Reply #13: The Nurses worked hard to get the Union in there, [View All]

[AnneD]

these stalled negotiations are a back door way to bust the union, in the same way that stop losses are meant to be a back door draft for the military. I am a Nurse, live in Texas and belong to a Union. I do not like non Union facilities. Most Nurses don't like to join Unions but I am here to tell you-it may be the only way to save the profession. Nurses will organize and strike for their patient before they strike for themselves.

When Nurses tell me that it is unprofessional to unionize I counter...are pilots unprofessional, or scientist, or teachers, or Doctors because there are many that are in unions. I always hit them with the fact that Albert Einstein was smart enough to see the benefits of a union (see my sig line)and was a card carrying union member.

I am very proud of my Union membership. It is the only way that I can protect my practice and insure that I can safely care for my patients. The Health Care CEO's want to make Nursing a piecemeal job (much like what happened to the meat packers unions). They want to delegate parts out like assembly components so that cat scans are read by radiologists overseas on some night shifts (which raising some serious license to practice issues for me). Well that might be fine and dandy, but what that does is give the CEO's the green light to cut local staff and next thing you know there are no Americans doing the job. They are saying that now about Nurses, but the truth is that the job conditions are so unsafe as to send the good safe Nurses packing.

I think we should have universal coverage for basics and folks could by insurance coverage for additional service. For example....a child (or adult)with with diabetes is covered but a child (or adult) requiring multiple organ transplants would not. But folks could buy private insurance as a supplement to cover extras.

Folks, please support your Nurses. They are health cares last best hope.