The solution to nursing problems

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I posted this before and it seems to have been lost.

I think we can corrent all of the major problems in nursing by simply having all of us take the same day off. Let's say February 11th, 2003, all nurses on duty go home and no, I repeat no nurse comes into work that day. This would include all LPNS, RNs, ADNs, BSNs, MSNs, and RN/Phds. Exactly 24 hours later we return to work and see have some meaningful discussion with the powers in charge.

So what things would you like to change, I want facts here.

Sorry, but so many of you are complaining about money, what I have seen here on this board in another thread about "how much do you get paid" or something like that, I don't think the money is that bad really. Comparing it with handworker is always bad, they always get paid very well. Would be the same when you compare your wages with the pay a IT-(wo)man gets.

Still, there definetely are a lot of things to change, from what I read here and heared from RN's who worked in the US, but the main problem I see (again from my point of view) is the commerce in your hospitalsystem. As long as that doesn't change, the rest won't change too.

But keep on fighting!! Renee

Yes, Renee, let's take that point and run with it. Mr. Huffman made this point early in the discussion as well. If we're campaigning for something, we can't just say that nurses are mistreated. What specific issues do we want to address? Pay? hours? Job stress (what is the source of the job stress, and what are we asking hospitals and doctors to do that will decrease it)? Understaffing? What ideas do you all have for what issues we want to tackle? We also need to find possible solutions to the problems that we have with the system ourselves, and not just give them to the administration, say we're unhappy, and let them fix it. It won't be fixed to our satisfaction, I'm sure. Maybe some of the nurses who are in unions could give us some info on this subject. What are the union issues, and what kinds of things do hospitals agree to when nurses have unions? I have no experience whatsoever with nurse unions. Maybe some of you who do could help on this discussion?

Benefits and pay. I can't afford health care. How's that for a kicker? I'm a nurse, but I can't afford healthcare. Wages, compared with other occupations, are ridiculously low. Case in point: a car mechanic makes more than a nurse; an electrician makes more than a nurse. (and these are vocational-technical school education, not requiring a college degree.) Most hospitals/facilities do not have retirement plans. When we all hit old age, we won't be able to afford health care, medications, or even a place to live.

Then there are the nontangibles: being treated and spoken to with contempt, lack of respect, unrealistic expectations in staffing, lack of concern for patient care but a high value placed on profit, high stress and burnout d/t all the above, workplace violence and abuse . . .

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

I've read this thread and I found it interesting. I'd like someone to address a few things first.

As far as the issue of patient abandonment and licenses and losing those, etc a planned strike, usually 2 week notice or so, is typical. That way hospitals, legislation and officials can get their act together, cancel elective surgeries/procedures and either meet our demands before the deadline to ensure their patients are taken care of, OR, suffer consequences. I think if we publicize that there will be a national strike in Februrary unless things change quickly, we may be able to get around the losing of license issue, yes?

Secondly, my opinion has been that to solve nursing's problems we need to have every nurse in the country (2.7million) contribute 10 bucks a month, hire some nurses whose only full time job is to lobby. We can't make change without some major lobbying power and MONEY.

Also, whatever we decide, we have to remember we have power in numbers. Trust me, if we strike, ALL of us, the country would be at it's knees.

What about a nurses union? Some nurses from Salt Lake Regional Hospital contacted United American Nurses and are now waiting for the National Labor Relations Board to rule on their bid to unionize.

More info:

http://www.sltrib.com/2002/aug/08162002/business/762321.htm

http://www.nursingworld.org/uan/

"Trust me, if we strike, ALL of us, the country would be at it's knees."

That is the idea

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

The solution to our country's nursing problems is ME. Yes......just hire me as the head of the entire nursing organization natonwide, and I'll whip some butts, and get this organization/profession into tip top shape. :D

Any voters willing to vote for me......speak now or forever hold your vote. :chuckle :nurse:

Good morning ya'll!

Specializes in LDRP; Education.

Besides, I don't believe someone can fire you/strip you of credentials for striking. Isn't that illegal in the labor laws?

Suzy, to be covered by those laws one must be in a union. Otherwise it is wildcat striking, and yes there are consequences to it.

To me the objectives would be fairly easy. One only has to take a trip through this site to think of a few. When the talk of a march was banded about before and a group was actively working on it one of the active people wrote this.

Our Mission

1. To encourage and support meaningful dialogue among all healthcare workers about:

a. Working conditions, in hospitals, long term care facilities, clinics and anywhere nursing is practiced.

b. Safe nursing care including the risks of patient/client safety.

c. Staffing levels and Mandatory overtime.

d. The increased demand for nursing

e. Improving existing attitudes and traditions established between and among nurses and healthcare workers.

2. To motivate all healthcare workers to act locally and nationally.

3. To facilitate public awareness concerning sage and unsafe healthcare delivery.

4. To encourage the media to represent accurately and vividly the issues nurses and allied healthcare workers face every day when care is delivered.

5. To serve as a resource for accurate data and information exchange about nursing care delivery.

6. To encourage and support retention and recruitment of nurses.

The items we felt needed to be focused on where:

1. Mandatory overtime, whatever name it happened to go by.

2. Patient to staff ratios throughout the country, and in various settings.

3. Whistleblower protections

4. Verbal and at times physical abuse by physicans, patients and family members and what protections nurses should be able to have in these situations.

5. Pay scales in various areas of the country, not simply an averaged wage. Then to compare that to what CEO's, and other areas of the hospital staff that are not hands on such as the computer programmers.

I may be missing some of it because I haven't looked at all the stuff from that time. Much of it I threw away.

While nurses will always think about their patients I believe, most anyway, in any type of action I also believe it is that nurses need very much to focus on ourselves. The bottom line, to me comes down to this, how can any nurse adequately be a patient advocate if we cannot advocate for ourselves? It is by keeping the profession and ourselves healthy that we can do the same for our patients. If the profession is sick and we are sick we cannot in anyway do any type of justice to our patients in the long run.

The idea that we had before was for the nurses who could not make a march they would wear T-Shirts or something on that day that at least let everyone know they were with it in spirit. Thought about a having people wear a whistle, because we were blowing the whistle on unsafe conditions for nurses and therefore their patients. The idea of a national walkout, to me, is simply not doable. This is not the first time that the idea has been banded about. And while we say 2.7 RNs, it behooves everyone to recall we have, at best I can figure, nearly a million LPNs as well, and they suffer most of the same issues that RNs do. I have and still believe that some mass demonstration is doable. It is a matter of proper organization as well as notifying nurses throughout the country, and of course money. And Julie is entirely correct, once something like that took place it could not simply be the end, but only a beginning. It would take a great deal of dedication by a few nurses who were willing to put the effort into the organization and the planning, as well as the million details that would have to be taken care of.

Doable, yes. Would that dedicated group ever exist? That is the question.

In making decisions, I try to narrow it down to KISS (Keep it simple). Here's the choices, and no value judgement placed on anyone's choice. This is just how simple it is:

1. Stay silent and let things remain as they are.

2. Keep moving around and hoping you finally find a place that doesn't burn you out.

3. Start speaking up and try to make a difference.

good idea but It will never happen in my lifetime,nurses will not bring themselves to join together to do such a thing.But if they do youcancount me in I will walk out as long as needed as Iam sure my wife would be more than willing to do the same.

good idea but It will never happen in my lifetime,nurses will not bring themselves to join together to do such a thing.But if they do youcancount me in I will walk out as long as needed as Iam sure my wife would be more than willing to do the same.

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