Strike or time to grow up!

Nurses General Nursing

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JenKatt

99 Posts

Specializes in NICU, Informatics.

Let me just say this. I am in awe of most of the nurses on this bored. Ya'll have been there, done it and conquered. Kudos for still stadning at the end of all of it.

JenKatt

99 Posts

Specializes in NICU, Informatics.

Let me just say this. I am in awe of most of the nurses on this bored. Ya'll have been there, done it and conquered. Kudos for still stadning at the end of all of it.

Hardknox

237 Posts

Anybody check out Jared's website? His cartoons about "nurses" says it all.....

Hardknox

237 Posts

Anybody check out Jared's website? His cartoons about "nurses" says it all.....

-jt

2,709 Posts

Kudos for still stadning at the end of all of it.

thanks but really we had no choice. If we fell - who would be there to care for us?

We are all we've got!

-jt

2,709 Posts

Kudos for still stadning at the end of all of it.

thanks but really we had no choice. If we fell - who would be there to care for us?

We are all we've got!

pickledpepperRN

4,491 Posts

Although I have never been on strike I will if necessary in order to protect the patients.

I did once walk a picket line with striking friends from another hospital. The registered nurses had helped transfer the patients to another hospital in the chain (They had 1 day "rolling strikes).

A car pulled up with a lady in labor who had not gotten the word to go to another hospital. One L&D RN left the picket line, helped with the delivery, gave report to her manager, and returned to the picket.

PS: To the military nurse. I haven't just been on the line I have sixty-two thousand hours of staff nursing. It is getting harder and harder with more and more patients who are sicker than ever. You see, I work in critical care where we literally keep people alive who would have died just a few years ago. :p

pickledpepperRN

4,491 Posts

Although I have never been on strike I will if necessary in order to protect the patients.

I did once walk a picket line with striking friends from another hospital. The registered nurses had helped transfer the patients to another hospital in the chain (They had 1 day "rolling strikes).

A car pulled up with a lady in labor who had not gotten the word to go to another hospital. One L&D RN left the picket line, helped with the delivery, gave report to her manager, and returned to the picket.

PS: To the military nurse. I haven't just been on the line I have sixty-two thousand hours of staff nursing. It is getting harder and harder with more and more patients who are sicker than ever. You see, I work in critical care where we literally keep people alive who would have died just a few years ago. :p

fergus51

6,620 Posts

Originally posted by kennedyj:

Originally posted by majic65:

[qb]In my 9 months as a nurse I have been off to a good start (not just academically). What have you done? Strike??

[ June 19, 2001: Message edited by: kennedyj ]

Do you really think that's fair? I think it's awesome that you are a good nurse and studying so much to improve upon yourself, but striking is not the evil you want it to be. I don't think you understand the sacrifice that a nurse has to go through to strike. Even more sacrifice involved than giving up time to study. We haven't had a strike here in decades, but I know nurses who were forced to strike and had to get other jobs on top of it to support their families.

Nurses strike for their patients (because conditions are really bad, you'll find out if you come back) and for their own families (a nurse should make enough money to suport herself and her family). The average age for nurses is going up and your country is luring our new nurses away by the thousands, so what would you have us do? I am honestly asking. What should we do? Accept a contract that eliminates designated days off for part-timers, allows calling in of casuals to no longer be based on seniority (new nurses are a lot cheaper) and make the highest paid nurses accept 22$ an hour? How many nurses do you think we'll be left with after the mass exodus to the US? We don't offer any of the signing bonuses, tuition reimbursement or retention bonuses you do and even after 30 years, nurses here make about 18$ an hour. How can we compete?

I am at the end of my rope Jared. I am tired of caring for more patients than it is safe to care for. I am tired of working OT (we have an OT ban in place, but I work L&D and postpartum so I haven't been affected by it). I am tired of making 16$ an hour after getting a four year degree (the minimum is the BSN here now) and a year long course to be able to work L&D. I am sick of knowing that my employer and the public does not value my contribution. I am at the point where I am seriously considerig moving to the US even though I know that will just make the situation here worse. This is how far I have been pushed by my employer.

So I ask again, what is the alternative to striking? Our job action doesn't seem to be getting the point across.

fergus51

6,620 Posts

Originally posted by kennedyj:

Originally posted by majic65:

[qb]In my 9 months as a nurse I have been off to a good start (not just academically). What have you done? Strike??

[ June 19, 2001: Message edited by: kennedyj ]

Do you really think that's fair? I think it's awesome that you are a good nurse and studying so much to improve upon yourself, but striking is not the evil you want it to be. I don't think you understand the sacrifice that a nurse has to go through to strike. Even more sacrifice involved than giving up time to study. We haven't had a strike here in decades, but I know nurses who were forced to strike and had to get other jobs on top of it to support their families.

Nurses strike for their patients (because conditions are really bad, you'll find out if you come back) and for their own families (a nurse should make enough money to suport herself and her family). The average age for nurses is going up and your country is luring our new nurses away by the thousands, so what would you have us do? I am honestly asking. What should we do? Accept a contract that eliminates designated days off for part-timers, allows calling in of casuals to no longer be based on seniority (new nurses are a lot cheaper) and make the highest paid nurses accept 22$ an hour? How many nurses do you think we'll be left with after the mass exodus to the US? We don't offer any of the signing bonuses, tuition reimbursement or retention bonuses you do and even after 30 years, nurses here make about 18$ an hour. How can we compete?

I am at the end of my rope Jared. I am tired of caring for more patients than it is safe to care for. I am tired of working OT (we have an OT ban in place, but I work L&D and postpartum so I haven't been affected by it). I am tired of making 16$ an hour after getting a four year degree (the minimum is the BSN here now) and a year long course to be able to work L&D. I am sick of knowing that my employer and the public does not value my contribution. I am at the point where I am seriously considerig moving to the US even though I know that will just make the situation here worse. This is how far I have been pushed by my employer.

So I ask again, what is the alternative to striking? Our job action doesn't seem to be getting the point across.

kennedyj

252 Posts

Originally posted by -jt:

As a new nurse the military will not allow me to work in a speciaized area until I have 1 year nursing experience.

same thing applies in many hospitals not in the military. and that is how it should be -as a new nurse, you have much to learn.

when you talked about working a 12 hr shift, going to the airport, coming back to work another 12 hr shift, did you mean you hadnt slept at all in between all that?

Well I had a long flight from Germany to las Vegas to sleep. With 2 days of classes. then a long flight back. so plenty of time to sleep.

:)

Jared

kennedyj

252 Posts

Originally posted by -jt:

As a new nurse the military will not allow me to work in a speciaized area until I have 1 year nursing experience.

same thing applies in many hospitals not in the military. and that is how it should be -as a new nurse, you have much to learn.

when you talked about working a 12 hr shift, going to the airport, coming back to work another 12 hr shift, did you mean you hadnt slept at all in between all that?

Well I had a long flight from Germany to las Vegas to sleep. With 2 days of classes. then a long flight back. so plenty of time to sleep.

:)

Jared

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