All Nurses Read This

[buck227]

Please respond to this on this thread so we can all learn about each others situation

Questions

1)RN, LPN, or CNA?

2)Years as a nurse?

3)Area (i.e. U.S. NE, N central, NW, Se, S central, south west, Arkansas, or other country or location)

4) Are you satisfied with your pay?

5)with your benefits?

6)your hours?

7)Do you believe your supervisor is competent at his or her job?

8)Do you trust your employer?

9)Does your institution have a nursing education Dept, or has it been cut recently?

10)Do you enjoy being a nurse?

11)Does your employer have mandatory overtime?

12)How often do you get a break at work?

13)Do you work Days, nights, or rotate?

14) How many Holidays did you spend with your family or signifigant other over the last year?

15)Are you for or against the idea of a nurses union in your area?

16)If you were in a union, would you be willing to strike,picket,or have a work slow down?

17)any other comments

Please respond on this thread. I think it is important for us to understand each others work situation as nurses and to get a feel for what is going on in other areas of the country and world. Thanks to all for your time,

buck

[bestblondRN]

1. RN

2. 18 as RN, 5 as NA

3. North Central

4. somewhat

5. not entirely

6. yes

7. she's new, so the jury is still out

8. not really--very "corporate"

9. yes, but not very productive

10. yes--I love it

11. it's a written policy, but never used

12. erratically--sometimes I feel like I need a foley and a leg bag!

13. every weekend 7a-7p, and 2 evening shifts a week (my choice)

14. 2/6

15. I would be pro-union if it were created for the purpose of improving patient care and working conditions for staff

16. tough question--I think it would be ethically difficult for me to strike as long as there were patients that required care. On the other hand, I think nursing has to do something to make administrators, legislators and the general public wake up and smell the coffee!

17. This is a great thread--glad someone took the time to ask these questions

[buck227]

Keep it going and I will tally all of the answers after 30 days and give a summary.

[Mrs.May]

1) R.N

2)3 years CNA,5years LPN,1year RN

3)Ohio

4)yes,could always use more

5)yes

6)yes-4 10hr shifts mon-thurs

7)yes

8)no-

9)yes-our QA dept does the education

10)yes but at times I do think of getting out

11)not yet

12)maybe once a day if I can make time-then I usually stay over

13)7a-5p

14)am lucky with my position no hoildays -very little weekends

15)not sure how I feel regarding a union

16)i wouldn't want to hurt the residents/pts

in any way

17) n/a

[iamme457]

Originally posted by buck227:

Please respond to this on this thread so we can all learn about each others situation

Questions

1)RN, LPN, or CNA?

2)Years as a nurse?

3)Area (i.e. U.S. NE, N central, NW, Se, S central, south west, Arkansas, or other country or location)

4) Are you satisfied with your pay?

5)with your benefits?

6)your hours?

7)Do you believe your supervisor is competent at his or her job?

8)Do you trust your employer?

9)Does your institution have a nursing education Dept, or has it been cut recently?

10)Do you enjoy being a nurse?

11)Does your employer have mandatory overtime?

12)How often do you get a break at work?

13)Do you work Days, nights, or rotate?

14) How many Holidays did you spend with your family or signifigant other over the last year?

15)Are you for or against the idea of a nurses union in your area?

16)If you were in a union, would you be willing to strike,picket,or have a work slow down?

17)any other comments

Please respond on this thread. I think it is important for us to understand each others work situation as nurses and to get a feel for what is going on in other areas of the country and world. Thanks to all for your time,

buck

1) PHRN

2)9 years as RN, 6 yrs PHRN(Pre-hospital RN), 12yrs as Paramedic, NA on and off 26 yrs.

3)NE USA

4)not satisfied with pay

5)benefits are adequate right now

6)hours are alright

7)I am a supervisor now but I do not believe most of the other supervisiors have a clue what they are doing. I work in the units once a week and have been reporting supervisors that do not do their jobs.

8) new administrator, not sure yet about this one. The corporation is alright though I trust them.

9)education department had been cut in the past but is doing its job at this time.

10) I love being a nurse, my actual role has changed a few times...that is one of the things I really like about nursing. You dont have to stay in one place.

11)NO

12)sometimes I dont get a break, when I do take a break I still answer the phone and answer pages so the break is usually interrupted.

13)I am relief supervisor so I work all shifts 8's and 12's and 16's.

14)New years, worked everything else last year.

15)against

16)picket but not strike

17)I am just as overwhelmed with work as the rest of the RN's, LPN's and NA's are. I do help pass meds, do dressing changes, take off orders, call the docs, wipe butts, get patients up, put them on the toilet, put them to bed. I am usually exhausted at the end of my shift but I do feel as though I did everything I possible could as one person. Last minute call offs stress me the most, I cannot replace staff on such short notice and I really hate to have to add more work to the reliable staff members who do show up.

[Rex]

1) LVN

2) 2 yrs ( CNA for 15 yrs)

3) Central Texas

4) No It should be better for us all

5) No bennifits cant afford them

6) 32 hrs every weekend @ Nursing Home and Part time @ Medical center ( wife is a nurse as well) I love medsurg but they cant afford me

7) Yes but with restrained hands

8) NO!!!!

9) niether place

10) Yes!!!!

11) not yet but its coming

12) hmmmm??? whats that?

