natalie

And another: http://politics.yahoo.com/politics/features/us_newswire/20018/0801-147.html Good Prevails Over Evil, Says United Food and Commercial Workers International Union -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WASHINGTON, Aug. 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- After a yearlong government investigation into nine federal labor violations by St. Alexius Hospital in Bismark, N.D., St. Alexius decided to keep their immoral actions from being exposed in ugly detail before a public hearing that was scheduled to take place in two weeks. Instead of trying to justify their illegal actions they agreed to the settlement terms proposed by the workers and the federal government. The 1.4 million member United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) has been helping health care workers in North Dakota to improve working conditions and patient care. The nurses have been courageous and patient throughout the organizing campaign and this yearlong investigation. The nursing staff feels vindicated and are happy to see justice served. Letecia Ramirez, union representative for the UFCW, said, "The part that is most troubling to me as a Catholic and a Christian is how the highest Catholic authority in this region, Bishop Paul A. Zipfel, condoned and supported the illegal and immoral actions of the St. Alexius Hospital Administration through his inaction. Instead of speaking out against oppression he chose to side with St. Alexius and allow these inhumane actions to flourish. The charges revolve around the following violations of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) -- An unfair grievance committee that St. Alexius set up, loaded with hospital administrators. The committee must now be disbanded per the settlement agreement. -- The unfair removal, suspension, discipline and transfer of an RN because of her union activity. St. Alexius has been ordered to post a sign promising not to violate any of the employees' rights. -- Negative comments and the lowering of employee ratings, bad evaluations and discrimination because of their union activities. St. Alexius has been forced to expunge the RN's personnel files and to cease violating the law immediately. -- The issuing of disciplinary letters in the RN's personnel files for voicing their support for the union. St. Alexius has been ordered to remove disciplinary letters from the RN's files and to stop harassing them immediately. -- Suspending RN's unjustly without pay because of their union involvement. St. Alexius was made to rescind the suspension, provide back pay with interest and return the RN to her former position. Ramirez also stated, "Although the federal charges were lengthy, they pale in comparison to the immoral injustices committed by this Catholic institution to not only the workers, but the community of Bismark. This settlement agreement proves to all workers, and especially in the health care field, that they do have a right to form a union to improve their working conditions and fight for quality patient care.

Ontario update: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=997221672172&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News The response: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=997308079344&call_page=TS_Editorial&call_pageid=968256290204&call_pagepath=News/Editorial

