Nursing Strike

U.S.A. California

Published

Curious about what my peers think about the nursing strikes in California and the recent pt death.

I am a striking nurse who was locked out of my hospital. I went on strike to keep nursing a career that attracts and keeps the best people. We are trained professionals who love our patients and love being nurses, but the corporate bosses were to treating us like worthless chattel. They presented a long list of takeaways and were unwilling to negotiate over any of it. It is a sad day when nonprofit hospitals start acting like for profit corporations who constantly threaten layoffs and takeaway benefits from nurses and patients while giving themselves fat raises. It felt powerful to unify and take a stand.

However, I am now seriously questioning my right to strike and if indeed I have placed my pts in danger. Oncology is too intense of a practice to view nurses as interchangable commodities. While a mistake could have been made by anyone at any time the reality is less mistakes are likely when nursing is practiced by a consistent team of experienced RN's. My heart goes out to the family of the pt as well as to the traveling RN who made the med error and I am just heartsick over it all.

I think it is unrealistic to sit at a med cart or in the med room and double check meds with another RN for every med pass. Nurses need to be able to think critically and ask for help when they need it. Part of growing into an experienced nurse is knowing when you need help. The worst kind of nurses are the ones that don't realize they need help.

Some of things that I think would help nurses make less mistakes is have to take more pharmacology and actually have drug books with the same information as the ones the providers are using.

Well, in the unit I work on we have nurses working side by side in close proximity. It is also the hospital rule that we double check every single med, otherwise we couldn't even chart it. You get used to it. I look at it as a safety measure. It depends on the unit you work in, and I am not working floor nursing where I could see it would be too difficult to double check everything. I am not being specific because of the nature of this thread regarding strikes.

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Basic Nursing: Check all meds given 5 R. Right patient, Right time, Right route, Right dosage, Right medication.

This nurse unfortunately did not follow this. If she had, there would not have been a mistake. Plain and simple. Again, the stress she was under, due to the hospital, is a good part of her mistake. Stress from not being familiar with the floor and working with people in the same shoes. A terrible combination with a sure problem just waiting to happen. This is NOT about the economy and nurses bowing to it. The nurses are being asked to bow to the big wigs who get NOTHING taken away from them. In fact, they get MORE salary the more the pinch. These are very profitable hospitals even tho they all say "non-profit". In order to keep "non-profit" more of the $ coming in goes into their pockets.

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I think a lot of the issue is Obama's health care reform...it will cost the nurses more in the long run

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Obama is clueless. At one speech he said "everyone will have insurance and if you do not have it, you will be fined when seeking health care". What a joke. No one in America is turned away from health care. No one will be fined. He needs better advisors.

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SOME NURSES WERE FORCED into a "sympathy strike" for another union that wasn't even a nurse's union. Did you not read my previous post about how this secondary strike didn't even involve RN's at a particular hospital? We already have excellent wages and a new contract without takeaways until 2014.

First, please don't yell. Second, actually no one was forced into a sympathy strike. Nurses could have to gone work if they chose too.

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Basic Nursing: Check all meds given 5 R. Right patient, Right time, Right route, Right dosage, Right medication.

This nurse unfortunately did not follow this. If she had, there would not have been a mistake. Plain and simple. Again, the stress she was under, due to the hospital, is a good part of her mistake. Stress from not being familiar with the floor and working with people in the same shoes. A terrible combination with a sure problem just waiting to happen. This is NOT about the economy and nurses bowing to it. The nurses are being asked to bow to the big wigs who get NOTHING taken away from them. In fact, they get MORE salary the more the pinch. These are very profitable hospitals even tho they all say "non-profit". In order to keep "non-profit" more of the $ coming in goes into their pockets.

I have to disagree with you. Regardless of pressure no competent nurse would put tube feeding through an IV if that is in fact what happened. Nurses are supposed to be able to work under pressure, remember the 5 rights of meds and always be a patient advocate. The nurse administered the med, the nurse is responsible,period. And if we want to discuss how much hospital "big wigs" make, how much are the union "big wigs" making. They didn't go without pay during the strike you can bet on that.

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Yes, she did an error. But, I still say, stress of this job is a killer and if she had done the 5 rights, the fact is she would not have made the error. She used the wrong route. And yes it is a basic nursing task, but, she did not check all 5 R's so she will be put under the bus.

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First, please don't yell. Second, actually no one was forced into a sympathy strike. Nurses could have to gone work if they chose too.

Really?? We were told by CNA that under no circumstances were we to cross the picket line. There was not a vote on it because the bargaining council said they agreed to do it and the union members did not get a vote. That, to me, is called force.

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to RN691: I know we could have crossed, you and I both did right? But CNA informed us we were to honor the picket line. Did you know CNA can try to fine you if you are a member and you cross a picket line?

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I am in the same union. I went to work. Haven't heard a word from the union. Maybe I will, but I still stand by my decision to go to work. We had no dog in this fight and had no reason not to go to work.

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@notachargenurse and others...It's great that you have great benefits and bonus' and everything is hunky-dory for you what about your brothers and sisters out there working and paying $1000 a month for insurance, or other ridiculous amounts and not making the wage either. Dam* people there are other people out there besides you. There are so many these days wanting other people to work for a pittance and without benefits just so there are no big bad unions, we can't get it done without them, (no I am not a member of one) I live in an "at will" state and they do "at will" take your job away for any reason they want, (to all the managers...don't try to tell me that "can't" happen, because it can, "at will") all they have to do is create a paper trail, try to stand up against it and your insubordinate, you can't win. Live in that environment for a while. You would appreciate some back-up.

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Brenda you are correct. The best thing about the union is that your job is safe to the "getting rid of at will" issue. If management or doctor does not like you, they do keep a paper trail and try to find something good to fire you at but can't unless they do. So they take you in the office and drill you and all we have to say is "let's continue this with my union rep." It is very good plan.

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