All Nurses Read This

kaycee · Mar 27, 2001

1.RN

2.26

3.PA

4.No,should I be satisfied making $21.60/hr as a steady charge nurse after 26yrs?

5.Benefits are ok

6.steady 3-11

7.yes I have a good manager

8.Not entirely

9.Yes, but it is at the bare minimum, was cut back 3 yrs ago

10.Most of the time

11.Yes but in our dept it doesn't happen often, we cover ourselves well and are a closed unit

12.Sometimes never, work ER depends on the night.

13.Again steady 3-11

14.Had Thanksgiving and 4th of July off that's it.

15.It would depend on the union

16.I would consider it depending on the situation

17.What exactly are you going to do with this information?

Jenny P · Mar 27, 2001

Good topic, Buck 227.

1) RN

2) 32 as an RN

3) North Central (Mn)

4) no, I'd like to be paid what I'm worth

5) absolutely not- I can't afford medical coverage through my hospital!

6) they are okay

7) most of the time

8) absolutely not!!

9) we have a good one

10) I love being a nurse!

11) no, we haven't had mandatory overtime since 1987-it's in our contract

12) I may get 15 minutes throughout a whole shift

13) I work straight nights, both 8 and 12 hour shifts (my choice)

14) My hospital says there are 6 holidays in a year; we get half of them off (Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years)

15) Totally for unions by nurses

16) I have and would strike and picket again; and I'd be involved in a work slowdown also if necessary.

17) This will be interesting to see the final results.

-jt · Mar 27, 2001

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

1. RN

2. 18 yrs

3. NE

4. satisfactory pay - yes

5. benefits/pensions - very good but always room for improvement

6. 12 hr day shift - 37.5/wk

7. competent supervisor - yes

8. trust employer??? hell no! thats why we have our hand in everything affecting nursing - by way of committee seats.

9. nursing ed dept - yes; cut - 4 yrs ago - we got the CEO responsible for that fired & we rebuilt it back up.

10.enjoy it - most of the time

11. mandatory ot - not anymore (contract language works wonders!)

12. breaks - 15 min in morning, 1 hr lunch and another 15 min in afternoon

13. shift - days only - not even cops in NY have to do rotating shifts anymore

14. 8 holidays & 4 personal days - I choose to work most holidays - its usually a quieter day. I work only 3 days a week, get 5 weeks vacation - I can deal with working nice quiet holidays once in a while. I take off July 1st as a holiday every year. ; )

15. unionize! unionize! unionize! we'd be dead without our union.

16. we picket during labor difficulties to inform the community when necessary, & we strike when we are forced to by the hospital. ( in 18 yrs at mine, we came close twice -taking the vote but never had to have the strike at all - the vote alone got the hospital back to negotiating fairly). We do not do work slow-downs.

That is illegal.

Chris-FNP · Mar 27, 2001

1) NP

2) 2

3) Northeast

4) No

5) No

6) Yes

7) Yes

8) Yes

9) No education department

10) Yes

11) No

12) Usually, I only get a lunch break

13) Days and on call every 4th week

14) All holidays

15) I don't like unions

16) I don't like unions, so no

17) I love my job

ubcnme · Mar 27, 2001

1. RN for 2 years, LPN 1 year, CNA 1 year

2. 2 years

3. Midwest

4. No way!

5. Yes, for the most part.

6. Most definitely. Monday-Friday with holidays and weekends off.

7. yes, the current one. The old one was a big "L".

8. No, currently "redesigning".

9. No, never did to my knowledge. Work for a county health agency and you know how the government operates.

10. I wouldn't do anything else, BUT nurse!

11. No.

12. Every day, 1 hour for lunch.

13. Days.

14. I spent all of my holidays with my family this last year; first time in 3 years.

15. I walk the line for unions. Since I'm not a bedside nurse at the current time, hard to say. When I did work the hospitals, I thought we needed to have unions to barter for our pay/benefits but then you have to strike when they say strike; makes it financially difficult on your family not to mention our patients.

16. slow down maybe

17. This is a very interesting topic and would love to see the results.

nursestuffy · Mar 27, 2001

1. RN

2. 1 1/2 years

3. South (LA)

4. It's ok...could always be better

5. none- i am prn

6. I hate my hours...straight nights

7. Not one bit...clueless most of the time!

8. no

9. yes

10. most of the time

11. for full timers, yes...but i work as little or as much as wanted/needed.

12. Break? what's a break?

13. nights only

14. two

15. not sure...would have to get more info before I make a decision.

16. probably not

17. I have done med/surg for over a year and I am tired of it. I want to move into L&D or an office/clinic and just started job searching.

theboss · Mar 27, 2001

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

HEY BUCK KEEP IT GOING !!!

1.LPN

2.6.5 YEARS

3.OKLAHOMA

4.NO I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A LITTLE MORE.

