CA: Nurse Ratchet

OC Register ^ | 4/26/05 | Steven Greenhut

[NormsRevenge]

One of the most regrettable realities of union domination of any industry is that it turns otherwise honorable professionals into the equivalent of political street-fighters who focus on organizing and arm-twisting to divert more resources and government benefits to "the cause," rather than on creating a better product that meets the customers' needs.

Keep that in mind as the governor is depicted as the spawn of Satan in recent TV and radio ads by nurses, firefighters and members of other unions who would like you to believe that their only goal is to improve public health, safety and protection.

Don't believe them. The governor has many flaws, but his attempt to save the state budget from Gray Davis-like malfeasance is not an attack on Californians, but an attempt to keep the state budget from resembling the city budget of San Diego, where excessive pay and pensions for union members have pushed the once well-managed city to the brink of bankruptcy. And he is trying to fix one of those crazy California health care mandates that is making it impossible for hospitals to meet the needs of patients.

One of the most aggressive challenges thrown at the governor is from the California Nurses Association, a 60,000-member organization run bya $175,000-a-year labor activist named Rose Ann DeMoro. She is not a nurse, and she seemed proud in a recent newspaper profile of her aggressive, accept-no-compromise approach.

Forget about the sight of kind, healing nurses. We're talking tough-as-nails, Teamsters-style aggression here, in pursuit of objectives that are self-serving, not public-spirited.

--snip--

The Los Angeles Times described a DeMoro-sponsored rally whereby nurses clogged streets and yelled this epithet at Schwarzenegger contributors: "Corporate scum! Shame on you."

[Lizavetta]

Those commercials are so inane. You hear "teachers" and "nurses" saying something to the effect "Gov. Shwarzenegger calls me, a teacher, a special interest???" They are incredulous.....shocked........hurt that Arnold would consider them, the sacred teacher and nurse, a (gasp!) special interest.

And then at the end of the commerical is the intonation "paid for by the California Teachers Association (pssst...a special interest union) and the California Nurses Association (yet another special interest union). I guess the irony is lost on them, or they assume the average radio listener is a moron.

And don't get me started on the "kid on the phone" commerical....."Can I talk to the Governor?" Stupid....stupid....stupid.

[rellimpank]

--they assume the average radio listener is a moron. --

And are usually right--

[Carry_Okie]

If he thinks nurses have such a cushy deal, why is the retention in the profession so low? The reason there is a shortage is burnout, not featherbedding (although that does exist).

If hospitals really wanted to improve nursing productivity they would automate charting with portable voice recognition and telemetry. It's the paperwork that's killing them.