Nurses not speaking english at work

Nurses General Nursing

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I work nights and the majority of the night nurses are foreign, they are all very good nurses but sometimes I feel out of place because they are always speaking their language to each other. They all take their breaks together and have a feast every night, many times leaving me on the floor by myself. I am out numbered and am afraid to say anything, it took awhile to get accepted and I don't want to make waves.

what!!!???? please, for the love of the declaration of independence and the constitution and all that is sacred and holy, check your history. preferably now.

new mexico, arizona, and undisputed us control of texas (along with the now states of california, utah, nevada, and parts of wyoming and colorado) were ceded to the us after the mexican-american war as part of the treaty of guadaloupe-hidalgo and the mexican cession of 1845.

the battle of the alamo was part of the texas revolution/texas war of independence, which lasted from october of 1835 to april of 1836. the battle occurred over 13 days from february to march of 1836.

the battle of the alamo had nothing to do with national territory and more with texas declaring her independence from mexico - and the texians (yes, they were called texians)/americans got their collective behinds kicked and therefore won nothing as a result of what happened at the alamo. in fact, all except for two at the alamo were killed by santa anna and his boys (with the exception of the noncombatants, which included women and children - to santa anna's credit he spared them, gave them blankets and each adult two dollars).

(note - they were probably called "texians" because they were not only white "americans" but also mexicans who wanted out from under the mother country.)

subsequently, in revenge for what occurred at the alamo (and where the battle cry "remember the alamo!" comes from), the texians and the americans kicked the crap out of the mexicans at the battle of san jacinto in april of 1836, which effectively ended the revolution and forever broke texas' ties to mexico. (ever hear of a little place called the republic of texas?)

the alamo had nothing to do with texas statehood or with new mexico or any of the rest of the western territory of the continent. it had to do with kicking mexico out of texas and creating an independent republic, with the border established at the rio grande. the battle of the alamo was the precursor to the united states acquiring a major part of mexico, it is the battle of the alamo that started it all. it would not hurt you, since you are a history buff to read the mexican versions of these historical events. the texans had been invited to colonize texas by mexico and instead rebelled and revolted. the mexican goverment did not recognize the "republic of texas", a republic is by definition another country and mexico still considered texas part of mexico. many mexicans still view the whole issue as texas being "stolen" by the united states and the united states continued to take parts of mexico as you have detailed. many of the actions by the usa were viewed as acts of war by the mexican people.

advice: if you're going to throw around your heritage in what comes across as an attempt at sounding superior, know what you're talking about first so your quoted "facts" are correct. i am not attempting to sound superior, just stating some basic facts, especially for those that do not know that these states where once part of mexico and for before some of you tell us to "go back where you came from", the reply by many descendants is: "we never left, we did not cross the border, the border crossed us."

i'm a huge history buff and live fifteen minutes from the alamo. since moving back to texas i've become very interested in her colorful history and have read three books on the alamo and the texas revolution alone. i actually go to the alamo every time i go downtown - it's about a forty second walk from the riverwalk and i usually end up walking past it on my way there because the parking lot i use is one block down from it. i've placed flowers there several times out of awe for what they tried to do there and for what they did accomplish. help was coming, and they never got the message.

(another note: we have "six flags over texas" because there have been six national flags over texas: spain, mexico, the republic of texas, france, the united states of america flag, and the flag of the confederate states of america. just a fun tidbit to close off a rant.) :)

technically only 5 national flags, and one disputed state belonging to mexico.

again, to say that the battle of the alamo kickstarted westward expansion is not only disingenuous, but completely incorrect.

texas doesn't belong to mexico in the modern day any more than the original 13 still belong to england. that fact's far from in dispute - which means there are still six historical flags over texas. i know people who are still ticked off about the outcome of the civil war - and that certainly doesn't change that the confederacy has been gone for eons and isn't returning any time soon - but they're still mad about it. and they're still wrong wrong wrong.

and i can assure you i could care less who's here - especially as the wife of a green card holder - as long as they're working when possible and are preferably legal. and for a good chunk of the time i'm ambivalent on the legal issue if they're working, since it seems a lot of illegals have a better work ethic than some american-born folks i know and are ten times as appreciative - even if way down it still annoys me.

back to the fun......and i still think if you're going to live here, you need basic english survival skills.....