5.NO

6.12 HOUR SHIFTS FINE WITH ME...

7.YES HE IS A GOOD RN AND A GOOD MANAGER

8.NO

9.YES, ALL NURSES GIVEN THE OPORTUNITY TO KEEP LEARNING

10.YES I LOVE IT.

11.YES BUT WE ARE ABLE TO WORK IT OUT AMONGST EACH OTHER

12.IN THE ER IT IS EITHER FEAST OR FAMINE SO TAKE IT WHEN WE CAN

13.6P TO 6A AT ONE JOB 3-11 AT THE OTHER LIKE 12,S BETTER

14.XMAS AND THANKSGIVING NOT BAD SINCE I DONT START WORK UNTIL 6P,UNLESS I VOLENTEER TO WORK AT 2ND JOB.

15.YES AND NO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE??

16.YES IF I FELT IT WAS NEEDED WITH NO OTHER OPTION..

17.THIS WOULD BE A TOUGH DECISION TO MAKE.BUT IF I FELT IT WOULD BENNEFIT OUR AREA I WOULD JOIN THE CAUSE....

woodyRN · Mar 27, 2001

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? =RN
2)Years as a nurse? =13
3)Area = SE
4) Are you satisfied with your pay? No
5)with your benefits? definitely NOT
6)your hours? 12 hr days OK
7)Do you believe your supervisor is competent at his or her job? NO
8)Do you trust your employer? NO
9)Does your institution have a nursing education Dept, or has it been cut recently? has been cut- but exists.
10)Do you enjoy being a nurse? I used to, but it is harder every year.
11)Does your employer have mandatory overtime? no
12)How often do you get a break at work? I got a 20 minute lunch at 15:30 Sunday, pretty typical. don't get a lot of breaks, and never a real lunch.
13)Do you work Days, nights, or rotate? days, but choose to work some nights for the slightly less frenetic pace.
14) How many Holidays did you spend with your family or signifigant other over the last year? got to spend Christmas driving since I had to work christmas eve. Required to work the other holidays.
15)Are you for or against the idea of a nurses union in your area? =For
16)If you were in a union, would you be willing to strike,picket,or have a work slow down? It would all depend on the circumstances and the manner it was done, but in a word, yes.
17)any other comments

Great topic, but a bit hard to read-

[This message has been edited by woodyRN (edited March 27, 2001).]

buck227 · Mar 28, 2001

17.What exactly are you going to do with this information?[/b]

I am doing this purely out of curiosity and to bring us more together as a group. I want to identify problems in nursing so that they can be addressed and these are questions I have always wondered about nurses in other areas. I have always had a hunch that the problems in nursing are the same problems everywhere. I am hoping to prove/disprove my hunch.

buck227 · Mar 28, 2001

[ We do not do work slow-downs.

That is illegal.[/b]

By slow downs I mean intentionally staying late to finish paperwork or prolonging report. Anything to increase the cost to the company. It is a dirty trick, but it hits them in the pocket book. I would never suggest any tactic that would harm a patient. I believe that the patient always deserves your best efforts regardless of how you feel about your employer. It is the patient we are truely serving, not the company. At the end of everyday you should reflect on what you did to make someones life better. :-)

buck

RNPD · Mar 28, 2001

1) RN

2) 13

3) Northeast US

4) yes

5) per diem-no bennies

6) Yes, except when mandated

7) Not at all and unfortunately have met very few competent supervisors. One comes to mind however, and she is outstanding.

8) Not at all

9) Yes, and the dept. is one of the better ones of all the places where I've worked

10)Most times

11)YES

12)I take an AM break for breakfast (15min) and an aftenoon break for lunch (usually 1/2 hour, but I will cut it short if I am VERY busy). I rather take a break and stay late than work without.

13) days

14) all of them, I am not required to work holidays by my agency

15)definitely for

16)I have gone on strike and would do so again. BTW-no one strikes EXCEPT as a LAST RESORT. And if the nurses need to consider a strike as a last resort, you can bet the patients are ALREADY suffering

17)This is a good topic for a post-I'll be interested in reading your tallies.

NurseMark · Mar 28, 2001

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.LPN

2. 4

3. Southwest

4. No

5. Benefits are substandard

6. Like the hours - only 3 12 hour shifts a week are great!

7. My supervisors are morons.

8. No - about as far as I can throw an elephant.

9. My institution has an excellent nursing education department.

10. Sometimes.

11. Yes.

12. Maybe once every 3 workdays - for approx. 15 min.

13. Nights

14. One - I was scheduled evry Holiday except Christmas - but I had to work 7P-7A on X-mas Eve.

15. Pro union baby!!!

16. Strike!!! The only way to make your point is by the absence of the most critical element in the hospital - the nursing staff!!! Besides, if you're not there, supervisors are REQUIRED to work - let them feel what it's like. Also, hospitals pay big bucks for strikebreakers, but can't pay like that forever. Healthcare is business people... forget that "oh, I don't want the patients to be without care crap"! If you want something, its all or nothing, not meeting the employer "in between" with a work slowdown.

17. Good questions Buck. Now what are your answers?