I work for a HMA, and I'm very discouraged right now because my order to central supply for ink pens, colored flags for the charts, and other varios items that we need to do our day to day work was "killed." What's even worse is that some nights we only have 2 nurses and 1 cna to cover a medical floor, census 20. You know when a nurse leaves her shift and feels like she hasn't done a good job, she may think about working somewhere else, especially since the HMA hospital is not competitive with wages and she makes about $2.00 less/hr than the nurses at a hospital 5 miles down the road. But guess what, the CEO's for HMA total calculated compensation for 2008 was $1,461,363.00. That makes me feel so angry. Just think of the care the people of my community could recieve if the big dogs weren't becoming millionaires.
If you hate the CEO for earning so much and believe (mistakenly, BTW) that they do nothing more than sit on their butts, go golfing and have inappropriate interludes at lunch....then shadow one. Find out what they really do. Go to school and become one. NOW *you* know what RNs do...and can make a difference and earn more income (which - at that point - you will definitely feel you *deserve*!).
My husband's father said to him, "A doctor is not paid for his time, he is paid for what he knows." It is a CEO's knowledge that gets him that check. Most of us could not do his (or her) job.
It appears that many are angry about what they *think* is happening or why.
One thing I would point out....
In a communistic country, all citizens were paid the same regardless of education or level of effort. (Spread the wealth. No upper/lower class.) Well the productivity in those countries tanked. The guy working his behind off got ticked when the guy who sat on his orifice did nothing and got the same check. As a result, he stopped working as hard. Why would you go through to get an MD or PhD when you would get the same pay as a janitor?
Then there is France. Oh they hate the *US*. We are a bunch of greedy selfish folks. Did you see them scream bloody murder when the Pres wanted to INCREASE their work week to 40 hrs (currently 30) and shorten their annual vacation time to 2 weeks (from 3 months)! We have what we have because of our own efforts. If you want more, seek more. If you do not seek more then it is time to have your lips greet each other.
Regarding the pens.....
Think of it this way.....
How many times did you "steal" pens from your employer? How many times did you get home, clean out your uniform pockets and there was a pen there that wasn't there when you got to work? You then left that one at home.... (rinse, repeat). How many times did you steal from your employer when you printed personal stuff using the hospital computer and/or printer? Have you ever used your employers copier or fax for personal reasons?
Sounds petty? Yeah, but if you add it up, it can cost a fortune in the long run. Think about it, if every employee came to work without a pen and left with one, how much would that cost the hospital per year?
That is the way a business person thinks.
I only began to think about this kind of stuff when I was at church one Sunday. I lived in a military town and I was AD USAF. The pastor asked us to raise our hands if we ever have stolen from our employers. Of course no hands went up. Then he said, "Raise your hands if you have 'Skilcraft' pens at home." The looks on the faces were priceless! I was raised military. I remember all those Skilcraft pens. I had never thought of it as stealing. He pointed out that the Lord would. Wow! I never took home another Skilcraft pen!
Oh brother...
Still no reason for a CEO to make millions a year. None. I'm all for capitalism, but these salaries are obscene.
And your argument is the main reason why healthcare is such a mess..because the business people are taking over. You have people making decisions about our worklives that have never touched a pt. Ridiculous.
I work my butt off everyday, many of us don't get lunches, breaks or we stay over to chart(in many cases off the clock). So boo-hoo if I walk off with a pen. I still think that Mr Money Hungry CEO will more to answer for come judgement day than Nurse X, the pen thief.:icon_roll
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
I have spent some of my time in hospital administration at the director level. Now don't get me wrong here. I was lucky. Except for the time that I worked for HCA, all other organizations had CEO's that worked hard and were paid a very fair salary for the job that they did. I did not feel that the salary I received was fair considering the number of departments I had responsibility for. For example, in Houston, at Ben Taub, I was the director of emergency and pediatric services there. I had the emergency department, pediatric emergency department, pedi intermediate care, pedi ICU and pedi floor and I was paid $70,000 per year. I took call 24/7 and trust me, I got called. I loved the job and I gained great experience from the position, but I would never do that job again for that amount of money.
When I worked at HCA, our CEO was paid a lot of money with a huge bonus at the end of the year if we met certain standards throughout the year. We would go to meetings and we never received any positive remarks. It was always cut here, cut there. I mean I would come in under budget by 2% one month and next month they would expect me to come in under budget by 4%. $$$$$$$$$$$$$ I could go on and on.
At the hospital I work at currently, our CEO makes $350,000 per year and he earns it. He is great and has surrounded himself by a great team. He knows how to motivate people and how to make things better for all of us, patients and staff included. This hospital has been in the toilet for years and until he came to our facility, nothing positive was happening. But he has made a 100% turn around. We finally made some money this year which he has put back into updating the facility by getting us new equipment. He also received a bonus which was fine with me. Fee for performance. The board gave him goals and he met them.
I don't mind people making money. But when your organization is going into the tank, when your staff is not happy, your patients are not happy and you don't have the equipment and supplies that you need to do your work, then the guy at the top should not be getting a pay increase. We have seen this over and over in business in the last few years and we have seen how people have been ripped off.
And lets keep in mind, that the United States is the ONLY country in the world that makes a PROFIT from health care. This is why health care reform in the US is not going to work. We work on the GREED system here. When you start cutting into the bottom line of physicians, for profit hospitals, drug and medical equipment companies, there will be a big explosion. I guarantee you we will NEVER get a system that will serve everyone.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
My point was that if they cannot provide the basic supplies that the nurses need to care for their patients then they are taking too much profit out of the organization and need to find a way to rectify that problem and if that means taking less salary and bonuses then that should be done.
There are good and bad CEO's. Overall though I truly believe their salaries are way too high for what they do. Especially if the workers cannot be provided the tools they need. While i agree with higer salaries for more education, experience, job difficulty, and acheivment, I still feel they are taking too much profit out of health care.
Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.
multimillion dollar compensation packages for executives are just one of the perks of the capitalist approach to healthcare delivery. I am not sure there are many perks on the delivery of care side of the business, but hey, that is not what drives a capitalist market. So...if you can skimp on pens, paper, dressing supplies, DME, wages, etc and make bigger profits...that is what is going to happen...in a capitalist, market driven healthcare system. The bottom line is not the patient, it is the profit.
We can reform healthcare, or, we can continue to let the market drive the system...as it is now...just like some of the critics to reform want. They can scream "socialism", kill meaningful reform, and we will continue to see more and more of this example.
GadgetRN71, ASN, RN
1,841 Posts
Still no reason for a CEO to make millions a year. None. I'm all for capitalism, but these salaries are obscene.
And your argument is the main reason why healthcare is such a mess..because the business people are taking over. You have people making decisions about our worklives that have never touched a pt. Ridiculous.
I work my butt off everyday, many of us don't get lunches, breaks or we stay over to chart(in many cases off the clock). So boo-hoo if I walk off with a pen. I still think that Mr Money Hungry CEO will more to answer for come judgement day than Nurse X, the pen thief.:icon_roll