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Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

Buh bye... see ya... don't let the door hit ya where the good lord....

I say out.. and I call the cops on every single car with an expired registration full of mexicans shopping at wallmart..Time to go.

Show up at the hospital with no translation book and expect me to know your foreign language? Yeah, I'll get the translation phone and your 15 family members that want pillows, blankets and free meals will be sent out..

bye... flame away... I'm ok with my legal status.

INS bring it on baby

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Specializes in CTICU.
Buh bye... see ya... don't let the door hit ya where the good lord....

I say out.. and I call the cops on every single car with an expired registration full of mexicans shopping at wallmart..Time to go.

Show up at the hospital with no translation book and expect me to know your foreign language? Yeah, I'll get the translation phone and your 15 family members that want pillows, blankets and free meals will be sent out..

bye... flame away... I'm ok with my legal status.

INS bring it on baby

Welcome to 2010. There hasn't been an "INS" since March 1st, 2003.

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Welcome to 2010. There hasn't been an "INS" since March 1st, 2003.

Yeah, now it's ICE, ICE, baby.

ICE = Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Newborn Nursery, Post Partum.
What nursing shortage? Nurses are out of work and looking for jobs in record numbers.

Please answer my question regarding why it is ok to give jobs to foreingers while US citizens go hungry? I do not understand.

I am not being facetious here, I am really seeking to understand the rationale.

In response to your question "mindlor"...... your right it is not fair and in order to understand it you will have to look at it from the hospitals point of view. Most of these "foreign" nurses are hired through an Agency and even though they are qualified (they are tested by the state and most have to take an English proficiency test) they usually are not as picky about the jobs that they are assigned to. Also a very big thing for the hospitals that they don't have to pay benefits because they are temps. OK now don't give me that look, yes we are picky with our jobs; hell I've done this just long enough to know that I can pick and choose just about any job that I want (at least in Texas). If I don't want to do nights or certain specialties I don't have to and if I want to pick my own hours or days I can do that. Bottom line it comes down to the money for these hospitals. Yes they may pay the Agency nurse more an hour, but they save thousands of dollars on not paying for benefits. In other words tell your friends if they really want or need a job go back to the good old basics, don't be so picky and be reasonable in and understand that in this hard economical time you may have to take a little of a pay cut.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
In response to your question "mindlor"...... your right it is not fair and in order to understand it you will have to look at it from the hospitals point of view. Most of these "foreign" nurses are hired through an Agency and even though they are qualified (they are tested by the state and most have to take an English proficiency test) they usually are not as picky about the jobs that they are assigned to. Also a very big thing for the hospitals that they don't have to pay benefits because they are temps. OK now don't give me that look, yes we are picky with our jobs; hell I've done this just long enough to know that I can pick and choose just about any job that I want (at least in Texas). If I don't want to do nights or certain specialties I don't have to and if I want to pick my own hours or days I can do that. Bottom line it comes down to the money for these hospitals. Yes they may pay the Agency nurse more an hour, but they save thousands of dollars on not paying for benefits. In other words tell your friends if they really want or need a job go back to the good old basics, don't be so picky and be reasonable in and understand that in this hard economical time you may have to take a little of a pay cut.

For a International nurse to qualify for a immigrant visa then the post needs to be permanent not temp, if the hospital uses a H1b for the International nurse that also has to be permanent post and full time. Not all International nurses go to the US via an agency, I was going to the US and I was involved via a recruiter and the hospital just in the same way lots of US nurses have to go through a recruiter. Also add the US has been affected by retrogression since Oct 06 and many many nurses are still waiting in their home country or gone to work in another country due to the big backlog in visa allocation.

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Also add the US has been affected by retrogression since Oct 06 and many many nurses are still waiting in their home country or gone to work in another country due to the big backlog in visa allocation.

