Shared Governance vs. Collective Bargaining vs. Employment Contracts vs. Nursing Staff Bylaws: Which is better IYO?

Is shared governance "the" model for nursing practice in the future? What do you think?

I personally think Nursing Staff Bylaws are the key, not shared governance, collective bargaining, individual employment contracts, and certainly not at-will employment which is where the majority of nurses are in the spectrum.

At-will employment is cold, harsh and arbitrary. HR and lower and middle nursing management wield "at-will employment" like a Young Jedi with a new lightsaber. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightsaber.

Do you know how many nurses are terminated and then usually reported to the State Nursing Board? Alot. The number of State Nursing Board complaints across the county is increasing.

See http://www.nursetogether.com/tabid/102/itemid/889/Worried-About-a-Malpractice-Lawsuit-The-Board-of.aspx 

http://advocatefornurses.typepad.com/my2cents/2009/01/state-nursing-board-complaint-vs-nursing-negligencemalpractice-complaint.html 

 http://www.camorrison.com/.

See also http://www.leichterlaw.com/ld_license_defense.php.

 Its not nursing negligence or nursing malpractice you have to worry about, baby, its being reported to the State Nursing Board or suitability for licensure in you are applying for a license. This is one of the reasons why nurse license defense attorneys like myself are so busy.

One of my clients who is an excellent RN was terminated from her employment with an Indiana hospital after 20 years of solid employment. She was terminated to send a message to other nurses on the unit who have been there longer than most if not all of the nurse managers and nurse executives at the facility. She was also reported to the State Nursing Board. A two-fer, fired and reported which is more and more common these days.

Some (I didn't say all okay but some) nurses in positions of power (lower and middle nursing management) have "blood lust" similiar to newbie vampires, are worse than docs and lawyers (because we are and can be overly power and money hungry; I know I am), and certainly more manipulative and fem fatale with the passive-aggressive routine. Maybe this stems from nursing being primarily a women-dominated occupation. I went to see the new Twilight movie yesterday again, can you tell? What did you think of the newbie vampires?

I am attending a few webcasts on shared governance in nursing this summer to gain a broader perspective on the future of shared governance. Maybe I am wrong about shared governance but nursing staff bylaws that afford nurses the same rights and due process as physicians governed by medical staff bylaws IMO are the ideal for hospital-based nurses.