Bush Signs Bill to Help Curb Nurse Shortage

FoxNews.com ^ | August 01, 2002 | Unknown

[gubamyster]

WASHINGTON

[gubamyster]

"If we don't stop it and reverse it and turn it around, it could collapse the health care systems in some parts of our country," Tauzin said.

This guy's a Republican? The system is not going to collapse.

Does our goverment have nothing better to do? Why is it any business of the government to tell us what career paths we should take? Why should my tax money go to promote career paths?

Let the free market of supply & demand work. If the demand for nurses increases, salaries will increase attracting more people to the nursing field. When the supply of nurses is greater than the demand, the salries will decline. Who needs the gubmint?

[weikel]

Dubya would have to be a conservative to think like that unfortunately he ain't.

[swarthyguy]

To satisfy the hospital/medical lobby, nurses are being imported from India, thereby keeping salaries low for Americans. Sound familiar?

[The Other Harry]

As presidents go, he is really one worthless POS. We might as well have elected Gore. Clinton was more conservative than he is.

I keep trying to like him, but he's a hard guy to like. He's just like his father. He's a liar and a syncophant.

[white trash redneck]

It's a real shame. Nurses are paid so poorly that we have to import them from third world countries.

[valkyrieanne]

Of course young women don't want to study to become nurses. They are given no respect and are paid way less than they deserve. Most women would rather become doctors or physicians' assistants. Government programs aren't going to solve this problem.

[Mr. Bird]

To satisfy the hospital/medical lobby, nurses are being imported from India, thereby keeping salaries low for Americans

Are you high?

[Mr. Bird]

It's a real shame. Nurses are paid so poorly that we have to import them from third world countries.

An RN in Baltimore with an ASSOCIATES Degree makes $20/hour. Plus shift differentials. The can also choose to work 3 12 hour shifts, freeing up the other days for either OT or play time. That's in a hospital. If he/she wants to work as a "traveler" or agency nurse, he/she can make upwards of $50/hour. Yeah, those poor underpaid nurses.

And for anyone who says they get crapped on and do the dirtwork and "why not become a doctor?" is the overwhelming argument: That's what nurses do. Dirt work. Paperwork. It's thankless. And it's not a secret. But it can be very rewarding personally and financially, and it doesn't take 10 years to become one.

[jumpstartme]

Let's see. You were born in India but lived abroad, right? And you post threads from Debkra. Sorry, but I'm not buying this.

Nursing shortage

Just make em taller!

[swarthyguy]

"You were born in India but lived abroad, right? And you post threads from Debkra"

DebKRA? What's that? Zionist OKRA? What's the connection?
Go ahead, slam me on a couple of DEBKA posts.....

[johniegrad]

THE REAL CAUSE OF NURSE SHORTAGES

[jumpstartme]

What's the connection?

DEBKRA- short on facts.

NURSING- short on people, your post- short on credibility. Capish? Got facts?

[Bush2000]

An RN in Baltimore with an ASSOCIATES Degree makes $20/hour. Plus shift differentials. The can also choose to work 3 12 hour shifts, freeing up the other days for either OT or play time. That's in a hospital. If he/she wants to work as a "traveler" or agency nurse, he/she can make upwards of $50/hour. Yeah, those poor underpaid nurses.

Pay scales vary by region (http://www.salary.com). It's not uncommon for a beginning nurse to make $15 to $19 an hour. Yeah, that's right. $15 to $19 an hour for someone that holds your life in his or her hands. If they work for an agency, it's very likely that the agency will swallow half of his or her wages. So much for the pay differential. But it's not just about money, friend.

Nurses, like police officers and EMT staff, work the worst hours possible. Holidays. Weekends. Nights. When you're home stuffing the turkey, they're busy pounding on chests and taking vital signs. They're not allowed to strike. They're horribly understaffed, sometimes handling 15 patients on a single shift when they really should handle far fewer. They have nearly the same liability as doctors because of their life-and-death decisions but don't get paid as much. It's my experience that nurses are far more diligent about patient care than most doctors. They catch medication errors and outright incompetence on the part of doctors.

They work at street-level with some of the worst aspects of health care: Vomit, piss, stool, wounds, dressings, bleeding, needles, IVs, pain, etc, etc. Most doctors turn a blind eye to these things when they walk out of your room and call for the nurse. Nurses risk their lives on a daily basis through possible exposure to dangerous blood and fluid products. Gee, all that for $15 to $19 an hour. I can't imagine why anyone would want to turn down such a proposition.

