The solution to nursing problems

Youda · Oct 12, 2002

THANK YOU! I have visited the ANA website several times, but didn't click on that link for government.

I've worked for 28 years in nursing. I can honestly say that I've never been exposed during that time to INFORMATION about nursing issues. What I know now, it's because I searched for it myself. Only this week I discovered that the ANA made contributions to political campaigns. Without Karen posting "What has the ANA done for me lately," I wouldn't have known how active the ANA is.

I know of no one who is a member of MONA (Missouri Nursing Association). I didn't even hear of a state association until I decided I wanted to join something and did an internet search for nursing organizations.

How can someone's ignorance be so complete as mine? As thousands of nurses? We go to work, we try to get by, we try to cope, we eat and sleep, then go back to work, we try to get by . . .

There may not have been any Hedda's on the picket line, but there sure is everywhere else; and I'd guess that's what happened to a lot of the potential participants.

All day at work I take faxes from doctors off the fax machine . . . along with the faxes alerting management of bills in Congress to fight against. There's a strong anti-nurse network. An information network is sadly lacking for nurses. That's what needs to be changed.

Time for an ANA membership drive? Download a flyer with membership info and a mail-in or fax form? (Then, xerox it at work at let the facility pay for it? he he he). Encourage every member to get 10 more new memberships? The principle of pyramid schemes could reach every nurse in the nation if this was done.

We are really close in our thinking. It's so good to "talk" with you! Thank you, again!

-jt · Oct 12, 2002

Because nursing activism & politics is not taught in most nursing schools along with A&P & technical tasks. In NY though, a lot of nursing schools require their students to attend our state nurses association lobby days at the state capitol as a part of their course.

Nurses CAN

(Nurses Campaign Activity Night)

Is happening this year on Oct 29th. The link for it is not working so Im posting an old one to explain what it is.

http://nursingworld.org/ajn/2000/sep/wawatch.htm

Contact the state nurses associations for more info. You dont have to be a member to participate. You just have to be a concerned RN.

PS

Our dues money is not donated to political campaigns or to support the candidates our associations endorse. Those are separate donations made by nurses to the Political Action Committees specifically for that purpose. It would be nice if our professional association had the clout of all 2.7 millions members of the profession but

RNs dont have to join a group to make a difference. Once they have the information & are educated on the issues, they just have to take the initiative & make an effort to be heard by the legislative powers that be in their city. They can do that without joining anything & without even ever leaving their seat at the computer. And it doesnt cost a cent.

ceecel.dee, MSN, RN · Oct 12, 2002

Originally posted by Youda
[b
YES! Education is very important. But, part of that education is not jumping steps in the process. We have to first education nurses about how they SHOULD be treated before we can help them understand how to ACT. It's like the post on another thread about the nurse working through Hurricane Lili and security guards prevented her from leaving the hospital, make them sleep on the floor, refused to feed them or give them water, then also refused to pay them.
There wasn't anger there until other nurses jumped into the thread. There wasn't information about how these nurses SHOULD have been treated. The concept of hazard pay wasn't even imagined, because they had nothing!
---My response:
---I have a hard time believing college educated, professional adults didn't know they should be compensated! Is there some individual responsibility involved in how we are treated....in how we can expect to be treated? If your management raises their eyebrows about requests involving basic human decency, you are not doing your job in letting them know what you won't tolerate, they obviously aren't doing their jobs with the correct checks and balances involved, and you are making it okay for them to get away with it by staying!---
But, routinely we are grateful if we simply get the day off we requested three months ago, because we've been pounded, abused, so much that our expectations are too low.
---My response:
---You are allowing this, if this is what is happening.---
We don't compare ourselves with other professions. We don't demand routine time-and-a-have for weekend and holiday pay as EVERY other profession would get: ie; electricians, plumbers, auto mechanics, executives. We think that just because nursing is a 24/7 job, that we don't DESERVE those kinds of benefits.
---My response:
---Time and a half for overtime and double pay for extra weekends worked are routine in my facility because we feel we do deserve it.---
---Let's not sell ourselves short! We are intellegent, assertive people or we couldn't do the jobs we do. Expecting and getting basic decency from administration is your personal responsibility to yourselves. The issues of respect, recognition, more reasonable monetary compensation, increased autonomy, working collaboratively rather than subserviently, etc. are what we need to band together collectivly to show a united front about.
[/b]

just my 0.02 --- C

-jt · Oct 12, 2002

>

I think the problem is nurses not making the effort to get the information that is so readily available. (Look at how much info you found out when you did).

Right now there is a ton of info on state assoc & ANA websites, especially on their government affairs pages. The ANA free email newsletter can go to any RN who wants it - not just members. And then you have people like NursKaren posting an enormous amount of info & websites like this one. All these websites can be read by anyone.

More info is in publications like the AJN. If they subscribe, that info comes directly to them at home. Otherwise they have to go to their local hospital's library for it. Either way, RNs have to pick it up & read it.

Theres info in newsletters, statewide publications, & legislative alerts that are regularly mailed to members of nursing organizations but the majority of RNs dont join any organizations. But there is a lot of information out there.

The thing is RNs have to take the initiative to go to it , rather than it coming to them. How do you get them to do that?