I thought this was well-written and ugh... saw some of myself in the article. I used to think I could save the world but am now happy to say I've shed that delusion. Now I'm just an old nurse b*tch, so to speak. http://www.nurseweek.com/firstperson/jorgensen.html Howling at the moon Warm and fuzzy no more: It's time for nurses to use their clout By Mark Jorgensen, RN July 18, 2001 It has been refreshing for a change to read some readers' opinions that were not from 21-year-old new grads, or those eternally "warm and fuzzy" types. We've read enough "save the world and pamper your patient" opinions to choke a moose. It's high time nurses address the real issues with real clout. We can maintain the desire to be quality nurses concurrent with taking a hard stand regarding income, staffing and working conditions. First, however, nurses need to be brave and accept some of the psychological reasons why we make peanuts in relation to our education. An honest understanding of the actual barriers to what nurses want is essential if real gains are to be made. I have not seen anyone courageously address one of the major problems we face as nurses: our own psychological persona as a group. There are exceptions to the rule in nursing, just not enough. Choosing not to address this facet of our professional lives will ensure that our dilemma will continue until foreign nurses, or a new type of nurse, replace us. It's time nurses cared for themselves just as MDs, pilots, electricians and other professionals do. That's not selfish, it's common sense. This is especially important for single-income nursing households. I won't go over much of the available data as to why we are in the predicament we're in, but a cursory review reveals that nurses in the workplace are overly passive, tend to not work well together, have a difficult time agreeing on a course of action and, at times, seem capable of standing up for themselves only in the break room and not the boardroom. The "let's save the world" warm-and-fuzzy nurses who refuse to stand up for themselves are part of the problem, not part of the solution. They can save the world and get paid what they're worth if they would join the fight and assist the rest of us to make our careers more fulfilling. Nursing will never improve unless a unified and forceful voice in your facility emerges. Until that time, we're howling at the moon. Don't kid yourself for a second: Hospital and other facility CEOs are fully aware psychologically of why and how they can manipulate nurses to maintain their profit margin. Their lip service does not pay your bills, nor improve your career satisfaction. The occasional pizza and doughnuts are appreciated but do not substitute for better conditions or higher pay. It's time nurses see beyond these distractions. While we struggle, CEOs are buying new beach houses in Costa Rica from the bonuses they received for keeping the largest expense in check. They know how far nurses are willing to go to make their point before they retreat. They are experts at making nurses feel guilty by implying they do not have the resources to improve the nursing world, when in fact they could find a way--even if it means increasing the cost of some services. Do you think any Delta pilots are losing sleep because their pay raises may slightly increase airfare? I am generally not a union supporter, but this is why unions can be important for nurses. Generally speaking, nurses need someone to organize and focus on the goals necessary to improve our career satisfaction. Nurses themselves do not get it done. The warm-and-fuzzy crowd says, "It's not right for nurses to unionize or strike," even though MDs are joining unions like lemmings. If your facility's nurses can stick together and bypass unions, all the better. But let's be serious and use real-world examples. How far do you think an employer could push a steamfitters, electricians, teamsters or rail union? Not far and not for long. Are you sensing a trend here? These job fields are primarily male-dominated. Groups of men simply will not accept no for an answer for long. Nurses are 95 percent female. Generally speaking, nurses have accepted no for an answer for all of my 20-plus years in the field. This partly is related to the idea that for a sizable number of nurses, it's "just a job," "extra income" to augment the husband's salary, or a job one may leave for a pregnancy and return to later. Too many nurses are content to allow burnout to complete its cycle, or to simply leave the field rather than fight to improve job satisfaction. What a waste of our time and money for our education! Another reality check is that a person who has enough of an IQ to complete a quality course in nursing is likely capable of being successful in other fields. How many engineers are forced to regularly work rotating shifts, forced overtime, forced to work holidays, and on ad infinitum? A self-made multimillionaire acquaintance, who is familiar with what it takes to be a good and educated nurse, has said that nurses rightfully should make about $75,000 a year given the stress, exposure to disease, cost of education, working conditions, hours and the serious responsibilities of the career. He lists numerous business executives who make six figures with a mere fraction of the responsibility of a floor nurse! Only a handful of career fields affect our fellow humans as intimately as a nurse. A brief lapse of focus may result not only in someone's death, but also the termination of your means of making a living via license revocation. Civil penalties in court also can follow. Yes, one lapse can cost you the tremendous time and expense you expended to complete your education. Bet you can't name too many other occupations where this potential exists. Obviously, nursing is a serious business; we are just not reimbursed congruent with this fact. If you are a nurse because your subconscious mind "needs" positive reinforcement from nurturing, or you are seriously codependent and nursing is another outlet, you would benefit all nurses by doing some serious self-inventory and growing beyond those frailties. If you went into nursing to make ends meet and help people, try thinking of a nursing world where you were reimbursed congruent with the job's demands. Dance around the issues as you prefer, but these are the realities of our situation. There are not many real leaders in nursing, and those few are getting tired of dragging dead horses to the trough. So decide: Are you part of the problem, or part of the solution? Now is the time to act during a nursing shortage to maximize the volume of your voices, as well as the hearing acuity of your CEO or administrator. Get activated yourself, and energize those comatose nurses around you as well. And remember to "get it in writing." Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Michele, That is one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen in nursing!!! This couple has been watching too much Jay Leno? Or else (I went to the site and copied the opening paragraph) the operative word here is "space." "My wife and I have just finished the morificecript for a book concerning the suppressed sexual frustrations of the husbands of nurses. My wife is an RN and I am a scientist (Ph.D.) working in the space program, in Houston Texas." What a hoot!

