The Role of Nursing Unions and Collective Bargaining for APRNS

Assignment  Details

There is no doubt that nursing unions benefit not only nurses but also the entire health system as well.  A nurse union is an organization of nurses that forms to protect and advocate for the interest of nurses through collective bargaining on behalf of the members. For the APRNs (Advanced Practice Registered Nurse), the union means monitoring staffing ratios, management of nurse shortages, and an increase in pay (Archibald, 2017). According to Archibald (2017), unions mean raised the productivity for the employer with better training, less turnover, and extended tenure of the workforce. This paper highlights the role of nursing unions and collective bargaining for APRNs.

The role of nursing unions and collective bargaining for APRNs is multi-faceted. The nursing unions and collective bargaining in their collective bargaining for APRNs established standards, wages, and protection for APRNs while also working to protect the nursing profession’s essential feature, which is the provision of quality care to patients. The unions’ most targeted collective bargaining concerns wages (Gaines, 2019). Research indicates that union APRNs make higher wages than non-union APRNs due to the collective bargaining of the nursing unions. Besides, the non-union nurses receive wage benefits as a result of the actions of collective bargaining, implying that the nursing unions’ role encompasses the entire nursing profession, whether unionized or not.

Besides, nursing unions also develop standards concerning what a nurse’s role is in the field of healthcare. The unions protect APRNs from working beyond their scope as well as protecting patients from a nurse who would work outside their expertise or under unfair conditions (Archibald, 2017). Through collective bargaining, APRNs are allowed to have shifts and breaks, leading to better healthcare outcomes for both APRNs and patients (Gaines, 2019). Most important, nursing unions, through their collective bargaining, are charged with limiting the care offered by APRNs and fight for the skill sets of APRNs so that they can get proper wages and recognized job duties. Lastly, the unions also advocate for the increase in the number of APRNs in the field of nursing. 

References

Archibald, T. (2017). Improving Patient Safety Through Nurse Collective Bargaining (Doctoral dissertation, Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa).

Gaines, K. (2019). Nurses Unionizing: Benefits of Working in a Union Hospital. Retrieved 20 March 2020, from https://nurse.org/articles/benefits-of-nursing-union-hospital/