It would be great if there could be regular mailings sent to the homes of each of the 2.7 million RNs in this country but who is going to pay for all that paper? We cant ask the ANA members to do it & spend the dues money of their 180,000 RNs on stamps for 2.7 million others who may or may not even be interested.

My $185/yr can only go so far.

Dave Frederick · Oct 12, 2002

Could it be that Nurses don't join professional organization because they have a track record of maintaining the status quo?

The only professional group that has trully effected nursing are the Nurse managers. They have done a great job in selling nursing short, promoting the use of GED educated individuals to take over nursing functions with on the job training, doing anything to suck up to upper administration for their own benefit including the "do more with less" at the detriment of patient care, mandating over time , and on and on. The very nurses that should role models for advancing Nursing sells us out for status (very litle) and pay.

Youda · Oct 12, 2002

It would be great if there could be regular mailings sent to the homes of each of the 2.7 million RNs in this country but who is going to pay for all that paper? We cant ask the ANA members to do it & spend the dues money of their 180,000 RNs on stamps for 2.7 million others who may or may not even be interested. >>>

That's where the thinking has gone wrong. We HAVE to take it to them. It's the only way this is going to happen. I PM'd you some details on how this can be done VERY inexpensively and without touching the ANA membership dues.

Youda · Oct 12, 2002

ceecel.dee, I envy you. God, I really envy you. Here in Missouri the atmosphere is much different. If you step out of the "subservient" role, you can expect to be terminated within a month. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. There is a VERY strong hand hold on nursing here. And word spreads fast if you're a "trouble-maker." Believe me! The corporations and administrators call each other before hiring anyone! And you will NOT get hired if you demand respect. YOu put up, or work at Wendys. It's that simple. And, no, I'm not being paranoid or a reactionary. It's just the way it is.

abrenrn · Oct 13, 2002

Another thread to love.

I have taken a break from nursing, living on savings, and figuring out what to do next. Honestly, despite a BS in math and nursing, an MS in nursing, I think Home Depot is my next best choice.

Yes, the money would be lower. Yes, I'd have to put up with the same crap as I do in nursing. But, nobody will die if I make a mistake, I won't have to worry about losing my professional liense if a manager expects me to forget about that so I can bathe more patients.

So, here are the problems I think are at the center of our profession:

An almost complete disconnection between education, research, and day to day practice. Has anyone addressed a simple yet extremely important issue like is it safer to sign out a med immediately before or immediately after giving? It seems one method continues to be taught while the other has been adapted anywhere I have worked.

A "profession" that puts the needs of hospitals, community colleges, and physicians before its members. It is in the best interest of all concerned, especially nurses and patients, that the interests of nursing be placed in the center of our profession.

Finally, a complete lack of understanding by the public as to what nurses are, what we do. Scrubs vs uniforms seemed so nice in the beginning - soon I realized I was dressed the same as CNA's, housekeepers, etc. Only physicians, managers and others looked different. Confusing to the patient, kind of tells me where I am as a nurse.

People are flabbergasted when you try to tell them that you are an educated professional, with a license. A while back, there was a big story about a girl who died after being given demerol with an MAOI, much press coverage. How could the resident have erred, much exploration of the stress, workload,... I think I was the only person who thought about the nurse, how did she miss it? Well, I'm sure the licensing board thought about it. It never occurred to anyone that a nurse could, and should, have prevented that from happening.

So, on top of all the other things, educating the public that we are more than people who "dare to care" - a lot of people care about things - perhaps that we are people who "learn to care". I'm a little strange I guess, I thought that the slogan used was terrible, non-nurses continue to see us as caring people who aren't too smart - individual profiles were good.

Unless there is a general awareness that we are more than doctor's handmaidens, little can be accomplised in the other areas. It bothers me that the ANA does not address this issue.

Final thought - in school they now teach "critical thinking" but expect rigid, unquestioned following of procedure. Nursing needs to get out of that mode, use protocol, standards of care - i.e. nothing fixed in stone unless it should be.

sjoe · Oct 13, 2002

anne--well said.

We are doing the same thing, but I always call it being "on sabbatical." They usually have lasted 3-6 months in the past, but the present one has lasted 18 months and I still am not very interested in returning to nursing. Maybe there's a message there.

Youda · Oct 13, 2002

There's a thread to start!

How many of you are "on sabbatical?"

I add my voice to that chorus.

Do you think that contributes to the "nursing shortage?"

:D:D:D:D:D

abrenrn · Oct 13, 2002

I have chosen to call it sabbatical too, will use that term on applicaions. Looked up the word - refers to one year every seven years for rest, research and travel - usually paid in academia. Anyway, I've rested, researched (nursing a lot, so I've learned re Florence Nightengale - l lot!!, history of nusing, current opportunities to work as a PROFESSIONAL nurse (not many, it seems). Even a little travel. I'm not quite at a year yet - tho money is short.

Contributes to the nursing shortage - along with quitting, changing careers, disability, sure.

abrenrn · Oct 13, 2002

Hey - maybe a bunch of us could get a research grant while on sabbatical to study the real reasons for the shortage (just look at these boards), floor practices that contribute to patient safety, and publicize - nationally - the role of nurses, the risks to patients when that role is short-changed.