Collective bargaining by nurses: a comparative analysis of management and employee perceptions

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Labor Relations
• Nursing Studies

Background:

• Collective bargaining in healthcare involves complex negotiations between nursing staff and management.
• Discrepancies in situational definitions can arise due to differing professional perspectives and priorities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the potential divergence in how nurses and health service management define situations during collective bargaining.
• To understand how these differing definitions impact the congruence of strike reasons and bargaining issue assessments.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of negotiation discourse.
• Comparative case study of healthcare labor disputes.

Main Results:

• Identified significant differences in the framing of issues by nursing unions and hospital administration.
• Demonstrated that nurses' and management's perceptions of bargaining issues and strike justifications are often incongruent.

Conclusions:

• The differing perspectives highlight a fundamental challenge in achieving mutually agreeable outcomes in healthcare collective bargaining.
• Addressing these definitional disparities is crucial for effective negotiation and conflict resolution in the nursing sector.