Every morning I wake up and thank God that we still have some Republicans in Congress. Representative John Shadegg (R) from Arizona, is one of those blessings. He has introduced a bill in Congress called the Nursing Reform Act of 2009. The bill calls for increasing work visas for foreign nurses (and their spouses). When passed, it will eliminate the nursing shortage!
This bill is great on so many levels. For one, everyone knows that healthcare is costing us an arm and a leg (pun intended). The biggest causes are obviously nurses and nursing unions. Nurses are way overpaid, but unfortunately the healthcare corporations have not been able to break the nursing unions because of the shortage of nurses. By bringing in lots of foreigners, they can flood the market with labor, break the unions, and get nursing salaries down to where they belong -- somewhere around what retail pays. If only there weren't that law capping the number of foreign nurses we allow in the country... As a side benefit, the bill allows for nurses' spouses to get unrestricted work visas as well, so it will help bring down salaries in all sorts of other industries as well!
The true brilliance of this bill (thank you Mr. Shadegg!) is in the way it is written. It doesn't bring them all in at once. It starts out with 50,000 new visas the first year, which is a low enough number that people will "buy it" and the bill can get passed. Supporters of the bill have had to go to great lengths to say that nursing salaries will be unchanged, which of course will be true at first. However, the genius in the bill (evil grin) is that the number of allowable visas automatically goes up 20% per year, so it will be 60,000 visas in year two, 72,000 visas in year three, 86,400 visas by year four, 103,680 by year five, and a whopping 124,416 by year six! The bill states that "According to the Department of Labor, the current national nursing shortage exceeds 126,000." Therefore, the nursing shortage will be solved in about six short years, and healthcare companies can get back to earning the kind of money they deserve! Incidentally, this is just the approach that was so successful in cutting the salaries earned by information technology workers about 10 years ago. Corporate profits were getting impacted by high IT costs, so our brilliant Congress increased the number of H1-B visas, and companies were able to hire cheap workers from India and other places. Thank you, Congress! Later, many of these foreign workers returned to their homelands and brought the work with them. Now, corporate America doesn't have to pay high salaries, and they don't even have to look at the foreigners anymore -- they can just write a little check to India. Bravo! Fortunately, information technology salaries have never rebounded to the levels where they were.
But I digress. Back to nursing. Let's face it, nursing is difficult, degrading work. Nurses sometimes have to wipe feces, for Christ's sake. We're Americans and we're better that that! We can certainly find some Indians, Filipinos, or Chinese to do that work, ridding self-respecting Americans of the need to perform that dirty job. The last 20 years have been a long road, but we've come a long way, baby. We've rid ourselves of the burden of almost all manufacturing jobs, call center jobs, and as mentioned earlier, many information technology jobs. Fortunately, we Americans don't need to do those things anymore. This bill is the first step down the same glorious road for healthcare. It was recently reported that in 2009, over 6 million Americans will travel abroad for surgery (http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/27/india.medical.travel/index.html). Once these foreign nurses are fluent in "American-style healthcare," many can return home to help proliferate cheap healthcare services to those Americans that can afford to fly overseas. Think of the opportunities this will create for the airline industry and the beloved industries that support the airline industry -- like jet fuel suppliers and Boeing!
President Obama reportedly wants to solve the nursing shortage by training unemployed Americans for these jobs. As usual, that guy has it all bass-ackwards. First of all, we Americans are too good to be nurses. Second of all, it would be tough to train enough new nurses to break the unions and get nursing wages down to retail wage levels. Only India and China, with their billions of people, are capable of rapidly flooding the market with enough labor. Third, everyone knows that the millions of unemployed Americans are lazy, good-for-nothings that are not smart enough or good enough to be nurses. Otherwise, they wouldn't be unemployed in the first place, right? Fourth, training Americans to be nurses is expensive. Why, in Mr. Shadegg's home state of Arizona, the high unemployment rate and falling tax revenue have forced the state funded university (Arizona State), to cut its nursing program by 26% in terms of students accepted into the program (http://nursing.asu.edu/general/deans_welcome.htm). Let's face it, with unemployment so high, we just can't afford to train Americans to be nurses. Perhaps if we cut taxes on all of the oppressed wealthy Americans, we could afford to train more nurses...