NurseyK, Your quote: "If the Senate/hospital lobby has a problem with my simple bill restricting the amount of hours a nurse works in a day/week...do you really think they'll take a better stance on NYSNA's more restrictive one? Think carefully on that..." As a hospital nurse working under short-staffing and mandatory OT conditions, I'd have to place my support with the NYSNA bill rather than your's. Two reasons: -Simply because of the strength NYSNA carries and for the very reason you stated-to counteract the strong hospital lobby. -Your bill gives hospitals license to interpret mandatory OT and it's more of the same game. Your statement the NYSNA gives "lip service" sounds like sour grapes. Perhaps the nurses in your hospital should consider organizing. If not NYSNA, than another union. If that is distasteful, than organize amongst yourselves. 20 hour shifts are abysmmal. How is it possible the nurses in your hospital ever got to that point? That would be unacceptable at my small hospital up here in the sticks of New York. NO nurse here would do that, unless voluntarily. Management would never threaten abandonment. Perhaps it is because we are in NYSNA. There are restrictions on the amount of mandatory overtime here. If you're a 12 hour nurse, the most you can be forced is 2 more hours. If you're an 8 hour nurse, you can be forced only 4 additional hours. Also, what is your point in posting on a nurse's bulletin board, and making the supposition that nurses here have not walked in your shoes?

NurseyK- You'd be hardpressed to find a nurse here that is for mandatory overtime. I'm not sure I understand your posting: "The most frustrating part about the whole process that I have been going thru for the past 2 yrs with this bill: NYSNA and ANA do not...let me repeat that....DO NOT support it. How's that for our "nursing representatives"? " NYSNA and ANA have taken strong stands against mandatory overtime. Are you talking about the senate bill vs the assembly bill in NY?

Below is copy of email I received from Senator Vitale. Please note last paragraph and suggestion to contact the chair of the Senate budget committee and acting governor. ----------------------------------------- Dear Ms. ..... Thanks for responding to Gary Carter's ad. Your letter was great. As you may know, the legislation that restricts the use of mandatory overtime passed unanimously through the Senate Health Committee on Thursday, March 15, 2001. It was originially scheduled for a vote before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee yesterday, however, it was pulled off the agenda at the last minute. I am urging any supporters of this bill to reach out to the Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Senate President/Acting Governor and ask to have this bill posted for a vote as soon as possible. I introduced this legislation in response to increased use of mandatory overtime as a means of staffing health care facilities. The practice of requiring nurses and other health care workers to stay beyond their normal 8 or 12 hour shifts, sometimes for an additional 6 to 12 hours, places a significant burden upon their ability to safely perform duties. As a result, serious and deadly medical errors have occurred and its overuse continues to threaten the well being of patients and health care workers alike. A recent Institute of Medicine report said 98,000 deaths a year are due to medical errors. Many hospitals and health care facilities have expressed concern about their ability to find additional staff during this nursing shortage. A recent nationwide poll of nurses and clinical specialists suggests that the overutilization of mandatory overtime is a major contributor to the nursing shortage. Many exhausted and burned-out health care workers, who simply can no longer perform their assignments safely and effectively, have become disillusioned and leave the profession. To help alleviate the nursing shortage, I have introduced a package of legislation designed to bring more health care workers into the industry and protect against future shortages. Senate Bill 2204 appropriates $2.3 million to the College of Nursing at Rutgers University to expand their facilities in New Brunswick. This expansion would enable the school to attract more students into the nursing program and graduate more qualified nurses. Senate Bill 2205 establishes a New Jersey Collaborative Center for Nursing that would focus on such areas as nursing education, recruitment, retention and utilization of adequately prepared nursing personnel. These bills were passed along with the mandatory overtime legislation this past Thursday. I appreciate your support on this important legislation. I look forward to working with you to get this bill passed through both houses and finally signed into law. I encourage you to contact Senator Littell and Acting Governor DiFrancesco and urge them to move this bill along. Hon. Robert Littell, Chair Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Routes 23 & 517 PO Box 328 Franklin, NJ 07416 (973) 827-2900 [email protected] Hon. Donald DiFrancesco, Acting Governor Governor's Office PO Box 001 State House Trenton, NJ 08625 (609) 292-6000 [email protected] Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have. With best wishes, Joseph F. Vitale Senator, 19th District

jt- Wow and thanks for all that info! Our work schedule was already posted for April and am working on the 17th. Is there another to follow? I would need to know over a month in advance to get the time off. Would love to attend one. (Taking a week off and heading to Virginia today.)

Another nursing issue that scares the hell out of me is the upcoming US Supreme Court decision re: RN's as supervisors. I think they'll be handing down their decision in June. I can't imagine a ruling that we have had the autonomy, power, and decision-making capacity to be banned from collective bargaining. But, then again, given the political climate... It would have a huge impact on northern nurses.

Hi Oramar, Yes, sadly I agree. It's the shortage that was the catalyst, not our voices. That being said, they're getting around to listening to us, although at a snail's pace. They have to pay their consultants first.

jt- Check it out: http://www.nurses.com/content/news/article.asp?DocID={E16D9337-1A20-11D5-A770-00D0B7694F32}&Bucket=HomeLatestHeadlines Also did you see what the Michigan Board of Nursing did? Astounding news, really. I tried to find the current language of our Board and was unable to find anything succinct. It's difficult to read through the legal nurse practice acts for New York. http://www.nurses.com/content/news/article.asp?DocID={13812CDA-1958-11D5-A770-00D0B7694F32}&Bucket=HomeLatestHeadlines

Thanks Tiara, That article confirms all our efforts at emailing our concerns to editors, reporters, legislators, etc. To quote the article: "We've gotten too many letters from local nurses over the years, relating too many horror stories, to dismiss them as the complaints of a few disgruntled employees. Nurses tell stories of cutbacks, of shortages, of long hours and hectic schedules, of being unable to do what they went into nursing to do-care for patients."

wildtime and rncountry-Post your critiques on ANA, but the least you could do is inform yourselves with some up-to-date information re: an association of which neither of you is a member. Again I suggest you revisit the site. Here's a start. http://www.nursingworld.org/member2.htm#safety

wildtime and rncountry-Post your critiques on ANA, but the least you could do is inform yourselves with some up-to-date information re: an association of which neither of you is a member. Again I suggest you revisit the site. Here's a start. http://www.nursingworld.org/member2.htm#safety

ANA has taken the heat for stodgy, uninformed, elitist ways of the past. They should have taken the heat for that. Guilty as charged. They claimed to represent 2.6 million nurses and only represented management. They got the message loud and clear when state disaffiliations came into the picture. So what's happened since then? This sounds a bit corny, but there's a new face to ANA. Peruse the site and see where their concentration has been at in the past 2 years. But even if you don't buy that, take a good look at the history of nursing and why we're at this point of time in our history. If you believe it's ANA's fault, you're not getting the picture. ANA has a membership of less than 10% of the 2.6 million nurses across the U.S. It's always been that way. Why is it that 200,000 members of ANA are responsible for YOUR STATE OF AFFAIRS? Bull. It's simple mathematics and some of the rest of the 2.4 million nurses need to quit laying on the blame on an easy target and not look at their own lack of involvement. TO the previous poster who believes it's not a lack of funds. Just who's funds are you talking about. You mean 200,000 nurses are going to speak for and fund 2.4 MILLION nurses who say NO to ANA? What a joke. You bemoan the deplorable state of nursing. FINE. You want the ANA dues money to speak for you, then pay up.