13) rotate

14) damn this one hurts guess we forgot to do that

15) I don't know but it would be nice to have benefits

16) Yes if we had support but Unions stay out of Texas never understood that

17) A lot of Nurses I talk to here in this area support the Idea of a union they see the railroad and how it takes care of thier employees and dont know of any other support system that will take care of us in years to come. as things are now its very unfair a 20 yr nurse usually makes less than a new nurse becuase you deal with an employer or corporation that is greedy. benefits are generally weak in rural Texas becuase of the non competitive enviroment you almost have to be a part time used cars salesman to get an edge here but lose any way when it comes to perks.

[Q.]

1. RN, BSN

2. 3 years

3. Milwaukee, WI

4. No

5. I don't get benefits, (I'm per diem)

6. I work per diem

7. Competent, but stressed and it's changing her personality.

8. No

9. Education has been cut for obstetrics; education for critical care only.

10. I like being a nurse, just not a staff nurse.

11. yes, weekly

12. 1-2 times in a 5 day week

13. I rotate all 3 in one week

14. 3 holidays, but I'm per diem so I can regulate that

15. I'm all for one big national union.

16. I would definitely strike. Something needs to be done and that is the only way. We nurses can bring these hospitals to thier knees and they know it. Things would change within hours of a strike.

[mustangsheba]

1. RN (getting BA, not in nursing)

2. 19 years.

3. Pacific NW.

4. For the most part - sometimes there is not enough money to pay for the work we do.

5. No bennies for agency nurses!

6. I would prefer 12's.

7. Most of the supervisors are very competent.

8. I trust my employer, but I wouldn't trust most of the big corporate hospitals.

9. Most of the area hospitals have educations departments.

10. "Enjoy" doesn't encompass what I feel about being a nurse. It's a calling, so the feelings are dichotomous, a love/hate thing. Love patient care; hate bureaucracy.

11. N/A.

12. Almost never.

13. Evenings.

14. None, by choice.

15. I have never found unions to be helpful.

16. I would not strike or picket, but I wouldn't cross a picket line. To me, picketing is unprofessional. I think we would make a profound statement if every single nurse in the world would stay at home for 24 hours.

17. I'll be interested in your results. Thanks.

[mustangsally]

1) RN, BSN

2) 2

3) US- midwest

4) yes, although would always settle with more

5) yes

6) yes

7) yes

8) yes

9) yes

10) yes, usually

11) no

12) at least once unless it is a really bad day, usually they will try to find help so you can get to break if you are exceptionally busy at that time

13) rotate, although mainly days

14) it's all a blur

15) against, I have worked at places with a union and without a union and by far I have felt that there was more of a camraderie between management and staff working together, whereas working at a place with a union the union seemed to foster a mistrust of management, forming an us against them mentatlity. Although I have been lucky enough to work at institutions where I felt management was for the most part approachable and encouraged staff interactions. I have also only worked at not for profit institiutions so that may also be part of it.

16) No, the patients come first, I think advertising or such away from the workplace such as articles in newspapers about nursing shortages staffing issues would be more effective

[This message has been edited by mustangsally (edited March 25, 2001).]

[mud]

1- RN

2- 6

3- Ontario,Canada

4- fairly

5- part-time, have none

6- yes

7- yes

8- mostly

9- we have one

10- yes

11- no

12- we get our breaks as per usual. one in the am, one in the pm, in an 8hr day. Also onr half hour lunch, not paid

13- days, occ. eves and weekends. When on call, work at anytime

14- most if not all, unless he was working(also a nurse)

15- we have a union, i am glad

16- you have to do what you have to do, based on the situation

17- Not really

[islandnurse]

1)RN, BSN.

2)12 years.

3)Coastal NC.

4)No.

5)No. They are too expensive. I know single parents who have uninsured children in order to put food on the table.

6)12 hour dayshift. Three days a week. I love working this shift.

7)My supervisor is wonderful. She is very staff oriented. She is always on our side fighting for us.

8)No. I do not trust my employer. They are only after the almighty dollar.

9)We have a good education department.

10)Love it!!

11)No. I do work 20-30 hours of overtime a week (on my own).

12)I have no clue what the work break means.

13)Days.

14)All but Christmas and Memorial Day.

15)All for the idea of unions. Just don't know how to get one interested in us.

16)I would try anything.

[buck227]

I am learning so much. I hope this keeps going. We have 20 replies. If we had 100, it would really give us a good concensus of what is going on.

[RNforLongTime]

1) RN

2)4 years

3)north central(Ohio)

4)Yes, but nurses should be paid more.

5)No my new benefits with my new job suck.I have no vision coverage and only 80% reimbursement for prescriptions and a deductible for everything else/

6)Mandatory OT sucks.

7) Yes the best I've worked for in a long time.

8) Yes and No

9)yes and a good one too, I received the best orientation with my current job

10)yes

11)yes

12)I get a 10 min break three times in an eight hour shift in lieu of a 30 min lunch break

13)evenings

14)for

15)My hospital is unionized(RN's only)

16)yes this hospital's nurses were on strike in the early 80s and our contract expires this OCT and I've heard the word strike mentioned more than once. The hospital where I was previously employed was not unionized and we were always working short staffed. Mandatory overtime is not fun but I'd rather be mandated than work short staffed.

17)Nursing is a great profession. There is nothing else that I'd rather do with my life. In general, I think that nurses stab one another in the back too much. We are supposed to help eachother not hurt eachother.

------------------