California nurses are at the forefront of a national effort to organize nurses' unions. Fed up with declining patient care, long hours, and a lack of respect for their profession, 2 million nurse have joined unions. Employers groups say unions will not solve the nursing shortage but nurses often choose unions because administrators do not take their concerns seriously.
See "Discontent of Nurses Fuels Growth of Unions.", Nedra Rhone, Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2001