Has Anyone Worked A Strike?

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Mar 13, 2003

I do not dislike you. I have better things to do with my time and energy, than dislike anyone or treat anyone as an "enemy". Life is too short.

You said that it took a week to get an "intelligent" answer to the question that you posed.

I am merely pointing out that there are quite a few intelligent postings here and that you did receive an answer to the question. (And that by saying that post #83 was the first intelligent post answer was rather rude to all the posters).

I was not aware that there was a debate going on, thank you for so informing me. I thought that we were merely individuals sharing information and discourse on matters of common nursing interest, to enlighten us and broaden our horizons.

But then, I am generally last to know about such things.

And I do regret that I mistook your PCT post as one about the PCT giving meds. Will attempt not to do so in future.

PS. Sean, I am Carolina - enchante' to meet you - anyone for sweet tea.

eddy · Mar 13, 2003

Originally posted by hogan4736
"Between transferring pts out & shutting down elective services, there should be very few pts left to be cared for in the striking hospital, but those that are still there are cared for by RN manangers, RN clinical specialists, etc - all the other RNs who work at the hospital in positions other than staff RN"

Thanks jt, that's a tangible answer. What I was getting was anything but that kind of an answer...

I'm not in any way anti strike, just trying to stimulate discussion, and thinking outside the box. As my personal experience has been that some nurses aren't concerned about a plan for the patients, just their own bottom line...

sean

I hate to say it brother but I said more or less the same thing. You just had the desire to hear but not listen.

eddy · Mar 13, 2003

Originally posted by hogan4736
oh, and eddy, you stated: "The fact that we have an incredible shortage of nurses already proves that management is NOT fixing the situation nor does it care (if it means spending any money). That leaves only the nurses to stand in to make a bad situation better. "

So it's the (collective) responsibility of every administration of every hospital in the country to ensure that the country has enough nurses??

Really??

:roll
:roll
:roll

In a nutshell OF COURSE IT IS... If they expect to continue operating. Just like it is any other company's job to make sure they have enough workers to fill their office, plant, call center, etc. If they don't have enough people then it's their (management's) fault, not the fault of the other workers. "Enough workers" comes from 3 key things (called the 3 R's):

Recruitment

Retention

Retraining

eddy · Mar 13, 2003

Originally posted by hogan4736
seems as if I have made an enemy in ms belle...

oh well, can't win 'em all

it's tough to debate with someone who dislikes me...

Whoa! Slow down the buggy Sean. This is just a forum for sharing info man. Not a brawl. :)

allycat62 · Mar 13, 2003

I was an RN employed at a Portland hospital for 2 months when the nurses went on strike. The majority of my co-workers went out on the picket lines but I choose to stay. Although it was initially very stressful I found it to be a positive experience. The hospital was staffed with travelers from throughout the US. They brought with them years of experience. I learned a lot and made new friends. I found the travel nurses to be extremely competent and were a joy to work with. I was sorry to see them leave after the strike was settled after 80 something days.

There were some grudges when the hospital nurses returned but for the most part it was a learning experiences for all.

hogan4736, BSN, RN · Mar 14, 2003

I guess I don't like the "bipartisan" split when it comes to nursing strikes...

Not everything is so black and white when it comes to striking. Some nurses actually believe patients will think like they do, and boycott a hospital that's striking...I'm just trying to bring a little reality guys...These "little things" don't seem to get any attention, unless you or your family member suddenly find yourself on a ward in a hospital that's in the middle of an ugly strike, and asking yourself, am I getting the best care? And you don't give a damn who's right, or how much admin really sucks!!! Let's just always keep this in the back of our minds.

All I'm asking is look at all sides...

No malintentions here...Thanks for listening :)

-jt · Mar 14, 2003

Absolutely. And it is also the responsibility of the state and federal governments.

excerpt:

...NYSNA calls on New York lawmakers to enact staffing ratios that meet the specific needs of New York patients and nurses. "It is time for New York State to take responsibility for the safety and welfare of its hospital patients,"...... Our elected officials have a responsibility to the people of this state to make safe staffing a priority."[/i]>>

http://www.nysna.org/news/press/pr2003/031003.htm

-jt · Mar 14, 2003

The issue is not about scabs or their competency. Although there is a point to the argument when all over the country nurses are demanding bans on forced ot because working excessive hours has been proven to be unsafe and lead to pt care errors - and then you have strike-breaker mercenary nurses working 12-20 hr shifts 6-7 days a week for the blood money. With all the recent documentation regarding the negative impact that working excessive hours has on pt care, its hard to see how a hospital can explain putting pts into that kind of situation and still claim they are getting "competent" care. But thats another discussion.

