Rich nurses?

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2007

Strike busting pay is working in a facility, generally for much more then what is normally paid, when the staff has gone out on strike. You are crossing picket lines to work. In most states there is nothing illegal about doing this. It is just some of us question the ethics of such nurses to work as strike busters.
Woody:balloons:

Usually strike busting pay is out of state. I even have states with certain preferences that I prefer. Picky aint I. Y es I cross pickett lines. Nothing illegal at all. And certainly nothing unethical either.

woody62, RN · Sep 17, 2007

Usually strike busting pay is out of state. I even have states with certain preferences that I prefer. Picky aint I. Y es I cross pickett lines. Nothing illegal at all. And certainly nothing unethical either.

You may not think it is unethical but several of my former professors and other nurses I know consider it unethical. Hospitals are warned long before they are struck, so that they can discharge patients and transfer patients that can not be discharge, to other facilities that are not struck. But most for profit hospitals do not want to lose one red cent of money, so they keep their patients, bring in strike busters.

I never said it was illegal but I find the ethics of both the strike busting nurses and the hospitals they fill in for, questionable. And being a strike buster certainly explains how you made your $94,000. If one doesn't care about the impact on patients and staff nurses, it is quite a good way to increase one's income, without getting additional education. And as a strike busting travel nurse, you certainly can't learn all the ins and out of the facility or the patients stuck in that hospital. But you certainly are entitled to your view of your ethics. Just as I am entitled to my view of the ethics of strike busting nurses.

Woody:balloons:

smk1, LPN · Sep 17, 2007

I worked long and hard for every dollar I earned the last year I worked. And it was nothing for me to work a sixty or seventy hour work week, traveling all over the southern half of Florida. And I was considered smart, by my peers, by my clients, by most of their attorneys, by my boss, by the insurance companies and by the administrative law judges I testified before. I earned every dollar I made. And I did it the smart way, by getting additional education and additional certification.
And with my years of experience, in the work place, I never knew any nurse who made $94,000 just working smart. And certainly not with just an AD degree. And before you get in an uproar, I was an AD graduate but I didn't stop with my education. You are apparently one in a trillion. But you haven't revealed where you made your $94,000. I made mine working for Rehab Specialist of America and the Hospital Bill Review Service, Inc. Both a no longer in existence, Florida changed their Workers Comp law dramatically. Now they treat their injured workers just as badly as Texas does, or so I understand.
Woody:balloons:

what if you did strike nursing? (no debates about the right/wrong) Wouldn't that allow for a quite high salary?

smk1, LPN · Sep 17, 2007

Primarily my income is in good ole Texas. And from what you say about fla. Texas is heaven for nurses.And for some extra smart money, try strike busting pay. Fills out a salary nicely. Its not what you do its how you do it. And I do it with calmness and honour

LOL, I guessed right!

woody62, RN · Sep 17, 2007

what if you did strike nursing? (no debates about the right/wrong) Wouldn't that allow for a quite high salary?

The point is, I have never crossed a picket line, to work as a nurse. I did cross an 1199 picket line, in 1976, on orders of my boss, the Associate Commissioner of Health, Department of Health, in the city of New York. And I crossed it as a monitor, not as a worker. I was a student, in 1966, when the city hospitals of New York were struck first by the RNs and then by the LPNs. And neither I nor any other of the more then 120 students there, at Elmhurst City, could go on the floor, unless:[

1. My principal, of my home school of nursing, said I could volunteer.

2. I could not be forced to work, if I did not want to and it could not be held against me. And yes I volunteered. And it was for a very short period of time, until Lindsey, the Mayor back then, came to his senses. My hospital did not have the time to discharge patients before the strike.

Woody:balloons:

woody62, RN · Sep 17, 2007

And I did not get paid for my work. And the RNs who struck, were striking for a wage of $5,000 a year, back in 1966. Not a great deal of money, not even in 1966, especially when you consider how much more the transit workers got when they struck on early New Years Day.

