Health Care Reform Will Not Work Without Strengthening Nursing

Should be read and forwarded to members of Congress, state legislators et. al.

This is a big giant AMEN!

Nurses would fair far better by strengthening themselves instead of always looking to someone else to do it. Quite frankly most nurses are to overworked and to care about health reform and advocating for social agendas.

While I agree with the first part of your statement, I completely disagree with the second part. Most nurses I know are overworked indeed. But, this seems to compel them even more to advocate for change in the healthcare setting. Not to mention the many patients they're seeing denied everyday b/c something in their life at some time, set them up for pre-existing conditions and therefore, are no longer covered.

"Strengthing themselves", is a nice touchy feely kind of thing. But that will not work when nurses not only have 10 patients to care for, but will be shown the door without the support of a union contract. That is what the problem has been all along.

Nurse have done this to themselves by not organizing themselves to gain power over admistration. We have been pushed around, stepped on, and thrown around like junk. There is power in numbers. JMHO and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN
Spokane, Washington

People will continued to be abused by employers (or anyone else for that matter) to the extent that they allow themselves to be abused. It is within our power to end the abuse either individually or collectively. We have to utilize that power.

Lindarn
Not sure that unions have much to do with power as here in the UK all nurses belong to unions-our biggest one being the Royal College of Nursing.
We are probably treated, and certainly paid, less well than nurses in the US.
I am not sure why we have so little power but have a few ideas as to why it may be
1. female dominated profession
2. Medicine ultimately controls nursing
3. Lack of senior nursing leadership (ie nurses for nurses)
4. Nursing viewed as a vocation
5. Nurses continue to work without breaks, with too many patients to look after,work unpaid overtime.
6. Nurses for the most part think about their patients and will not walk off at the end of their shift if they feel they haven't completed paperwork and done the best for their patients.
7. Many nurses cannot see that by continuing to allow people to walk all over them things will only get worse and patients are the ones who suffer.

I am sure there must be some good research out there about this.
I love nursing and what I do, but no longer have respect for the institution that I work in .

A Union is only as powerful as its members allow it to be. If nurses continue to allow themselves to be walked all over, there is not much a union can do. It can only work on educating the nurses on what their rights are in the workplace, and point out that male dominated professions do not put up with what nurses put up with.

Perhaps monthly meetings with a motivational speaker to inspire the nurses to stand up for themselves. I don't have any other answers. I wish I did.

I have thought for along time to start holding seminars for nurses in different parts of the country. Include information on Employment Law, Administrative Law, Insurance Law, information on the financial aspects of the running of the hospital, etc. Nurses need to know how a hospital runs its financial side, and then they can see how hospitals "hide their money" when it comes to raise time", and can fight back. Hospitals are mastes on finding ways to spend money that does not improve patient care. Fancy lobbies come to mind.

I would include information on nurses becoming Independant Contractors, and forming Profesional Practice Groups, like Physicians do. Work as a group and have the hospital hire us as the "Emergency Nurses Group", that staff the ER 24/7. Do the same with the ICU, OB, Peds, etc.

School nurses could be Independant Contractors, instead of school district employees. I realize that nurses work for the schools, so they can obtain the benefits that teachers have, who are school district employees. Nurses who are Independant Contractors will make enough money to fund their own 401-Ks, and negiate for vacation and sick days, benefits, etc. You have all the benefits that big busines has.

In these above scenarios, Professional Practice Groups would hire an attorney to negotiate a contract for them. I guanrantee that an attorney who is working for YOU, would do much better at negotiating a contract than nurses who are employeed by the hospital. In all that nurses can do to help themselves, nurses need to get over the very big hump of the attitude of the martyr marys", who will continue to allow themselves to be walked all over.

Nurses also need to start billing for their services in the hospital. As long as a nurses professional services are rolled in with the housekeeping, laundry, and the complimentary roll of toilet paper, the public will continue to see nurses as handmaidens, less professional that Pts, OTs, Pharmacists, etc.

Nurses professional services need to be seen as a separate charge on a patients' bill. We need to be on the "plus" side of the balance sheet, instead of showing up only on the negative side, as an expense.

I agree that nursing still has a ways to go. It starts in nursing school. And that is where the attitude needs to change. Nursing school needs to instill a sense of worth in the students. Not to just bend over and take it. They need to learn how to fight back. JMHO and my NY $0.02.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN
Spokane, Washington

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/157884.php

This is a prime example that demonstrates the difference between medicine and nursing and how we are viewed and treated.
Similar things have happened in the UK when nurses try to blow the whistle on bad practice and standards of care.