mbdirt

This article belongs in the Opinions, as it is just that. I love most of the ACA, wish it were National Healthcare/Single Payer. But I don't sell insurance and I don't think my agent does bedside care.

Looks like only one, Idelson, is employed by a union HQ. As for the nurses marching, I saw only one picture with some SEIU scrub tops in it. I have 3 NNOC scrub tops and an AFL-CIO T-shirt. Does that make me a communist? My minister and employer would be surprised to hear it, not to mention my wife and the Democrats that I have voted for for 20 some odd years. I am wondering if you are equating communism with socialsim and liberalism. They ain't the same. Also, if I remember right, people have a right to belong to whatever political party they choose, no matter how much others may dislike it. I dislike Republican votes. I have Republican friends, but I don't assume that they all carry guns, would rather put someone to death than do a DNA test to prove innocence, or are against ALL taxes. I don't think unionization has any communistic connotations in the US. Maybe in Europe, where it has been infiltrated and even led by Communist party at times, but not here. I think the word "union" scares management because they would lose power and lose money to lower ranking employees instead of raking it in themselves.

Nice pictures. Did you see any nurses marching there?

So was Peninsula Hospital's closing a result of a nurse's union contract or poor management by Medisys, who owned it? The article doesn't say, does it? And what of the public hearing that was to be held in July to address the lack of health care facilities in the area? What became of that? Dude, I think you are jumping to false conclusions. Look at the BIG PICTURE and consider NURSING as a WHOLE. Unions help nurses, just like unions help teachers, mine workers, machinists, etc. We are not communists trying to close down employment on our brothers and sisters. Get a grip!

My ICU typically sees more hyPOtension than HTN. I had a patient recently who was in A.Fib/Flutter with HR in 150's. BP was 170/80's. We gave IV metoprolol twice, NTP, lasix, diltiazem, hydralazine. Finally got him more normalized on double his home dose of metoprolol, but every time he was active, his HR shot up to 140-150, with a mild rise in BP. He is probably going for an ablation for the Fib/Flutter. We'll see what happens with the BP. In general, I would say anything less than SBP

Ok, so ONE person, a communications director, may or may not belong to the communist party. Does that mean that all 150,000 nurses belonging to the NNU are communists or promote communism? I don't think so. What about the other nurses' unions? ?Are they all led by communist managers? I doubt it. I think you have the same pseudophobia that Republicans use to scare people into believing things that are not true just to get people on your side. If you are up to date on activities of the NNU and it's accomplishments both in CA and nationwide, I challenge you to show how their union is harming nursing. Where is your critical thinking?

Grandmawrinkle, I guess you can see from the pages of responses that you are not alone, not defective and not unique in your difficulties. It is amazing to me that depression is as much looked down on by medical professionals as it is the general public. We are supposed to be educated, yet our comrades continue to criticize or berate people with this condition. It happens with alcoholism and anxiety, too, and some other disorders. You just can't help what other people think. One of the hardest parts of being depressed to me is feeling guilty about it. Even though I have been able to see both familial tendency and external reasons for depression, I still struggle with it and with feelings of guilt about just feeling depressed. I too have tried a half dozen or so different antidepressants and psychiatrists/social workers/counselors over the years. The fact remains that I still have feelings of depression which seem to have cycles of worsening at times. I've tried going off the meds and it gets unbearable. It's a tough life living with it. No doubt. I still want to live and have hopes to enjoy life when I can. I keep looking for improvement over time. We are going to have some really bad days, even "normal" people have bad days, so don't let your self-loathing get you down. It IS hard to make decisions and to be active and it's hard to accept that. I don't have a magic answer. I just keep looking. Oh, and my take on a previous comment is I put on my big girl panties and pooped in them when someone told me I was a big BOY! LOL I just had to say that. I have been a closet depressive at work. Somehow, it has never seemed to interfere with my work other than to say that my memory is not very good. I never was a gregarious person or much of a talker...many men are not, so I don't feel too badly about that. It's at home that my depression has been worst. Sitting feeling anxious to do something, yet unable to make a decision about what to do or to have the energy to get up and do something. I've sat for months just staring at the TV or reading on the computer. I guess that is a poor coping mechanism, but I'm still here, hoping for something better soon. Currently, I am also exploring the possibility that I may have a low testosterone level. I've had 2 tests: one low, one normal. Waiting for results of the 3rd test now. Lots of overlap in symptoms of low T and depression. We'll see. Even if it's not low T, I will still look for another way to treat this depressing feeling. Another med, maybe a different kind of therapy....I've been on Celexa for a couple of years and even doubling the dose hasn't helped. I'm not giving up. And I guess that's the only thing I have to offer to you. Don't give up. Don't let your thoughts get disproportionate to reality and exaggerate your REAL life. You are alive, working, have a family and while things could be better, you are still working on it. Good luck and God bless.:redpinkhe

How many people are mangled, killed or disabled for life in car accidents, boating accidents, bicycle accidents, swimming or even war? A lot. Does that stop people from doing these things? Nope. If you ever went to Europe, I think you would be surprised by how many motorcycles, bicycles and scooters are in use and how much more convenient and thrifty they are. I'll bet not many survive plane crashes, either. Do you fly?

