The use of dilemma situations to analyse industrial action by nurses

Traditionally, the history of nursing has emphasised sacrifice and the obligation to care, placing limits on the way that nurses could argue for improved conditions and status. However, over the past decade nursing has changed significantly both in terms of its educational system and in respect of the context in which nurses now work. In an increasingly technological environment, nurses now seem more ready to consider the industrial actions that other professions take. The present study measures the particular orientation to care (personal or technical) that nurses currently hold and then looks at whether this orientation has an effect on nurses' industrial activism, and the degree of difficulty felt by nurses when faced with choosing between industrial options. Orientation to care was measured through the choice of actions in a series of behaviours which were pre-rated as to whether they primarily involved technical or personal care. Industrial activism was measured through a series of vignette situations, with behavioural options ranging from low to high activism. Results of the study demonstrated that a particular orientation to care does in fact impact on industrial activism and difficulty scores. Overall, the results of this study demonstrated, firstly, that nurses who preferred to express their care in a personal rather than a technical manner were more ready to take industrial action. Secondly, those nurses who held a strong duty of care towards their patients were less ready to take industrial action than those who considered workers' rights as the more important issue. However, at the same time, nurses who held a strong duty of care had more difficulty in choosing between options.