RN "Super Union"

Nurses Union

Published

MASSACHUSETTS NURSE ASSOCIATION VOTES TO JOIN.......... http://www.massnurses.org/news-and-events/p/openItem/3211 :loveya::loveya::loveya:

Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

no rn in an e-icu across town or in another country can truly assess a patient. we must feel the patient (cool or warm?, dry or clammy?, slight tremor?). if we are to provide compassionate care and prevent "failure to rescue" we must phisically be with the patient. so we work together to keep what we have that is good and prevent harmful changes to our system from the unit level on up to the global.

sure minimally invasive surgery is a positive change. but with only the sickest people admitted to the hospital we need to ensure sufficient rns and other staff to truly provide safe, effective, therapeutic and compassionate care.

this article is a few years old but pertinent to today:

technology and patient advocacy

rns must exercise independent judgment at all times....

http://www.calnurses.org/publications/calnurse/2005/california-nurse-may-2005-private.pdf

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http://www.calnurses.org/publications/calnurse/2005/california-nurse-may-2005-private.pdf

this is nothing more than cna/nnoc drivel. the entire publication is cna. how can we trust anything that the unions publish..ever heard of bias??

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
originally posted by herring_rn

no rn in an e-icu across town or in another country can truly assess a patient. we must feel the patient (cool or warm?, dry or clammy?, slight tremor?). if we are to provide compassionate care and prevent "failure to rescue" we must phisically be with the patient. so we work together to keep what we have that is good and prevent harmful changes to our system from the unit level on up to the global.

sure minimally invasive surgery is a positive change. but with only the sickest people admitted to the hospital we need to ensure sufficient rns and other staff to truly provide safe, effective, therapeutic and compassionate care.

this article is a few years old but pertinent to today:

technology and patient advocacy

rns must exercise independent judgment at all times....

http://www.calnurses.org/publications/calnurse/2005/california-nurse-may-2005-private.pdf

this is nothing more than cna/nnoc drivel. the entire publication is cna. how can we trust anything that the unions publish..ever heard of bias??

i aplogize. i forgot to direct readers to the article that begins on on page 18. the article that addressed previous posts is attached.

her are a few select quotes and the conclusion:

"rns must exercise independent judgment at all times."

"at issue here is will the professions (medicine and nursing) control

technology or will technology control the professions?"

"unfettered use of technology will have a chilling effect on the rn’s ability to advocate for her or his patient."

conclusion: rns have the right and the duty to act as patient advocates, and therefore must have the ability to override any decision, solution, recommendation made by any computer software, system, tool which in the rns’ professional judgment is against the interest and wishes of the patient.

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I am happy about the union for many reasons like those stated above and at this point I think they are necessary. It is unfortunate that unions do not work with the companies to help come up with solutions for cost cutting in other areas so that the companies can afford to give workers good salaries and working conditions.

That said I am with onekidney nurse on the technology thing. Coming from a healthcare related field I was truely amazed at the LACK of technology use in nursing. There are so many things that could be streamlined. Moreover, to think that less educated staff will not eventually be doing many of the task oriented procedures that typically have been done by nurses is, I think, naive. They give out meds in LTC in my state for the most part without a hitch.

From a business perspective it is a waste of money to have more educated, higher paid people doing something that lower paid people are qualified to do with some training. The fact that techs can be trained to put in catheters, ivs etc in a relatively short period of time speaks to the fact that these skills do not require a high level of training.

On the other hand the assessment and intervention skills of an RN, this is something a tech does not have and can't obtain in short order. The higher level of education an RN receives is very important in this regard. This is one of the reasons I am so baffled by nurses that make such a big deal about education not being that important and we are all nurses, etc etc. We are all nurses but education is VERY important. IT is what keeps RNs employed, NOT technical skills which can be learned through repetition. This is evidenced by the fact that a much larger segment of the population is capable of learning these skills then of understanding all the ins and out of the workings of the human body required for an RN.

SKILLS are learned by repetition. Certainly a tech that has been practicing for 5 years is going to be better at putting in a catheter than a new RN. On the other hand, the RN's education will,especially with more and more diverse situations, allow her/him to continually add to the "concept map" in her brain so that she/he will have more and more info to draw from when assessing, intervening etc. I am not a BSN but I am aware that some studies have shown that with time, several years of practice, that hospitals with BSN nurses have fewer fatalities which makes complete sense.

