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 Go, ANA, go!ANA trying to color a new Helathcare Coverage Picture. The American Nurses Association has finally started talking tough. It’s about time.
Where was the ANA, this potentially very powerful lobbying force, when Bill and Hillary Clinton were trying to get all Americans at least minimum healthcare coverage? Where has it been at the government has decimated America’s medical reimbursement program? This is not an indictment of the ANA! To the contrary! I have long believed that the organization should be more politically proactive, and here they come! American Nurses Association SEEKS creation of Universal Medicare Program! Every year about a million Americans lose their medical insurance coverage. "While we are deeply concerned about the growing number of uninsured, America's nurses are concerned about a host of other problems in the current fragmented system. That's why we have proposed a comprehensive approach to preserve and improve all Americans' health status by providing a universal, seamless program that goes beyond health insurance coverage and addresses the issue of access to care, including preventive care, mental health services and prescription drugs," explained President Mary Foley, MS, RN. The ANA is proposing a Universal Medicare Program, establishing access to health care for all Americans, to be phased in over a three-year period. All children under age 19 would immediately be included in the expanded Medicare program. Here are the ANA’s Key Points for Medicare Reform::
I, for one, look am ashamed that this rich nation does so little to ensure health for its citizens. And, what little we do accomplish is slanted in such a way as to make us view beneficiaries as scofflaws and deadbeats. Enough! This great country can afford to do whatever it sets its mind to do! I’m with the American Nurses Association: let’s make it clear to the our government “leaders” that we elected them to serve our needs – and among the biggest of our needs is a fully-functioning and accessible Healthcare system! A full copy of Achieving Access for All Americans is available on ANA's website, NursingWorld. http://www.nursingworld.org/ Email your comment about this editorial
 No, Government, please, no!
Editorial
--Larry Rambsey, MSN -- Editorial Board When our Editorial Board settled in for a working lunch this afternoon, we were first inclined to take a positive stance toward California's new government policy regulating Nurse-Patient Ratios. After all, isn't the problem all those evil CEOs and CFOs who are always understaffing nursing units just to grab a few more almighty dollars!? At the outset, it sounded really good to us that the government would step in and make those guys allocate enough FTEs to staff units properly. But, then...
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Editorial
I was vacationing on a West Indian resort island a couple of months ago, and stopped by the community's clinic. It had an old x-ray machine (but no developer), and three glass thermometers. There was no physician on the entire island of several thousand, and the only nurse had recently quit in a flap over the scope of her responsibilities. And, an American physician in Boston was chatting with us earlier in the week. He recollected that, when he went to school we had only x-ray machines, whereas we now have CT Scanners, and an entirely new family of ultrasound and MRI equipment. Then, there's the new computerized charting, med-tracking, lab documentation equipment out there (we used Meditech where I was a unit director). It certainly is true that we are finding nursing units running short-staffed, CEO's short-tempered, and government money-counters gloating over their growing piles of loot -- money that we need, but are being deprived of, according to many hospitals, nurses, physicians, and LTC folks. But, it's also true that we are much, much better able serve our patients today than in even the recent past, because of Technology. At least we have that to be thankful for. So, while we also have real negatives in medicine and nursing at the Millenium, let's pause to also appreciate the really great things that we have, too! Email your comment about this editorial
Editorial
A nurse whom we'll Sue emailed us, saying: "I agree with the editorial. I have been a nurse for 8 years both in the hospital and in home health and it's been rough for both. The problem with nursing is not only the stress and overwhelming amount of work that we do ... it's also that we do not support each other. Nurses are the first ones to talk about another co-worker and put each other down. If we can't unite as co-workers how can we be taken seriously. I'm tired of the whole thing...." We wholeheartedly agree! There are troubles:
But, we want to (correctly) call ourselves a "profession." So, we need to stop blaming all the outside influences on our troubles, and begin working together as nurses, side-by-side, to overcome our problems. If we can improve our professional cooperation and end our internal bickering, we can present a unified body to begin getting improved funding, adequate staffing and, most importantly, job satisfaction! Email your comment about this editorial \\\\\\\\\\\
Editorial
See readers' comments at end of Editorial
I have left the direct patient care aspect of nursing for several reasons. Inability to provide patients with the time and care that they deserve due to a shrinking staff and increasing workload. The fear of harming someone because of having to rush just to get things done. Tired of taking the job and all of its stressors home with me. Poor job satisfaction. It wears on a person when you work tirelessly and yet feel frustrated because you couldn’t do it all. The hours. I am tired of working nights & weekends and holidays without much, if any, compensation. The money: It is great when you graduate from nursing school and you’re making decent money for the first time. However, it is not great when you are older with more financial responsibilities and you are still making pretty much the same amount. We have more accountability and liability in our profession than our friends in the business world. What we don’t have are the perks, bonuses, and kudos that they enjoy. I have jumped ship like many of my fellow nurses have or plan to do in the near future. There is some guilt with that. If all of us do it, who will take care of these sick people who need us? However, we must remember that we are supposed to be caregivers not martyrs. Maybe we should have a nationwide walkout to bring attention to this dire situation. There is truth to the saying “power in numbers”. On an individual basis we haven’t been able to accomplish much. You bring your concerns to the higher-ups, promises of future changes are made and then nothing happens. So, you either stay in a miserable situation or you leave and are quickly replaced by another. The cycle continues. It is the poor “regular joe” patient in the hospital who suffers in the long run. The patients who could help make a difference because of their prestige, wealth or political clout in society are not exposed. They are treated as VIP’s and are therefore protected from experiencing the reality of a very unpleasant situation. In return, the hospital is protected from unwanted negative publicity. The requests that nurses have are not selfish or unreasonable. It has become increasingly difficult, if not impossible to do our job. That job involves patients putting their lives in our hands. We are not dealing with numbers or contracts. We are dealing with human beings. It has become unsafe and that is not acceptable. As nurses, I think that we are somewhat accountable for what is happening to us because we are letting it happen. We can sit around and blame an outside entity and that takes the onus off of us. Okay, now what? Change will come from within and that means you and me. Email your comment about this editorial
Dear Nursing Jobs Magazine:
There are undoubtedly some nursing managers at my level earning more. But, the point is that I really get worried about the Future when I hear new grads whining! And, this one hasn't even graduated yet!
With all due respect to the woman or man who wrote that, it seems to me as if they'd better stop and think for a minute. Many very conscientious and talented "white collar workers" in American offices make $10.00 - $13.00 an hour. Yet, we in the nursing professional have an opportunity to go to a 2-year community college program, or even diploma school that doesn't even grant a degree and come right out and earn $17.00 to probably $20.00 an hour in many cities. Plus shift differential. That puts the salary at between $35,000 and $41,000, for a kid just starting out who doesn't have any experience.
Maybe this person will make a wonderful nurse. But, it scares me to hear complaining before even getting started!
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to HR Magazine, the 1998 pay ranges for newly-recruited registered nurses were as follows:
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"High-Tech Innovations -- Yes!"
RNs: "Time to Change -- not to Slip Away!"
RN: "Time for me to leave!"
Fining docs not fine!