Woody

Tweety, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2007

There are plenty of threads about strike nurses, unions, etc. Let's not go there. The fact is they do make a lot of money, which is why it's pertinent to this thread, but our opinion of them should stay on the other threads.

We should take Tom at his word that he made that money when he said he made it and leave ethics out of it.

Thanks.

smk1, LPN · Sep 17, 2007

The point is, I have never crossed a picket line, to work as a nurse. I did cross an 1199 picket line, in 1976, on orders of my boss, the Associate Commissioner of Health, Department of Health, in the city of New York. And I crossed it as a monitor, not as a worker. I was a student, in 1966, when the city hospitals of New York were struck first by the RNs and then by the LPNs. And neither I nor any other of the more then 120 students there, at Elmhurst City, could go on the floor, unless:[
1. My principal, of my home school of nursing, said I could volunteer.
2. I could not be forced to work, if I did not want to and it could not be held against me. And yes I volunteered. And it was for a very short period of time, until Lindsey, the Mayor back then, came to his senses. My hospital did not have the time to discharge patients before the strike.
Woody:balloons:

didn't mean you specifically, was just thinking that this is a way that some could make a truckload of money. As I finished reading the thread it seems that I was on the right track. Not saying it's rigght or wrong just was speculating.

scooterRN52 · Sep 17, 2007

No education is ever a waste. And one never knowns when one may be hurt, unable to work at what they normal do, no longer able to earn the big bucks they once did. And must move to a different area. And having an additional degree or two has never harmed anyone. It is not having those additional degrees that harms someone. Go for the additional degree. And good luck.
Woody:balloons:

Thanks Woody, I appreciate it!:balloons:

scooterRN52 · Sep 17, 2007

I am not a union nurse, and I am making close to 6 figures, in the mid 90's, I would not work fulltime hrs for 50,ooo. a year. I work hard for the money, I figure I might as well do it while I can!!! I work full time in the northeast.

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Sep 17, 2007

You may not think it is unethical but several of my former professors and other nurses I know consider it unethical. Hospitals are warned long before they are struck, so that they can discharge patients and transfer patients that can not be discharge, to other facilities that are not struck. But most for profit hospitals do not want to lose one red cent of money, so they keep their patients, bring in strike busters.
I never said it was illegal but I find the ethics of both the strike busting nurses and the hospitals they fill in for, questionable. And being a strike buster certainly explains how you made your $94,000. If one doesn't care about the impact on patients and staff nurses, it is quite a good way to increase one's income, without getting additional education. And as a strike busting travel nurse, you certainly can't learn all the ins and out of the facility or the patients stuck in that hospital. But you certainly are entitled to your view of your ethics. Just as I am entitled to my view of the ethics of strike busting nurses.
Woody:balloons:

I wont argue ethics, but its certainly profitable. Keeps me in all the latest and newest golf gear and lessons. And all the golf I want. What else is there that truly matters.

woody62, RN · Sep 18, 2007

Some people are only concerned about their pocketbooks. I certainly am glad that I haven't had the misfortune of being care for by any of them. I believe that nurses should be paid what they are worth. And one of the ways to measure how much they are worth can be based on how much additional education they have gotten. Seems that nursing is one of the few professions that does not honors nurses that have gotten advanced education, while other professions do, neither financially or in any other way. It really says something about us. Something that none of us should be proud of.

Those they do not go on with their education should remember one thing. One day you may lift a patient the wrong way, or a patient may attack you and injury you to the point that you cannot return to work. And one of the reason's you can't return to gainful employment is because you stopped your education at the lowest level, limiting your options. If you are extremely lucky, you may get the chance to go back for additional education with additional opportunities. And it is far easier to return when you already have a BSN. The opportunities that come with a MSN are far greater then with an Associates. Positions that do not force one to take unnecessary chances with their backs, knees, hips or upper arms and shoulders, areas that frequently are injured and frequently severely limit one's physical activities.

Woody:balloons: