Nurses outraged by plan to strip health professionals of overtime pay

mother/babyRN, RN · Jun 28, 2003

Let me just say if I am there one minute past when I am supposed to be due to patient concerns or staffing, and this goes into effect, I am so out the door and forget mandatory overtime...

I will NEVER do mandatory straightime...This in a state where teachers can retire, get a full pension, then go back into the field , collect the first pension and then, when again retired, collect the second..

fergus51 · Jun 28, 2003

I can guarantee you I will NEVER work an OT shift without the benefit of OT pay. Thank you, union! If I worked somewhere that tried to do this, I would not be working there for long.

LadyNASDAQ · Jun 28, 2003

I work quite a bit of ot. If it weren't available, the incentive would not be there and this Nurse instead would work an extra shift elsewhere.

When you work ot, you are getting a hospital out of a dangerous staffing ratio situation.

roxannekkb · Jun 28, 2003

The logic escapes me. I know this will affect quite a few professions and workers, but I am thinking in terms of nursing. If anyone thinks there's a nursing shortage now, what do they think removing overtime will due to alleviate it? Will they just run more PR ads about how great nursing is? Or try to convince nurses that they need to re-adopt the martyr position, and work without overtime pay. Or better yet, will they move to put nurses on salary instead of an hourly wage? Afterall, can't bills be paid with compassion?

This is just so baffling. The latest attempt to bring more wealth to corporations and screw the employees. :confused:

LadyNASDAQ · Jun 28, 2003

It isn't logical, it's ridiculous. There are excellent, safe Nurses that can work ot and truly make for a safer situation. If this bill passes, there will be a nation-wide shortage that wil never be realized and why would anyone want to back stab a healthcare worker that might be trying to save even their family member's life?

ucandoit · Jun 28, 2003

Amen, LadyNASDAQ

casper1 · Jun 28, 2003

I am often reguired to work overtime to maintain safe patient staff ratios at my hospital. If hospitals eliminate overtime it would be a grave mistake. Why would nurses agree to work for free. Don't give me the argument that we would be compenstaed with comp time, we all know how hard it is to get the vacation time we are entitled to now. I depend on overtime to help pay my daughter,s college tuition. I would refuse uncompensated overtime, instead I would take a per diem job and work extra hours there. I think this is what most nurses would do if denied overtime pay. The only way hospitals would be able to overcome this would be mandatory overtime. Something that most hospitals are reluctant to do. We are trying to encourage more people to enter nursing as a profession not drive them away.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jun 28, 2003

Anyone care to defend GWB now?

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Jun 28, 2003

Originally posted by mistersleepy
Contact the White House TODAY!

The White House Phone Numbers:

COMMENTS: 202-456-1111
SWITCHBOARD: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Phone Numbers (for the Hearing Impaired Only)

202-456-6213 Comment Line
202-456-2121 Visitors Office

White House E-Mail Addresses:

President George W. Bush: [email protected]
Vice President Richard Cheney: [email protected]

Done !

Please fwd. the above info to as many nurses as you can. !!!

-jt · Jun 28, 2003

Of course they wont agree to do it. So what? The hospitals arent worried about that at all. Its no problem for them that nurses wont volunteer for ot if they arent going to be paid ot. The hospital will just mandate the nurses to work it.

Just think........ instead of hiring the amount of staff they need, the hospitals will just fill in the staffing gaps with more mandatory ot - AND NOT EVEN HAVE TO PAY A PREMIMUM of time & 1/2 for it either. Saves them money off our backs all around. I wonder how much bonus was given to the administrators who came up with this sweet plan to hold us hostage & then got it thru Congress so quietly.

This information has been out there for months - put out in action alerts by the state nurses assocs. Who saw those? The state nurses assoc members & whoever they passed them on to. But lots of other staff nurses that this new law would affect dont know about it - because they dont get involved

If we're sitting saying where did this come from - I never heard about it - we have only ourselves to blame.

Some nurses still think we shouldnt be in politics & dont get involved in their professional associations. We NEED to be more involved in both or crap like this, created by non-nurses, will continue to rule over us to our own detriment.

oramar · Jun 29, 2003

Yeah, go -jt, go. I posted the first thread about this change months and months ago. The people who read the thread were disturbed by it but only about 5 people read it. I also complained to my congressmen about it way back then.

CseMgr1, ASN, RN · Jun 29, 2003

It's a well-known fact that the Republicans have always taken care of big business...at the expense of the working man. Even though Clinton was as pure as the driven slush (and NONE of them are), people had JOBS. My Mother and Father (God rest their souls), voted the straight Democratic ticket their entire lives. My father told me when I became old enough to vote: "Ain't none of them (politicians) worth anything, but the Democrats will ALWAYS be in there working for the little man".

How true. I didn't vote for this Bozo, who has sent K's of U.S. jobs overseas, has turned the Iraqi conflict into another Vietnam, and now is working to undermine the VERY core of the American workforce, by eliminating overtime pay.

My sister and brother-in-law have the right idea: They are making a living, by making and selling birdhouses. As for me, I think I am going to look into independent contracting.

And, as for Mr. Bush: Stay OUT of my home office!