ANA has taken the heat for stodgy, uninformed, elitist ways of the past. They should have taken the heat for that. Guilty as charged. They claimed to represent 2.6 million nurses and only represented management. They got the message loud and clear when state disaffiliations came into the picture. So what's happened since then? This sounds a bit corny, but there's a new face to ANA. Peruse the site and see where their concentration has been at in the past 2 years. But even if you don't buy that, take a good look at the history of nursing and why we're at this point of time in our history. If you believe it's ANA's fault, you're not getting the picture. ANA has a membership of less than 10% of the 2.6 million nurses across the U.S. It's always been that way. Why is it that 200,000 members of ANA are responsible for YOUR STATE OF AFFAIRS? Bull. It's simple mathematics and some of the rest of the 2.4 million nurses need to quit laying on the blame on an easy target and not look at their own lack of involvement. TO the previous poster who believes it's not a lack of funds. Just who's funds are you talking about. You mean 200,000 nurses are going to speak for and fund 2.4 MILLION nurses who say NO to ANA? What a joke. You bemoan the deplorable state of nursing. FINE. You want the ANA dues money to speak for you, then pay up.

This poor nurse's aide. Wish I could do something for her. http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/news/friday/nd5839.htm

This poor nurse's aide. Wish I could do something for her. http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/news/friday/nd5839.htm

I also commend rncountry for her passion and involvement in MNM. However, there were a few buzzwords layed onto jt that were a full stretch of the truth. That being the insinuation that jt was using "horizontal abuse" and "verbal abuse." I didn't see any of that in her messages. jt merely responded to misinformation regarding ANA's offer of involvement. 'nuff said, I guess, about it.

I work in the ICU and I routinely see the transferring of patients from med/surg floors because docs are commenting that these nurses do not have the skill/abilities, etc. Now I am not directing my message personally to the 2 previous posters, so don't take it that way, but there is a hint of something here that riles me. It's called ICU snobbery. I see and hear it all the time. And it's particularly painful to hear these nurses agreeing with the docs instead of defending their co-workers on the med-surg floors. These are the same nurses that rail against being floated to these floors because they know they can't do it. They know it is out of control on those floors. They know they can't take on 7-10 patients with some of them as critically ill as an ICU patient. Some of these patients just have a DNR tagged on to them, but the care needed is just as involved. Guess what the problem is? Is it the nursing staff on these floors? (I've met some of the best nurses in med-surg.) I'd say there's a staffing problem and the door to knock on is administration. The majority of new nurses coming into hospitals land on these floors, not in ICU. That puts a tremendous strain on the veterans, as well as the new nurses. st4303-your quote "I do not know what the night nurse's excuse for not seeing this patient was..." Maybe you'd do well to find out what the reason was. kday-I take it back. You sound like you have a case of ICU snobbery and should take this personally.

Also- http://www.ahanews.com/asp/ArticleDisplay.asp?PubID=2&ArticleID=13747 AHA News Monday, February 19, 2001 Planned bill aimed at nurse shortage by Che Parker Sens. Jim Jeffords, R-VT, and John Kerry, D-MA, announced last week they plan to introduce legislation in just over a week they believe will ease the nationwide nursing shortage following the release of a national government survey that puts some alarming numbers to the issue. The Senators met with health care professionals in Washington on Feb. 14 to discuss immediate solutions to the nation's nurse shortage upon the release of the 2000 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (RNs). The survey, conducted by the Bureau of Health Professions' Division of Nursing, reports educational backgrounds and specialty areas, employment status, geographic location, and demographic makeup of nearly 2.7 million RNs. Among the findings: the share of the RN population below age 30 dropped from 25.1% in 1980 to 9.1% in 2000, while the average age of all RNs today is over 45 years old. Jeffords, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said the survey showed alarming trends that reinforce fears of a looming health care crisis. Kerry said the multi-tiered plan he and Jeffords plan to introduce is meant to attract quality men and women to the field while providing better hours and pay to those already in it. For more on the survey, visit http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov.-- Che Parker This article first appeared in the February 19 2001 issue of AHA News

