The solution to nursing problems

Nurses General Nursing

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I posted this before and it seems to have been lost.

I think we can corrent all of the major problems in nursing by simply having all of us take the same day off. Let's say February 11th, 2003, all nurses on duty go home and no, I repeat no nurse comes into work that day. This would include all LPNS, RNs, ADNs, BSNs, MSNs, and RN/Phds. Exactly 24 hours later we return to work and see have some meaningful discussion with the powers in charge.

I have noticed that patients and patient family members are aware of nursing shortage. They see how hard and fast everyone works. Only 'management' is blind. We need to open their eyes. 'MacDonald's' has a higher staff-customer ratio than health care.

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I've seen families fight management more than once, fighting for good care for their loved ones. Slowly, these families are organizing, too. By state, and nationally. I don't agree that there is no hope for health care. It may not be tomorrow, but I see a huge storm brewing out at sea. Sooner or later, it's gonna hit landfall. And when it does, I think there's going to be an Enron style change. Let's just keep talking and helping to seed the clouds.

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MacDonaald's has a bigger "gene pool" from which to draw and at minimal wage; but I understand what you're trying to say.

The problem being- patient's are sicker and more needy, are more aware of the importance of a nurse in their recovery process-and even IF management approved a ratio of 1 nurse for every 4-5 pattients, where do they get the nurses from during a shortage?

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The problem with walking out... strikes... and all that stuff is 3-fold.

1. Many of us have families to support and can't afford to lose our jobs.

2. Strikes occur when for some strange reason a bunch of nurses have bonded together for the purpose of improving their conditions (which most of us don't have the "balls" to do). THEN nurses are imported from other states and paid 2 or 3 times what the striking nurses were making, when money could have been saved by just giving the original nurses more money & benefits in the first place.

3. Nationwide, nurses will not all agree to do anything for any reason! And if you have only a small percentage, administration says, "To hell with them. Hire some new ones!" And there are always people looking for jobs.

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Great idea...But our patient's will be the ones suffering?

"It's all about the patient"

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Maybe a board like this can start something. I have felt like I'm all on my own here. Frustrated and angry at how nurses are treated and the ultimate impact of that on patients. Very frustrated with nursing associations, education, etc.

1 - State nursing associations may be working for nurses but they expect nurses to research them and find out. The AMA, for example, begins trying to recruit members in medical school.

Letters, visits, etc. may cost money but increase membership - bringing in more money. We are easy to find through our licenses.

2- Many ANA leaders are in education, research and management, often disconnected from the clinical practitioners, causing many problems: in short, they do not know what lies behind the nursing shortage - they got away from bedside nursing as fast as they could.

2 - The public does not know what the profession of nursing is, what it has accomplished. Suprisingly, many nurses don't know. Florence Nightengales nursing significantly reduced the death rate of injured soldiers in the Crimean War from 42% to 2%. The only reason she was able to start an independent school of nursing over strong objections by contemporary physicians was the overhelming support she had from the public - who were happy that, after her, wounded family members had a very good chance of surviving medical care; before her the chances were slim. Lillian Wald's portrait in the national gallery is under social work. Nightengale did not leave any strong leaders behind and hospitals quickly took over nursing education - as an opportunity for unpaid labor, education generally secondary. This is exactly why Nightengale had insisted on independence.

3 - A movement back to independent nursing schools occurred but needs of hospitals, community colleges are put ahead of the educational needs of nurses. In my school, and others, subservient behavior was modeled and expected - which is not appropriate in post secondary level education.

Questions:

How has "organized nursing" - educators, leaders of the ANA allowed this history to be lost?

Why is it that only Florence Nightengale's faults are remembered? Why is she so neglected in "Nursing theory?"

Why hasn't organized nursing protested the placement of Lillian Wald's portrait?

Why don't they shout out the data about the number of RNs per patient is the only indicator for positive patient outcomes? Can have all the nursing assistants, resp. therapists, PTs you want, without RNs the patient doesn't do well.

Why have they not pointed a finger at the major contributing factor to this shortage - large layoffs of RNs to save money, realizing later that they were losing money because of increased risk of UTI's, wound infections, etc.? Hositals did that when there had been a surge in enrollment at nursing schools due to the increased salaries that came out of the mid to late eighties shortage. No nursing jobs, no students.

Why does organized nursing seem to think that if we keep showing what we do, others will finally see? As nursing accomplishments since Nightengale have been forgotten or ignored, this does not seem to work.

Overall, I don't believe professional organizations or nursing education have put the interest of the professional nurse first on their agendas. The needs of patients, hospitals, physicians, schools come first. The best way to address these, especially patient needs, is to address nurses needs.

Any suggestions? I think a grassroots movement is all that's left. A single nurse can accomplish only so much.

Anne

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How about a new organization - The NONOS - the national organization of nurses on sabbatical. Ads, articles would start:

The NONOS - say no to poor patient care; say no to the unprofessional environment of the nurses who provide direct professional patient care.

Something like that. Open to all nurses on sabbatical (temporary or permanent), considering sabbatical, or who have taken sabbatical and are now back in nursing. This would mean nurses who are unhappy, even angry, at the conditions in which nurses usually practice, the lack of awareness of the role of nurses. We are especially unhappy about the impact on patient care as we are (or should be) the providers of direct professional nursing care.

Anyone interested?

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I think in order to accomplish what we want, nurses need to quit their hospital employer and either go into independent contracting or join a registry. That way uou can be assured of a decent hourly rate, can pick and choose your shift and days/nights you want to work. If they hospital didn't comply with your terms of contract - FINITO! - they lose your services, and word of mouth could finish them off.

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Anne, please allow me to be a charter member of NONOS! I think you should start it immediately. And I want to be a member. I'm already going around muttering under my breath no no no no, so I'm sure with all those nos, that I am worthy of membership. (Tongue in cheek here, but a lot serious, too.) :D

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Youda - definitely. I think I would open the group to any nurse who walks around saying, "no, no" frequently.

Let's see if others are interested also. While I may sound tongue in cheek with my suggestion, I'm serious about it as well.

The idea for a name came from the posting wondering if someone could get a research grant to find out how many nurses are on sabbatical.

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Start a new thread and ask. And, there must be some funds under the new legislation. It provides funding for Public Service Announcements, why not a study?

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By sabbatical, do you mean how many nurses are not working in nursing right now? After hearing testimony from ANA leaders, RN members & healthcare unions, Congress commissioned that research - charging the General Accounting Office in DC with the task.

The results were released to Congress by that agency in May 2001 and made public in a report by the Dept of Health and Human Resources -- 500,000 licensed RNs nationwide (18% of the nations nursing workforce) are "on sabbatical" not only from hospital jobs but also from the nursing profession.

Many saying they would return if the working conditions & compensations were improved.

In addition, the current nursing shortage was proved to be NOT a shortage of nurses, but only a shortage of nurses who are willing to work under the conditions found in the bedside job today. Conclusions of the research clearly spelled out the details that we all know too well.

Recommedations to Congress for soultions were suggested & basically declared that hospital administrators must wake up & look internally to see the answers for why RNs are avoiding their institution..... & repair those problems..... because there ARE enough of us out there already.

Discussion on this research report was posted here - search under "Maldistribution". You can also read about it on the ANA website & obtain the link to the entire official report there:

http://nursingworld.org/gova/federal/legis/107/gcrs.htm

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