I am not going to go on here about technology but I stronly suspect that the days of RNs doing tasks that a tech can do are numbered. The most cost effective place for an RN is in management of the patient.

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NO RN in an e-ICU across town or in another country can truly assess a patient. We must feel the patient (cool or warm?, dry or clammy?, slight tremor?). If we are to provide compassionate care and prevent "failure to rescue" we must phisically be with the patient. So we work together to keep what we have that is good and prevent harmful changes to our system from the unit level on up to the global.

Sure minimally invasive surgery is a positive change. But with only the sickest people admitted to the hospital we need to ensure sufficient RNs and other staff to truly provide safe, effective, therapeutic and compassionate care.

THIS ARTICLE IS A FEW YEARS OLD BUT PERTINENT TO TODAY:

The same thing was said about automatic blood pressure machines. I've seen ICU nurses come into a room and be all worried about a patient sitting up chatting away with a pulse of 30. Never lie a finger on a pulse.

With preventative care how many will be admitted? Hospitals really aren't such good places to be. What with HAP, MRSA, e-coli pneumonia etc.

e-ICU nurse are working now.

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And so your solution to the bad medicine you describe is for nurses to shut up and allow the hospitals and insurance companies to continue on in that fashion? You mention "cost saving" tactics of hospitals as if nurses are or should be in agreement with those practices. How do you see nurses advocating for better patient care, improved safety, or improved outcomes in Kaiser, or Fresnius, or Humana?

You make excellent points about the current situation in health care, yet you are not in favor of change. Does that imply that you are okay with the status quo?

My thought is that we will continue to lose manufacturing jobs in this country as long as it costs 16% of our GDP for health care.

FresEnius. How long have you been trying to change the status quo????? And you think we won't continue to lose jobs in a socialist system? Ask several other big countries about their thoughts on that.

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Not always the case.

We are union, and we rotate holidays. Sure seniority has its perks, but the more senior employees work the same amount of holidays. Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc are rotated on a year to year basis.

Best,

Diane

I have to rotate the big 3 holidays from year to year....This year I had Thanksgiving off, worked dayshift christmas eve and christmas day and will work pms on new years eve.

Vacation leave is equitably distributed. We can take no more than 2 weeks in the summer and must take different weeks from year to year. All of these are determined by MOU.

If we are floated to another unit we cannot be used as an RN only as a special sitter.

Each of these have been determined by the collective bargaining process.

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Sounds like PICUPNP has swallowed the hospital management's talking points hook, line, and sinker. I, for one, can not wait for bedside nurses to start taking back the power that was rightfully ours in the first place. Bedside nurses protect patients; Not hospital administrators. Onward National Nurses United!!!

Taking back what???????

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i aplogize. i forgot to direct readers to the article that begins on on page 18. the article that addressed previous posts is attached.

her are a few select quotes and the conclusion:

"rns must exercise independent judgment at all times."

"at issue here is will the professions (medicine and nursing) control

technology or will technology control the professions?"

"unfettered use of technology will have a chilling effect on the rn's ability to advocate for her or his patient."

conclusion: rns have the right and the duty to act as patient advocates, and therefore must have the ability to override any decision, solution, recommendation made by any computer software, system, tool which in the rns' professional judgment is against the interest and wishes of the patient.

having the ability and using it are 2 very different things.

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/ratios/ratios_12year_fight_0104.pdf
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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Threads merged.

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
originally posted by herring_rn viewpost.gif

here are a few select quotes and the conclusion:

"rns must exercise independent judgment at all times."

"at issue here is will the professions (medicine and nursing) control

technology or will technology control the professions?"

"unfettered use of technology will have a chilling effect on the rn's ability to advocate for her or his patient."

conclusion: rns have the right and the duty to act as patient advocates, and therefore must have the ability to override any decision, solution, recommendation made by any computer software, system, tool which in the rns' professional judgment is against the interest and wishes of the patient.

having the ability and using it are 2 very different things.

the purpose of the attached article is to educate and motivate rns to advocate exclusivly for the best interests and wishes of our patients.

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