Greedy nurses?
September 23, 2011 -- (to the San Francisco Chronicle)
Dear Editor --
I am a California nurse. Yesterday, 23,000 of us went on strike. Passers-by honked and waved and were almost universally sympathetic to our cause. If you are one of the few doubters, this letter is for you.
The nurses' unions are among the few that have not yet been eviscerated.
Unions should be strengthened, especially in the light of the growing chasm between rich and poor, ballooning corporate profits, and what's been called the "Bush Economy."
Without unions there would be no middle class.
In the Bush Economy, profits and tax giveaways go to banks that do not lend and corporations that do not hire.
Gut the unions and the fate of the middle class is sealed.
Yet some have called us "greedy nurses."
There was even a full-page ad in yesterday's SF Chronicle claiming that nurses average salaries of $150K.
In our dreams!
No nurses I know earn six figures, and the one or two I've heard about do it by working overtime hours to exhaustion, a path to certain burnout.
The most important thing to know about nursing work is how hard it is, and how many, many years it takes to acquire that level of expertise and instinct that does, truly, save lives. For more than any other reason, patients go to hospitals for nursing care. Yes, they have procedures like surgeries and therapies, but part of why I prefer nursing to doctoring is that while the doctor gets ten minutes with the patient, the nurse gets an entire shift. That's where real healthcare happens.
The personal, emotional, and professional commitment nurses put in to make this happen is unlike any other job.
You can't imagine this until you've been there.
There is also a surprising amount of pure physical hardship. Here are a few quips from the culture of nursing:
- What nurse hasn't dealt (many times) with a "code brown"?
- And what do you call a nurse with a bad back? Unemployed.
Seriously, the number of workplace injuries -- especially needle-sticks in the age of AIDS, and back injuries from lifting today's epidemic of obese patients -- is shocking. This work is not just emotionally draining, it's dangerous. And you would begrudge nurses their vacation days and health care benefits?
So when I hear talk of "greedy nurses" -- especially from corporate executives like Sutter Health's CEO Pat Fry who awarded himself a $2M bonus this year -- my stomach turns.
The real challenge -- while applauding the nurses for holding their ground -- is to unionize the other professions and redirect some of this nation's wealth back down from the top.
And if ever you get sick and then well again, thank a nurse!
Thanks for listening,
Dan Keller
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