Compare the level of responsibility that a nurse has to that of other professions: auto mechanics, teachers, postal workers, bureaucrats, etc. There's no comparison. I hope you remember that the next time you're in the hospital.

How do I know this? Simple. My wife is a RN with 20 years of experience. If you spent a day in her shoes, you'd understand why nurses are frustrated with today's health care environment. HMOs and other changes are forcing nurses to do far more with far fewer resources than is reasonable. Nobody understands or questions this because they see the high cost of health care bills and automatically assume that most of it trickles down to the little guys. Well, it doesn't. Anybody who believes that is living in fantasyland.

[taxed2death]

I'll secon your thoughts.....this guy's no conservative.....he's a sellout. A total disapointment....probably 3 degrees to the right of Al whore.....errr I mean Gore. Keep up with the "fast track" trade agreements and our kids will all have lifelong careers pushing Happy Meals across a counter or become the best pool cleaners on the block. Oh yea, make sure you keep the borders wide open too..........you used to be able to make a decent living here in N.E. framing houses............not any more, with the invasion of the beaners.......a few friends of mine who chose NOT to hire illegals have been forced out of bizz.......I guess that's the "new" American way......screw the citizen (subjects). Housing is booming here, as long as you have a crew of 15 Mexicans working for you.....INS? Don't even go there!

[Grut]

Didn't Reagan face the same problem and point out that there was no nursing shortage... that the number of working-age people with nursing degrees in the US exceeded the number of nurses needed? IIRC, his solution was for the hospitals to offer them more money.

[Mr. Bird]

My wife is a RN with 20 years of experience

So you'll be the first one to admit that she isn't making that $15-19/hour, right? I'll bottom line it from my perspective: No one, except maybe the profs in nursing school, operates under the assumption that nursing is anything other than what it is. Hard work, odd hours, unattractive work scenarios involving body fluids, and little recognition from physicians. Those are the bad parts. Now let's get to the good parts:

VERY attractive pay. As I said, a 2 year degree will get you $40k+ with no experience in Baltimore. That ain't chicken feed. Employer liability coverage: most hospitals cover critical care nurses against malpractice. If your wife's doesn't, she should change employers. Career Security: the shortage is not going away, and pay will keep going up. CLOUT: Nurses, by virtue of being the largest single occupation in a hospital, run the show. Physicians give short shrift to nurses on a one-to-one basis, but hospital administrators jump when Nursing makes demands.

[copwife]

You are so wrong!!! I have been in nursing for greater than 25 years and if I knew then what I know now...I'd have become a librarian!!! Medicine is no longer the caring profession, it is now all about the "bottom line". When you have MBA's running medicine, all they care about is $$$ and they will stoop as low as mandatory overtime, shoddy equipment,and understaffing to cut corners. I can't tell you how terrible it is to be able to only give "lick and a promise" nursing care when I know so much more should be done. As a good conservative, I hate to see any more legislation than is absolutely neccessary, but in this case, unless you or anyone else wants to settle for less than optimal care,it is appropriate.I stay in nursing because I am trying to change it from the inside,but I have seen many excellent and talented RN's leave the profession because they have been frustrated and burned out. That's not only frightening, it's really sad.

[copwife]

You are so wrong!!! I have been in nursing for greater than 25 years and if I knew then what I know now...I'd have become a librarian!!! Medicine is no longer the caring profession, it is now all about the "bottom line". When you have MBA's running medicine, all they care about is $$$ and they will stoop as low as mandatory overtime, shoddy equipment,and understaffing to cut corners. I can't tell you how terrible it is to be able to only give "lick and a promise" nursing care when I know so much more should be done. As a good conservative, I hate to see any more legislation than is absolutely neccessary, but in this case, unless you or anyone else wants to settle for less than optimal care,it is appropriate.I stay in nursing because I am trying to change it from the inside,but I have seen many excellent and talented RN's leave the profession because they have been frustrated and burned out. That's not only frightening, it's really sad.

[copwife]

I couldn't have said it any better!!!

[1Old Pro]

I back Bush on this. There really is a severe shortage of quality nurses. Unlike teachers where people are standing in line to get on the gravy train.