Med-Surg floor sucks, and nursing unions

Specialties Med-Surg

Published

I went back to a Med-Surg floor after a long time, I had previously worked on a med-surg unit once years ago and dont remember it being this bad. There are no unions in this part of the country and I would like to hear from some union nurses to see if things are better. I work night **** 7p-7a and we have usually 6 nurses at night and take 6 and rarely 7 pts. each. Except for newer nurses, RN's take turns being charge nurse and do added chores such as staffing and paperwork and still take 6 pts. We are regularly slammed from the ER with admissions, some coming up before we even get report on new patients and got 9 admissions the other night and no one got any breaks or lunch because they were to busy, every left about 10am next morning. The nurses dont really help each other out because they are all to busy. We do not have a ward clerk to answer phones and put in orders except one who may stay until 11pm or the house clerk who is pulled to all floors to put in orders and leaves at 5am. Nurses are pulled to every floor in the hospital except ER and ICU, labor laws state you are to have breaks and lunch, no one seems to care. For all our trouble this system pays new RN's 18.00-19.00hr, nurses with experience 23.00-24.00 hr. and 3.45 night premium (which is only reason I work nights). We have many new grads in ER and ICU. There are only 2 hospital systems here and they are both about the same, what is it like working for union hospitals? Why are nurses worked like dogs now and paid so little? I have done home heath, OR, geriatrics, med-surg and OR was the best, every place else worked you like dogs, I would like to go to Calif., any info on unions would be helpful.

Shortage of nurses? Ha that's a good one.

It goes back and forth here. When I graduated two years ago no one was hiring. Now, at least at my two employers plus another hospital, they are practically begging people to apply... Or it could be no one wants to work at these places, haha. But really, there is once again a shortage here. They recently bumped up pay.

Specializes in LTC, Psych, M/S.

It goes back and forth here. When I graduated two years ago no one was hiring. Now, at least at my two employers plus another hospital, they are practically begging people to apply... Or it could be no one wants to work at these places, haha. But really, there is once again a shortage here. They recently bumped up pay.

Where are you located snowboard RN??

I KNEW you had to be from Indiana when you posted your pay. I'm in Indiana and it's exactly the same at my hospital.

This should be illegal.

The San Francisco Bay area is where it's at! Competitive pay and Staffing Laws (max of 5:1) make it much nicer. I have 5+ years experience and am working at a magnet hospital making 65/hr with benefits. Still on night shift which is a bummer, but I love the facility and my co-workers. Good luck in your endeavors!

So at $65 an hour, you CAN afford a studio apartment, and pass on the BART, in San Francisco? That's encouraging.

Last SNF job, LPN, 2004: $27/hour. That has dropped a whopping TEN bucks an hour, since then. I also see RNs TODAY making...$20? The system has failed us, and grabbed us by the, well, you know. And yet we all fall for it, going back to school, get more degrees, etc... as the pay falls, and falls...and the jobs go bye-bye. I'm scared, people.

So at $65 an hour, you CAN afford a studio apartment, and pass on the BART, in San Francisco? That's encouraging.

I should clarify that I work in the East Bay and live in Berkeley. I'm about a 20 min. drive to work and 20 min. into SF. My apartment is 1500/month, but a nice one bedroom, shared pool, workout facility, etc. San Francisco is far too expensive for most people to buy a home. Even Berkeley and Oakland are quite pricey. There are, however, other decent cities in the East Bay that are much more affordable.

Wages are all relative! I started off at 20/hr in Jackson Hole, WY, with a BSN, but my apartment was 500/month and I was surrounded by breathtaking mountains. You've got to live and work where you are happy, even if the pay sucks.

I don't think guttercat is suggesting people migrate to better paying states. I think guttercat is just flabbergasted that people are ok with being underappreciated and overworked with little tangible reward. I personally agree. If the majority of us just roll over and accept that the income of the middpe class is not rising accordingly with the costs of living then that's a problem. And to the person who made the "what can we expect with just an associate degree" I don't think that has much to do with the arguement considering you paid more for school than you are going to make in a year, and I think 2 years in nursing school is more stressful that 4 years in some general undergrad program. It is sad to me that a person really can make more money bartending in one night than a nurse can bring home in one night.

Ps, if you wanted to try to beat the system, I heard that if you work for a sort of "franchise" type facility that has locations all over, if you start working in a high paying state then transfer to a lower paying state, they have to keep your pay the same....

Just something I've heard....

Specializes in Med-Surg, LTC, Psych, Addictions..

Indiana here - base pay at my hospital is $21 :(

That's not bad! Cost of living is so much cheaper in IN than other parts of the country. I used to live there.

Specializes in Critical-care RN.

... you well burn out soon:scrying:

New grad here..... In Northeast Oklahoma starting pay is $21-$23 per hour. We are a non-unioned state. It does seen like we're barely getting paid, however, our cost of living is very low. There's never traffic. My hospital is 20 miles away and I can be there in 20-30 minutes. We also get an $11,000 sign-on bonus that shows up on our first check but it comes with a 2-yr commitment. Homes here are pretty cheap (in comparison to what I see on tv shows). My bf and I just bought. 2,000 sq. ft house with about 2 acres of yard for $179K. To me the cost of living makes up for the lower pay, but that's just my opinion. Making more would be nice though! ;)

Specializes in Critical-care RN.

Good luck in a Right To Work state...:sarcastic:

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