Southern Nurses Better Off Than The Rest?

Nurses Activism

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You may not believe this (or maybe you will!) but I just heard that nurses from states in the South (ie: Mississippi) recently stated to other nurses at the national American Nurses Association convention in Philadelphia that:

"there are no problems with staffing and mandatory overtime" in their states.

If that statement is true - great! Maybe they can tell the rest of us how they did it! (I wonder if the nurses working in pt care in the South know how good they supposedly have it there).

But we also heard from the unionized states in the South (GA, FL, KY, AL, WV, NC, to name a few) that there are terrible problems with staffing in that region of the country. Apparently it is just the non-union Southern states that think everything is just peachy at the bedsides in the South.

These RNs are the leaders elected by nurses in their states to speak for nursing to the legislatures, media, & profession as THE voice of nursing in those states, and they are saying that their states nurses have no problems at the bedsides!!

Any RN here from Mississippi who can back that up?? :)

If some of the Southern RN delegates at the convention are really unaware & misinformed (and are misinforming their legislatures & the rest of the country about the real deal that staff RNs are facing in their states), then staff RNs really need to get into those Southern state nurses assoc & give those people an education, or else nothing is going to get any better for the RN at the bedside in those states.

I wonder why they havent heard from the staff nurses about the staffing shortages they are experiencing. Or have they heard & are just not telling the truth to the rest of us? Or is it true as they say that there are no staff shortages??

Anyway, Southern staff nurse BB friends - please clear this up for me - Do you really NOT have a problem with staffing or mandatory OT in your states?????:eek:

thanks

I was just told in another thread that nurses in Texas are doing just fine. Reading this thread, it sure doesnt sound that way. Thanks for all the responses.

Specializes in Critical Care, M/S, Post partum, Ortho.

I work part time for one of the two largest health systems in Charleston, SC. I am part of the MRP (mobile resource pool) comprised of almost 200 RN's, LPN's, CNA's and Unit Secretaries. The MRP was formed, in part to alleviate staffing shortages and to eliminate outside agency use. The hospital pays us extra for our flexibility and also pays even more if you will work multi-facility. I choose my own schedule ie; days to work and shifts. The hospital is "fairly" well staffed and did hire a lot of new grads from the local Technical College and University.

Having relocated here, eight years ago from a unionized hospital in Massachusetts, I have to say that yes, I am treated better here and yes, the staffing is better.

I am from Missisippi. I have been traveling for 3 1/2 years now and returned in april to work here. I left to travel due to the working conditions here. Your statements about "You know how those girls are", "They must be on their period" "They are just over emotional" I have heard them all. Women are treated like we have no brains when it comes to the management. They want to here the problem then label you a trouble maker.

We have ICU nurses here taking 3 and 4 patients and all of them vents. If you refuse due to patient safety.....harassment which includes intimidation, threatening of job, screaming hollering and many other forms are soon to follow.

I say that most of the time "we allow what happens to us" Nurses allow this. In the south Girls are taught to be "NICE YOUNG LADIES", you don't rock the boat. WE ARE BROUGHT UP IN CO-DEPENDENT HELL!!! Hospitals and coorporations take advantage of it.

They say "if we don't take care of them who will?". Just bump up and put the other two you are already taken care of in danger.

Why not put them on an ambulance and send them to another hospital with staff. OR better yet DON, PUT ON YOUR SCRUBS AND GET TO WORK! No one wants to due that though you know that all mighty dollar. I would love to know who said that from mississippi because I would like to laugh in their face. If I had been standing there with a drink in my mouth I would have shot it across the room if I had been standing there.

I am still shaking my head about that statement. It must have been a management person who sits behind a desk and draws a BONUS for cutting cost.......how do they do that......THEY CUT STAFF!!!!

Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

This thread is over 3 1/2 years old.

Specializes in L&D.
Also I should probably add that there is an amost palpable fear of job loss associated with openly criticizing your employer here.

Shortage or no shortage, in our area, we are well aware that the employers would rather fire nurses than hire and pay them. (New nurses make less than more experienced nurses. You get to a certain level, and suddenly---wham! something is trumped up against you or subtle threats are made, and you know you're outta there. I've seen it. In LTC facilities in this area, at least 5 admins and DONs were fired in a six-month period following the new JACHO staffing rules. Why? Because these experienced people made more. They were replaced with newer, less experienced, thus "cheaper" employees.)

This is an at-will state, and if you make a peep, they'll fire you.

Seriously. And there is no one to help you, not even anyone to enforce the labor laws they already have.

If I was younger and I didn't need a steady income, I'd fight it, but I'm not and I can't put my family through a battle.

So fear of retaliation is the main problem with honestly addressing nursing issues in this state, IMHO.

Yeah amen and Amen!! Sucks big time. I seriously wonder if we'll see any differance in this nursing problem in Our lifetime.

Specializes in L&D.
This thread is over 3 1/2 years old.

07-06-2002, 12:36 PM

Sad huh? Nothings changed one bit....

Specializes in Critical Care, M/S, Post partum, Ortho.

I still stand by my position of being fortunate to work in a well staffed hospital in Charleston. I am too old to put up with the kind of crap you wrote about. I would be looking for another job as fast as possible. In 30 years of nursing my one rule of thumb has been, that if I cannot leave, at the end of my shift, knowing that I gave the best care possible to my patients then I have a moral obligation to say or do something about it.

I also have not seen the southern belle mentality or demeanor you wrote about. The southern women I work with are not afraid to open their mouths and stand up for their patients. We also have nurse managers who actually do pitch in with patient care. The ICU nurse manager is quite capable of taking an assignment when necessary and has even worked a few weekends and night shifts to help out. He does not get paid to do this as managers are salaried.

Specializes in Rehab, Step-down,Tele,Hospice.

Helloooooo..... I work in Florida and I have NEVER heard anything about unions.

They do not exist in Florida.

We are always short staffed where I work. The other night it was 3 RN to 32 patients.

Husband is a nurse, we live in Southern Mississippi. He has never heard of mandatory overtime at his hospital and he hasn't heard of too many issues with understaffing. In fact some days he has called in to pick up an extra shift or two and there weren't any vacancies to be filled. He works in the ICU.

Hope this helps,

Adri

P.S. I am a nursing student and I am around nurses all the time, I've never heard one say the words "mandatory overtime".

I have often said, " If those who make the rules would come down and work with the ones the rules are effecting, those rules might change. I think it should be made mandatory !!

i know many nurses in Montgomery, AL that absolutely get kicked around and crapped on. High pt ratios, low pay, you name it.

I'm in Alabama. It's a Right-to-Work state. I've lived and worked as an RN here for 20 plus years, at 4 different hospitals and 2 different home health agencies. I've never even heard of a union for nurses here.

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