I was replying to another thread on the paltry pay we receive for working the weird hours we do, and it occured to me that, as a professional who holds so much responsibilty, my pay "bonuses" are measured by mere pennies per hour.
We have SO MUCH legal and professional responsiblities sitting squarely on our shouldres, and our yearly merits are rewarded with compensation to the right of a decimal point. That is SO WRONG!!!
We take years to prepare and are required in many states to maintain current on our learing, but we are at the whim of the facility to send us packing in the middle of the day when census drops, only to be called back when it, predictably, picks up again a few hours later.
I think part of the reason we all feel so frustrated here is that we are charged with so much responsiblity, but have very little authority on how we practice, and are treated poorer than checkout clerks. Heck, do you see the grocery store sending their employees home in the middle of the day "Stay by the phone, we'll call you when more customers come in".
And, employers know our jobs are high risk for back and other injuries, but do not purchase the proper aids that would make lifting and transferring patients easier on us. Like we are held in contempt by the facilities that hire us. And then when nurses DO get injured, they are dropped like hot potatoes.
Ladies, if you are a nurse, you are smart enough to make it through law school, vet school, or anything else you want to do. If I wasn't so old and had so many people riding on my salary, I'd switch professions in a heartbeat.
We are ALL too smart to take this maltreatment, and we have NO POWER to do anything. Strike? Union you say? Hah!! Just look at what Petoskey Michigan did....the nurses there went on strike YEARS ago, and the hospital never caved. They just hired temps. Some nurses came limping back with their tails between their legs, some never got their jobs back.
Do your firefighters take this kind of abuse? Your police department? I think not. These "professions" consist of mostly males. Could this be why?? I think so. I thought when more men entered nursing things would change. They did not.
