Is anyone else totally frustrated with CO nursing?

Nashima · Jul 6, 2006

Sorry to hear about your situation. Out of curiosity, what part of CO are you in? Thanks! :)

BeccaRN1970 · Jul 6, 2006

Southwestern. I take it you don't have the same issue, huh?

Nashima · Jul 6, 2006

I'm actually a RN student in Florida. As soon as I graduate, I intend to move to south central CO. This is why I asked.

The CO boards seems pretty dead, but hopefully others will relate their experience. The trend however is not unique to CO. Even in Florida, professionals in rural area (nurses or otherwise) tend to be overworked and underpaid.

sddlnscp · Jul 7, 2006

This is truly a problem in rural Colorado. I live in the rural part of the state and unfortunately, in order to find the higher paying positions and the specialty that I want to pursue I will not be able to work here. Many of the rural areas take care of the more easy-to-treat patients and then send on the more critical care patients to the larger areas. I think you just have to decide what is more important to you - if you want to live in a small area and still get more money, then you have to commute. If you don't mind the lesser pay in order to help out your community, it is good to stay put. Or, if you can't take it, you can always move to a larger city. Just follow your heart.

NitePsykoRN · Sep 21, 2006

Boy can I feel your frustrations. I live just outside of the metro area, work in psych...lol...can ya tell by the screen name? This whole area is based on one thing and one thing only-GREED!!!! Hospital adminstrations could care less about Colorado nurses, or ancillary personnel, all they care about is $$$$. I suppose it's everywhere, but I don't work everywhere. I have worked in the metro area and outside the metro area, it's all the same mentality--$$$$$$$$!!!!!!! I have visisted the Colorado Nurses forum on several occasions and there really hasn't been much going on, so I thought that it was just me, but I wonder if Colorado Nurses are just so beat down and oppressed they figure "what's the point?" I also wonder how many Colorado Nurses get suckered by the "administralian happy speak" that gets blown up our scrubs on a daily basis? Perhaps it's fear. Colorado is notorius for reporting problematic nurses (whistleblowers/trouble makers) to the Colorado BON and there is nothing nurses can do about it. Some will state that nurses should join the Colorado Nurses Assoc. (CNA-not the California Assoc.)/ANA--please, spare me. The CNA/ANA is a joke. If the ANA were truly interested in the welfare of the nurses of this country, we wouldn't be having these problems. The ANA is nothing more than an academic association-if one is the scholarly type, then the ANA is for you. Look at the California NA, they are an association that demands respect, they had to fight for it, but they got it. I am sure they are other NA's that have fought hard, but I usually don't have time to keep up with all of them-oh yeah, it's cause I am working my butt off. Sorry to ramble on so much, but this state is sick with greed and retalitory strikes on those that speak out. You're not alone. Hope this rambling helps you.

BeccaRN1970 · Sep 21, 2006

Boy can I feel your frustrations. I live just outside of the metro area, work in psych...lol...can ya tell by the screen name? This whole area is based on one thing and one thing only-GREED!!!! Hospital adminstrations could care less about Colorado nurses, or ancillary personnel, all they care about is $$$$. I suppose it's everywhere, but I don't work everywhere. I have worked in the metro area and outside the metro area, it's all the same mentality--$$$$$$$$!!!!!!! I have visisted the Colorado Nurses forum on several occasions and there really hasn't been much going on, so I thought that it was just me, but I wonder if Colorado Nurses are just so beat down and oppressed they figure "what's the point?" I also wonder how many Colorado Nurses get suckered by the "administralian happy speak" that gets blown up our scrubs on a daily basis? Perhaps it's fear. Colorado is notorius for reporting problematic nurses (whistleblowers/trouble makers) to the Colorado BON and there is nothing nurses can do about it. Some will state that nurses should join the Colorado Nurses Assoc. (CNA-not the California Assoc.)/ANA--please, spare me. The CNA/ANA is a joke. If the ANA were truly interested in the welfare of the nurses of this country, we wouldn't be having these problems. The ANA is nothing more than an academic association-if one is the scholarly type, then the ANA is for you. Look at the California NA, they are an association that demands respect, they had to fight for it, but they got it. I am sure they are other NA's that have fought hard, but I usually don't have time to keep up with all of them-oh yeah, it's cause I am working my butt off. Sorry to ramble on so much, but this state is sick with greed and retalitory strikes on those that speak out. You're not alone. Hope this rambling helps you.

Boy, am I doing a dance :monkeydance: that you wrote and understand my feelings!! My coworkers don't feel there is anything wrong with the way things go - and all the really crappy stuff admin does, they tie to "bonus time" so of course everyone puts up with it! And if they do see a problem with the way we're treated, its, "Oh well, that's just they way it is." Like the previous post, telling me to move if I want better pay (no offense meant). I don't have that freedom, nor should I have to do that.

We did have a CNA/NNOC meeting here recently and SO FEW PEOPLE came!! I even passed out the flyers at work! AARGH! I'm so burned out, I'm considering quitting the field altogether, the only reason I don't is I don't want to losse my skills for fear something better will come along...

But, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for writing, NitePsykoRN!!!

sddlnscp · Sep 22, 2006

Sorry Becca, I didn't mean to sound cold-hearted about it. I am actually frustrated about it too. It's not like I want to leave rural CO either, I have lived here for over 1/2 of my life and I love it here! I find it completely depressing that I will have to uproot and re-locate my family in order to make enough money to survive. It's not even that the pay is acceptable and I am just not willing to take a lower pay - it's not that at all, it's that I can't afford to live and feed my family on what this town pays nurses. I didn't mean to offend you and I appologize if I did. I don't think my previous post reflected very well what I meant to say, so I'm sorry about that. I'm not really sure how to post what I mean, it is so frustrating and I did not realize it is like that all over the state. How sad. I am still in nursing school, so I have nothing to compare it to other than what the nurses that work where I live have said. I haven't heard much bad about the administration down here, but that the pay is so cheesy. I have heard all of them speak of the cities in much higher regard, but then again, that is only word-of-mouth, so who knows.

Anyway, sorry if I misled, I appologize. I hope I did not mean to sound unsympathetic, because that is not at all what I meant. I do think that it's insane how widespread this problem seems to be. It's very disheartening, especially for those of us who want more than anything to be nurses.

hollyvk, BSN · Sep 22, 2006

Healthcare facilities (and other employers of RNs) pay as little as they are able to and still retain/attract staff. They don't see it as greed, they see it as controlling their largest operating cost--staff salaries. So as long as you and your co-workers are willing to work for low wages, your employer will continue to pay you at that rate.

Colorado nurses have traditionally not been proactive in organizing for higher wages and better benefits. Unions are not popular here and employers have been largely successful in keeping unions out, hence wages are low here (even in the Denver metro area as compared to other large urban areas where RNs participate in collective bargaining activities).

If you want to see a good example of successful union activity and a great state nurses' association, check out: http://www.calnurse.org/

HollyVK RN, BSN, JD

BeccaRN1970 · Sep 22, 2006

Sorry Becca, I didn't mean to sound cold-hearted about it. I am actually frustrated about it too. It's not like I want to leave rural CO either, I have lived here for over 1/2 of my life and I love it here! I find it completely depressing that I will have to uproot and re-locate my family in order to make enough money to survive. It's not even that the pay is acceptable and I am just not willing to take a lower pay - it's not that at all, it's that I can't afford to live and feed my family on what this town pays nurses. I didn't mean to offend you and I appologize if I did. I don't think my previous post reflected very well what I meant to say, so I'm sorry about that. I'm not really sure how to post what I mean, it is so frustrating and I did not realize it is like that all over the state. How sad. I am still in nursing school, so I have nothing to compare it to other than what the nurses that work where I live have said. I haven't heard much bad about the administration down here, but that the pay is so cheesy. I have heard all of them speak of the cities in much higher regard, but then again, that is only word-of-mouth, so who knows.
Anyway, sorry if I misled, I appologize. I hope I did not mean to sound unsympathetic, because that is not at all what I meant. I do think that it's insane how widespread this problem seems to be. It's very disheartening, especially for those of us who want more than anything to be nurses.

You don't need to apologize! I wasn't offended at all, just frustrated because it seems that most people don't see a problem, or all they want to do is complain and not do anything about it. I was afraid you were one of those people. I didn't mean to offend YOU. I just remember being a single mom and barely making ends meet, which isn't right for holding a BSN and busting my a** every shift! If nurses would pull together and unite, we could really make a difference! Best of luck being a student nurse. I hope this isn't too discouraging to you but I'm assuming you already knew the problems.

BeccaRN1970 · Sep 22, 2006

Holly, it just seems that so few people actually know about this here! Is there a movement in Denver to raise awareness?

sddlnscp · Sep 22, 2006

You don't need to apologize! I wasn't offended at all, just frustrated because it seems that most people don't see a problem, or all they want to do is complain and not do anything about it. I was afraid you were one of those people. I didn't mean to offend YOU. I just remember being a single mom and barely making ends meet, which isn't right for holding a BSN and busting my a** every shift! If nurses would pull together and unite, we could really make a difference! Best of luck being a student nurse. I hope this isn't too discouraging to you but I'm assuming you already knew the problems.

Oh don't worry, you didn't offend me at all, perhaps opened my eyes more instead. :) I assumed (and we all know where that gets you) that because the people where I live only complain about this problem as if it is local and doesn't affect the larger areas that that was true. Apparently I was very wrong. It is so sad that nurses are so underappreciated, especially since they are the life-blood of the healthcare system! Don't worry, it will not discourage me because I want to be a nurse with every ounce of my heart and my being, but it will open up my eyes to the reality of it all and hopefully I won't be in too much shock when I do graduate and find a job. I too hope that nurses throughout the state can come together for the good of the profession and I hope that in future years, I am part of the solution! Thanks for the insight, I hope that my love for the profession and my desire to be a nurse will outweigh the negative impacts of living in a state that oppresses them. Thank you for being so honest and for giving me something more to think about as I progress on my journey . . . and thank you for being kind to me as I learn. :rolleyes: