Recorded presentation

Michael A.O. Ash, PhD, Department of Economics and Center for Public Policy and Administration, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, Thompson Hall, Amherst, MA 01003, 413-545-6329, mash@econs.umass.edu and Jean Ann Seago, PhD, RN, Department of Community Health Systems, University of California, San Francisco, 2 Koret Way, San Francisco, CA 94143-0608.

Although research shows substantial relationships between a number of organizational characteristics in hospitals and patient outcomes, the relationship between nurse unions and patient outcomes has not been explored. In the workplace chaos of the last half of the 1990s, some nurses rethought their relationships with unions and there is a perception that union activity has increased. It is not always clear whether changes in health care are associated with patient outcomes, but it is clear that hospitals/health systems with unions often engage in spirited rhetoric about what is best for patients with little objective evidence to support either view. This study examines the relationship between the presence of a bargaining unit for registered nurses and the acute myocardial infarction(AMI)mortality rate for acute care hospitals in California. The authors also discuss how RN wage, hospital bed size, volume of patients and other organizational factors may influence and confound this relationship.

Learning Objectives:

1)At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able to discuss the relationship between RN unions and heart attack deaths in acute care hospitals in California.
• At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant will be able to discuss relationships between patient outcomes in acute care hospitals and a variety of organizational influences.

Keywords: Nurses,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation