I've been contemplating this for awhile. Perhaps the idea is a little radical but then again so are the circumstances many of us are facing as new grads. For the last year all I've been hearing about are new grads that can't find work as well as medical centers, hospitals, clinics etc advertising that they want nothing to do with us.
Too make matters worse, lots of the retirees who have gone back to work full time are getting less than what they left the field for.
It got me thinking. WE are the future of this field. It is US that keeps these healthcare facilities running. It is US that are the backbone of the healthcare system. It is also US and those that came before US that have put aside our own interests to get into this field and many of us have done so because we legitmitly care about others.
Perhaps it is time we actually got to thinking and discussing what is IN OUR INTERESTS. Nursing, for decades, has had a long history of eating it's young as well as lateral violence. It doesn't have to be this way and we can change this.
I was going through a lot of ads for Nursing Positions and was struck by how many facilities discriminate against new grads. It's completely gotten out of control. Especially here in MA where more than 90% of the population is covered by insurance. It ain't like people are not getting sick and folks here are not paying for the healthcare system. Up until recently there was legislation about to put to a vote to improve the staffing ratios and this was supposed to open up all sorts of positions.
The hospitals fought it tooth and nail and it died with the coming of the "recession" (which is really a restrucuring). One of the healthcare corps that fought it was Partners. This same corp that somehow has enough money in the budget to buyout ANOTHER healthcare facility; Youville in cambridge.
This may be a small measure but perhaps instead of us competing with each other we can turn the tables on these supposedly "suffering" healthcare admins. This is small measure but perhaps it couldn't hurt.
Maybe we could somehow pool which employers are discriminating against New Grads. We could write letters telling them how we are aware of this and that in the future we will remember this. We could send them emails informing them that when we finally are experienced nurses we will refuse to work for them. Afterall, we, as the workers, are the ones that make these places valuable (or will at some point). Not to mention that the folks coming out of retirement are not going to be there forever.
Just my 2 cents. Anyone have other ideas lemme know.
How is a hospital wanting to hire experienced nurses with dwindling resources "discrimination" Discrimination is defined as being treated differently from another person in whom the only difference is race, gender, or sexual preference.
Not the case with a new grad. If you "mobilize" what exactly do you hope to achieve? You want someone else to be fired to make room for you?
I would differ with a couple of your points. First, a new grad isn't the backbone of a hospital. Experience is a continuum, not an either/or. So the hospitals are staffed by nurses with 1,2 3 yrs of experience all the way up to that cranky one that refuses to retire because she is supporting her grandkids or whatever.
The lateral violence issue is completely different from the discrimination issue, unless you feel that a hospital not hiring you is lateral violence. That's a great one to pursue, though- us "old school" nurses were trained to tolerate abusive instructors, as kind of a ticket you had to get punched to be a "real" nurse. I disagree with that totally. You will see vestiges of that everywhere, but you guys can be the ones to pro-actively fight against the status quo. You will get resistance at first-- just like any change for the better always does. People do not take it well when you upset their comfort zone, but it is the ethical thing to do in my mind.
The situation being faced right now is simply- off- the- charts. Never in a million years would I have even contemplated the idea of a nurse moving out of state for a job!! 3000 applicants for one job. It's just crazy. . .
a former classmate of mines had an interview yesterday and was told that they had about 500 applications for the position:eek:
want2banurse35
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a former classmate of mines had an interview yesterday and was told that they had about 500 applications for the position:eek: