all the latest tricks to keep nurses.

SmilingBluEyes · Oct 10, 2003

this one belongs in the student nursing forum i think.

but thanks for the caveat. i am all too aware of the tricks of their trade.

dreamon · Oct 10, 2003

Thanks alansmith--that was a very encouraging post. I look in the want ads and see the same employers looking for RNs/LPNs every week! Even with all the bonuses they offer- I wonder if they are always in the want ads because not many nurses want to work there.

CseMgr1, ASN, RN · Oct 10, 2003

Originally posted by alansmith52
education loan repayments, carret reward step ladders, Training, housing, trasportation, new postions, internships, externships, crosstraing, baylor shifts, shorter shifts, longer shifts,
can't you see. they will do absolutly anything but what you really want. what? you got a raise was it 5 cents or 3 dollars. either way is not a raise at all. they do this on purpose unless your raise surpasses the cost of living index ITS NOT A RAISE.

It's called SUCKER BAIT. :devil:

2rntish · Oct 10, 2003

We are part of a "system". Our facility is a smaller hospital about 120 miles from the "parent" which is in a large metropolitan area. We have had a lot of nurses leave here to make the big bucks in the big city.

In order to stop the exodus our HR director called a special meeting for all nurses. Stated that he had adjusted the salary levels to meet that of our parent hospital. No longer would we have to leave in order to make the same money. Stay here and praise me for what I have done for you.

It took us a couple of months to figure out what he had done...He had adjusted our SALARY CAP to equal theirs. We still start about $4.00/hr less and stay there until ...

purplemania, BSN, RN · Oct 10, 2003

While I share your views on the sign-on bonuses, the other things your listed at the beginning of your post are all positives, in my opinion. We all want more money, but the other perks are nice too. I do not want to give up any of them

ainz · Oct 10, 2003

Yes, they corporate people and administrative-types, the MBAs and accountants all put spin on all of this. The other perks are nice and have traditional been reserved for executive types, well the relocation stuff anyway.

You should hear the conversations that occur when administration is behind closed doors trying to figure out how to lure nurses into staying with really increasing their expenses immediately. All of that stuff does cost money but they can spread it out over time and figure out how to pay for it, like jack up what they charge patients.

That's why I write all of this crap on these boards, nurses are being manipulated and it is not going to stop until we, that means nurses themselves, push for lasting, lng term change that changes the foundation of how we are viewed and paid. Staffing ratios, unions, and the like are short term, quick fixes that can be gotten around by administration.

Professionalizing ourselves, enacting laws that govern how we are paid, removing ourselvs from the hospital payroll, and getting away from EVERYTHING THAT RESEMBLES THE PAID-BY-TH-HOUR, BLUE COLLAR WORKER is the ONLY thing that will bring real and lasting change.

cannoli · Oct 10, 2003

Well, I guess it's not going to happen in my lifetime then.

barefootlady, ADN, RN · Oct 10, 2003

Will not happen in mine either, but I am still for a Nationwide Nursing Union.

alansmith52 · Oct 12, 2003

wooo yeah, a nation wide union. we could have this country begging for us in a day. like the teamsters did.

I would go for that.

do I sound vidictive. maybe even ludicrous

I am not even a bedside nurse anymore but still feel emebeded in the fight.

rock on

Trauma Columnist · Oct 12, 2003

Why don't YOU go back and get an MBA and then be one of the decision-makers??? My own position (and I must preface this with the fact that I'm 45 and been a nurse for a long time) is that if you aren't part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Don't like your benefits...talk to management and suggest other options. I work in a level one trauma center. We were having mass exodus of nurses - we started clinical ladders programs - you are paid for experience, education, etc. Bring shared governance to your hospital. There are solutions to this problem and quite frankly - I'm tired of everyone's whining. (Oh oh - that's gonna get me in trouble!)

roxannekkb · Oct 12, 2003

Originally posted by purplemania
While I share your views on the sign-on bonuses, the other things your listed at the beginning of your post are all positives, in my opinion. We all want more money, but the other perks are nice too. I do not want to give up any of them

I think what he means is that while these perks are nice, the hospitals are all just dancing around the main problem. They are not getting to the crux of the problem and not improving working conditions. You can get all of the Baylor shifts and cross training you want, but it's still not going to solve the core problems of short staffing, deliberate high nurse to patient ratios, being treated with disrespect, being backstabbed, not being supported by administration, being written up because you take a sick day, and so on.

The "perks" simply camouflage the core problem, which simply isn't going to vanish. If you have 15 patients on a med/surg floor, and 3-4 patients in ICU, and a manager who backstabs you at every turn, none of those perks are worth anything.