Can't order ink pens but ceo earned > $1,400,000.00 in 2008

I am sorry, I don't care how hard a hospitals CEOs job is; they are not worth $1,400,000...the president of the United State does not make that much and he runs and entire country.

I am not YET a nurse, but, I do work in a hospital as a Phlebotomist (graduate to be an RN in MAY!!!!) Anyways, our hospital has had sooo many cuts in the last year. First it started with the 'administration' big wigs, backstabbing each other to fight for each others positions, firing people that had been working for the hospital for prob 30+ years , some just a year shy of retiring..making them leave earlier (ps, our hospital used to be split in two cities and was a 'community hospital', THEN they signed with a large organization and are now One...small hospital in the middle of the two, closing the other ones and leaving just empty buildings...their 'attempt' to save money..whatever)
So, then it went to charge nurses that had been there for years being replaced by newer nurses and it has just went down the 'foodchain' until even our housekeeping is understaffed. Everyone is short handed and stressed, the nurses have your situation on each floor and of course supplys have been replaced with the cheapest sh*t they could find, i swear.
Id like to blame all this madness on the economy, yes i would. But something in me keeps getting angrier and angrier with the whole organization. this is already long winded, and believe me i could go on and on about all the stuff i have to put up with just in my department. It just makes me so mad that these people sit in their offices and make all these rules about hiring staff and how we can get by with what we have JUSt because the 'numbers' with their money situation is good for them.
Clearly the hospital staff and patients are suffering from this. Nurses that havent been layed off are leaving, and they are NOT being replaced. And Im scared, becasue I graduate soon and have to work for them for 3 years (i was stupid and signed a contract...I thought it was going to be a good thing, now Im regretting it) Im scared that Im going to be thrown in right after school and not get proper training because the nurses are not going to have patience with me. And its not just that, unfortunatley people are writing to our local paper complaining A LOT about the service at our hospital. Its an embarrassment and It makes me feel bad becuase everyone really is busting their butts. Rn's dont have aides to help them out, in fact, our hospital is trying for an all RN staff...no lpns...no aides. Which might be fine IF their were more than 2... I guess Im venting...haha. I went into Nursing because I love the challenge and I love helping people, I want to imrpove their lives and I cant wait until I know how to do just that. But, I do not want to have to put up with all the politics of it. I hate Corporate. But it seems that in this field Im not going to get away from it.
If I could live on a hippy farm and be a nurse and work for daisies and potatoes I would...but thats not feasable. I wish these people that sit at their desks with full mugs of coffee all day long (did i mention we arent aloud to have drinks at our stations?) that get breakfast breaks as well as LUnch breaks (what the HECK is a breakfast break?) would come work in EACH department for a week and see just what we do. These people dont even have patient contact, they dont even know how to handle situations. One lady was walking through our department (in a nice dress and clicky heels) and just so happened to stumble upon me telling an outpatient that their were just a couple of people ahead of her and it will only be a few minutes,and she came up to me as if I had done something majorly wrong and goes "Its whatever the patient wants"( I was the only one drawing blood because we are short staffed and when its busy, we deal) PLUS we have a system, if we just did what ever the 'patient' wanted I would have a mob coming at me! I just couldnt believe it, and had to stop what i was doing, take that patient right in front of the two that had been waiting longer. I just cant stand it, guess its a sore spot for me cuz I really did not expect to write this much ...i feel better now

Interesting....

If you hate the CEO for earning so much and believe (mistakenly, BTW) that they do nothing more than sit on their butts, go golfing and have inappropriate interludes at lunch....then shadow one. Find out what they really do. Go to school and become one. NOW *you* know what RNs do...and can make a difference and earn more income (which - at that point - you will definitely feel you *deserve*!).

My husband's father said to him, "A doctor is not paid for his time, he is paid for what he knows." It is a CEO's knowledge that gets him that check. Most of us could not do his (or her) job.

It appears that many are angry about what they *think* is happening or why.

One thing I would point out....

In a communistic country, all citizens were paid the same regardless of education or level of effort. (Spread the wealth. No upper/lower class.) Well the productivity in those countries tanked. The guy working his behind off got ticked when the guy who sat on his arse did nothing and got the same check. As a result, he stopped working as hard. Why would you go through to get an MD or PhD when you would get the same pay as a janitor?

Then there is France. Oh they hate the *US*. We are a bunch of greedy selfish folks. Did you see them scream bloody murder when the Pres wanted to INCREASE their work week to 40 hrs (currently 30) and shorten their annual vacation time to 2 weeks (from 3 months)! We have what we have because of our own efforts. If you want more, seek more. If you do not seek more then it is time to have your lips greet each other.

Regarding the pens.....

Think of it this way.....

How many times did you "steal" pens from your employer? How many times did you get home, clean out your uniform pockets and there was a pen there that wasn't there when you got to work? You then left that one at home.... (rinse, repeat). How many times did you steal from your employer when you printed personal stuff using the hospital computer and/or printer? Have you ever used your employers copier or fax for personal reasons?

Sounds petty? Yeah, but if you add it up, it can cost a fortune in the long run. Think about it, if every employee came to work without a pen and left with one, how much would that cost the hospital per year?

That is the way a business person thinks.

I only began to think about this kind of stuff when I was at church one Sunday. I lived in a military town and I was AD USAF. The pastor asked us to raise our hands if we ever have stolen from our employers. Of course no hands went up. Then he said, "Raise your hands if you have 'Skilcraft' pens at home." The looks on the faces were priceless! I was raised military. I remember all those Skilcraft pens. I had never thought of it as stealing. He pointed out that the Lord would. Wow! I never took home another Skilcraft pen!