Short Term RN Job

fiveofpeep · Feb 7, 2010

jesus luigi! they pay a lot to walk across strike lines! Im young and naive but Id rather not cross the strike. that is very thoughtful of you to share the job posting though caliotter :)

Emergency RN · Feb 7, 2010

in my life and career's experience, i have never once seen or heard of nurses asking for anything more than they deserved. in essence, nursing strikes only occur when management behavior has proven so egregious that the nurses have no other recourse but to go on strike. consider that management, instead of trying to solve the problem at the bargaining table is willing to pay $5500 per week (that translates into an equivalent salary of $286.000 per year) for temporary work in order to break a strike, and a union. what that mean is, if successful, the original working nurses will have to settle for a lot less, probably dangerous staffing levels, increased license risks, and low quality patient care. so while the money may seem great, it is at the expense of stabbing our nursing brothers and sisters in the back. :down:

while everyone's situation is different as is our individual tolerance for economic pain, i'd rejoin the military or stand on the street with my hat in hand before i would ever resort to anything like that. nursing is all about heart, we are not mercenaries. :redbeathe

support your nursing unions! :up:

caliotter3 · Feb 7, 2010

The post was meant for people who are looking for work. That is why the word "job" is in the title.

netglow, ASN, RN · Feb 7, 2010

If times were better, there would be few who would cross a strike line. But if I could not find work otherwise, I'd be hop'in over that line in a second. Basic needs come first. I sure hope things improve for everybody soon.

livistarr · Feb 8, 2010

I work in a union hospital currently, have been here for several years and love my union. However, as a nurse I am opposed to striking. I feel there should be a "no strike clause" in all healthcare and school worker's contracts. We, as nurses, are not steel workers and can't just walk the picket line and expect the suits to clam up and give us what we want. It's just not rational or reasonable. I worked at this union hospital when we went on strike in the 90s. I had to walk out of my ICU at 6am with a 18 year old sister of my friend's on a vent. How and why I did that I will never be able to justify because that is just wrong, and it was more wrong of my nursing leaders to enforce it. Had I not walked I'd have been blackballed for eternity. I was a new nurse and didn't have the cojones to stand up for my beliefs. Back to the original point I was getting to, I then started traveling after I went back to work after the strike and was displaced out of ICU to med/surg by the management that decided to make life very hard on us who walked. I ended up working strikes. I made $20,000 a month, met some wonderful friends who I am still friends with to this day, worked at some wonderful facilities and learned new skills. I would do it again if my schedule allowed. Fastaff is a wonderful company that does labor disputes and if they're the company, go for it. Be prepared for animosity among the staff that's there (secretaries, X-ray, physicians) but be yourself, be a good nurse and be understanding to their conflict of emotions and it will work out. By the time I was at an assignment for a week of being who I am and being a good nurse to my patients, the other staff warmed up and became much more accomodating and we even became friends. I did make the mistake of taking a traveling assignment at one facility post-strike and the nurses in the ICU I worked at would change my drip rates, glue my pumps shut and hide my charts....when patients became unsafe because of things they were doing, that's when I bailed. It wasn't worth fighting the entire staff. But if you have a VERY STRONG clinical background (because you ARE flying solo!!) and can handle the pressure, go for it :) Remember that the nurses at that hospital deserve every single thing they are fighting for but the PATIENTS there deserve to have nursing care when they need it.

bagladyrn, RN · Feb 8, 2010

I work in a union hospital currently, have been here for several years and love my union. However, as a nurse I am opposed to striking. I feel there should be a "no strike clause" in all healthcare and school worker's contracts. We, as nurses, are not steel workers and can't just walk the picket line and expect the suits to clam up and give us what we want. It's just not rational or reasonable. I worked at this union hospital when we went on strike in the 90s. I had to walk out of my ICU at 6am with a 18 year old sister of my friend's on a vent. How and why I did that I will never be able to justify because that is just wrong, and it was more wrong of my nursing leaders to enforce it. Had I not walked I'd have been blackballed for eternity. I was a new nurse and didn't have the cojones to stand up for my beliefs. Back to the original point I was getting to, I then started traveling after I went back to work after the strike and was displaced out of ICU to med/surg by the management that decided to make life very hard on us who walked. I ended up working strikes. I made $20,000 a month, met some wonderful friends who I am still friends with to this day, worked at some wonderful facilities and learned new skills. I would do it again if my schedule allowed. Fastaff is a wonderful company that does labor disputes and if they're the company, go for it. Be prepared for animosity among the staff that's there (secretaries, X-ray, physicians) but be yourself, be a good nurse and be understanding to their conflict of emotions and it will work out. By the time I was at an assignment for a week of being who I am and being a good nurse to my patients, the other staff warmed up and became much more accomodating and we even became friends. I did make the mistake of taking a traveling assignment at one facility post-strike and the nurses in the ICU I worked at would change my drip rates, glue my pumps shut and hide my charts....when patients became unsafe because of things they were doing, that's when I bailed. It wasn't worth fighting the entire staff. But if you have a VERY STRONG clinical background (because you ARE flying solo!!) and can handle the pressure, go for it :) Remember that the nurses at that hospital deserve every single thing they are fighting for but the PATIENTS there deserve to have nursing care when they need it.

