Attitudes of registered nurses in Texas relative to collective negotiation

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of registered nurses in Texas relative to collective negotiations, and the personal and employment characteristics related to those attitudes. Procedure. Questionnaires were mailed to one thousand registered nurses in Texas, randomly selected from the roster of the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas. Four hundred fifty five completed questionnaires were returned. Hotelling's T Square, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, Chi Square and Dunn's Simultaneous Multiple Comparisons Procedures were used to analyze the data.Results. Data analysis revealed that the attitudes of registered nurses toward collective negotiation were neutral. No significant differences were found between the attitudes of ANA/TNA members and nonmembers. Significant correlations were found between scores on the collective negotiation scales and the continuous variables: age, years since licensed and received degree, years at current employment, and percent of time employed full-time since licensed. Significant differences were found in attitudes relative to collective negotiation among registered nurses according to the personal and employment characteristics: marital status; religion; highest degree; type of community in which educated; area of current residence; income; overtime, workload, employment status; contact with union members; title; area of expertise; satisfaction with job; classification, type and ownership of employing institution. Conclusions. (1) Registered nurses in Texas possess neutral attitudes relative to collective negotiation. (2) Personal and employment factors which have been shown to correlate with job satisfaction may also influence attitudes relative to collective negotiation. (3) Registered nurses in Texas are in favor of representation by ANA/TNA. Recommendations. Based upon the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made. (1) An investigation should be conducted, using more sophisticated instruments to assess the interactive effects of various factors on attitudes of nurses relative to collective negotiation. (2) Reevaluation and revision of the questionnaire used in this study should be completed for greater accuracy in assessing nursing attitudes relative to collective negotiation.