Thesis
Transforming the Nursing Work Environment in a Unionized Organization
Washington State University
Master of Nursing (MN), Washington State University
11/2009
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/3557
Abstract
It has been ten years since the Institute of Medicine reported that up to 98,000 deaths per year occur in American hospitals due to medical errors. Tremendous time, energy and resources have been applied to eliminate these medical errors, with only moderate improvements. Hospitals, and the nursing units within them, have made incremental changes from the traditional model of hierarchy and bureaucracy, where decisions were made by people in positions of power, with little input from the individuals actually doing the work. Significant reductions of medical errors will only result when there is a transformational cultural change away from the traditional model. Patient safety and having adequate numbers of registered nurses to provide patient care, are both at risk in the current system. Transforming the work environment of nurses in hospitals must be a priority for hospital leadership in order to eliminate medical errors, ensure patient safety, retain experienced nurses in the hospital, and recruit the next generation into the nursing profession. This cultural transformation in a unionized environment requires additional considerations for hospitals. In this environment, there are three partners necessary to be a part of the work environment transformation. Hospital leaders, collective bargaining associations, and the registered nurses will all benefit from re-establishing their relationship around the strong evidence of innovative changes, shared decision-making, and ultimately a relationship of trust amongst these three partners necessary to create a healthy work environment.
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Details
- Title
- Transforming the Nursing Work Environment in a Unionized Organization
- Creators
- Jeannie M. Eylar
- Contributors
- Anne Hirsch (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Research Projects, College of Nursing
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Nursing (MN), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Spokane, Washington
- Identifiers
- 99900590721401842
- Copyright
- http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us; Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US)
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis