California Nursing Shortage Critical....

Genista, BSN, RN · Dec 8, 2002

Pretty scary article, huh? Well, we'll see if the DHS listened to our pleas for safe ratios. The public comment period ended Dec. 6th, so now all we have to do is wait & see.

http://www.calnurse.org/gr/dhshear.html

All I can say is, unless they start mandating some safe ratios, the healthcare industry will continue to have a nursing shortage. I'm pretty fed up with working short & covering a full LVN assignment, on top of my own 5 patients. I'm sick of the 1-2 hours overtime, and no rest period.

Thanks for sharing the article.

rebelwaclause, ASN, RN · Dec 8, 2002

And to think, Doctor's Tenet threatened to terminate all the nurses from two bay area hospital's if they did not return to work as of last Wednesday, 12/4/02. They've been on strike, and where told losing their jobs would be likely if they didn't return to work. My question is, who are they gonna replace them with? The Janitor? His cousin Mooky?

Haven't heard the outcome, but Tenet can be ugly. I'm sure they are "bright" enough to go through with this fiasco of a plan.

>>>>Bay Area Nurses Get Ultimatum

hoolahan, ASN, RN · Dec 8, 2002

Holy Smokes Reb! Is that just a wee bit short-sighted? Must have been surgeons, they probably had to cancel some $urgery due to not enough nurses. I just LOVE doctors who are so brilliant like that! (Insert Vomit smiley here)

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 9, 2002

What is amazing is the line about hospitals saying patient safety is not compromised. They should have the balls to tell the public the truth.

-jt · Dec 9, 2002

Patients often left waiting for medical care

As California faces one of the nation's worst nursing shortages, state officials are pondering how to close the gap while patients and their families worry about its effects on the quality of care.

The state Employment Development Department estimates an additional 30,000 registered nurses will be needed in the next four years, far more than can be obtained now through nursing schools and the use of nurses from other states and countries>>

So how come they are doing everything they can think of to drive RNs away? And if their shortage is so severe but administrators are still pushing RNs out the door, how do they explain their hospital industry building boom? Tenet, Kaiser, Catholic Health West and others all are building new in-pt wings in California - 10 story towers, units, floors - adding even more & more pt beds while they frequently force their RNs out on strike over recruitment, retention, and pt safety issues. It doesnt seem logical to be adding more pts when, because of their working conditions, they cant attract enough nurses who are willing to work for them to care for the pts they already have. How can they be building more places to bring pts at the same time they are doing everything they can to drive away whatever RNs they have left?

Where are they going to get the RNs to staff all the nurses stations in all those new towers? They cant even import that many. It would be more cost effective to just stop fighting with their nurses & invest in making their facility a place where nurses want to work. But I bet they turn instead to pushing for state law to allow expanded practice of UAPs --- and of course the current push to have the law allow them to fill their nurse staffing ratio with non-RNs.

lunakat · Dec 10, 2002

Ya There is a big shortage in CA. Lots of protesting with CA nurses about pt ratio. Also article in consumer Reports about Hospitals and the nurisng shortage ...

OzNurse69 · Dec 10, 2002

So why are they refusing visa's to O/S nurses then? Californian hospitals have been advertising over here for a while - only need a visa not a Green Card to work for 6 mo or less - I had a friend who applied, went thru the whole phone interview thing & everything, only to be told by the hosp that even though they still needed her, the US immigration were refusing to give her a work permit unless she was related - blood or marriage - to someone who already lived there!! So now she's going to Saudi instead!!

MK2002 · Dec 10, 2002

The California shortage has been discussed a few times before. What was omitted this time around is salary. In the past discussions other board members often cited typical salaries of $40,000 - $50,000 as understandably unattractive. It would seem nearly impossible to live on this in a place like San Francisco or numerous other inflated areas of California.

rebelwaclause, ASN, RN · Dec 10, 2002

Originally posted by hoolahan
Holy Smokes Reb! Is that just a wee bit short-sighted? Must have been surgeons, they probably had to cancel some $urgery due to not enough nurses. I just LOVE doctors who are so brilliant like that! (Insert Vomit smiley here)

:roll :chuckle

-jt · Dec 10, 2002

Because thats not solving our problem. Theres no need to be recruiting overseas. We dont have a shortage of nurses in numbers yet in this country. We have 500,000 RNs nationwide who are not working right now and only 126,000 vacant hospital RNs positions. Theres more than enough RNs to fill those jobs and then some. What we have is not a "shortage" but a refusal of RNs to work in the conditions that are prevalent in hospitals today - too many pts, forced ot, no ergonomic equipment to save our backs, not enough support staff to help, inadequate salary & benefits, no pensions to speak of, etc.

Foreign recruiting only ignores the problems that are causing the US nursing "refusal". Bringing in more overseas RNs to put up with the conditions we've already said are totally unacceptable just helps the hospital avoid having to fix them, and can be exploitation of those foreign nurses who will feel they have to keep their mouths shut & put up with it. And it also drains their own country which needs them too.

The hospitals have to treat the disease, not the symptom.

Bringing in O/S RNs to avoid having to fix the problems that are keeping US RNs away from hospital jobs is like putting a band-aide on a gaping, hemorrhaging wound & leaving it at that.

OzNurse69 · Dec 10, 2002

I agree jt, but the problem I have with it is that countries like Australia, the UK, etc. have no problem with US nurses working here, however the US seems to want to avoid employing O/S nurses - even though imho we are just as skilled & knowledgeable as you guys!!

I disagree with the revolving door syndrome. I think health departments need to look at the problem as a RETENTION thing rather than a RECRUITMENT thing, I just don't see why someone who wants to have a 6 mo working holiday shouldn't be allowed to do it!!