¶ … nurses noted in this case study "only wanted to scare management." Indeed, they did that and then some because a union was formed in reaction to what those nurses ended up doing as a means to "scare" management. The basic background of the case is that there a small group of nurses at a large community hospital. They were unhappy about their work situation, conditions and stagnant wage levels. Beyond that, there has also been a change in management recently at the hospital and they were uneasy about that as well. Their wages and salary levels were stagnant but their workload was actually seemingly going up. When management was approached about the situation, they did not seem to care all that much and nothing changed. What followed next is that there was a union formation effort over six weeks. There was eventually a vote held for the formation of the union at that location and the vote was beyond the two thirds majority required to put the union in place. The small collective of nurses that started the movement noted that they just wanted to "scare" the managers and they did not seem to have the intent of going as far as they did.
Major Problem & Secondary Issues
The general major problem, at least in the view of the nurses, is that the nurses at the hospital were being paid the same amount of money to do less work and there seemed to be a general staffing shortage as the hospital. While the following is not explained, there could be other issues like poorer patient care, financial stressors at the hospital and so forth. The change in management may indicate that there...
Any number of these (or a combination of them) could lead to situations where the hospital feels that they cannot or do not have to give raises to the nurses involved. What would have to be identified are the effects (in all their forms) of the staffing levels and why they perhaps should be raised and why perhaps they are NOT being raised (New Jersey, 2015).
Role
In terms of the role that the author of this response would take, it would be the mouthpiece of the nurses. Since the speaking with management did not yield anything, there should be one more attempt that is a little more concerted and stern. The author of this report would address the major concerns brought forth by the nurses and it would be stressed that the "status quo" is only going to lead to some major issues if there is not at least some "back and forth" between management and the nurses. The refusal of the management to admit or discuss what is going on could be their way of enforcing "need to know" or there could be some real problems. If the nurses are in danger of being laid off or otherwise restructured, they do really have a right to know because it impacts their livelihood and careers. It would all be in how the mouthpiece of the group approaches the management. It should not be confronting or insubordinate. Indeed, it should be professional and out of legitimate concern. While the labor organization efforts that actually ensued is a solution of sorts, it also opens up some bad possibilities…