The issue here is about the fact that if scabs werent there & you hadnt crossed your own strike line, that strike would not have lasted 80 days because the management would have had to come back to the table & make the compromises they eventually made and make the improvements you now enjoy because your colleagues did take that stand.

The whole point is that if nurses stood together as a profession and refused to scab each other, hospitals would not be provoking strikes, they would be fixing the problems. If there were no nurse scabs, there would be no nursing strikes because a strike would be a logistical nightmare & the hospitals would be working harder to resolve the issues with their own nurses first to avoid that - and just maybe our working conditions would be liveable once & for all.

It is no coinicidence that with the invention & growth of "strike nurse agencies", there has also been an increase in nursing strikes. Because hospitals are choosing to go that route. They give no thought to the pts. They put them on them on the back burner. Facilities have learned that they dont need their nurses and dont have to make any improvements - they can just hire these agencies - at the tax payers expense - and wait it out until the striking nurses are worn down and give up.

There is an increase in nursing strikes now because this relatively new entity called "strike agencies" has taken the bite out of a strike threat & hospitals are choosing to sit back & allow them to happen, comfortable in the knowledge that they can just get "replacements" - because nurses can be manipulated and will give up their strength as a profession for the right price. At the same time that they all complain about the very same things that the nurses are striking over (poor working conditions, short-staffing, inadequate compensation), for the right price, these other nurses will gladly allow themselves to be used by the hospital to help knock the striking nurses back and stand in the way of those nurses who are at their last resort in trying to fix those things at their facility. "Replacement" workers have been called "strike-breakers" for generations because that is what they do. They may feel they are the pts salvation but their being there only enables the hospital to ignore the strike, its own nurses, and the problems which will remain long after the scabs are gone.

Who is going to take any of us seriously and how are we supposed to make wide-spread change happen for all of us when we act in such a self-defeating manner towards each other? All kinds of professionals are in unions and negotiate collective contracts but what other profession must tolerate their own as professional scabs? Are there doctor strike agencies or teacher strike agencies in existence solely to serve as strike-breakers for these professions? We are a hypocritical joke to the professional world and an embarrassment to ourselves.

Several nursing strikes have been called off in NYC & other places at the last moment simply because the hospital could not find enough scabs to satisfy DOH requirements and had to return to the negotiations table in order to stay in business. They begged the union to postpone the strike and give them another chance because scabs were not there. The hospital felt the pressure & responded appropriately so the strikes were cancelled and management sat down to work out the problems in good faith, but had these hospitals been able to get the numbers of scabs that they needed, they would have felt no pressure at all, never would have come back to the table to work it out with their nurses and instead would have gone ahead with their plans to force the strikes to happen and ignore the RNs issues .

How scabs cannot see that their ready presence just allows the hospital to avoid having to fix its problems & just allows it to provoke a nurses strike instead is beyond logic.

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Mar 14, 2003

Also, one can be the most competent travelor around, and still not be as effective as the regular staff.

As a travelor, I don't know your auxillary depts, their phone numbers, what exactly that they do, who is responsible for what, where different meds are kept in the different floors/units, how the equipment works and fixing problems with the equipment, what your "routine" protocols are, standing orders and routines, how paperwork is arranged, etc, etc. And while some these things are covered in orientation, many are not. And they do affect our ability to do the job effectively and take time to learn for each facility.

If there is an emergency, it is always better to have someone that has the locations/phone pages memorized than someone who has to search for the phone number list/unit map to find out. You can be a fabulous travelor and still be at a deficit when the s&*^ hits than fan.

And hospitals should respect their regular employees and reward them for that reliability.

eddy · Mar 14, 2003

Awesome Awesome Replies JT and caroladybelle!

I work per diem agency full-time and I have done my share of travel assignments through the years as well. However, for these obvious and straightforward reasons that both of you have presented, I have always chosen to avoid scab work. I love travel. It's fun, pays good and provides some unique opportunities. However, I can always do a travel assignment at a NON STRIKING facility. I may be agency but I support the collective bargaining process. It's success is the only way I really see myself returning to a staff job. The union idea is more or less dead in my area currently, and it's a real shame. I sure hope this changes in the future.

Now with HCA coming in and taking over several of the biggest facilities in my area, the push for union organization will become even more important. However, I just don't think people care here. They honestly seem to rather just quit and get a non nursing job than deal with the fight.

-jt · Mar 14, 2003

aside to eddy: this AJN article might interest you:

Have RN, Will Travel?

American Journal of Nursing - August, 2002 - Volume 102, Issue 8

http://nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/aug/Issues.htm

eddy · Mar 14, 2003

Originally posted by -jt

aside to eddy: this AJN article might interest you:
Have RN, Will Travel?
American Journal of Nursing - August, 2002 - Volume 102, Issue 8
http://nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/aug/Issues.htm

JT, I've read that one several times in the past and it's a great article. :)