98 unit 2 | Working Within the Organization
see here? What is the real problem?” The group
remained silent. Finally, someone said, “We
don’t have enough people, equipment, or
supplies to get the work done.” The rest of the
group nodded in agreement.
4.Opening move.Once the problem is clarified,
it is time to obtain everyone’s agreement to seek
a way to resolve the conflict. In more formal
negotiation, you may make a statement about
what you wish to achieve. For example,
if you are negotiating a salary increase, you
might begin by saying, “I am requesting a
10% increase for the following reasons:.. .” Of
course, your employer will probably make a
counteroffer, such as, “The best I can do is 3%.”
These are the opening moves of a negotiation.
5.Continue the negotiations.The discussion
should continue in an open, nonhostile manner.
Each side’s concerns may be further explained
and elaborated. Additional offers and
counteroffers are common. As the discussion
continues, it is usually helpful to emphasize
areas of agreement as well as disagreement so
that both parties are encouraged to continue
the negotiations (Tappen, 2001).
Agree on a Resolution of the Conflict
After much testing for agreement, elaborating each
side’s positions and concerns, and making offers
and counteroffers, the people involved should
finally reach an agreement.
The nurse manager of Teams A and B led them
through a discussion of their concerns related to
working with severely limited resources. The teams
soon realized that they had a common concern and
that they might be able to help each other rather than
compete with each other. The nurse manager agreed
to become more proactive in seeking resources for the
unit. “We can simultaneously seek new resources and
develop creative ways to use the resources we already
have,” she told the teams. Relationships between
members of Team A and Team B improved remark-
ably after this meeting. They learned that they could
accomplish more by working together than they had
ever achieved separately.
Formal Negotiation: Collective Bargaining
There are many varieties of formal negotiations, from
real estate transactions to international peace treaty
negotiations. A formal negotiation process of special
interest to nurses is collective bargaining, which is
highly formalized because it is governed by laws and
contracts called collective bargaining agreements.
Collective bargaining involves a formal proce-
dure governed by labor laws, such as the National
Labor Relations Act in the United States.
Nonprofit health-care organizations were added to
the organizations covered by these laws in 1974.
Once a union or professional organization has
been designated as the official bargaining agent for
a group of nurses, a contract defining such impor-
tant matters as salary increases, benefits, time off,
unfair treatment, safety issues, and promotion of
professional practice is drawn up. This contract
governs employee-management relations within
the organization.
Case 3 is an example of how collective bargain-
ing agreements can influence the outcome of a
conflict between management and staff in a health-
care organization.
A collective bargaining contract is a legal docu-
ment that governs the relationship between man-
agement and staff, which is represented by the
union (for nurses, it may be the nurses’ association
or another health-care workers’ union). The con-
tract may cover some or all of the following:
■Economic issues:Salaries, shift differentials,
length of the workday, overtime, holidays, sick
leave, breaks, health insurance, pensions,
severance pay
■Management issues:Promotions, layoffs, trans-
fers, reprimands, grievance procedures, hiring
and firing procedures
■Practice issues:Adequate staffing, standards of
care, code of ethics, safe working environment,
other quality-of-care issues, staff development
opportunities
Better patient-nurse staffing ratios, more reason-
able workloads, opportunities for professional
development, and better relationships with manage-
ment are among the most important issues (Budd,
Warino, & Patton, 2004).The Pros and Cons of Collective Bargaining
Some nurses believe it is unprofessional to belong
to a union. Others point out that physicians and
teachers are union members and that the protec-
tions offered by a union outweigh the downside.
There is no easy answer to this question.
Probably the greatest advantages of collective bar-
gaining are protection of the right to fair treatment