Someone needs to start talking to nurses about health care reform.
Without real health care reform the nursing shortage will become a nursing
crisis, you need 30% more nurses in the next 10 years and we're are not going to be there," we have left
the building, don't call us we'll call you"
The average age for for RN's is 46.8, only 8% of all RN's are under 30. Over the last 20 years as the the health care industry has become more profit driven there has been a stampede of nurses leaving the profession, for profit health care is driving them out of the profession.
Patient to staff ratios have eroded, nursing jobs have been out sourced to agencies with no benefits, and positions once filled by nurses are now filled by minimally trained personal. the health industry have lobbied and pushed for state laws to allow unlicensed personal to administer medication, which includes narcotics and insulin and fill the positions once held by nurses.
I believe that the health care industry is making a concerted effort to replace nurses.
The industries' unrealistic employment polices, staffing ratios that are dangerous and legislation whose only purpose is to dilute the nursing practice laws are creating a situation where nurses find it impossible to practice their profession, a profession we all loved.
" In at least one state, surgical technologists and radiologic technologists seek to create a monopoly for their area of practice at the expense of registered nurses. Jim Willmann, general counsel for the Texas Nurses Association, explains that in the last Texas legislative session, a proposed law was introduced that would permit the licensing of surgical technicians to serve as first assistants in surgery, prohibit registered nurses from performing that function, and remove the supervisory authority of the circulating nurse. That bill failed."
Bruser, Susan; Whittaker, Sue MSN, RN
(if you do a search over the last 10 years various organizations have been trying again and again to introduce this type of state legislation. )
In Broward county Florida, the school nurse positions have will be filled this fall by agency health techs, paid minimum wage, with a few days training, no benefits, no health insurance, these techs will pass schedule II drugs, give insulin and make health care decision for children. Each tech will cover one school with an average of 1000 children and they will be supervised by an RN who will cover 5 schools, a total of 5000 children. The RN will cover 5000 children.... !
Nurses are the largest segment of the health care workforce, we are the big expense, we are the ones who advocate for our patients , our main concern is not the bottom line, and we have been vocal about the need for real health care reform for many years, we are fly in the billion dollar honey pot of the health care industry. And we are running away from the nursing profession because we are being chased away by an industry whose only concern is the bottom line.
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