Strike or time to grow up!

kennedyj · Jun 17, 2001

Yes some days I get to surf the net when we only have 1 or 2 patients and they are sleeping. I work in the newborn nursery and postpartum unit. When it is slow there really isn't much to do. Really!

I have also worked 18 hour days when it has been busy. Last week for example. (fixed salary means I get paid the same if I work 40 hrs or 80 hrs a week).

I work 42 hrs a week and pull call about 4 times a month which I do not get paid if I am called in. We have meetings and additional roles we have to spend time on which are also unpaid.

I also am working on a dual masters degree. I am a new BSN of less than a year, Work an unpaid 8-12 hour shift in Labor and delivery and also and 8 hr unpaid shift in the perinatology clinic.

I do this because I like nursing and want to expand my knowledge.

No....I will never go into management.

I just get a little irritated when I hear repeatedly people saying...go for it....you go....and all this talk about promoting strikes. In the end the facility can probably care less and the patients get screwed. They just pay more money for agency nurses which they do anyways when they are short. This extra will probably make it more difficult to hire new nurses, give hire on bonuses etc....

And yes I am on the internet now...

Lol..

Jared

[ June 17, 2001: Message edited by: kennedyj ]

kennedyj · Jun 17, 2001

Yes some days I get to surf the net when we only have 1 or 2 patients and they are sleeping. I work in the newborn nursery and postpartum unit. When it is slow there really isn't much to do. Really!

I have also worked 18 hour days when it has been busy. Last week for example. (fixed salary means I get paid the same if I work 40 hrs or 80 hrs a week).

I work 42 hrs a week and pull call about 4 times a month which I do not get paid if I am called in. We have meetings and additional roles we have to spend time on which are also unpaid.

I also am working on a dual masters degree. I am a new BSN of less than a year, Work an unpaid 8-12 hour shift in Labor and delivery and also and 8 hr unpaid shift in the perinatology clinic.

I do this because I like nursing and want to expand my knowledge.

No....I will never go into management.

I just get a little irritated when I hear repeatedly people saying...go for it....you go....and all this talk about promoting strikes. In the end the facility can probably care less and the patients get screwed. They just pay more money for agency nurses which they do anyways when they are short. This extra will probably make it more difficult to hire new nurses, give hire on bonuses etc....

And yes I am on the internet now...

Lol..

Jared

[ June 17, 2001: Message edited by: kennedyj ]

Jenny P · Jun 17, 2001

Kennedyj, once you have been at the bedside for 20 or 30 years, maybe you will understand why nurses strike. My hospital offered us a lousy contract which only had a 18% pay raise over 3 years and pushed us to the brink of a strike because we wanted patient safety addressed. Our raises over the last 9 years were eaten up by hikes in the contributions we had to pay for our "benefits", and the hospital was not acknowledging longevity in the contract. The night before the strike, when the hospital found out that they were 98 scabs short for the day shift (when the strike would start at 5:30AM) the hospital agreed to return to the table and offered us a contract that met most of our needs- and we ended up with a 19% raise over 3 years. IF THERE WEREN'T SCABS; THERE WOULDN'T BE STRIKES BECAUSE THE HOSPITALS WOULD HAVE TO BARGAIN IN GGOD FAITH! In other words, it's not the nurses who force the strikes, it's the hospitals who cause them.

Jenny P · Jun 17, 2001

Kennedyj, once you have been at the bedside for 20 or 30 years, maybe you will understand why nurses strike. My hospital offered us a lousy contract which only had a 18% pay raise over 3 years and pushed us to the brink of a strike because we wanted patient safety addressed. Our raises over the last 9 years were eaten up by hikes in the contributions we had to pay for our "benefits", and the hospital was not acknowledging longevity in the contract. The night before the strike, when the hospital found out that they were 98 scabs short for the day shift (when the strike would start at 5:30AM) the hospital agreed to return to the table and offered us a contract that met most of our needs- and we ended up with a 19% raise over 3 years. IF THERE WEREN'T SCABS; THERE WOULDN'T BE STRIKES BECAUSE THE HOSPITALS WOULD HAVE TO BARGAIN IN GGOD FAITH! In other words, it's not the nurses who force the strikes, it's the hospitals who cause them.

kennedyj · Jun 17, 2001

I wish I could only get Overtime for all the hard work I do. It must be nice! I envy all of you.

Jared

kennedyj · Jun 17, 2001

I wish I could only get Overtime for all the hard work I do. It must be nice! I envy all of you.

Jared

fiestynurse · Jun 18, 2001

kennedyj, are you on active duty as a military nurse? As an RN do you get an officer's salary? Just curious about your working situation, because something doesn't sound right to me? How long have you actually worked as a nurse? Excuse me if I am asking you for too much personal information about yourself. I am just trying to figure out where you are coming from?

fiestynurse · Jun 18, 2001

kennedyj, are you on active duty as a military nurse? As an RN do you get an officer's salary? Just curious about your working situation, because something doesn't sound right to me? How long have you actually worked as a nurse? Excuse me if I am asking you for too much personal information about yourself. I am just trying to figure out where you are coming from?

-jt · Jun 18, 2001

"Does this mean you would like to see no one show up??"

YES!!!!!!!!!!!

