The Nursing Shortage -- Your Opinions

[medi]

Well, at least nobody in our profession should ever lack a job! Have you seen these projections?
Reports > Projected Supply, Demand and Shortages of Registered Nurses, 2000-2020
http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce...ct/default.htm

[Anonymous]

I'm a travel nurse so yes I have noticed it.. And I say pay me what I'm worth and I'll stay home..

We had an employee who taught computer charting in the local hospital I worked in last in 2000.. She had carpel tunnel and surgery. She quit her job.. Now she is back as a "consultant" ... What you bet she is making more money.

Cali needs 70,000/year...And they are worth it. I have a refridgerator magnet of a ramshackle shack that says.
CALIFORNIA FIXER-UPPER $999,999.....


And you can tell a Califorian when he makes $350K and can't afford a house.


WR,,, three commas for Becca

The merekat motto.

Respect the Elders, Teach the Young, Cooperate with Family, Play when you can, Work when you should, Rest in between, Share your affection, Voice your feelings, Leave your Mark.

[Judi]

Just a question.........does that nursing/patient ratio in California include Long Term Care facilities? Thanks in advance for the info !

[ERtoPharma]

OK, I guess that I might as well add my .02 cents worth

In my opinion, the shortage is not going to improve until Nurses are paid what they are worth! I know that I am going out on a limb here, but after 11 years of being a RN and going to work for a pharmaceutical company, I honestly feel like RNs should be paid a 6 figure salary and I am not talking about travelers, agency, contract, etc. I am talking about a staff nurse in a hospital.
Think about the hours, dedication, knowledge base, education, certifications, CEUs...the list goes on that we have to have.
Wake up people! Nurses are the ones who are providing care to these very sick patients that are in the hospitals now; consistantly assessing and evaluating, making life saving decisions, etc. Sorry for getting up on my soap box, but come on, really think about this. People do not choose hospitals just because their physician has admitting privildges there, it is because of the reputation of the care that they receive at hospitals. And who do they receive that care from? NURSES. Additionally, who on earth wants to work the shifts that we work, be on call, work weekends, holidays, etc for the pay that is being offered? This is not rocket science, if potential Nursing students really realized how hard the job is and the medial pay, they would reconsider.

OK, I'll get off my soap box and please know that I am not bitter or jaded as I am proud to say that I am a RN. All things considered related to our profession, we have to be the most underpaid profession out there. Having said that, it is very comforting to know that I will ALWAYS have a job and a good steady income. However, comparatively, we deserve so much more salary.

I may take a brow beating for this, but BRING IT ON!

Jordan

[CCHADWI]

Jordan, I think you will find that a number of nurses will agree with you. Having talked to litterally thousands of nurses, the fincancial aspect has to be one of the most common complaint, along with conflict in the workplace.

Thank you for your post, and welcome to the site.

[medi]

I agree wholeheartedly with Jordan that RN's should get a six figure salary and not one bit less! I believe the profession needs a major pay scale overhaul and a strong lobby to force safe staffing and reasonable workloads. It does not help that our professional organizations keep sending documentation plans out of their ivory towers that continue to increase the paperwork load on nurses either.

I still believe that nurses don't stand a chance of achieving aqeduate pay and decent conditions to practice in as long as we are "employees" (wage slaves) tied to the whims and dictates of our employers. What other "Professional" is treated as an hourly employee for crying out loud???

Physicians arent -- unless they work ER shifts for a group..
Lawyers arent
Teachers aren't...
etc..

So how can we be treated AS Professionals UNTIL we have the same autonomy real professionals do??

In my opinion, until nurses refuse to "get hired" as an employee of hospitals & other health care institutions and start to work as independant contractors we as a profession don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of actually being taken seriously and treated as "professionals"- ie: recieving equitable pay for services, working conditions that are acceptable etc.

I believe that nurses are going to have to communicate together to develop plans for this.. nationwide if possible... then break free of the traditional mold and form their own Nursing Practice Groups-- like doctors have practice groups...

The practice group would hire new "partners & associates" like law firms do-- grab those new grads & experienced nurses into the group.. then as a group-- a group of RN's all run by RN's-- contract with hospitals etc.

In this way we could set fee schedules such as doctors do-- fee for procedures-- so much per hour of professional bedside care, floor nursing, x amount for procedures- (* dressing change & wound assessment = $x dollars per each) etc.

Only in that way will Nursing truly become a profession and only in that way will WE set our worth and be able to attain it financially and condition wise- and make this profession exciting and desirable for new students in the future.

In my opinion at any rate..
What do you guys think of my idea?

Sara
Medi-Smart.com

[mikepizz69]

Hey Sara, i should have married you. I agree with everything you said. How do we do it though. And we can't look to the government for anything. thanks Mike

[Anonymous]

You won't get flamed by me... I agree with you totally.. Pay us what we are worth... People go to hospitals, clinics, etc for nursing care.. Not doctoring..


WR,,, three commas for Becca

[gaucho]

Greetings, just joined the discussion, am not up to full speed yet on everything. Been an RN for 11 yrs, currently doing pool-Psyche/Occupational Health. Love my little niche, however, no bene's. But will NOT go back to the full time work force as it exists currently. We're supposed to be professionals, but we let ourselves be used as laborers. Until that mindset is changed, don't expect anything else to change. We should be earning six figures for what we do. Here in MA, the legislature actually put an emergency/closed door meeting with unnamed people, law that cut out LTC facilities offering OT shifts for nurses unless they'd already worked a 40hr shift there. That was the last time I worked LTC-I firmly believe in voting with your feet. What other profession would let this happen, especially when the law of supply & demand is in our favor? It makes no sense at all. If you want an answer to why nurses are leaving, this is one of them! Another reason why I think, as a male, the majority will acquiece to administration's demands for unreasonable workloads, complain about it behind their backs, but will not DO anything to make it better. Sincerely, Neil Fahey RN, CLNC

[Gayla RN]

I recently heard the statistics on RN's in the US. I believe it was someting like this; 2.7 million RN's in the country and only 1.3 million working at the bedside.

Obviously, RN's are getting burned out and leaving the hospitals. If they would promise us fair pay, reasonable Nurse to Patient ratios and better working conditions, there wouldn't be a nursing shortage at all. These administrators, legistators, insurance company personnel need to think about something --- who is going to take care of their loved ones when they go in the hospital? Don't they want a nurse who has a reasonable patient load? Don't they want to know that the nurse caring for their loved ones has experience, instead of all the experienced nurses having left disgruntled with the working conditions? Good healthcare is dependent on NURSES. Everyone eventually needs healthcare at some time or another. Maybe someone should start thinking about treating us better.

Signed,
Nurse who stays at home now