striking nurses

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my 2 yo daughter was severely "damaged" because of a nursing strike. We were 2 weeks post op from open heart surgery. She went downhill fast one day. At hospital, we crossed the line to get her cared for. We ended up in ped. icu where they did their best. But they were lost. Where is this? Where is that? I watched from the hall as amandas ekg flat lined and the team scrambled to help. She came back, but she is not the same with all the brain damage. No I cant blame it all on the strike. I know that. But in my heart, I know that "things" could have been done faster better by the staff that were outside making their demands known. That was 21 years ago. It is the first time that I have said anything about watching my daughter die and come back. My hands are shaking. My throat hurts from the lump in it. Strikes suck.

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Specializes in ICU/PCU/Infusion.

I'm so sorry for your experience. My heart goes out to you. I understand your need to blame someone/some circumstances.. but I'd instead encourage you even these many years later to obtain some grief counseling. While you didn't lose your daughter (thank God!), you did lose your vision of what could have been for your daughter's life. Her life is just as valuable as if she did not suffer from some damage, of course, but grief can be consuming.

I hope you find someone you can talk with that will offer you the support and sounding board you need. Again, I am so incredibly sorry.

((((((((((hugs))))))))))

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I am not really sure why you are posting on this site. I understand that you have many stressors and have been dealt what you feel is an unfair hand in life.

Nurses strike because there are problems with the system. Striking has been one of the few ways that nurses have been able to force facilities to act in a responsible manner and improve the conditions of the hospital that relate to patient safey.

This forum is really not the place for you to work through your issues. This forum deals with many things that nurses encounter on a daily basis. Many of the things that occur on this forum would be misconstrued by the general public. I recommend that you find a counselor to help you deal with your grief in an appropriate manner.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
I am not really sure why you are posting on this site. I understand that you have many stressors and have been dealt what you feel is an unfair hand in life.

Nurses strike because there are problems with the system. Striking has been one of the few ways that nurses have been able to force facilities to act in a responsible manner and improve the conditions of the hospital that relate to patient safey.

This forum is really not the place for you to work through your issues. This forum deals with many things that nurses encounter on a daily basis. Many of the things that occur on this forum would be misconstrued by the general public. I recommend that you find a counselor to help you deal with your grief in an appropriate manner.

Have to agree with you there. It's easy to blame the nurses on strike. The nurses being on strike is irrelevant, hospitals hire outside staff to cover the shortage caused by the strike. I feel sorry for the OP's situation and will pray for them. My best advice to the OP is to seek counseling to better cope with the situation.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.

I'm so sorry for you and for Amanda.

I've been through my share of health issues with my little girl and I'm blessed that the results have - so far - been good (despite the incompetence of a radiologist). I have such empathy and compassion for you and your lovely daughter. I hear your sadness and your anger and they're understandable.

There's nothing much to say besides, I am so sorry for the loss of what might have been for Amanda.

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Specializes in Psych , Peds ,Nicu.

Yes strikes suck , they come about when the union AND management come to an impasse in negotiations .

In many posts regarding labor / management relations all the responsibility is placed upon the union for poor labor relations , but it takes two to Tango . Unions are voted into a workplace due to poor management ( if management was good , there would be no grievances driving staff to look for aid ) .

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.
my 2 yo daughter was severely "damaged" because of a nursing strike. We were 2 weeks post op from open heart surgery. She went downhill fast one day. At hospital, we crossed the line to get her cared for. We ended up in ped. icu where they did their best. But they were lost. Where is this? Where is that? I watched from the hall as amandas ekg flat lined and the team scrambled to help. She came back, but she is not the same with all the brain damage. No I cant blame it all on the strike. I know that. But in my heart, I know that "things" could have been done faster better by the staff that were outside making their demands known. That was 21 years ago. It is the first time that I have said anything about watching my daughter die and come back. My hands are shaking. My throat hurts from the lump in it. Strikes suck.

I am so very sorry this happened to Amanda and your family.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.

Amanda's dad, I don't know if you'll ever come back to read the replies or if you just needed to get that out... perhaps using us as surrogates for those that you hold responsible.

I have to say, though, that the sad reality is that even with the most expert nurses and physicians, bad outcomes still happen on occasion. Sometimes there are contributing factors and sometimes it just happens.

Whether or not the strike was contributory is something that nobody knows. I can understand why you've concluded what you have, though, and I certainly understand the intensity of the emotion. You just need to realize that the outcome may have been identical even with the regular staff on the unit.

Regardless, it was a tragedy.

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Specializes in Neonatal ICU (Cardiothoracic).

Sadly, the reason nurses are forced to strike are the same reasons that place patients in danger. Poor staffing, lack of equipment, insufficient orientations, inappropriate floating. It's not always about money.

Having just gone through contract negotiations at my facility, and come VERY close to striking, I can say that nurses HATE to strike. Deep down we care and fear for our patients. THAT's why we strike.

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Its just such a horror of our times that the public honestly thinks poor patient care results soley from a nurses strike. The buck always stops with the RN, right?? If anyone is to blame for anything, it most certainly is the nurse. :uhoh3:

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.
Its just such a horror of our times that the public honestly thinks poor patient care results soley from a nurses strike. The buck always stops with the RN, right?? If anyone is to blame for anything, it most certainly is the nurse. :uhoh3:

I have to agree wth you. I was really upset with the OP's post but didn't post how I really felt because I didn't want to be flamed. I know his post is written out of grief.

What bothered me most about the OP was the blame being placed on the nurses who were striking. Every other industry in this country, it seems it's ok for them to strike but not nurses. It seems that we are expected to put up with poor working conditions, poor pay, poor benefits, less than flexible working hours.

What the public doesn't realize is with the patient load that we are expected to work with, being at the patient's bedside at all times is not always easy. I can recall several sentinal events that occured because the nurse was busy with another patient and wasn't able to check on their other patients. We do our best with what we have. We can't be expected to take the sole responsibility for every bad outcome that happens. If there is anyone to blame it's the administration that runs the hospital.

I'm sure there is more to the OP's story but we only have his side, not the nurses that were working on that unit. Not the nurses that were on strike. We will never know. I'm very sorry for what happened to his daughter.

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I agree with what you are saying 100%. I naturally feel very much compassion for the situation of loss.

But conditions get worse and worse for nurses both legally and physically (with more and more exposure to bugs, no matter how much protection you use, etc). And yet most people still view nurses as another version of their mother, a person who is going to take care of their every whim and that noone else matters and that the nurse has nothing else to do.

People may gripe somewhat about physicians, but very rarely do they actually blame them for care issues. However, they WILL tell the physician any slight little things they didn't like about the nursing , which continues to feed into the gulf between Nurses and doctors. The doctors continue with their views of incompentcy while the Nurses are working in ridiculously unsafe environments and noone really cares.

God bless all and every male nurse involved in strikes. They are the ones most listened to by all entities.

Am I bitter? :coollook:

Nope, I'm just calling it what it is.

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