Nurse Staffing Laws: Should You Worry?

I have read some great responses in this thread as well as others and there seems to be a great general theme: If we come together we are strong!

We need to make the rules! There should be an acuity tool that makes sense and is simple to use, even for an administrator. Then a nurse's assignment should be based on this acuity tool and no nurse should ever exceed a certain acuity on their assignment, whether with one patient or with six.

Hospitals are making money hand over fist while we work overtime just to make ends meet. Without us there are no hospitals. Without nursing there are no $10 million bonuses for hospital administrators.

If you take the administration out of the hospital healthcare improves. If you remove nurses it stops altogether!

They tell us starting in nursing school that we do this from the heart. We shouldn't do it for the money. Asking for more is just greedy. You should feel guilty cashing your paycheck! And you want MORE???

I agree that we should do this from the heart. Who would want to do it if your heart wasn't in it? But why should I worry about my finances while I adjust your drip? Why shouldn't my children go to the college of their choice after I kept you alive? I AM WORTH IT! And so are you!

I think more staff are needed.

I have had the opportunity to work in both union and non union hospitals. Neither are all good or all bad. The biggest issue is how administration and our so called "Professional" organizations have done to us. If we speak our mind then we are not team players or we are trouble makers. The ANA and other organizations have done absolutely nothing to help those of us on the front lines of patient care. I have worked in ICU's where there are no CNA's and no unit clerk. Administration doesn't give a damn about the staff as long as their bottom line looks good. We are told that our "clients" need excellant service. Excuse me, I am not a waitress! Our patients need competent nurses at the bedside, who can help them recover. It is really very simple, if nurses within this country came together we would be a force to be reckoned with. It scarys the ANA and hospitals to think that they would have no control over a major part of patient care. That is one reason that I travel. The politics of hospitals are horrible. They promote animosity between staff, and between units. I just got tired of it.