This leader discusses how to bridge the gap between health systems and unions.
Recently, there has been an increase in nursing strikes and union activity throughout the United States.
Nurses are frustrated, and the recent union activity is indicative of large, widespread problems in the nursing industry with staffing, work environment, and nurse wellbeing. While it is the CNO’s responsibility to address those issues and to facilitate those conversations, it can be quite difficult.
To get the bigger picture, we sat down with Katie Boston-Leary, Director of Nursing Programs at the American Nurses Association, to discuss the underlying causes of strikes and how to communicate with unions to achieve better outcomes.
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G Hatfield is the nursing editor for HealthLeaders.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The staffing crisis, workplace violence, unmanageable workloads, exhaustion, and the feeling of not being heard are all contributing to the dissatisfaction of nurses.
CNOs must keep up with how nurses are doing and provide them with ways to give direct feedback to leadership.
Leadership and unions should try to work together in partnership to help address the needs of their nurses.