I emailed Dr. Phil regarding having a show that specifically addresses the so-called nursing shortage and the issues that create it........among other things.

The reply I received was that I would be contacted if my request to have this show is approved as a topic for his show. The response goes on to say how many requests they receive a day, blah, blah, blah, so basically......don't hold my breath.

Next on my list are the congressmen and those in the White House. I also plan to write "this nurse's story" and seek to get it in print in a magazine that is well read by the public, etc.

One step, two steps, three steps, more....one day at a time.

Keep up the good work, Cheerfuldoer!

:kiss

are you trying to get attention to yourself or the nursing profession? You certainly don't speak for me.

Originally posted by LisaRN2B

Keep up the good work, Cheerfuldoer!

:kiss

Thanks Lisa! :kiss It's all for a good and worthy cause to hopefully bring to light those things that are detrimental to our patients due to the nurses being overworked, overstressed, and bombarded with too much unnecessary tree killing (mountains of paper work nurses must write on and sign and process..... each shift).

I think once the public understands who is really behind the nursing shortage, they will at least have been informed as to the truth of the healthcare they pay their hard earned money for to only come into the hospital and receive less than standard care because the burden of their care falls on the nurses shoulders.

We want to give them the best care possible....but there are issues and circumstances that keep us from being able to do that. Again thanks Lisa! :)

Articulate for me what issues you see surrounding the "Nursing Shortage".

Address each issue with a possible resolution.

Outline proposed programs to bring about these resolutions.

Explain exactly how Medicare, Managed Care, Prepaid Providers differ and explain why each is faulty.

show us you can convince not only Dr.Phil but his millions of viewers!

Not being sarcastic I would like to hear what the issues are and solutions

I think these issues are valid.

It was not until I found this site some months back that I knew WHY there was a "nursing shortage." I would like to think that educating the public is a good thing, might bring about some change.

Don't understand why anyone would be against these issues being brought to the forefront.

I would hope that these issues might start being addressed before I graduate. I am sure I hope for too much, lol.

YW, and keep your chin up!

You know, it probably is a very good idea to make an outline, and fill it in for your cohorts first. There are alot of great ideas, differences in principles, ethics, standards of behavior,etc. I think this input may very well make you ready for a great multifaceted discussion with Dr. Phil, and broaden your argument base for any article you may write!

Think about it! We may be able to help!

You go Cheerfuldoer! Try Oprah, she has more social issues than Dr. Phil. I agree that you better have a solution ready for the problems that have contributed to the nursing shortage. Keep at it, you are doing good things!

WAY TO GO RENEE!:kiss YES!

Fran:nurse:

I am only ONE nurse of hundreds of thousands in this United States. I will not attempt to speak for the other hundreds of thousands.....that is where other nurses...each of you who want to have a voice in making change in our profession....come in.

One person may initiate the act of correction as well as get the ball rolling, but one person cannot do it alone. Imagine an audience filled with nurses with only a small handful of nurses speaking up to address the issues we have gathered for. Imagine that audience of opportunity in the light of the same nursing meetings held across the United States on every nursing unit with the nurse manager leading the meeting. If a nurse is afraid to have a voice in a small enclosed environment such as that with the fear of retaliation and voicing their concerns openly about the issues facing nursing, what makes anyone think that I...one person...can speak for every voice?????????

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

I am only ONE nurse of hundreds of thousands in this United States. I will not attempt to speak for the other hundreds of thousands.....that is where other nurses...each of you who want to have a voice in making change in our profession....come in.

One person may initiate the act of correction as well as get the ball rolling, but one person cannot do it alone. Imagine an audience filled with nurses with only a small handful of nurses speaking up to address the issues we have gathered for. Imagine that audience of opportunity in the light of the same nursing meetings held across the United States on every nursing unit with the nurse manager leading the meeting. If a nurse is afraid to have a voice in a small enclosed environment such as that with the fear of retaliation and voicing their concerns openly about the issues facing nursing, what makes anyone think that I...one person...can speak for every voice?????????

