I totally agree with you two on the last straw thread but was wondering, Do you have any suggestions on how we can all come together. I agree there is power in numbers but like most I cant even find a majority of nurses where I work who can all get on the same page at the same time. I really do think that is the key to getting the respect and even the money we deserve by standing together all at the same time for the same cause. But how do we accomplish this there has to be away. I am one of those who do whine and complain alot but I honestly dont know what to do to constructively help our position. Suggestions anyone?

As I have said, probably too many times, I think we HAVE to consider and understand:

-the environment we are working in--meaning--money drives the healthcare system, whether it is a for-profit or not

-understand what motivates the people in positions of power in our healthcare system--that would be some key politicians, corporate executives, and hospital-level executives

-understand healthcare finance and economics--again, profit is what drives the American economic system

-develop an association that addresses all major fronts facing nursing today

-lobby the politicians for changes in the law concerning healthcare and nursing's role

-move to make the profession more of a true profession--have nursing bill the payor directly for their services and bypass the hospital, this takes nurses off of the hospital payroll, removes the power the hospital has over nurses, and makes nurses more of a necessity for the hospital

We would need an organization that is nation-wide, has contacts in the government and other organizations and agencies, works with the media to bring issues public, stays focused on improving health and healthcare for all Americans, works to preserve the TRUST the American public has in nursing, and so on.

We already have an organization that has done so much work to establish all of the things it takes, like bylaws, structure, organization of itself and so on.

That organization is the American Nurses Association. I believe that if enough nurses joined the ANA and actively participated, then the ANA would truly represent nursing. What I see now in the various associations are lots of nursing educators, researchers, managers, administrative and academia-types. Nothing wrong with these folks, just don't see many point-of-service, direct caregiving nurses involved.

If everyone has a bad taste in their mouth about the ANA, then we could start a new one, but it would take much time and money, ANA has already done the hard boring work. We just need to get new leadership in there and promote the issues that will change the things that are killing nursing.

I admittedly dont know nearly enough about the politics so to speak of nursing but am definately willing to learn. Am I correct that the ANA only accepts RN's in there membership? That is my understanding and if that is true that would leave me and most of the nurses that I have worked with as we are LPN's. I am working on my RN but not going to be there for quite awhile.

Not sure. Any of the rules, or bylaws, of the organization can be changed if they are voted on.

angel writes: "Do you have any suggestions on how we can all come together. I agree there is power in numbers but like most I cant even find a majority of nurses where I work who can all get on the same page at the same time."

There is no indication that this will ever happen, given:

1) the socialization that girls go through, conditioning them to destroy each other (there are MANY books on this subject, as well as MANY threads about it on this BB, for those who don't know what I mean), and

2) the fact that healthcare administration has every reason to perpetuate a "divide and conquer" philosophy in the workplace in order to retain their power

IMHO.

I know Ohio has an association for LPN's. I'm sure other states do also. You may want to start there.

Good Luck.

The ANA is an organization for RNs. Its equivalent for LPNs is the National Federation of LPNs (NFLPN). All LPNs should get involved in it.

The NFLPN currently has a webcast on the nursing shortage at their website - in their legislative information section.

http://www.nflpn.org

sjoe you are more realistic than I am!!

I have to have some ideal to aspire to or I am dead in the water. So I chase this one, for many reasons, all of the noble, good, and so on.

I don't think administration's have a deliberate and thought-out "divide and conquer" thing going. It's more along the lines of it just may be a natural by-product of power hunger, greed, and making lots of money.

Ainz I tend to come down on your side. I realize that what sjoe says is reality I just hope it is a reality that we will eventually be able to change. Wouldnt we be an awsome force if we could do this. Special thanks to jt for the link for LPN's Great responses but I really am looking for ideas to help our plight to come together as one awsome force. Thanks for the responses

You need to join ANA and encourage other nurses you work with to join. In Louisiana, if you join the state nurse association, you also get membership at the national level and district level. I don't know if this is the same everywhere.

Find out about your district level association, and join it. Find out who the leaders are of your district. If it's anything like our district, it'll be all nursing administrators and educators.

Get your friends to join and start attending the meetings together, make it a night out. Our meetings are usually at a nice restaurant in town. Once you've become familiar with the way things work, you and your friends need to run for office in the district. You'll need to get your friends to join so they can vote for you! If you can get enough bedside nurses to become active this way, you will be the nurses running the district, giving input to your state association. They probably have people who lobby at the state capital, let them know what you think is important.

I don't know if this will work, but I sure hope it will. This is what we are doing in our community. We're actually causing quite an uproar in our area!

We spoke to our state nurse association leader, who is very excited about this and offered us a 1/2 price discount to anyone in our area wanting to join ANA.

I've been a RN for 11 yrs and never joined ANA until 3 months ago. Other nurses with 20+ yrs experience are also joining for the first time!

If this doesn't work and bring us nurses together, I don't know what it will take. But, I'll keep on trying!!

Good luck.

I understand the concept of joining your State Nurses Association (and the ANA) with the plan of encouraging other staff nurses to join and become a majority within the membership.

I attempted this in Arizona with the Arizona Nurses Association (AzNA) during 2000 - 2002

A colleague, Valerie Gomes, RN (Founder of the Southern Arizona Nurses Coalition - now a part of the California Nurses Association) of Tucson Arizona supported my efforts while gently trying to tell me that she had already attempted the same thing for the prior two years - without success. Stonewalled by the industry friendly AzNA board with all of her efforts.

Valerie did not want to discourage me or destroy my passion and enthusiasm so she remained supportive of my efforts and let me learn the same lesson for myself.

My efforts led to blacklisting (of which the AzNA was partially responsible for), financial ruin, severe clinical depression, and a threatening letter from the AzNA board in which numerous imprecise statements and allegations were written.

I saved every email and letter to and from the ANA, AzNA, and my colleagues in direct care - as well as National Labor Relations Board legal documents, etc.

I am compiling all of this evidence into a chronology to be published on the nurseprotect web site. It is evidence that the ANA and AzNA are enemies of direct care nurses. That the ANA and many (not all) of its constituents are committed to protecting the industry.

Fortunately there is an alternative.

The American Association of Registered Nurses.

This new organization was created by the California and the Massachusetts Nurses Associations (both constituents have disaffiliated from the American Nurses Association)

I am working with nurses in Texas to create Texas ARN.

If you need more information contact me by telephone or email and I will respond.

In Solidarity

Steve Lee, RN

713.869.4992

Houston, Texas

[email protected]

http://www.nurseprotect.com

Sjoe states:

1) the socialization that girls go through, conditioning them to destroy each other (there are MANY books on this subject, as well as MANY threads about it on this BB, for those who don't know what I mean)

Oh and men don't engage in mutually destructive competition. PUH-LEAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. I guess war and wall-street are just shining examples of the collaborative male spirit...

And please do site the literature you are referring to because I have at least 4 female friends with Phd's in psych who have *no* idea what you are talking about.

Plenty of strong-willed and highly unified women in this country have successfully orchestrated the emancipation of our gender thoughout our history-

While I agree that there are many complexe ramifications to the social pressures applied on women- to project a single distinct behavior on a whole gender like that is just plain silly. There are too many examples of female collaboration to validate this.

Well I am new to this field so forgive any misunderstanding...

but to hear that there are a gazillion different orgs some RN some LPN some whatever....well that is nutz!

Every other field I have worked in from law enforcement, to tobacconist had some kind of solid national down to local org that fronted the serious issues.

I am not sure what I can do as a student so tell me...let me guess is there a National Student org also?????