....."Unless we can all organize, form colectives where we contract with hospitals rather than work FOR them... or have unions"........
I have been a nurse for 25 years. I have always seen hospitals as abusive, harsh employers, for the most part. When there still existed REAL non-profit (usually Catholic) hospitals they were about the only ones, I felt, (some of them) who cared more about the patients that the bottom line.
But who really expects a "business" (it was a "mission" with the Catholic Hospitals I knew of years ago) to care about anything other than the bottom line, really? That is why they are in business, not for service or love of fellow man. That is pretty naive to think otherwise, no matter what the hospital public relation slogans. Nor does the profit motive necessarily make them "evil" and not proficient at what they do.
But as to nurses, I just don't see nurses coming together, really. The unions I do see take dues, but don't do a ton for the nurses. Strikes seem to make strike companies rich, but (I might be wrong) I don't see them doing great things for nurses.
I too have notice many more foreign nurses in the hospitals and docs. They usually are really good and probably will be more and more over time. I also noticed that wages at our local hospital have not changed much over the years.
I am beginning to think that nursing is going to become one of those occupations folks will have to go into (like teaching) for the love it, not for the money. BOTH would be nice! haha...
Nurses have always been isolated and at each other's throats. Incident reports (where we document bad practice against EACH OTHER) are examples of how fractured we are. There is just no unity. Night shift hates day shift, vice versa. We point fingers quickly and will allow a nurse to fall away without any protest, just glad it is not us.
I do believe as society changes (times of war, death of large numbers of young people and our kids, as in the late 60's, 70's) people do re-evaluate what is important and that occupations such as nursing and social work gain members.
Well all that is pretty negative! LOL...but I love nursing, love nurses and still believe if I just go out with that attitude to care for patients to the best of my ability (sometimes just taking them warm blankets and coffee), that may be my real reward.
Nursing is great. Nurses are great and my heros, even after 25 years. They take their lives and their families lives in their hands everyday they go to work with AIDS, Hepatitis, etc. God send us more nurses. Nurses who do it for the love of people, not the love of money, because if they do it for the money, they will become bitter and quickly burn out. The big bucks are not going to be there, I fear.
BTW, I love this forum and website! If anything I said offends, don't take it too seriously...it is very late at night here and I am OLD.
