Working Strikes
ou set at the nurse’s take place for a change to be
station and the fax machine brought on.
starts humming and
printing. You pick up the paper What does this mean to you as a
that it has spit out and read, travel nurse? You are left with
“Nurses Wanted: Make $5000 for the decision of whether or not
just two weeks of work.” Your you will take the higher wages as
first thought is “Wow! Great a nurse “scab” and work the
Money!” Then you realize that strike, or do you stay on the
you have just received a fax from side of your colleagues and work
a company who is trying to find other travel nursing jobs?
nurses that are brazen enough to
cross the picket lines. Why work a strike? The biggest
reason that I hear is “someone
Every day in the United States, must take care of the patients.”
thousands of nurses are on strike When the possibility of a strike
for better working conditions, is looming patients are diverted
better benefits, better care for to other hospitals, patients with
patients, better nurse to patient elective surgeries are
ratio’s and greater respect of rescheduled, patients with urgent
those nurses that work the floor surgeries are done in the limited
every week. capabilities of the limited
hospital staff, doctors are given
Strikes don’t just happen over emergency privileges at
night. Time after time we see neighboring hospitals for
nurses and managers go to battle. continuation of care, and eighty
Only when all negotiation hope is percent of hospital rooms are
lost is there a strike. Nurses closed.
don’t necessarily like to strike,
but sometimes it is what HAS to The twenty percent of the
patients that stay at the much larger security force.
hospital are taken care of by Nurses are usually housed in
travel nurses, and other strike shared living arrangements, which
nurses (Scabs) that are provided is not very conducive to the
by speciality services, such as family lifestyle either.
IMAC out of Cleveland, Ohio. In a
lot of situations, the nurse My colleague, Melissa James, has
managers are also more directly this to say about nursing
involved in patient care. strikes, “I believe sometimes
nurses (who are unionized) MUST
The advantages to working a strike. I also believe, as most
strike are high wages, free nurses, that the patient must be
housing, meal allowances, short cared for. A reasonable solution:
assignments, which invariably TRAVEL NURSES! Why? Because the
mean getting to do more administration is paying A LOT
travelling and getting to see MORE while we are at the
more of the world out there! bargaining table! (No, because
patients can be taken care
The biggest disadvantage to a of....), after which the "scabs"
strike travel nurse is that your will go away and the Nurse can go
family is usually not allowed on back to work.”
these assignments because of
security reasons. The companies Working strikes can be very
always provide security for the beneficial, it's up to you to
nurse, but to provide security weigh out the pros and cons of
for all the families of the whether or not the risks are
striking nurses would require a worth the big bucks.
About the Author:
Written by Epstein LaRue, RN, BS, author of "Highway Hypodermics: Your Road Map To Travel Nursing", "Love At First Type", and "Crazy Thoughts of Passion." http://www.epsteinlarue.com/. For more information on travel nursing check out: http://www.highwayhypodermics/com
Read more articles by: Epstein LaRue, RN, BS
Article Source: www.iSnare.com |
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