Been a nurse for 26 years. Never known another nurse to be sued. Never known a nurse to lose license over anything except drug related (theft/abuse) issues. My friends who are nurses do not carry malpractice insurance, saying that it draws attention to a nurse's assets, whereas, most nurses don't make enough to make suing worthwhile. That's their opinion. I still carry my malpractice insurance, though.

"The only thing that bothers me is EVERY nurse I have spoken to tells me they hate their job and if they could take it back they would have went into a different profession." Well, what does that say? That maybe a majority of nurses are unhappy for some reason? Likely. Where do these nurses work? What kind of hours do they work? What kind of patients/job do they work with? What are the drawbacks they can list? How long have they been nurses? How much interaction with people do they have at work? There are a lot of reasons many nurses don't like their jobs. I can't speak for every nurse, only for myself. I would say that the fact that hospitals and corporations do satisfaction surveys tells you something. Why not check out some of these surveys online? I happen to work in an ICU in a government hospital. I've been there over 20 years. I also worked in 2 other hospitals in areas of urology, lithotripsy, and substance abuse rehab. There were drawbacks to them all. There were political issues in them all. There were interpersonal relationship problems in them all. And except for one, there were problems with staffing in them all. It is not so much about DOING the job, as much as it is getting the job done and getting through the shift. Nowadays there are a multitude of responsibilities for nurses which only are learned on the job. There are educational requirements to keep up with. There are inspections to prepare for. There are ever-changing medication information and administration to keep up with. There is the advent of computerized charting, medication administration, and records. There is the constant changing of technology to deal with. There are the usual jealousies and petty sniping that goes on in every environment. There is an increase in caution and monitoring for transmittable diseases. There is the threat of disability from chronic physical overworking as well as acute and temporary disability. There is concern with confidentiality and sexual harrassment to cope with. There is the near-universal issue of short staffing and management oppression/disconnect. These are some of the issues we deal with that make taking care of the patient's needs more difficult. Try working a swing-shift or all-nighter for years with your family living a day shift life, and see how happy you can be. Like I said, there are a LOT of reasons. I honestly don't think it is because nurses don't like NURSING. I believe it is the environment, the mandatory policies and administration that make nurses most unhappy. There are a thousand issues to put between a nurse and the patient, making nurses seem distant to patients, and making patients seem demanding/needy to nurses. Oh, and let's not forget the recycling culture of "customer care". We want to operate like a hotel, now, with maids and bellhops and Disneyland attitudes in the presence of pain, suffering, wasting, and death. What a GREAT idea! Can you say, PTSD? JMHO. I like caring for the sick. I HATE being told how, when, where, and with what tools or devices to do it with. It is not a Florence Nightingale world anymore. It's more Apollo 13 than you would think. Keep this in mind as you go to your clinicals after admission. Look around at many areas of nursing to see what you might enjoy doing. As the writer above said, you have a wide variety of choices in the field to try to find your niche. Talk to the nurses who work in those areas and get their opinions on likes and dislikes so that you have a better idea of what to expect once you graduate. And good luck in your endeavor, whatever it may be.

Butterfly, Are you from TN? I am. TNRN4NNOC

Check www.calnurses.org and look up NNOC history. Are you aware of the movement now to allow unions to operate in every state without interference of hospital administrations? There is a Employee Free Choice Act being discussed by Obama's supporters that would make it easier to form a union/join a union.

If this is not breaking a hospital policy, then it most likely is violating Dept of Labor rules as well as fraudulent behavior of the manager and the nurse she swipes for. A nursing license might be at stake, not just a job. I would address it cautiously. Check your hospital policy, check with the Dept of Labor and the Board of Nursing.

I see nothing wrong with your attitude. You are frustrated and tired of carrying other people's loads. I know. I feel the same way. While I work in a government hospital that will probably not cut back on supplies, we have opened a new bed when our night shift staff is dropping from an already marginal number due to transfers and retirements. What I WISH I would see is more nurses saying what you are saying and then getting together to say them in unison to the right people. We need to change things too, not just government. Does the idea of a union sound like an option? Isn't this kind of problem what unions are for?

Tom, I also work in an ICU. Where do you work? I see you are a veteran. I work with veterans here. TNRN4NNOC