MASSACHUSETTS NURSE NEWSLETTER :: September 2006

President's Column

Beth Piknick

By Beth Piknick
MNA President

This year’s Labor Day weekend was very special for me for two reasons. First, it marks the end of my first full year as president of the MNA, an experience that continues to be a true honor for me. It has given me the chance to stand for an organization that represents the best of what the labor movement means for working people. I am so proud of all the good work that has been done by this organization on behalf of our members, all registered nurses and all of the patients we care for.

Which leads me to the second reason why this past Labor Day was special to me.
Over the holiday weekend I had the privilege of appearing on a radio talk show program where the topic was “Labor Day and what it means for working people.” I was among a cadre of leaders from different unions throughout the state who were given time to answer a single question. In my case, as the guest representing the profession of nursing and unionized nurses, the question was “What does Labor Day mean to you as a nurse?”

My answer? Everything!

I told the host that, for nurses, the union movement has been the most important development in the history of our profession as it has given us a voice and the power to defend our profession and to advocate for our patients.

Before nurses had unions, we were truly second class citizens in the health care arena. Nurses were paid on the same level as clerical workers and janitors; we had no health insurance benefits; very few were paid time and half for overtime; and we were expected to not only take care of patients, but to perform all manner of custodial tasks that no professional should be expected to perform.

Unions have changed that dynamic. I told the show’s host that unions have given us a voice and vehicle to defend our rights as professionals and as patient advocates.

A recent study of cardiac patients in California hospitals found that patients cared for in unionized hospitals have better outcomes and are more likely to heal faster than patients cared for in non-union hospitals. The reason given in the study was two fold. First, the authors cited the fact that nurses in a union hospital have a legally protected voice to speak up about working conditions that may compromise patient care. But secondly, because nurses in unionized facilities have more power, they are higher paid with better benefits—which allows unionized hospitals to recruit and retain better staff. Turnover has been shown to be reduced in unionized hospitals, which means nurses stay longer and develop better skills.
According to a recent national survey, nurses in unions are paid as much as $2.50 more per hour than non-union nurses. They work significantly less forced overtime than non-union nurses. And they have better health insurance, and pay less for it than non-union nurses.

By nearly every measure, nurses are much better off in unionized hospitals.
As someone who has been a nurse for nearly three decades, I have personally seen the great transformation in nursing with the growing power of nurses unions. In fact, I was one of the elected union leaders back in 1981, when my hospital—Cape Cod Hospital—was among the first handful of hospitals to go out on strike. We were on strike for 17 days over poor wages, shift rotation and other issues. And most recently we just negotiated landmark language in our contract to set RN to patient ratios for nurses.

Our union has also been a leader in fighting for worker safety. Nursing is one of the most dangerous jobs there is. Nurses are injured as much as construction workers and we are assaulted on the job as often as prison guards and police officers. Thousands of nurses every year are exposed to deadly diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis due to needle stick and sharps injuries. The MNA has taken a leadership role in developing contract language and to passing laws to better protect health care workers.

I had to leave ICU nursing due to a debilitating back injury. But, through my union and the voice it provides me, I have been able to work with my local bargaining unit and my hospital management to implement safe patient handling systems to prevent other nurses from suffering a similar fate.

So on each and every Labor Day, unionized nurses should always celebrate the power we have gained and the advances we have made with that power. We need to let the public know that a unionized nurse is the best ally they have when they need health care services.

I also told the radio host that unions are especially important for nurses, because we, under law and our licenses, are personally responsible and accountable for the safety of our patients. Hospitals, under an arcane law, are only liable for up to $20,000 if something goes wrong in the care of a patient. The nurse who cares for that patient can lose his or her license to practice and could be sued for negligence.

In such an environment, where we are personally responsible for what happens to the patient in the environment created by hospital managers and administrators, it only makes sense that we use the collective power of a union to ensure that the environment we work in is as safe as possible.

I told this host, and we need to remind ourselves of this fact, that patients are safer because of unions—and that nurses are treated better and paid better because of unions. We all benefit because of the presence of unions in the health care arena.