In our Executive Committee meeting on July 19th, the Medical Staff passed the following resolution:

MOTION: The Medical Excecutive Committee views with great concern the potential adverse impact on the quality of patient care and urges employees to maintain a union-free environment.

We feel that a union would interfere with the special relationship between nurses and physicians. If you were to be unionized, no longer would we be completely free to talk to you as professionals. Many discussions would occur only in the presence of a union representative or shop steward. How could patients benefits from this? How could you increase your sense of accomplishment? Would your personal or professional growth flourish in a confrontational workplace. No one things so.

Sincerely,

Margarita R. Cancio, MD Chief of Staff

Any typos are mine (Cancio writes) And, the article attached to the email is from something called the HCMA Bulletin, Vol 45, No.2-July/August 1999 Entitled "woe is Me! The Poor M.D."

It is only through sharing our experiences and strengths that we can overcome the effects the violence has had on our professional and personal lives. It is through well-focused individual and collective interaction and action that healing and empowerment will come.

I invite all nurses who choose activism over apathy---empowerment over powerlessness---to join us in the Nightingale Network.

Sincerely,

Melissa Franklin RN, Co-Founder