How about for fun we stop with " the nurses" and whining about "the NP's" and "nursing". I'm sure it's fairly obvious, and something that isn't neccesarily always a good thing, but it is unquestionably obvious that there is NO cohesiveness in the nursing profession no mattter which level of educational preparedness you are referring to.
I'm not talking about being politically correct, I'm just saying some of you sound so stupid and out of touch with the realities in healthcare when you make these generalized statements about what "the nurses" think, want or desire to have for the profession.
There is a very vocal "ivory tower" contingent that has lots of lofty goals for complete autonomy and independence and doctoral preparation for example that I'd dare to say the vast majority of nurses have no interest in. We may agree with some or none of the proposals but you really gotta understand that it's not only not everyone, it's also not many. Which is why you'll often find the ones spouting off on many of the divisive subjects being other competing professions---after all, what better way to deflect attention to their own house, eh? Despite whatever makes you feel better, many who choose the midlevel role, PA, NP or otherwise, certainly could have set out on the pre-med route and probably a few wish they had back in the day. Not all, absolutely, but it is so disingenuous when I read over and over how "nurses" would never make it in med school and shouldn't desire an expanded role becuase they didn't make that choice. It's a false argument. And of course, the buck stops with you guys. Wait, sorry, the buck stops with the residency trained physicians
Who has a problem with that? Just saying "we" do doesn't make it so.
Oh, dare to dream...
Anyway, I also happen to live where we are threatening to strike and actually have twice now. Please tell me you don't think it's about money, etc. We darn well know we are paid well. I only graduated two years ago and certainly made more than six figures just my first year out. It's a shame other parts of the country don't value their nurses as well because you can' tell me that the cost of living here is a reason why PA nurses start at $16/hr. and I started at $48. It's not that big a difference....
I went on strike, and will again, because I am sick of working understaffed and without basic equipment necessary to take care of our patients. I work in the ER for a multi million dollar profit making co. On any given night, I cannot find a pump for god's sake when I need to hang oh say, unimportant critical meds like dopamine, levo,nitro, etc. I'm saying, literally, there are none. Anywhere. There is also ONE portable pulse ox for a 36 bed ER. It's a little hard to do continuous monitoring on our AMI work-up hallway patients with that. But who cares anyway...right? I also worry about understaffing when I have vented patients, multiple drips and a new STEMI rolling in and no extra hands to pitch in. I'm fairly certain that I'm gonna miss your 30 minute door time even if i utilize the fancy jazz hands. I don't need to 'work smarter'--it's a physical impossibility unless we genetically engineer extra arms and legs. I also hate working somwhere where IC cleans the area maybe once a day if we are lucky. The public is worried about handwashing? Just don't touch any surface anywhere is more like it...Oh yeah, and that one negative pump for our TB workups? yeah, that broke 4 months ago. Oh well.
Anyway, it's not about money. Please believe it's about being given the tools to keep all of our patients alive safely.