Exam 24: Handling Collective Bargaining Issues

The housekeeping employee asks the employees' agent what role the union representative plays. What answer should the agent provide?

To balance the rights of employees and the public, Congress passed a special set of procedures for settling labor disputes in the health care industry. These include a specification that one party must notify the other of intent to change or terminate a contract ______ days before the contract expires.

The nurse manager is educating staff about the collective bargaining process. Who should this nurse say controls collective bargaining in health care?

A nurse who works in a hospital with a collective bargaining unit requires disciplining. Which actions by the nurse manager are critical?

The nurses in an organization are in the process of selecting a bargaining agent. Which action by the nurse executive is considered a fair labor practice?

The nurse works in a federal hospital that is beginning the collective bargaining process with nurses. The nurse is disappointed to discover that which concern cannot be addressed in negotiations?

As a cost-saving initiative, the hospital administration has asked the night staff nurses to refill drug supplies at night while the pharmacist is not present. The nurses file a grievance and nurse managers become involved. How would this grievance be classified?

A nurse assistant states, "I don't understand why they would select a nurse to be the union representative." Which response by a coworker is appropriate?

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has certified a union to be the bargaining agent for a hospital. A nurse working in the hospital has a grievance and says to the nurse manager, "Wait until the union gets involved." Which response by the manager is appropriate?

Which job responsibilities indicate that a nurse has supervisory capacity?

An ICU nurse manager states, "The hospital has a union but I wouldn't advise joining," to a newly hired nurse. The human resources (HR) director is informed of this comment. How should the HR director respond?

Which statements by a nurse manager would the supervisor interpret as indicating an understanding of why collective bargaining is complicated for nurses?

Nurses in a hospital are working to establish a union. Which finding will these nurses be interested in seeing?

A nurse manager is conversing with a colleague at a national meeting. The colleague states, "I've just never understood why a nurse would want to join a union." What responses by the manager would explain the attraction of unionization?

The manager tells a potential nurse hire that the organization is a "closed shop" organization. The nurse asks for clarification. Which response by the manager is most accurate?

A union has won a representative election. What right does that union now hold?

Approximately half of an organization's employees decide they are not happy with their current contract, which will expire in 4 months. The union representative informs the group that they can work to change the contract. What is the next step in this process?

The nurse executive is addressing a conference on collective bargaining and nurses. Which statement should the executive include in this address?

A grievance has been filed against a hospital. Which statement by the nurse executive reflects common reasons for grievances?

A grievance has been filed against a hospital whose nursing staff has just established a union. What is the nurse executive's first step?