduling Systems. Around the country, nurses are negotiating scheduling policies and options that guarantee both flexibility and security.
2. Floating Guidelines. Hospitals often use floating as a regular way to solve staffing problems, and too many nurses are floated to unfamiliar units. To protect patient care and professional standards, most nurse union contracts include specific guidelines for when and how floating is done.
3. Overtime Policies. Many hospitals are responding to the growing shortage of nurses by requiring excessive amounts of mandatory overtime. Nurses are negotiating alternatives that will preserve the quality of patient care as well as recruit and retain more staff.
4. Career Enhancement. By working together in a union, nurses are improving the hospital policies that affect their job satisfaction and opportunities for advancement.
5. How the Hospital Works. Through their unions, more and more nurses are working in partnership with their employers and participating in decisions about how their hospitals operate. Studies show that shared decision-making in union hospitals increases productivity by up to 16 percent, raises quality standards, lowers turnover rates, and improves efficiency. One study found that union-management cooperation increases staffing levels (up to 15 RN hours per patient day) and hospital revenues (nearly $80 per patient day).