round12tko

NOT GOOD MY FRIEND. fOREIGNERS NOT ONLY TAKING NURSING JOBS BUT ALSO HOSPITAL BEDS. [h=1]Vic nurses ready to quit in thousands[/h] Frustrated nurses are ready to quit en masse as their bitterly fought industrial campaign with the Victorian government drags on. Health Minister David Davis told The Age that the government was taking very seriously the threat of mass resignations which would throw the hospital system into chaos. Australian Nursing Federation state secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick says she has received thousands of letters from nurses authorising her to resign on their behalf between February 13 and March 31. But any resignations won't occur before the end of February, when the union had completed a series of meetings to brief nurses at hospitals around the state on the plan. "There is obviously a very significant number of nurses that are considering their future permanent employment in the public sector," Ms Fitzpatrick said. She said the nurses main concern is that they don't want to work in a system where they don't have ratios and where they have to be legally responsible for health assistants. Ms Fitzpatrick said that the nurses planning to resign were happy to work casually in the public sector. Nurses are seeking an 18.5 per cent pay rise over three years and eight months while the government is offering a 2.5 per cent annual rise, with any further increases to be offset by productivity measures. Meanwhile, the Herald Sun says foreigners are clogging up Victorian hospitals and running off before paying their bills. The paper said the freeloading foreigners left Victorian hospitals with more than $6 million in unpaid bills last year. Angry doctors say Australians are being pushed down waiting lists while the foreigners are hogging the beds. More than 30,000 foreign citizens were treated in Victorian hospitals in 2010-11.

It should be renamed to "HOW FOREIGN NURSES CAN WORK AND/OR MIGRATE TO AUSTRALIA OR NZ" It seems the ones who do share nursing experiences in this forum are from OZ and NZ, the rest just want to get out of their country and nursing is the ticket.

It seems this forum is mostly used to get a ticket to migrate to australia more then sharing experiences of being a nurse. Do local and australian graduate nurses have to face unemployment to cater for these foreign nurses?

I don't understand why anyone would do something they do not enjoy for decades. If you are bitter about your job, think you been mistreated, burnt out and think the world owes you something then I believe you should move on. If you are staying in a profession that you do not like and don't do anything about it then you are heading for misery. It is your choice how you live. And if you are unhappy then make changes for the better instead of whinging and ********. Like it or not, I think nursing is challenging and interesting. It's not perfect but what job is?

WOW, carol really thinks nursing is that bad? I think she is a very dedicated nurse and I'm sure her patients, residents appreciate what she does even if the others may not. I do believe that nursing is not for everyone. The ones that really like it stay for decades and really cannot see themselves doing anything else...like carol :)

I just got accepted to do Div1 Bachelor of nursing at a pretty good uni however reading about 4 hour shifts, split shifts, having more health assistants then RNs I am becoming disillusioned. I want to know and be reassured that becoming an RN is still worth it.

These RNs think they are more important then their patients. I am Sick of these nurses on strike and sick of nurses putting lives at risk so they can get a few more bucks per hour. Outsource all striking nurses and give jobs to overseas RNs who are willing and able or send these nurses to jail. What they are doing is immoral, unethical and illegal. Money hungry pigs.

No patient's life is being put in danger with the closure of beds, the ANF have set a certain criteria which takes into account patient acuity. If someone has a condition that is life threatening they get a bed.- this just reenforces my belief that there are way too many nurses for the number of beds. Close more beds and you will be writing the closing chapter of your nursing career :) nurses have poor numeracy skills: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471595305001368 http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/student-nurses-lack-maths-skills/story-fn6bfmgc-1225991304389 For a newbie like me, I should be a nurse because I can go on strike so I don't have to work, refuse to care for patients because I want more money, have underdeveloped numeracy skills, wipe bums and feel like sheet, and get blamed for everything? hmmmm... there must be a better life

In summary from all the replies I have been given, one's career starts out in the healthcare industry as a nurse but finishes as a patient.

With all your replies and I have given you all kudos, I still fail to see any logic in closing beds, putting patient lives at risk so NURSES can get a pay rise! Do not try to convince me that nurses save lives and are saintly when they are closing beds, putting lives at risk so they can get an extra dollar per hour. You are not in a unique position to demand higher wages, leave the industry and 10 will replace you. Do the maths. Nurses on strike have poor numeracy skills and give nursing a bad name. Do I really want to be in a industry where I risk patients lives so I can get a pay rise? How many strikes do I have to participate during a nursing career? Am I really focusing on the patient or the money? Thanks for putting me off a nursing career. No wonder there's a high dropout rate in nursing. You are overworked, over stressed and neurotic. :)

"This is why we want more money."-GREED How are you expecting to get more money when universities are churning out thousands of new RN graduates left, right and centre? There are more new RNs then there are vacancies. If you want more money do a job that no one else can do or is skilled to do. If thousands of other RNs can do your job why should an employer pay more? It's all about demand and supply. Study economics. This is all about GREED. Sorry but it is. In Europe, countries are on the verge of bankruptcy yet in australia we have strikes galore for more money. It's GREED that has made the US and Europe in deep **** and the workforce here keeps pushing for more money. Push until australia collapses. Australia is not immune from another GFC or is it isolated from the rest of the world. RN or not you are lucky to have a job. Money hungry Nurses should be not be nurses.

Kudos to those who replied. I think it comes down to money. How much is the government,hospitals, clinics and aged care facilities are willing to pay for an RN, EN etc? With respect to RNs, PCW are doing the work of ENs, ENs are doing the work of RNs, so where does this leave the RN? They are more qualified and have more in depth knowledge but they cost a lot more and want more money. Do clients have to pay an arm and a leg for RNs and doctors to fix their arm and leg?

I understand that an EN will always be below a RN in terms of qualifications, responsibilities, pay rate and career growth. My worry is that pretty much anyone can get a nursing degree and be a RN. The supply of new nurses out strips the vacancies. The entry scores required to get into nursing is low compared to other health science courses. With an average mark of only 60% one can get into a nursing degree course. Then one has to pay for tuition, books, clinicals etc for 2-4 years. Even after completing the nursing degree I think nursing students are still very green. My other worry is that after the GNP what if one is lucky to be offered only 2-3 days per week RN work. There are so many unemployed RNs overseas looking for work in australia. I would love to be a RN one day but I need to know the reality and the struggles. I wished there was a place that offered paid training to be a div 1 nurse.

I am grateful for your thoughts. There is no doubt doing a nursing degree and then becoming a RN leads to more opportunities, more pay and specializations. There are so many graduate RNs and RNs from overseas vying for work in australia. But to turn down a get paid while you study EN traineeship is very difficult. There are not many of these EN traineeships yet there are thousands of nursing degrees on offer. The scope of work an EN does now includes IVs and medications. The gap between an EN and RN is narrowing.

Thank you for your replies. My hesitation in going directly to become an RN, is that it seems to me that there are many many nursing degrees on offer more then there are vacant RN positions. On top of that there are many overseas RNs who want to work in australia. I am not convinced that there is a RN shortage. Does a nursing degree make one a good nurse? If not, what does? experience?