Just to inform you, in October of last year a large number of visa allocations cleared up because most skilled labor and professionals waiting for H1B lost their petitioner as a result of the economic crunch.

Nurses, however, did not lose petitioner hospitals so this actually has sped up retrogression for nurses who were already waiting and had completed up to Packet 3.

We'll likely see more of this since Nurses appear to be the only professionals which are still being actively petitioned by US employers. Retrogression is still in place, don't get me wrong.. but more visas are available for nurses once the priority dates come up.

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Specializes in ICU, Trauma, CCT,Emergency, Flight, OR Nursing.

When I came to the USA as a Foreign Sponsored Greencard RN traveller; I had to have taken my NCLEX, as well as an English proficiency exam (written, spoken, understood) in addition to numerous other certifications etc.

I am an American citizen and I take offence to nurses speaking to each other in their foreign language in the work place. Socially, it is never polite to have a conversation with someone else in another language or at whispered tones.The implication is that the conversation is about others in the social setting and doing this effectively excludes them. Nursing is about teamwork and group cohesion; what this practice does is just break that down completely and leave the individuals not participating feeling left out and not valued in the group.

A hospital should NOT tolerate this type of behaviour and it should be stopped at the 1st instance. It is not condusive to good staff relations and group cohesion.

Also the fact that all the RN's leave the floor at the same time to go and have their "feast" every night should also not be tolerated.This also breaks down unity to those 'left out' and constitutes huge liability issues for the facility should something go wrong on the unit while all the nurses are on break.

My advise to you would be to take it up with your supervisor, if you feel comfortable speaking to him/ her about it. If not speak to the supervisor above them or to HR.

If this matter does not resolve to your satisfaction, Id say you need to start looking for a new job elsewhere and when you interview; ask the interview panel whether this type of thing is seen to be acceptable at their facility.

Best of luck!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.
Just to inform you, in October of last year a large number of visa allocations cleared up because most skilled labor and professionals waiting for H1B lost their petitioner as a result of the economic crunch.

Nurses, however, did not lose petitioner hospitals so this actually has sped up retrogression for nurses who were already waiting and had completed up to Packet 3.

We'll likely see more of this since Nurses appear to be the only professionals which are still being actively petitioned by US employers. Retrogression is still in place, don't get me wrong.. but more visas are available for nurses once the priority dates come up.

It really hasn't changed much, current visa bulletin is April 03 and June's bulletin is June 03 so although moving it hasn't moved greatly and nurses that have a PD of 2003 must have had something seriously wrong with their application. Will see what happens by Oct and the new year starts

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It really hasn't changed much, current visa bulletin is April 03 and June's bulletin is June 03 so although moving it hasn't moved greatly and nurses that have a PD of 2003 must have had something seriously wrong with their application. Will see what happens by Oct and the new year starts

You are correct that the visa bulletin dates have not changed.

What I am saying is that now nurses do not have to compete with other professionals applying for H1B because all other professions have lost sponsors so even though the number of visas has not increased, there are fewer people vying for them. Therefore the result is that nurses will have an easier time once their dates DO come up.

Hope that clarifies what I was trying to say.

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Top 100 H1B Visa Sponsors in 075 since 2007 | MyVisaJobs.com

The number don't look too promising, Cambridge Global Health is out of business, if you click into the individual visas most are for Nephrology Nurse Specialist, we are talking of hundreds of applications and hundreds of thousands of nurses applying.

Sadly this topic is basically about nurses who have been in the USA prior to 2006.

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Welcome to 2010. There hasn't been an "INS" since March 1st, 2003.

Maybe not, but everyone knew what she meant! If you're illegal you need to leave and come in the way millions of people have "through the front doors with your papers" not climbing over boarder fences and demanding free welfare, healthcare, education etc., at the tax payers expense; this hurts everyone. It's not a fair burden to put on any state or it's people! Horray for AZ in finally taking a stand when the federal government would do nothing after years of AZ screaming for help! Nobody wants to be the bad guy. Yet, something must be done for the millions of legal citizens who are here now paying taxes and still we get no help! Kudos to AZ for taking the leap!!!:yeah::yeah::yeah:

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