From American Hospital Assoc. http://www.ahanews.com/asp/ArticleDisplay.asp?PubID=2&ArticleID=13744 AHA News Monday, February 19, 2001 Senate panel told nursing demand will outpace supply by 20% in 2020 by Che Parker Debate surrounding the nation's worsening nursing shortage heated up last week in several quarters, with experts telling a Senate subcommittee that by 2020 the demand for nursing services is expected to exceed supply by 20% as just one chilling highlight of that debate. Witnesses at the Feb. 13 hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions subcommittee on aging warned Senators of a pending major health care crisis in America if action isn't taken now. Senators on the subcommittee on aging were unanimous about the need for immediate action to address the shortage. Subcommittee Chairman Tim Hutchinson, R-AR, stated that in nine years more than 40% of registered nurses would be over the age of 50. "What if our military was aging and everyone over the rank of corporal would retire in 10 years?" asked Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-MD. "This is like the military. The safety and health of our nation depends on our nurses." Sen. Pat Roberts, D-KS, agreed. He compared the nursing shortage and the conditions nurses face to a national security issue that needs prompt solutions. A panel of expert witnesses testified that 78 million aging baby-boomers, along with a shrinking number of nurses, will have a grave effect on the health and well being of the nation. George Benjamin, M.D. and secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, testified that nurses are "not coming in, they're not staying in, and while they're there, they're not happy." Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, said that nurses, not physicians, determine patients' outcome physically and emotionally. "They love their work, they love their patients," explained Clinton, "but they can't continue to work under the conditions that exist today." Panelist urged that recruiting programs for students years before reaching high school, higher wages with better incentives, and more flexible hours be instituted as soon as possible. Brandon Melton, vice president for human resources at Catholic Health Initiatives, testified on behalf of AHA that "the nation will need 1.7 million nurses by 2020, but just more than 600,000 will be available. We realize the severity of the situation and understand that unless we all work cooperatively now, we will face increasingly critical situations in the future," he said. When asked, representatives of the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) said they don't support mandated staffing ratios. (ANA later clarified that it supports "upwardly adjustable" minimums.) They stated that it was difficult to determine proper ratios because health care settings in general are constantly in a state of perpetual motion. Hutchinson said he plans to introduce legislation soon to focus on nursing recruitment, training and education incentives, and faculty development. This article first appeared in the February 19 2001 issue of AHA News

Have we been part of the problem by complying with all the paperwork demands? For 25 years I've been doing it and it's insane and I plead guilty. Now, because I'm so disheartened and ready to quit or be fired, I'm starting to fight back a little. Take the dreaded restraint form. In my 12 hour shift, I am notating on a piece of paper on one patient 144 times that they needed hand restraints because of intubation. On my last shortshift, I filled out the protest form and refused to fill out the restraint form. I didn't have the time. My manager was very upset, stating it was a dreaded TYPE 1 VIOLATION. I told her the hospital violated my nursing standard of practice and violated the patients safety by staffing 2 nurses for 8 patients in ICU. Guess what. I didn't get fired. All that paperwork filled out has been done by the nurses.

jt- I always liked that gal, Barbara Mikulski. If anyone would like to address any input into this, here is the link to the committee members. Have no doubt they know the problem exists TODAY and not just the future. To have the nursing shortage dilemma addressed by the senate committee speaks volumes. Over the next few weeks, Jeffords, Hutchinson and probably others will be putting forth bills to address the problem. http://www.senate.gov/~labor/107Members/107members.htm

Is your husband's ex a good and decent nurse that made a judgement error? Was she trying to be helpful in providing information? I don't excuse the breach in confidentiality but contemplating a suit sounds drastic and fruitless. What is your desired end-result in all this? Send her a letter advising her of her mistake and breach. It may scare the bejesus out of her. We all make mistakes.