The relationship between health care reform and nurses' interest in union representation: The role of workplace climate

Market-based reforms are rapidly changing the landscape of the American health care system. Over the last decade, a great deal of attention has been paid to these reforms, particularly the advent and rapid growth of managed care and the vertical and horizontal integration of provider institutions. The ramifications of these changes on both individual and institutional consumers has also been widely considered by scholars and policymakers. Yet, although these market reforms are driving the massive restructuring of work in hospitals and other health care organizations, comparatively little attention has been paid to the impact these changes have on health care employees and the environment in which they work. This article reports the results of an exploratory study examining the relationship between health care market reforms, nurses' perceptions of the climate for patient care in hospital settings, and nurses' interest in union representation. A model is proposed to help explain nurses' support for union representation in the presence of market-based reforms.