Because in the 10 day countdown of the strike notice, if no scabs were going to show up, the hospital would come running back to the table to address the issues we need to address & would compromise more in order to settle, rather than shut down services & lose revenue because they dont have enough nurses to be allowed by the state to remain open. Youd be shocked at fast they come crawling on their knees begging to be given another chance to deal fairly. And when we do, the strike is cancelled before it even starts.

So be all means - help out those striking nurses & let their employer know you will NOT be showing up!!

-jt · Jun 18, 2001

"Does this mean you would like to see no one show up??"

YES!!!!!!!!!!!

Because in the 10 day countdown of the strike notice, if no scabs were going to show up, the hospital would come running back to the table to address the issues we need to address & would compromise more in order to settle, rather than shut down services & lose revenue because they dont have enough nurses to be allowed by the state to remain open. Youd be shocked at fast they come crawling on their knees begging to be given another chance to deal fairly. And when we do, the strike is cancelled before it even starts.

So be all means - help out those striking nurses & let their employer know you will NOT be showing up!!

-jt · Jun 18, 2001

"Hi Jared. You spent six hours on the net while at work? "

do you think he knows that his employer can track his internet use of the computers at work? I wonder what they'll think about his log-on time spent.

"I have also worked 18 hour days when it has been busy. Last week for example. (fixed salary means I get paid the same if I work 40 hrs or 80 hrs a week).

I work 42 hrs a week and pull call about 4 times a month which I do not get paid if I am called in. We have meetings and additional roles we have to spend time on which are also unpaid.

I also am working on a dual masters degree. I am a new BSN of less than a year, Work an unpaid 8-12 hour shift in Labor and delivery and also and 8 hr unpaid shift in the perinatology clinic."

Are you crazy??! Why are you selling yourself & US short? Do you realize what we have had to go thru to obtain pay for our worth over the last 20 yrs??? OMG! I feel like Susan B Anthony might have upon hearing that after the suffragettes movement finally won laws to give them what they deserved - the right to vote - young women who became eligible to vote didnt bother! I know you are new but you have a lot to learn about our history, your worth & being taken advantage of. Youre a staff RN with a Fixed Salary??? You dont get overtime pay?? Unpaid call??? UNPAID SHIFTS?????? This is comparable to standing up & giving the MD your seat when he walks into the room. You wouldnt do that (I hope), so why are you doing this?? its the same thing - denigrating yourself & OUR profession. I can tell you that those of us who fought like hell to get what for all nurses what you so willingly disregard, do not apprciate new nurses knocking us back to the 1940's. I hope the schools arent turning them all out like this. If so, we're doomed.

"I wish I could only get Overtime for all the hard work I do. It must be nice! I envy all of you."

Dont bother wishing or envying. Its the law so Start demanding. Nobody can use you as a doormat unless you lie down.

PS

Hey Fergus......just wondering what you must be thinking about all the nurses who so eagerly jump the strike lines of other nurses here in the good ole USA - land of opportunity. Are you amazed that American nurses wont even stand together to fight the evils that they ALL have in common nation-wide? We must be a laughing stock to your nation of all-for-one nurses who would never cross each others strike lines. Some of us should be ashamed of ourselves, huh?

-jt · Jun 18, 2001

"Hi Jared. You spent six hours on the net while at work? "

do you think he knows that his employer can track his internet use of the computers at work? I wonder what they'll think about his log-on time spent.

"I have also worked 18 hour days when it has been busy. Last week for example. (fixed salary means I get paid the same if I work 40 hrs or 80 hrs a week).

I work 42 hrs a week and pull call about 4 times a month which I do not get paid if I am called in. We have meetings and additional roles we have to spend time on which are also unpaid.

I also am working on a dual masters degree. I am a new BSN of less than a year, Work an unpaid 8-12 hour shift in Labor and delivery and also and 8 hr unpaid shift in the perinatology clinic."

Are you crazy??! Why are you selling yourself & US short? Do you realize what we have had to go thru to obtain pay for our worth over the last 20 yrs??? OMG! I feel like Susan B Anthony might have upon hearing that after the suffragettes movement finally won laws to give them what they deserved - the right to vote - young women who became eligible to vote didnt bother! I know you are new but you have a lot to learn about our history, your worth & being taken advantage of. Youre a staff RN with a Fixed Salary??? You dont get overtime pay?? Unpaid call??? UNPAID SHIFTS?????? This is comparable to standing up & giving the MD your seat when he walks into the room. You wouldnt do that (I hope), so why are you doing this?? its the same thing - denigrating yourself & OUR profession. I can tell you that those of us who fought like hell to get what for all nurses what you so willingly disregard, do not apprciate new nurses knocking us back to the 1940's. I hope the schools arent turning them all out like this. If so, we're doomed.

"I wish I could only get Overtime for all the hard work I do. It must be nice! I envy all of you."

Dont bother wishing or envying. Its the law so Start demanding. Nobody can use you as a doormat unless you lie down.

PS

Hey Fergus......just wondering what you must be thinking about all the nurses who so eagerly jump the strike lines of other nurses here in the good ole USA - land of opportunity. Are you amazed that American nurses wont even stand together to fight the evils that they ALL have in common nation-wide? We must be a laughing stock to your nation of all-for-one nurses who would never cross each others strike lines. Some of us should be ashamed of ourselves, huh?