Multilateral collective bargaining and the health care industry

An overview of public section multilateral collective bargaining is presented (i.e., the expansion of the traditional bipartite bargaining process to include additional influences), with parallels drawn to the health care industry. The impact of federal, state, and local rate-setting agencies; third-party users; DRGs; and prospective rate reimbursement on bargaining for nursing contracts is considered. Discussion focuses on the ramifications of multilateral collective bargaining for chief nurse executives, staff nurses, hospital administrators, and union representatives.