USA Weekend Magazine article on Nursing shortage

Nurses General Nursing

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You are reading page 3 of USA Weekend Magazine article on Nursing shortage

P_RN, ADN, RN

6,011 Posts

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

Thanks for the link. I'm always happy to see the issue out in the open.

I'd give it about a 5 out of 10. It's pretty much repetition of what I've read in other tabloids. I like the part about not getting in the nurses' way, and the part about don't touch the equipment.

I wish the article had mentioned the nurses should not be expected to attend to visitors. Anything from a complimentary band-aid to a BP check takes time away from the patient and comes with potential liability.

We once had a lady request a cot for her husband so he could spend the night with her....reasonable request, until we saw the husband. He was a terminal lung cancer patient, had an epidural pain pump, on continuous O2 and mostly unresponsive. That was a mess getting resolved, and the doctor ended up admitting the husband to the hospital....he died a few days later.

As far as foreign nurses, I've worked with several. Most were excellent. But at the same time I do feel for the countries they have left during their own nursing shortages.

roxannekkb

327 Posts

Originally posted by essarge

kahoro,

I don't think the majority of the nurses are turning a cold shoulder to foreign nurses. I think that the nurses do not feel supported by our government (by laws and regulations) or by administration in the various facilities we work in. I believe that they also feel that by allowing foreign nurses to come and practice in the United States, it is not going to solve the problem of the nursing shortage here. It is only going to compound the problem by not regulating schools and institutions to have fair working conditions that keep up with technology and patient status and good money for schools to give proper training and good pay for instructors.

As with many governments in the world, ours sometimes sticks their heads into the sand until the problem lands in their own (personal) laps.

I have to agree. Bringing in foreign nurses does nothing to address the core problems that are causing a nursing shortage in the first place. In addition, foreign nurses are sometimes exploited, bound by long term contracts which ensures that they will do nothing to rock the boat. Plus, many other nations are also suffering from their own shortages, and "poaching" nurses from overseas only exacerbates the problem.

mobileLPN

86 Posts

Maybe the reason for the cover photo was so that people would recognize the individual as a nurse. If they pictured a person wearing "what nurses wear today" we wouldn't have known her from the x-ray tech, the physician, or housekeeping. This has been discussed at length in other threads, but I think the cover shot and the discussion about further delegating tasks to UAPs should make us realize that nurses are no longer seen as a professionals with a distinct set of skills and knowledge, but rather as another person who helps you when you're in the hospital. Just my 0.02

MobileLPN

"First they ignore you.

Then they laugh at you.

Then they fight you.

Then you win."

-Mahatma Gandhi

robred

101 Posts

I really think the cover photo was intended to reflect 'a fantasy of the past' as the title below the photo states. I have sensed that the media has led the general public to recognize nurses merely as servants to the physicians rather than partners in the health care team. Photos like that, I'm afraid, only reinforce and further that 'fantasy of the past'.

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