Opponents of this bill will probably say that John Shadegg has sold out to the healthcare industry. I say, phooey! They will probably point out that In the campaign finance cycle for 2008, he received over $244,000 from the healthcare sector, over $168,000 of which was from healthcare political action committees (http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/industries.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00006425). That may be true, but Mr. Shadegg is a patriot! He would NEVER let campaign contributions influence the legislation he introduces or sway his vote in any way.
My only criticism of the bill is that it doesn't go far enough. Perhaps it's not too late. I would urge Mr. Shadegg to expand this legislation so that we bring in an additional 50,000 foreign doctors, 50,000 foreign dentists, 50,000 foreign lawyers, 50,000 foreign engineers, and 310 learned people for "government positions" (254 to take the Democratic congressional seats and 56 to take the Democratic Senate seats, ha ha ha!!!!!). Clearly, overpaid nurses are not the only problem we face as Americans. My fellow Americans, we must remember, what's good for American corporations is good for America. We've come a long way, but there are still some high paying jobs that are held by Americans. With the help of patriots like Mr. Shadegg, we can fix that!
Comments
You have links in this article for everything but the Nursing Reform Act of 2009. I checked Shadegg's site and Googled the phrase and can't find anything. Can you please provide a link to the legislation or a news source that covered it?
Posted by: Chris | Apr 5, 2009 7:05:32 AM
I think this is an April Fool's joke that missed its deadline by four days.
Posted by: Grant | Apr 5, 2009 7:12:46 AM
This is not an April Fool's joke. The bill is HR1001, titled "To create a new nonimmigrant visa category for registered nurses, and for other purposes". It can be found on the Library of Congress' Thomas site:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:6:./temp/~bduCff::|/bss/|
Posted by: AlsoChris | Apr 5, 2009 7:39:52 AM
While I agree that nursing wages are inflated, I highly doubt that reducing their pay to minimum wage would help the nursing crises. Who in their right mind would go through all the training, endure wiping up feces, and shoulder the emotional burden dying patients all for 7.50 an hour?
Opening the doors to more foreign nurses sounds like a great way to cut short term costs and temporarily boost their ranks. However, over the long term, such a proposal would worsen the nursing shortage.
Posted by: Aaron Hicks | Apr 5, 2009 8:11:41 AM
Brava! But there is an much cheaper way. Instead of bringing so many low-wage immigrants over here, you can just set up phone centers in Bangalore and have people get their medical care through VOIP:
"Press 1 if you have a pain in your head. Press 2 if you're feverish. Press 3 if you feel nauseated...."
Posted by: Ill and Uninsured in Illinois | Apr 5, 2009 8:52:18 AM
Actual title: Nursing Relief Act of 2009. Read it here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1001/show
Posted by: Peg | Apr 5, 2009 9:25:07 AM
Do any of you even know what nurses deal with on a day to day basis, or the care level that is provided from the different training levels. This letter is not only sorely off the mark, but it is short sighted republican B.S. cut nurses salaries and die in the hospital. I am all for healthcare reform, but you can't refute the evidence that nursing care is the number one determinant for better outcomes in hospitals. So you can cut the schools, and cut the wages and you can all die in the hospital hoping that your overworked physician comes in and finds the small bleed developing in your stomach from the fact that the medication tech has not gotten to your protonix. Or when your mother is dying in the hospital I hope chatting with the 18 year old GED qualified bathing tech will comfort you in your time of need and explain why the 18 tubes emerging from her are needed. I also feel sorry for the physicians who will be forced to actually sit in hospitals for 12 hours shifts because they are getting their asses sued off from the wrongful deaths left and right. I also wonder what your ED will look like when under-trained and experienced EMTs are your only hope during a heart attack.
This article is not only a joke, but written by an poor angry soul with not insight into what heatlhcare really is, and no idea how to fix it. Maybe you should look at the over paid physicians, or the over priced supplies, or the needless waste of hospital spending and start working on solutions to save lives, not take them.
Posted by: dan weberg | Apr 5, 2009 10:05:51 AM
Splendid post!
