Leadership: : Collective Nursing Advocacy

Approximately what percentage of nurses in Canada are members of a union?

• 60%

• 70%

• 80%

• 90%

The emergency department nurses’ decision to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining is being driven by a desire to:

• Establish the staffing pattern that will be used.

• Determine the hours that one is willing to work.

• Create a professional practice environment.

• Protect against arbitrary discipline and termination.

The emergency department staff decides to use a collective bargaining model for negotiation. This model is characterized by:

• An adversarial relationship.

• Management decision-making.

• A spirit of trust to negotiate in good faith.

• An inability to resolve complaints.

The chief nursing officer uses the hospital’s workplace advocacy to help the overwhelmed emergency department staff. Workplace advocacy is designed to assist nurses by:

• Creating professional practice climates in their institutions.

• Equipping them to practice in a rapidly changing environment.

• Negotiating employment contracts.

• Representing them in labour-management disputes.

A group of staff nurses and a nurse manager represent a subculture in their facility. Subcultures differ in regard to:

• Organizational mission.

• Approaches to conflict.

• Quality patient care.

• Union membership.

A Magnet hospital surveys the staff about job satisfaction. This type of environment, in which nurses have authority and autonomy, is linked with:

• Patient satisfaction with the health care organization.

• Organizations with a limited number of nurse managers.

• Private specialty organizations in urban areas.

• Sophisticated academic health sciences universities.

In a nurse managers’ meeting, strategies for ways to help retain staff are discussed. One strategy for assisting nurses in developing collective action skills is:

• Accepting the practice of “going along to get along.”

• Attending as many workshops as is practical.

• Spending as much time as possible in clinical settings.

• Taking the opportunity to work with a mentor.

Work environment factors have a direct effect on nurses’ job satisfaction and the ability to influence patient care, and is mainly influenced by the:

• Negotiated employment contract.

• Relationship between nurses and administration.

• Nurse-to-patient ratio.

• Organizational mission statement.

The emergency department staff members are concerned that working long hours without rest puts patient safety at risk. One staff member decides that she will risk her job and become a whistle-blower. Whistle-blowing is an appropriate recourse when management:

• Disregards due process when disciplining a nurse.

• Delays responding to repeated efforts to provide safe care.

• Hires nurses who are not a part of the union during a strike.

• Refuses to bargain in good faith with the elected bargaining agent.

In an inner-city area, a group of nurses meet and develop a plan to negotiate with local businesses to support a breakfast program for young elementary school-age children. This is an example of:

• Community development.

• Collective bargaining.

• Collective action.

• Shared governance.