An 8 page paper. Union representation is not nearly as prevalent in nursing as it is in other fields, in fact, a relatively small percentage of nurses belong to a union. This essay provides a general overview of unions representing nurses, actions taken by the ANA to strengthen their bargaining power, the increased numbers of nurses joining unions and why, and the issue of nurses being categorized as supervisors. Data included. Court decisions outlines. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
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or so (Blankenheim 13). They are doing so for the same reasons that so many other occupations have looked towards unions - fair wages and better working conditions but there
is a twist in the nurses hope and that is that patients will receive better care (Blankenheim 13). Recent data published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census Current
Population report noted that almost 20 percent of the 2.74 million nurses across the nation belonged to a union in 2000 (Blankenheim 13). That is an increase of 5 percent
in five years - only 15 percent belonged to unions in 1995 (Blankenheim 13). The proportion of nurses who worked under a collective bargaining agreement was 19.1 percent in
that same year, 2000, compared to 16.1 percent just a year before the report was published (Blankenheim 13). The United American Nurses union has 100,000 members across just 25 states
(Blankenheim 13). There are more than 200,000 members across the nation (Greene, 1998). Susan Bianci-Sand, who is the director of this union said that there has been a significant
increase in the numbers of nurses who belong to a union in just the last two years (Blankenheim 13). Bianci-Sand commented: "We are getting calls from every part of the
country every day. I am hearing from nurses that the working conditions are intolerable and that the quality of patient care is down. The only way they feel they can
have a viable voice in the workplace is by joining a union" (Blankenheim 2001, p. 13). Bianci-Sand went on to say that nurses have reached a state of mind where
they feel the one way to improve the system is to unionize (Blankenheim 13). Even those who disagree with the philosophy of nurses joining unions acknowledge that they have no
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