Are Nurses the Next Auto Workers? - Emerging Nurse Leader

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

This past July, the Economist magazine ran an interesting article titled Why Nurses are the New Auto Workers. My first reaction to the title of the article was that the Economist had it all wrong – there was little comparison between the two groups. But in closely reading the article, I do think that there are some important points that need to be carefully considered by those of us in the profession.

1. Healthcare Costs are rising and there will be pressure to decrease wages just as there was in the auto industry in the 20th century.

2. The jobs in healthcare have grown and this has been the one bright spot in the economy.

3. The highest paying jobs for nurses over the past two decades have been in hospitals yet these jobs are beginning to decline as more care moves into community-based settings and long-term care which have traditionally been lower paying.

What was missing from this article was any discussion about what is different between the two groups. There was no mention of how nurses add value in healthcare and of the possibility that we could play a key role in decreasing costs in the changing environment. Nor was there any discussion about the recommendations in the Institute of Medicine report on the Future of Nursing which recommends that there are things done today by physicians that could be done by nurses if the scope of practice was expanded. As a profession, we have not done a good job with our narrative about nursing. The Economist is widely read by business leaders globally. Yet the potential role that nurses could play as linchpins in the new health care delivery system was never mentioned.

Ironically, the Canadian Nurses Association has just launched a public awareness campaign about the role of the Registered Nurse in Canada. They are not only promoting the role but raising awareness of the depth and complexity of their roles, and demonstrating the knowledge that nurses bring to Canadian citizens. The language that accompanies these ads is specifically designed to be thought-provoking and demonstrates the many ways nurses support health and well-being from a physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual dimension. I was quite taken with their approach that is evident in the pictures below. Our Canadian colleagues are very forward looking in their thinking. Article like the one in the Economist are an important reminder that we may not be as effective as we would like to think in telling our story.