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Annotated bibliography nursing leadership
Annotated bibliography nursing leadership
Labor unions in the early 1800s
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Labor unions have a long and colorful history in the United States. A union is an organized group of workers who work together and use their strength to have a voice in the workplace. As a union, workers are able to have an impact on benefits, hours, safety and many other work-related issues. Many Americans involved in unions have an understanding of the process and what exactly it does, although those who are not, have some idea but not a complete understanding. The unionization of Registered Nurses has been an ongoing debate for years. In the United States many nurses, doctors and hospitals have unionized. As with all other labor issues, there are pros and cons to this issue. In the following, the positives and negatives of being a part of a union will be addressed as it pertains to Nurses. Having one voice in the workplace to fight for specific rights can only go so far, but the voice of many can have a dramatic impact on issues of safety, wages and hours to name a few. These are a few of the reasons many nurses have turned to joining a union. As a nurse, the number one c...
After reading the segment of your exposition on the four spheres of political action in nursing one particular detail drew my attention and that was that an organization is not strictly delineated as a facility we are employed by but also as a group of interest. With that in mind, it would be imperative to recognize numerous committees established in the VA to improve and regulate nursing care. For example, I have been part of Veterans' Education group which is focused on maintaining updated information resources available to patients as well as organizing beneficial events to disseminate vital information necessary for prevention and maintenance of wellness. Furthermore, I cannot omit the most valuable to my profession the Certified Diabetes
Unions are voluntary associations joined by workers. The Combination Act of 1800, which hindered the growth of unions, states that every workman's goal, who are entering into any combination should not be obtaining an advance of wages, or to lessen or alter the hours, or influencing any other to quit his work. Any workman who did so shall be committed to jail (Doc 1). Although the Combination Act of 1800 prevented the growth of unions, Ralph Chaplin believes that a worker should join the union. He states that there can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun, but the unions, which makes it strong (Doc 2). Since there's so many workers working in bad conditions, the labor laws came to action.
Subsequently, women volunteered through national or local associations or by getting permission from a commanding officer (“Nursing”). In April 1861, Dorothea Dix assembled a collection of volunteer female nurses which staged a march on Washington, demanding that the government distinguish their desire to assist the Union’s wounded soldiers. She organized military hospitals for the care of all sick and wounded soldiers, aiding the head surgeons by supplying nurses and considerable means for the ease and aid of the suffering. After she recruited nurses; nursing was greatly improved and her nurses were taken care of under her supervision (Buhler-Wilkerson). During the Civil war, most nurses were women who took care of the ill and injured soldiers. Both male and female nurses have cared for the soldiers in every American war. The majority of nurses were recruited soldiers pressed into duty. Civil war nurses worked in hospitals, on the battlefield, and in their homes (Post). The first carnage of the war made it possible for nursing to become a professional occupation. The women who proved themselves as capable volunteers established nursing as an acceptable field of employment for women after the war. The contributions of the thousands of female nurses helped to alter the image of the professional nurse and changed American nursing from a male-dominated to a largely female profession (Woodworth). Clara Barton, one of the nurses who contributed to the Civil War, founded the American Red Cross, brought supplies and helped the battlefronts before formal relief organizations could take shape to administer such shipments (Buhler-Wilkerson). The religious orders given responded to the new opportunity for servicing the injured by sending t...
Unions have an extensive history of standing up for workers. They have advocated rights of steelworkers, coal miners, clothing factory employees, teachers, health care workers, and many others. The labor movement is based on the idea that organized workers as a group have more power than individuals would have on their own. The key purpose of any union is to negotiate contracts, making sure workers are respected and fairly compensated for their work. “In theory” unions are democratic organizations, resulting in varying inner authority. Workers look for security within a job a...
There is a shortage of all health care professions throughout the United States. One shortage in particular that society should be very concerned about is the shortage of Registered Nurses. Registered Nurses make up the single largest healthcare profession in the United States. A registered nurse is a vital healthcare professional that has earned a two or four year degree and has the upper-most responsibility in providing direct patient care and staff management in a hospital or other treatment facilities (Registered Nurse (RN) Degree and Career Overview., 2009). This shortage issue is imperative because RN's affect everyone sometime in their lifetime. Nurses serve groups, families and individuals to foster health and prevent disease.
Beginning in the late 1700’s and growing rapidly even today, labor unions form the backbone for the American workforce and continue to fight for the common interests of workers around the country. As we look at the history of these unions, we see powerful individuals such as Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, and Eugene Debs rise up as leaders in a newfound movement that protected the rights of the common worker and ensured better wages, more reasonable hours, and safer working conditions for those people (History). The rise of these labor unions also warranted new legislation that would protect against child labor in factories and give health benefits to workers who were either retired or injured, but everyone was not on board with the idea of foundations working to protect the interests of the common worker. Conflict with their industries lead to many strikes across the country in the coal, steel, and railroad industries, and several of these would ultimately end up leading to bloodshed. However, the existence of labor unions in the United States and their influence on their respective industries still resonates today, and many of our modern ideals that we have today carry over from what these labor unions fought for during through the Industrial Revolution.
The shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States has been a cyclical topic dating back to the 1960s. Only recently have employers in certain regions of the nation stated a decline in the demand for RNs. Consequently, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2014) report on 2012-2013 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, American nursing schools denied admission to 79,659 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2012. The reported decrease in job availability and rejected admissions has left many individuals to question if the nursing shortage still exists. On the other hand, some experts project that the United States will be short more than one million RNs by 2020 (Dolan, 2011). Although some parts of the country are in less of a demand than others, it is undeniable that there is a national shortage of RNs.
Factories were known for their ill treatment of their employees, long hours and dirty and unsafe conditions. In 1866, unions started to form to improve working conditions for the workers. A fundamental problem faced by democratic societies is as long as people live their lives individually and go their separate ways and be selfish individuals, they are unlikely to meet collectively to resolve issues. There needs to be meaningful unity among people to alleviate this problem to get people obliged to one another, so there is a willingness to sacrifice for shared goals. Bonding of its citizens creates a democracy. Unions seemed to offer the middle class a chance to become a crucial part of fostering institutions of constitutional democracy. The unions have went through several transitions, but have always worked for the working force. I will discuss the history of the various unions, their wins and losses, and the struggle of the employee to achieve democracy in the workplace.
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Current literature continues to reiterate the indicators of a major shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States. The total RN population has been increasing since 1980, which means that we have more RNs in this country than ever before (Nursing Shortage). Even though the RN population is increasing, it is growing at a much slower rate then when compared to the rate of growth of the U.S. population (Nursing Shortage). We are seeing less skilled nurses “at a time of an increasingly aging population with complex care needs and an increasingly complex technological care environment” (Mion). According to recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that “more than a million new and replacement nurses will be needed over the next decade” (Diagnosis: Critical).
Nurses continually strive to bring holistic, efficient, and safe care to their patients. However, if the safety and well-being of the nurses are threatened or compromised, it is difficult for nurses to work effectively and efficiently. Therefore, the position of the American Nurses Association (ANA) advocate that every nursing professional have the right to work in a healthy work environment free of abusive behavior such as bullying, hostility, lateral abuse and violence, sexual harassment, intimidation, abuse of authority and position and reprisal for speaking out against abuses (American Nurses Association, 2012).
As a nurse, we serve a society which is very culturally diverse. We provide care to many individuals whom have their own unique set of ethics, values, morals, and beliefs by which may be very different from our own. Because of our professional role, we must use lifelong learning as a tool to broaden our views, increase our knowledge, and understand the influences which affect it. To make this possible, we have to continually educate ourselves about the nursing laws, professional standards, and code of ethics all of which we are committed to.
Throughout American history, labor unions have served to facilitate mediation between workers and employers. Workers seek to negotiate with employers for more control over their labor and its fruits. “A labor union can best be defined as an organization that exists for the purpose of representing its members to their employers regarding wages and terms and conditions of employment” (Hunter). Labor unions’ principal objectives are to increase wages, shorten work days, achieve greater benefits, and improve working conditions. Despite these goals, the early years of union formation were characterized by difficulties (Hunter).
Since the 1990’s, the interest in nursing and the profession as a whole has decreased dramatically and is still expected to do so over the next 10-15 years according to some researchers. With this nursing shortage, many factors are affected. Organizations have to face challenges of low staffing, higher costs for resources, recruiting and reserving of registered nurses, among liability issues as well. Some of the main issues arising from this nurse shortage are the impact of quality and continuity of care, organizational costs, the effect it has on nursing staff, and etc. However, this not only affects an organization and community, but affects the nurses the same. Nurses are becoming overwhelmed and are questioning the quality of care that each patient deserves. This shortage is not an issue that is to be taken lightly. The repercussions that are faced by both nurses and the organization are critical. Therefore, state funding should be implemented to private hospitals in order to resolve the shortage of nurses. State funds will therefore, relieve the overwhelming burdens on the staff, provide a safe and stress free environment for the patient, and allow appropriate funds needed to keep the facility and organization operational.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Registered Nursing is listed among the top occupations in terms of job growth through 2022, with the demand increasing at least 19% by the year 2022 (2012). Particularly in the past decade, there is a serious shortage in the number of nurses to fill the vast amount of open positions available. Why is there such a shortage in the nursing profession, and is the nursing shortage real in this type of economy? Unexpectedly, there are many unemployed nurses today, struggling to find employment. An MPR news article by Annie Baxter stated that she had interviewed many unemployed nurses that claim the shortage is just a myth. She goes on to say “as the recession hit, people used health care less, promoting hospitals to hire fewer nurses” (2012). This information couldn’t be further from the truth. The health care industry is at an all-time high right now and there are a plethora of nursing opportunities out there. The nursing shortage is very real, and the misconception lies in the fact that hospitals are requiring a higher level of education than previously. You might ask, if there is such a shortage, why would they be more selective in their criteria? Due to the shortage, nurses are being forced to be more responsible in their work, more independent, work longer hours, and manage an unfavorable amount of patients at a time. This demanding work is requiring hospitals to become more selective in the types of nurses they hire (Aiken L.H., 2011). In this presentation, I will thoroughly explain these growing issues, how the unavailability of a nursing education is the main reason there is a global nursing shortage today, and voice m...