Beyond Help?

Guidelines to responding:

You can send letters to The Detroit News three different ways. You can send an e-mail to [email protected]. You can send us a fax to (313) 222-6417. Or you can send a letter by mail to The Detroit News, Letters, Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226. Please include home and work phone numbers, plus city of residence, for verification.

We prefer letters of 250 words or less. Direct rebuttals to editorials may be up to 300 words. Letters are subject to editing and become the property of The Detroit News. We do not consider letters to other publications.

As a "Southeast MI nurse" I can tell you that this author just reflects the sentiments of others here and around the nation. No one will accept responsibility for the shortage--therefore it must be the nurses fault. By the way, my hospital decided not to use a "nursing union" but choose the UAW to represent RN's and it's still tied up in court with no contract in site.

Let's bring this topic back to the top-this article is reprehensible!!

I've written a response it any one is interested.

Hi natalie. Thanks for bringing attention to this article. Another poster wrote that this opinion is popular in their area. In fact, it is popular in many areas including mine. The sentiments expressed are typical of someone who is anti-union and who probably is well aware that the president of the US, President Bush, his staff, the federal legislature, and federal judiciary do not support unions as a group. Because nursing is not fully engaged in unionization, it will be an uphill battle for those groups who are already unionized to stay supported and afloat amid a hostile environment. The writer of the article, in my opinion, while entitled to his/her opinion, demonstrate that they are not fully schooled on the dynamics of nursing and nursing practice. I do fault nurses (including myself) for many specific problems in our profession, but I think it shows near-sightedness to blame nurses for the problem with nursing shortages and fighting for respect, proper recognition, and positive rewards. Natalie, thanks also for providing us with the opportunity to respond if we want.

I sent a response to this ignorant and biased editorial. Every poster should also do so. Thanks for posting a link to this article. As Nurses we need to debunk any article such as this. If anyone sees similar please post a link so that we can educate these ignorant people.

I posted a reply to that editorial in the Detroit Newspaper also. No sooner did I do it that I got spammed by a Mediao offer. Did anyone else have this experiece? It could have been a co-incidence. If other people are having the same experience I will write the newspaper and complain. However if it is just me then it is a co-incidence.

I have read the article with great discern, and I think her viewpoint is absolutely absurd. In my area of the United States, we too are having a problem with the nursing shortage, and I don't think the union has anything to do with it. It's been my experience that a big problem around here is the lack of nursing schools / instructors. I work in the ER, and also for a local MICT ambulance company, and have gotten to know many EMT's, Paramedics's, CNA's, MA's, and other health care providers that would make wonderful nurses. The problem is the waiting lists are up to two years or more long. Another problem is that the nursing schools don't offer night classes. Many of these people work during the day to support their families and can't do "day" school. Perhaps we should look at methods of training instead the methods of retention. The author also stated that the unions have decreased the number of foreign nurses entering the United States. The truth of the matter is that those countries also have their own problems with a shortage of nurses. I think the author should get off her *** and do some proper non-biased investigationg before she goes and prints something like that again.

Is anyone checking into the Detroid News message boards to read the post. They are really getting their butts blistered. Not one person has said "Oh Yeah Sure, I agree with you, the nursing shortage is caused by Unions".