Work satisfaction, unionism and militancy amongst nurses

In recent years there has been a substantial increase in attitudinal and industrial militancy amongst nurses. This paper examines some of the factors associated with this change, in the context of the 50-day strike by Victorian nurses in late 1986. Using data collected from 125 nurses in a large public hospital in Melbourne, it is shown that dissatisfaction with the levels of autonomy, pay and intrinsic work rewards were of greatest concern to nurses at that time, and contributed to their growing unrest and attitudinal militancy. This suggests that measures such as professionalisation and salary restructuring may help to alleviate some of the grievances of nurses, but are unlikely to resolve other important issues that contribute to their discontent.