More than 300 hospital mergers took place between 2000 and 2004.  RNs have a right to protection against the whims of management.  UAN contracts

• Forbid layoffs of RNs during the life of the contract and forbid replacing RNs with any other classification of employee
• Provide recognition and contract continuity in the event a hospital is sold
• Outline retraining and cross-training programs for nurses facing layoff
• Detail seniority, layoff and recall procedures
• Limit the use of agency RNs

Nurses are highly trained, skilled professionals—and every patient deserves to know that when they check into the hospital they will be cared for by an RN.  Under UAN agreements

• RNs are not required to perform non-nursing duties that interfere with the performance of patient care duties
• Unlicensed personnel cannot be assigned responsibilities that can legally only be performed by an RN
• Specialty skills are honored by preventing arbitrary assignments to areas in which an RN isn’t properly trained
• RNs can file protests when they believe their staffing assignments are not safe
• Use of temporary nurses is negotiated, and use of unlicensed personnel is restricted

If you’re an affiliate staff member, review some of the cutting edge contract language in-force in other UAN bargaining units through the password-protected UAN Contract InfoBase.