I am new to the idea of unions for nurses. I have been an RN since 1986, but the areas of the country I worked in were never union. So since I have come to Oahu, I have read all I could about the HNA and nurses unions in general, but I have a couple of questions I cannot find the answers to.
1. Are nurses members of the union by themselves without being employed by specific facilities? Or does each hospital have its own union?
2. How much are union dues? Are they state-wide, or are they hospital specific?
3. Can you choose whether to participate in the union or not? How does it affect being employed "at-will?"
Hey slobgob...thanks! Yes, the high census days are increasingly the norm according to the nurses who have been there for years. The docs are pretty fast, though, waiting area times are still minimal. We keep the majority of what we see, and from what I have seen so far we ship the cardiacs who require intervention, neuro (when the neurology services will accept...) L&D issues, & major peds (pretty much anything but basic medsurg peds.) These only go after stabilization, so as far as I am concerned, they are treated in the ED.
Pua, I definitely disagree with you that Pali Momi is a "low level" facility. Now after working at Wahiawa and interviewing at Kahuku, I would say that those facilities might be a better fit for that category, and, as you said, have their niche.
Hey slobgob...thanks! Yes, the high census days are increasingly the norm according to the nurses who have been there for years. The docs are pretty fast, though, waiting area times are still minimal. We keep the majority of what we see, and from what I have seen so far we ship the cardiacs who require intervention, neuro (when the neurology services will accept...) L&D issues, & major peds (pretty much anything but basic medsurg peds.) These only go after stabilization, so as far as I am concerned, they are treated in the ED.
Pua, I definitely disagree with you that Pali Momi is a "low level" facility. Now after working at Wahiawa and interviewing at Kahuku, I would say that those facilities might be a better fit for that category, and, as you said, have their niche.
Kahuku serves its purpose as a stabilization unit and it does its job well. Near-drownings, MI's, traumas---they are all shipped to Queens but Kahuku does a great job stabilizing them for transport. Wahiawa does the same.
Pali Momi is not very different. It is very much low-level as we see from the patients that are shipped from that facility. It is only a hundred beds or so, certainly not capable of anything but stabilizing the very sickest of patients.
There is so much that Pali Momi does NOT do but the great thing is that they recognize that they are low-level and move their patients out as needed.
Pali Momi does a great job but it is still just a low level facility. Nice, but very limited. Please do not take this as an insult!!
Can I ask you how long you have been on Oahu? I am sorry but it really sounds like you are not very familiar with our hospitals. PLEAASE don't take this as an insult, it is just an observation and has me wondering.
In any event----welcome! I seriously do not mean to be insulting but I was born and raised here and I know the islands and the hospitals here. I am afraid I am being insulting and I don't mean to be. :heartbeat
I appreciate your response, Pua. No, I don't think you are being insulting.
Your posts concerning the level of care in the facilities on O`ahu are informed and insightful, despite my lack of agreement. Since you are born and raised here, though, your point of view is different than mine. Have you worked at any of the "low-level" facilities? What is your frame of reference when it comes to different hospitals and different levels of care? Have you always been at Queens or at Level 1 facilities?
BTW I don't see how my length of stay has anything to do with views on hospitals and care. If you really want to know, you are free to review my previous posts on other threads.
I appreciate your response, Pua. No, I don't think you are being insulting.
Your posts concerning the level of care in the facilities on O`ahu are informed and insightful, despite my lack of agreement. Since you are born and raised here, though, your point of view is different than mine. Have you worked at any of the "low-level" facilities? What is your frame of reference when it comes to different hospitals and different levels of care? Have you always been at Queens or at Level 1 facilities?
BTW I don't see how my length of stay has anything to do with views on hospitals and care. If you really want to know, you are free to review my previous posts on other threads.
Thank you for being understanding, NS! I had a chance to look at some of your posts and enjoyed many of them. I can see that you have lots of experience.
There are differences in the hospitals here of course and just living here and knowing people who work in the different hospitals or who go to them as patients gives insight as to how they work and the level of care they provide. Oahu has a large population but it is like a small town in many ways. Everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone, LOL. Most of the doctors work in all the hospitals, especially the specialists. Many of my coworkers work in more than one hospital and I am registered with an agency and occasionally work in other hospitals on the island. Not much anymore but I have worked in a number of them so I've seen what they are like. I also see what we get at Queens when the lower-level hospitals cannot handle.
There is a place for everyone here and the smaller places are an important part of health care here and they do a great job. I don't mean to belittle them at all and I know they can be just as busy and hectic as the bigger places! :loveya:
northshore08
257 Posts
Hey slobgob...thanks! Yes, the high census days are increasingly the norm according to the nurses who have been there for years. The docs are pretty fast, though, waiting area times are still minimal. We keep the majority of what we see, and from what I have seen so far we ship the cardiacs who require intervention, neuro (when the neurology services will accept...) L&D issues, & major peds (pretty much anything but basic medsurg peds.) These only go after stabilization, so as far as I am concerned, they are treated in the ED.
Pua, I definitely disagree with you that Pali Momi is a "low level" facility. Now after working at Wahiawa and interviewing at Kahuku, I would say that those facilities might be a better fit for that category, and, as you said, have their niche.