I just wanted you to give us a sample of your knowledge on the topic and show us some of the resolutions you were aware of and plans to impliment such plans. When you said you wrote Dr. Phil about this topic I assumed (my bad)That you had some knowledge and insight into the problem and some possible resolutions to suggest.

I, too, have written about the nursing shortage. Although Oprah did not contact me, the following week she mentioned nurses on her show and how they are not appreciated and are heroes.

I have learned to write congressmen, senators (state and federal) my TV station, my newspaper as well as national entities. If more of us do and the same complaints keep coming up we will be heard.

Tonight my sister-in-law stopped by. She is a nurse manager who is totally burned out. The physicians are so spoiled that nothing she does is good enough. I know some of the ways she has gone out of her way to please them and she has also been pretty direct about how unappreciative they are to her and her nurses. After a while the money means nothing and you either leave, get fired or become apathetic. I for one do not want an apathetic nurse. So we need to support each other and let the world know how difficult nursing can really be.

CCU NRS,

To address your questions, may I suggest you read the thread I started titled "Dear Patients". It speaks volumes about where I am coming from and the type of issues I'd like the public to be aware of.

My knowledge on the subject? 17 years of being a bedside Registered Nurse who has witnessed with my own eyes the changes that have taken place in nursing as far as bedside nursing is concerned. I've seen nursing on the floors (particulary med/surg units) go from the nurse having time to truly know her/his patients health history, medications and the side effects of those new meds that keep popping up faster than we can keep up with today. I've seen Primary Care Nursing turn into a disaster. Today we have nonmedical uncertified personnel assisting us with our patients unlike when I worked as a Nurse Assistant where we had to be a Certified Nursing Assistant or a nursing student in her/his final year of clinical rotations. I've gone from having known doctors that saw a lot of their patients to doctors that see very little of their patients today. Family and patients voice how irate they are about not seeing their doctor enough while hospitalized. They want test results that only their doctors can give them, yet the doc is scarce these days. Their involvement has dwindled, and they tend to pass the buck more by saying "That's not my organ system" when I as a nurse ask them something about their patients. Today, the nurses have to call "the appropriate organ doc" before something can be done about their patients needs. Family members and patients are no longer trusting in their physicians the way they use to when I first became a nurse. Actually, it was in 1996 when I first noticed the drastic changes taking place in nursing. I was working in California at that time.

Other issues are as they are mentioned in my "Dear Patients" thread: Not being able to care for the patients needs in a timely manner which causes PR issues to arise because family are now coming to the hospitals with much attitude today than they ever have before..........and can we blame them? No, we can't. They are being told by the media, the T.V. shows ER and Scrubs (and the like) that NURSES are to blame for excess patient falls, dirty patient rooms, cold mealtrays, late baths or no time for baths for their loved ones, late pain meds because they do not understand where the heck their loved ones nurse is.......never mind if we are with another one of our patients who is having chest pain or vomiting blood or is in need of being transferred to ICU because they are crashing right before your eyes....that is not their issue, their issue is seeing to it that the nurse gets what their loved one wants and/or needs. And we should be able to do these things.

I do NOT in anyway fault the patients or their family/friends who show concern for them. In today's nursing, they have every right to be concerned..........truly concerned.......as we are as the nurses who care for them under the conditions that we do...not enough staff, not enough trained help who are certified, not enough support from TPTB, and a lack of understanding from a few of the docs on board.

Resolutions to these problems? They have to come from the heart of hearts and put humanity back in healthcare from the TOP of the rung to the lowest rung on the ladder. What goes upline, flows back down through the line affecting attitudes, morale, cohesiveness on the floors between staff, and so forth.

IF California puts its patient/nurse ratio policies to full force and uphold that law across the board without fail, I would say that is a start towards making our patients and ourselves more at ease...at less risk for accidents...more time to get to know our patients.

Yes, it cost money for those services. It is also costing patients their lives which no amount of money can replace. Gone is gone. Money comes and money goes, but our loved ones are here but once.