fortunare

It's bad enough to text or do other non work related activities during slack times while being paid to work, but we have a group of Peds nurses who are supposed to be caring for critically ill kids. Not only are there frequent mistakes in procedures, some life threatening, but many of them are shirking their duties and have a supervisor who supports them no matter how inept or lazy they are. My job is to improve overall quality of care and I'm about to quit since their supervisor's boss seems to ignore all of these problems and the supervisor personally attacks me every time I mention a problem. Middle and upper management produce commercials and mission statements purporting to offer excellence in patient care but in reality all they care about is showing "profits" in a non profit hospital chain so they can increase their pay and bonuses.

So what's the answer? Is there a "fair" union for nurses that stands up for worker rights but doesn't allow the typical union abuses? Maybe it's time to form one.

My sister is a Nurse Practitioner in a large hospital chain in the midwest. She works 60-70 hours a week with no overtime since she's considered salaried "management." Her level of skill is equal or above many of the doctors who often consult her with difficult cases. Her hourly pay is much less than some of the idiots teaching in our school system who managed to get advanced degrees that are a joke while alienating many of their students rather than teaching them something useful That's bad enough but all the BS she has to put up with from stupid management personnel above her and ridiculous policies, primarily designed to improve the profits so the execs who see no patients can get bigger salaries, are driving her crazy. Unions can do much good but often abuse their power with corrupt managers of their own and impose stupid rules like requiring filing a grievance when you have a problem with your boss that should be discussed one-on-one before grieving as a last resort. Competent nurses are certainly exploited and subject to politics, nepotism and favoritism and often not rewarded based on competency. Let's face it, most nurses are dedicated, competent, caring, kind people who treat patients, family and co workers very well. However, there is a small percentage who are just the opposite and keep their jobs by politics or friendship with someone important. Unions just add to the difficulty of removing such people before they cause even greater problems or serious harm. I'm retired and widowed and live in a right to work state but might even consider working as a union recruiter if I knew that the union did not have the typical problems including those mentioned above. Why do we go from one extreme to another so often in this country? I used to teach Management in a University Business College and was always amazed at how people totally lacking in management skills managed to rise in organizations and cause problems rather than solving existing problems and improving the organization. Those kinds of managers provide cause for the entrance of a union. However I did encounter situations where competent management and competent union officials worked harmoniously for everyone's benefit, often skirting union and management "rules" for better outcomes. Too bad such situations are too rare.