Comments on: Are nurse unions using the H1N1 flu pandemic as a bargaining ploy?

By: Old ER nurse

Old ER nurse — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:55:28 +0000

I personally think our union (CNA) will use anything it can as a reason to further their cause. Their cause is being a huge political machine – using our dues to pay for it.They have done much to protect us and our patients in the past but we do feel manipulated by them. The most important problems we have are problems that effect us everyday and make it difficult for us to do our job efficiently and timely. I have personally called my union and requested they come in and look at our chaos during our frequent horrendous days. My calls have never been acknowledged.
My hospital is very poorly run. The emphasis is on billing. A time efficiency study would show appalling results. (I cannot believe I now welcome such a study.) Administration turns a blind eye to the problems unless Joint Comm is due or we are trying to get special accreditation. (that also requires more paperwork) Our paperwork has reached it own epidemic proportions. How accurate can the required ,redundant paperwork be if we go through the motions of filling it out as quickly as possible because we are trying to get the time to actually DO the patient care as needed.
BTW,we are still not ready for any type of pandemic. We simply do not have the resources and supplies needed available. However not many of us were going to strike for it. Some honor a strike because they feel they have no other choice. I’ve crossed my own strike line in protest of a strike in the past and will do it again unless I feel it is absolutely about patient care/safety. I am not willing to strike for wages,benefits etc. Our wages are hard earned. Sleepless nights and stressful days are the norm as I – and many others take our responsibility very seriously. As nurses we are doing more and more of things that were even beyond a doctors expertise at one time. Nurse aids/Techs are doing things that nurses didn’t/couldn’t do in the past. Doctors are doing things never believed possible.

The healthcare crisis can be solved with fairness and honesty. First take the profit out of healthcare. (We are taking care of each other after all.) Add proper safe and efficient staffing, add excellent management that isn’t encumbered with union demands and bureaucratic paperwork.
(Unions wouldn’t have existed had the honesty and fairness been in place all those years ago)
Happy staff that work in a properly run and therefore efficient organization breed happy staff and that in turn assures those all important Patient Satisfaction Scores.
It is certainly a matter of time before this time bomb of inefficiency and overabundance of paper/EMR records blows up.
The overwhelming pressure has been on us at the bottom of the ranks- those of us doing the care for years now. It has become progressively apparent that middle management is getting increasingly overwhelmed. Eventually the smell has to reach the top of the ladder.
Give us the time, resources and proper management please so we can just do our jobs. We are still here because we care.

By: Doc Stone

Doc Stone — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:18:48 +0000

I don’t think that they ought to be required to get the vaccine. They should be educated and then have a choice. It is their body. They ought to be provided with adequate protective gear whether they get the vaccine or not. They are two completely different things. One is an invasion of the body with some risks while the other is not. A catty “Either you want protection or you don’t” is uncalled for.

By: Toni Brayer, MD

Toni Brayer, MD — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:39:48 +0000

Carrie: I love nurses and I respect your comment about not painting all with the same brush. The flu season requires nurse leadership to work hand in hand with hospital admin to make sure patients and nurses are protected. I hope you got the help you needed.

Patty: You are right, I don’t “get” three hour shifts and I haven’t heard of them. I agree that would be a hardship. Many nurses I know like to work 12 hour shifts and get a full day off. Many nurses also choose part time work, understandable because of kids and other life demands. With full benefits, it is a richer package than most physicians enjoy.

By: Patty

Patty — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:28:29 +0000

If what you “part time”is the 3 – hour shifts that are mandated by the hospitals, then you just don’t get it.
Required or requested overtime, is also a part of the “part-time”. As are holidays, week-ends and days when our kids are sick.

By: Carrie (@LizzPiano)

Carrie (@LizzPiano) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:11:34 +0000

Just don’t paint all nurses with the same brush. I’m not in a unionized hospital, and we didn’t get a raise this year. Frankly, I’m happy I have a job. H1N1 vaccine wasn’t required for us, but I got it – because I want to protect myself and my patients. But the other day, when push came to shove, and I was overwhelmed by my assignment due to RSV outbreak, I did call for help and called for more protective gear. With H1N1 wiping out half the staff, and RSV taking over the unit, it’s precarious, and we do need protection. For our patients.

I don’t make even a quarter as much as a doctor, and I work full time plus am in grad school to get my masters…in nursing and bioethics.

We’re not all bad!