lorianncw wrote:Maybe I should clarify. I agree there is a shortage of nurses currently working. But, when there are 600,000 certified nurses and 150,000 nursing applicants/per year being turned down, there is NOT a shortage of potentially available American nurses.
It matters because if the WHY is corrected or at least improved, the resulting shortage would also be improved! If the power is off in your house, wouldn't it be wiser in the long run to FIX the whether related damage or pay the bill, rather than running throughout the house lighting candles for the next 10 years. That is my point. Instead of attempting to fix the problems, they are putting on Band-Aids by hiring foreign workers *AND* they are suppressing the salaries for American nurses who are still working.
There are some nurses that LOVE what they do and other that HATE it. In some cases it may be personality fit related but in other cases it's work conditions/load related. For example, the nurses I knew in MA as a whole were A LOT happier than those I know in GA.
Coincidentally, the state of MA ranks 2nd in the country for the highest #of RN's per 100,000 people. There is also a very strong union there that fights for improved working conditions and higher salaries. There are RN's in MA making 80-110K for a 40 hr week.
Boston Globe Wants to Know if Nurses Deserve the Money they Earn - Weigh In and Tell them Why
As opposed to GA, a state which is in a severe health care crisis, it has one of the lowest number of RNs per 100,000, and does not have a strong union, and has MUCH lower RN salaries.
Wouldn't you agree that these factors are contributing to the RN work satisfaction and supply disparity between these two states?
While its true there may be some who would never return to nursing for any amount of money, its also true that the majority of Americans are living in debt. The prospect of better pay in nursing than what they could make elsewhere would cause some to return.
This follows the simple laws of supply and demand..........
I was just reading on MSN about an executive making 6 figures leaving his job to become an actor. Not an easy profession to break into.
My contention is that the stats don't tell us WHY these nurses aren't practicing at the bedside. As I pointed out previously NP's must continue to hold an RN license. They are working in nursing just not at the bedside.
Wild horses couldn't drag me into MA. Do you know what the housing costs are there? Do you know what taxes are like there. Do you know what it costs to park in Boston etc. Those nurses aren't making any more money vs the cost of living. Do you know that MA requires verification of every nursing license you have ever held? I hold/held 8 would cost me more to verify them than it would to pay for the license.
The unions tout what they can do for nurse. Let's look at their track record because I can't look into the future. They've about destroyed the auto industry in this country. Shoe manufacturers, pulp and paper, mining, etc.
Did you know that TEXAS is considered with it's COLA ( Cost of Living Assessment) the highest paid nursing state in the union. Many Texas nurses can't find work in their own state. They don't have a shortage. And they make in the $20. Not incentives $$$$ to bring them back into the fold. Ha they haven't left.
Nursing is an ultristic profession. Ya have to wanna. And that's just it. Many nurses don't wanna. And it won't make any difference what you pay them. You couldn't pay me to work in the coal mines. You couldn't pay me to work in a nuclear plant. Not every one can be bought. And I sometimes wonder if buying people off gives you the best employees.
Stopunions - Home
Again the stats you cite don't tell the whole picture. They don't ask why the nurse left. I didn't leave the hospital because I was paid poorly. And NO amount of money would get me back at the bedside there. Money may be a quick easy fix but it's not the be all end all. Many nurses leave to raise a family. Some feel their children are more important than a job.
Most of the states with hi incomes also have high costs of living. It really does equal out. And if the economy of a town or state knows it can get money from hi income people it certainly will.
Also, if nurses don't think there jobs can be outsourced they should think again. Many people in this country are going overseas for health care i.e. cabg, plastics, ortho procedures, etc and getting primo care and facilities in those countries.
How much money do you think insurances and the government should pay for healthcare. Is there an a unending source of revenue.
Get rid of the paper pushers, the endless stupid policies and procedures that have no basis in fact. Streamline service. Get rid of the numerous idle employees in a hospital. And then give the nurses a raise. Let them run the hospital. Give them the power. Not unions, executives, consultants etc.
Why does anyone go to a hospital. Not for doctoring, soft beds, great food. Those things you get outside a hospital. The MAIN reason for hospitalization is because you can't take care of yourself and your family can't or doesn't know how to. NURSING CARE is the PRIMARY reason for hospitalization. Therefore, nurses should be in charge of the hospital NO ONE ELSE. When you give someone the power and control over their environment and they take it and do a good job with it then you have found the solution to that problem
As long as nurses feel powerless over their own JOBS and their voices are taken away either by Management or Unions you will continue to have a nursing shortage.
The union can't produce Nurses any more than you or I can. That's a fallacy. And they don't want to many nurses in the hosptial either. They would lose their power. What would they take to the bargaining table then????? They would have a bunch of nurses who have great staffing every day. The union would have nothing to work with. Think about it.
I made 90K last year. And I'm not beholding to any Union, I didn't work in MA. I worked in PA, TN, and AZ none of which are high paying states. Look at the Cost of Living in MA. You can't buy a shack there for less than $300,000. MA HAS to pay those wages.
Sorry to say but GA also probably has a lower socio-economic population. Why aren't all those nurses running to MA. Probably several of them don't like snow. :houra:
California pays well but I could have a travel job there tomorrow and many nurses from AZ go there for 2 weeks, work and then go back to AZ for 2 weeks and don't work. I bet they list themselves as part-time workers in these studies. When in fact they are making full time pay in Cali. Cali has "great" union representation and they are still crying for nurses. They are the highest paid too. I had a fridge magnet that showed a shack and said at the bottom "$999,999.00 Fixer Upper" Do you know people rent out rooms in their homes in Cali in order to make their mortgages and they charge $600 or more a month.
More money paid to nurses will be paid out in higher costs of living.
