Re: gainful employment/burnout

That's right no union. They're gradually chipping away at the financial
benefits. Just recently stopped paying overtime for "doubling back" ie
working 2 shifts with less than 8 hour break between. I won't do that
period. I get sick if I get too tired.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Melody" <mhobertm@excite.com>


> Judy: Amen, sister nurse, amen. I take it your nurses are not unionized
> and therefore can't be forced to work overtime??? This has been the ONLY
> good thing about continuing to work as a nurse at the large hospital I
> work at...the protection offered by a good, solidly written contract!
>Plus Judy is pretty lucky that her hospital does pay time and a half for
OT. Many hospitals have staff nurses exempted from the Fair Labor
Standards Act that governs overtime pay and working conditions so that
they can work them 12-16 hours or more without paying extra. And believe
me, folks, this is only the tip of the iceberg...it is way, way worse
when you get down to how many nurses all over the country work
appallingly long hours with no breaks (sure, you all think it is a joke
when we make cracks about how long we can go without using a bathroom!)
and severely overloaded in the number of patients each nurse cares
for...no surprise to any nurse that there is a severe shortage of
actively employed nurses in this country that is only getting worse by
the month! I am a unionized nurse and have never regretted the decision
to abandon my profession's idealized vision of ourselves as
"professionals" and work under a collective bargaining agreement like
the blue collar laborers that we are treated like in many, many health
care facilities. OK...sorry--I'll get off that sore point now! :-)


>
> Melody, IA (Z 5/4)
>
> "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious."
> --Albert Einstein
>
>  --- On Mon 08/09, Judy L Browning < judybrowning@lewiston.com > wrote:
> From: Judy L Browning [mailto: judybrowning@lewiston.com]
> To: gardenchat@hort.net
> Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2004 10:05:32 -0700
> Subject: [CHAT] gainful employment/burnout
>
> Well folks, in the last 3 days, my so called 8 hour shifts have
> stretched to<br>9-11 hours with no time for a lunch break. 5 hours
> overtime, or about an<br>extra day's pay for the 3 days. Not sure it's
> worth it. They staff by<br>algorithm at this hospital rather than by
> acuity. I fail to understand how<br>paying 2 or 3 nurses overtime is
> cheaper than paying an extra assisitant. I<br>can afford to work only 6
> days every 2 weeks, and can't afford to work more,<br>emotionally or
> physically. A lot of nurses choose to take other, less<br>lucrative work
> because of the killer stress involved.<br>Getting off my soap box,
> thanks for letting me
> vent

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