How HOSPITALS created a nursing crisis!!

Mulan · Apr 3, 2005

True, but that article is 5 years old.

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Apr 3, 2005

True, but that article is 5 years old.

Which only means it has gotten five years WORSE. :stone

mattsmom81 · Apr 3, 2005

And it was in 'Revolution..a nurses' magazine. When will anybody else care about this ...other than nurses? And when will nurses care enough about it to DO something about it?

Well some of us do...we walk away. And its no wonder so many nurses just walk away...so little respect or caring about the situation out there. :stone

kwagner_51 · Apr 3, 2005

And it was in 'Revolution..a nurses' magazine. When will anybody else care about this ...other than nurses? And when will nurses care enough about it to DO something about it?
Well some of us do...we walk away. And its no wonder so many nurses just walk away...so little respect or caring about the situation out there. :stone

This is why we need to unionize. EVEN the ones who have good employers. It shows solidarity to the Healthcare INDUSTRY that we are NOT going to allow them to deskill us and require us to 'supervise' people who do NOT know anything about patient care. Why did we allow this to get so far along? BECAUSE 1600+++ RN's were fired...so they wouldn't/couldn't protest.

The only way to make nursing a true profession is to take back what is RIGHTFULLY ours. We all went to school, cried, went without sleep, got sick r/t stress, didn't participate in family gatherings because we were trying to become RN's and LPN's.

Are we going to sit back and moan about how hard things are for nurses, or are we going to get off our a**** and DO something about it??

Individually, nurses can do nothing except leave. That does NOT change what is happening. If we join together in collective bargaining units and/or join our state associations and the ANA, WE CAN make a difference.

It takes each of us to say NO.

There is no such thing as a non profit hospital. If you looked at the article, there were costs on how much the CEO's made and how much they spent on the "firms" used to deskill nurses!!

______________________

In His Grace,

Karen

Failure is NOT an option!!

barefootlady, ADN, RN · Apr 3, 2005

Many of the posters here have written about the pro and cons of unions, the stress of the job, the pressure of too high expectations, and so forth. No one really cares about the plight of nursing and nurses but those in the trenches everday. Sure, every once in a while, some reporter will write another article on "the shortage" or "the importance of the job" but no one really cares about how bad things are now and how bad they are going to be until it hits them in the face.

Many of you know my husband was recently hospitalized for major joint replacement and while there he had some more cardiac issues, all I can say is, thank goodness I am a nurse, a experienced nurse, because he really needed a level of care above the usual floor nurse and below a ICU unit. I was there 90% of the time. Without me to interpret some of the orders, change his dressing, empty his cannister, keep his telemetry on, and do a million other things, he would not have gotten out as soon as he did. I know lots of other people are not able to do this, so here we are, faced with the business end of healthcare. Nurses cannot do justice to more than 5 patient, no matter what the unit, sometimes even that number is too many. Nurses cost money, they have personnal needs, and have expectations at their jobs. Until facilities stop trying to make such hugh profits, and attempt to address real issues for communities and patients, we will continue to have serious problems. The other day I read where HCA is selling 4 facilities here in W.V., these facilities made a profit of over 650 millions last year alone. It is not enough for HCA! Now, tell me, how that could not be enough in a state as small as this one? The nurses who have worked at these facilities for years are going to take a hit on retirement, vacation, and other benefits. They have been paid for the job, but there is more to it than that, so what do you say to those who are feeling battered and underappreciated again?

I love nursing but I just wish it loved those doing the job a little more.

Sorry if this is too long, but I have many issues on my mind.

mattsmom81 · Apr 3, 2005

It all boils down to nurses sticking together vs tearing each other apart. I see this is happening in some areas (the coasts mostly) and I hope to see nurse solidarity become more of a reality in my lifetime.

Too many nurses go along to get along...and stick it out for the paychecks and for their families who depend on it. Their compliance enables greedy healthcare administrators to tighten the choke hold further.

You are preaching to the choir Karen when you tell me about unions. I am definitely prounion...when the union is effective that is.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Apr 3, 2005

The place i work at now is the only place i've worked at that doesn't have a union. And i like it that way.

To have a union is one thing, for it to work is another. And i got sick and tired of devoting my time and effort to them, only for some others to use it as an excuse to get a day off (to attend meetings) or depending on OTHERS to change things.

If you want the boat to move in the right direction, you have to help paddle it.

RRN · Apr 3, 2005

This is an interesting article. Consider this: NON-profit hospitals ARE NOT. Every one of them is for PROFIT and we are the ones taking it on the chin!!
This is the best arguement yet to unionize!!
http://www.revolutionmag.com/newrev2/engineering.html
From the article: "So, where have all the nurses gone?
"All you have to do is talk to a direct care nurse to find out what the conditions are like," said Echo Heron, RN, and author of Tending Lives: Nurses on the Medical Front. "Forced overtime, working double shifts, having far too many patients to care for, then being asked to 'delegate' your work to a person with very little training, well, it all adds up. The hours. The strain. The stress on you, not to mention your family.
"And too many RNs feel that they aren't safe and their patients aren't safe," Heron said. "When nurses are overworked and exhausted, run ragged by too many patients, mistakes happen."
Let me know what you think of being deskilled!!
______________________________________
In His Grace,
Karen
Failure is NOT an option!!

Where will a union find nurses to ease all this?

steelcityrn, RN · Apr 3, 2005

OK.....so then what happens when a union of nurses band together and are forced to walk, after many, many attempts to make nursing better???? A greedy travel nurse steps in and makes 40+ and hour with all the perks and sort of sticks it to the nurses trying to make things better, for even them. Thats something that you do not see with teachers. They would never allow others to step in and risk everything they have worked for. Lets just all face it already, MOST of us became a nurse to take care of people. We had no idea we would have to be experts with employment laws. And yes, I can just vomit when I hear of a company( so called not for profit) who in the end,when it comes to what to do with the great wealth at the end of the tax year, they give the upper mng all raises, put on t.v. yet another million dollar stupid commercial and re...and I mean RE do yet another wing only to change it again when more money is floating around to burn. Thats why Im glad my two kids are not in the healthcare field. My son would have made a fantastik physician. He has a masters in chemical engineering, and has the best personality...KIND...huge heart. But I could no way encourage him into this area. Its a mess, and we all have to take a piece of responsibility in it.

kwagner_51 · Apr 3, 2005

Where will a union find nurses to ease all this?

Look no further than the ANA. They are affilliated with UAN. Here is the website for both:

http://nursingworld.org/ the link to UAN is:

http://nursingworld.org/uan/

From what I have read, this is a FANTASTIC union consisting of nurses and only nurses who have worked in the trenches and know what we are facing.

I didn't know about any of this until I started researching for my paper. I want to know why it wasn't brought up in our classes? I am going to the assistant chair of my nursing school tomorrow to talk to her about this.

___________________________

In His Grace,

Karen

Failure is NOT an option!!

kwagner_51 · Apr 3, 2005

OK.....so then what happens when a union of nurses band together and are forced to walk, after many, many attempts to make nursing better???? A greedy travel nurse steps in and makes 40+ and hour with all the perks and sort of sticks it to the nurses trying to make things better, for even them.

We educate ALL nurses starting in their first year in nursing school!!

We educate the community [newspapers, doctors, radio stations, etc] about what is going on in their local hospital. The reason hospitals are fighting unionization is because they have something to hide. We expose them for the greedy, money hungry 'industry' they are and we will have the entire support of our communities. Think about this: Besides nurses and doctors, who else is affected by this? EVERY person who has ever needed to use the hospital!!

I honestly don't think that John and Jane Public are going to come down on nurses for trying to protect them, do you?

________________________________________

In His Grace,

Karen

Failure is NOT an option!!