FireStarterRN

I thought a >$450,000 salary for the CEO quite generous. I'm sure the ANA, and other unions such as it, have quite stable financial bases. I assume much of their financial solvency comes from the union dues of its membership, which is oftentimes an involuntary contribution if they are able to achieve a closed shop status for the union contracts they negotiate.

Can anyone go and watch the BON in action? Are these hearings open to the public?

I believe that universal health care should be guaranteed for the basics, with individuals having the option to supplement as they see fit. Employers could continue to offer supplemental insurance benefits as incentives to workers, but everyone in America would have at least basic health coverage, without frills. So, if you lose your job at least you'd have something. If you want more posh coverage with more choices, then work hard as you would for any luxury.

TV remote in lady parts? How utterly Freudian...

I posted in another section about the sad death of Mary Doolittle in the Washington DC metro crash. She was employed by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to 'support the world's nurses' (not sure exactly what that means). For more about her, read the two links below. http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=12733 http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1703013 In trying to find out more about her and exactly what her job entailed, I stumbled across an interesting link that gives the salaries of the American Nursing Association (ANA) officers in the national headquarters. Mary Doolittle also was an officer for the ANA and collected a salary of $66,000 from them. Click this link for an interesting chart with all the salaries. Looks like a career in the ANA can prove quite rewarding! http://www.unionfacts.com/unions/unionOfficers.cfm?id=233&year=2006

Interesting. I wonder if they could do a study of people like you, sort of like separated at birth twin studies. The workings of the brain are quite mysterious and fascinating.

I wasn't thinking of giving up my per diem job but maybe picking up a few shifts elsewhere. I was suspicious at getting this call out of the blue with the claim that agency work is picking up. From what I see the hospitals are cutting back on using agency.

That sounds like a classic case of 'selective hearing' Many men suffer the same malady...

Would you consider yourself less open to suggestions/requests than your average person???

This might be useful info for us nurses! This study says that making a request of someone in their right ear is more effective. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8116321.stm So, how could we apply this to our jobs? Things to be said into the right ear: "Mrs Cohen, please use the call light before getting up!" "I need both Christmas and Thanksgiving off this year" "Dr So and So, what do you think about Ativan for the patient in 420?" "Mr Smith, here is your urinal, please use it when you need to urinate!" "Nurse Manager, can we please do away with these blasted hourly rounding sheets?" "Family member, can you please watch your child and keep him from running in the halls?" "Will you work for me Saturday night?"

The PCA orders will call for a TKO rate. Everything should be on your order sheet. The TKO rate is in order to dilute the narcotic and keep it from sitting in the vein in between doses. It acts as a saline flush.

Incidentally, we do have a choice of different styles. The logo of our hospital in embroidered on our scrub top. Some of the styles have a loose fit, others a more tailored fit.

The RNs and LPNs in my hospital all wear navy blue, except for surgical nurses who wear teal. The techs and unit secretaries wear magenta. I love it. I can instantly identify another nurse. I don't find it constraining at all, and I'm, by nature, rather a free spirit. I think it makes everyone look more crisp and professional.

Thanks for the answers. I was suspicious that this guy might be feeding me a line of BS. Basically, my per diem job is absolutely ideal. I get all the hours I want in 4 different units, with my home base unit being tele. I'm on great terms with nurses on all 4 units and fill in for them as needed. Staffing is easy to work with, I just give them the days I want to work and they plug me in. I'm also flexible about pinch hitting as needed. I work mostly days. My pay is just about as good as agency nursing, over $40 hourly. My desire to pick up some agency would be to broaden my horizons in a large metropolitan area, create a niche, and maybe pick up another per diem job eventually.

Germ consciousness can be a plus in nursing!

I got a call from a new recruiter from an agency I had done one shift for last year. I had had a very negative experience and felt like the former recruiter was highly unscrupulous. According to this fellow they have all new staff. I had a very frank discussion with him about my previous dissatisfaction with the former recruiter. He told me that things are picking up for agencies from a few months ago. I told him the hospitals that I would be interested in working with and explained that I really needed to have honest, ethical communication and trust with any agency I worked with. I'm currently very happy with my per diem job, I make good pay equivalent to agency pay, but would be interested in the variety that I would experience working for various facilities. Has anyone else heard that agency nursing is picking up? Is this due to people wanting time off for summer vacations?

To the visitor of a patient that comes up to the nurses station grilling me about a patient that isn't my patient, demanding to know when the doctor is coming, what the results of the tests were, and when they are going home... "Sorry Ma'am but I don't know who you're talking about, he's not my patient and I'm busy so go away and leave me alone!"

:lol2:

I think that we waste money on soooo many unneeded things. Spending money on healthcare not money wasted. It will also create jobs at the same time. The money spent will go into the pockets of American workers who will be helping other Americans. Look at all the money we spend on military operations abroad, blowing things up, using fossil fuels for destruction, without much to show for it but some stressed out soldiers. Nothing accomplished... One poster said that at the beginning of the 20th century that there was no health insurance. There also wasn't much healthcare. Science didn't have many tools. There WERE big public works projects to overcome sanitation problems that killed off millions of people. Before that people died of cholera epidemics and other water borne illnesses. The government intervened in many ways to improve the health of millions. So the government has always had a concern for the public health.

My suggestion is that your fiance take over the financial responsibility for the wedding since it is his strong desire to have one. I'm also concerned that the two of you haven't received the proper pre-marital advise that will help your marriage in the long run. Shared decisions, such as having a fancy wedding, should be made thoughtfully. It sounds like you are bowing to his wishes, then carrying a great deal of the burden fulfilling them. I see many women doing this throughout their marriages. Their husband is constantly wanting a new boat, snowmobile, ATV, or other type of guy toy. The nurse wife is picking up extra shifts to pay for all these things. This becomes the pattern of th marriage, with the wife convinced that her role is to provide the extra income to keep these spending habits viable.

It's a tough call, since staying in school for longer, and then finding out you hate each and every single aspect of nursing, would be a major bummer! On the other hand, nursing school puts you through many different rotations that will expose you to different specialties, one of which might very well ring your bells! As I recall, my first rotation was in a nursing home, then a in-hospital sub-acute unit, most of which dealt with geriatrics. But there were many other rotations, including a psyche hospital, OB, peds, ER, ICU, Cath lab, OR, etc. The point in these is basically to give the student a taste of all the specialties of nursing. I do agree with llg that too many people stick it out in nursing for all the wrong reasons. On the other hand, I personally found nursing clinicals distressing, although I didn't cry. I didn't excel particularly at clinicals. I'm very happy I stuck with it and have been a nurse for 15 years with success. I have a well paid job I enjoy and I like nursing.

Sounds like she's busted...

Sounds to me like you got Nurse Cranky. She sounds seriously burnt out on dealing with the public.

That demerit board in the breakroom sounds totally demeaning! I don't blame you for wanting to hightail it outta there!

One thing it will do is allow many nurses to go to per diem instead of clinging to full time jobs merely for the health insurance. We'd have to ask our Canadian colleagues as far as wages. Their nation is fairly equivalent to the U.S. in lifestyle and standard of living, yet they have universal coverage.