I'm sorry to say that I find this a very unrealistic post: First of all, striking nurses do NOT just "walk out". Proper notice is always given in order to assure that patients can be transferred or, if that is not possible because of specialized needs arrangements are made for nurses to cover those patients (not strikebreakers - regular staff). I've been in travel nursing since the 90's and have never seen any agency pay $20,000 a month for any type of nurse. These and the stories of nurses"gluing pumps shut" simply do not sound believable to me. I'd be interested to know if you can present any concrete proof of these things (payscale, etc.?)

I'd just hate to see an inexperienced person consider a strike breaking contract based on this kind of story.

midinphx, BSN · Feb 8, 2010

I think that other nurses breaking a strike line is necessary. The patients need the care. The striking nurses know that. Others breaking the line costs the hospital a ton of money, and the patients get care. the nurses make their point. I think crossing the line may actually help the cause in some cases.

bagladyrn, RN · Feb 8, 2010

I think that other nurses breaking a strike line is necessary. The patients need the care. The striking nurses know that. Others breaking the line costs the hospital a ton of money, and the patients get care. the nurses make their point. I think crossing the line may actually help the cause in some cases.

Again, check out the facts: Unions are required to give notice prior to striking in order to provide for patient care. Strikebreakers DO NOT cost the hospital money - they are paid for out of an insurance fund that hospitals pay into. Strikebreakers (I'm using the polite term here) do not help their fellow nurses - they undermine their cause. If you are going to cross picket lines at least be honest and admit that you are doing it for money only - not for any altruistic purposes. (I'm using the generic "you" here)

midinphx, BSN · Feb 8, 2010

I actually have never nor have I intention to break a strike line. But I think the patients need care. I wouldn't beat up a nurse or undermine patient care on one who did.

Emergency RN · Feb 8, 2010

i think that other nurses breaking a strike line is necessary. the patients need the care. the striking nurses know that. others breaking the line costs the hospital a ton of money, and the patients get care. the nurses make their point. i think crossing the line may actually help the cause in some cases.

yes, the patient's need care, which is generally what nurses strike for; better staffing, better ratios, which means better and safer care. but you see, management needs to pay for that, and it doesn't want to.

the nurses who cross pickets delude themselves that they're doing it for the patients. they rationalize along these lines to make themselves feel better. but, they're not doing it for patient care, instead, they're mercenaries out to make money off of the one who really do fight for patient care, that is, the nurse on the picket line.

to those that would cross pickets with a claim on a moral "duty" of patient care; so you say you're answering a higher calling, that you're not in it for the money? then put the money where your mouth is. take that fancy check and donate it back to that hospital. or else volunteer there while the strike is going on, that is work for the patients and not take a dime of the extra money. go ahead; walk your fanciful talk. if you can't then you'll soon realize what the nurses on the picket already know about you; you're nothing but a back stabbing scab. you'll sacrifice colleagues and patients for the jingle of a few extra coin in your own pocket. there's an age old name for people like that... judas. :down:

support your nursing unions! :up:

Music in My Heart · Feb 8, 2010

I work in a union hospital currently, have been here for several years and love my union. However, as a nurse I am opposed to striking. I feel there should be a "no strike clause" in all healthcare and school worker's contracts.

If we're going to have no-strike clauses then we should have the same statuatory protection that folks like the airline pilots have: By Federal law, their expiring contracts remain in force until a new one is signed. With such protection, a no-strike clause is reasonable... otherwise, the union has no teeth.