I'll see your minimum wage and raise you!
http://hootsbuddy.blogspot.com/2009/04/minimum-wage-as-economic-stimulus-part.html
Seriously, after working in and around health care during seven years of post-retirement, it is my observation that the industry would crash and burn without its many immigrant workers. That bit about "...we Americans are too good to be nurses" may not be too far off the mark. Most of the world has cultural values aimed at taking care of others, especially the elderly, that we seem to have left behind in a rush to care only for ourselves. To many of us have a blame-the-victim mentality, whether it be aimed at those with low-paying jobs, poor health or limited education.
(But hey, we sure keep up with afternoon TV and sports like no place else on earth!)
Posted by: John Ballard | Apr 5, 2009 10:06:05 AM
I became an RN in 1977 & have been working full time since then. Today I make $26.26/hour. Please please tell me where the nurses are "overpaid" so I can move there! Quick.
Posted by: g | Apr 5, 2009 10:55:22 AM
Perhaps our problem is not an under-supply of nurses but rather an over-supply of patients--and who better to help with that than nurses?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/us/03nurse.html?ref=us
Posted by: js | Apr 5, 2009 12:32:18 PM
js
In the South we call that "tacky."
Posted by: John Ballard | Apr 5, 2009 1:37:12 PM
hehe Dan; "but it is short sighted republican B.S."
look up the word sarcasm. This was written by a far left progressive who thinks to highly of their comedic skill. Nice job attacking the right for left side projection though!
Posted by: Nate | Apr 5, 2009 2:14:50 PM
There is a much simpler solution to this without offering any visas. Your worried about finding people to wipe ass and care for others for minimum wage, I can do you better.
Pass a law outlawing illegal nannies in CA, NY, NJ, and other liberal bastions of arrogance, I know it seems strange to outlaw something that is already illegal but when it comes to raising their kids and their gardens liberals love them illegals. These nannies already have the experience wiping ass and caring for the spoiled entitlement class, the uninsured should be an improvement for them. And a large number of them already make less then minimum wage so we could save even more money.
There is also a huge gain on the other side, unlike liberals, especially those appointed to office, most corporations actually pay their payroll taxes. Instead of hundreds of thousands of illegal nannies making less then minimum wage and having no taxes paid we will have nurses contributing to care and the tax base. This is win win for everyone except the liberal elite who will actually have to deal with their entitled brats now.
Posted by: Nate | Apr 5, 2009 2:22:40 PM
This post seems to come from outer space, but it does raise a point - why aren't more nurses trained in this country? The nursing organizations' standard answer is that there are not enough nursing instructors. Why are there not enough nursing instructors? Supposedly because a master's or PhD is required to instruct, and nurses with these degrees can make much more $$ elsewhere (like in hospital administration).
I cannot vouch for the validity of these arguments, but I do not believe there is a shortage of American applicants for nursing school.
My own experience is that foreign nurses have been with us since my days in medical school in the 70's, when many were recruited from Vietnam. So I am not sure whether there has been a nursing school instructor shortage for the last 40 years, or what. Perhaps Congress needs to investigate this before a knee-jerk reaction to import more foreign nurses - especially with our current jobless rate.
Posted by: bev M.D. | Apr 5, 2009 3:50:30 PM
As a senior year nursing student, I would like you to tell me where you are getting the idea that nurses are overpaid?? I'm going to be graduating 80k in debt for all of the education I have gone through to become a RN and I think you are off your rocker if you want nurses to be paid retail wages, which require very little knowledge about anything. Also, nurses do more than wipe feces. Sometimes, in some areas of nursing, it's required to help someone out in need but there are many other things that nurses do that aren't "degrading". How about we take money away from the 10 million dollar a year salary of an overpaid athlete that can throw a basketball in a hoop or a NFL football player and put that towards healthcare costs?... Those are overpaid careers... not nursing... your comments are crazy and make anyone that's a republican look bad if thats their mindset on the matter. Also, don't you think foreign countries need their own nurses? Stop being so ethnocentric and think about the whole picture.
Posted by: Brandy | Apr 5, 2009 4:48:13 PM
Chill, Brandy. This comment thread is mostly a cascade of tongue-in-cheek spoofs, triggered by the rather tasteless post above, intended to be cute.
I think I can speak for everyone posting here when I say we all appreciate the truly essential work done by nurses. And I'm sure no one would seriously suggest that nurses are overpaid.
Go back and read the post and comments with new eyes, looking for a rather grim attempt at humor.
As for compensation, I learned years ago that no matter what we are paid, we earn a lot more for what we put up with than what we actually do. I guess in your line of work, that means physicians with supercilious attitudes and goofy bloggers and their comment threads.
Posted by: John Ballard | Apr 5, 2009 6:26:32 PM
I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Sarah
http://blanket.ws
Posted by: Sarah | Apr 5, 2009 7:11:12 PM
I COMPLETELY DISAGREE. NURSES WORK THEIR BUTTS OFF TO HELP SAVE SOMEONES LIFE EVERYDAY! SO WHOEVER POSTED THIS DOESNT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. THEY ARE NOT ON THEIR FEET FROM MORNING UNTIL NIGHT TAKING CARE OF PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK. THEIR LICENCES ARE ON THE LINE EVERY MINUTE OF THE DAY. THEY HAVE TO CHART ON EACH PATIENT AND ENSURE THAT THEY ARE BEING TAKING CARE OF WELL. SO NEXT TIME YOU WANT TO POST SOMETHING UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE POSTING ABOUT BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH.
Posted by: Hello | Apr 5, 2009 7:13:32 PM
Wow, not only was this degrading to nurses, but it was racist and ethnocentric at the same time. I can't believe this was serious at all, but I'm not taking any chances. I'm sending this particular post to every nurse I know, and I know a lot of nurses, and if I knew what city you lived in I'd make sure to print it out and send it to every hospital in your area. Then I'm deleting it from my blog reader and I'm never coming back. Then again, you could care less, as I'm a minority, and bigots could care less what we think.
"Americans are better than that"; wow,...
Posted by: Mitch | Apr 5, 2009 9:13:14 PM
My theory is that, like periodic spam postings on "why aren't we considering single payor" that seem to come out of nowhere, replete with urls, the real source of the post was a California Nurses Association propagandist.. Note the "bust the unions", anti-outsourcing, "self respecting Americans" , "sold out to the healthcare industry" , "What's good for corporations is good for America" themes.
Not subtle, Angry American. Get thee hence . . .
Posted by: tcoyote | Apr 6, 2009 2:48:51 AM
fyi, "Sarah" above at 7:11:12 is spam. I'm culling a growing number of similar comments at my place. I think actual people are being hired to spread these messages. The global slowdown must have produced a population of laid-off call center workers.
And I agree with tcoyote. Whoever left the screaming comment by "Hello" obviously didn't read the post or comments.
Posted by: John Ballard | Apr 6, 2009 4:11:07 AM
It is shocking that we don't investigate the root cause of nursing and doctors shortage and import talent while depriving our own students. Why aren't there more training programs? Most foriegn docs have no medical debt and end up taking up primary care postions. Many U.S grads have to go to Carribean etc if they fail to secure a med school spot and them come to join residency. We have the fundamentals backwards. There are plenty of students willing to work hard if we can have more nursing and med schools. Shame that we are caught up in some political games and not enough attention to this matter.
Posted by: Ray | Apr 6, 2009 4:39:33 AM
I read this article as satire and I presume the author is against the bill and for nurses. Based on other responses I am overthinking it, if it is not satire than the the author is underthinking the issue.
Posted by: FP | Apr 6, 2009 5:35:37 AM
Hey Angry American-
Do you hate women or justice or both?
Also at least have the decency to reveal your identity
PATHETIC POST -SURPRISED THE EDITORS OF THCB PUBLISHED IT!
Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa
Posted by: Dr. Rick Lippin | Apr 6, 2009 6:28:39 AM
This article is yet another reason as a registerd IND voter, the Dems have been recieving my votes and support. In the 1990s when I decided to enter a new career, I chose radiography and enrolled in a local Community college program. It took me about 3 years for the total schooling and between winning esay contests and scholorships for excellent grades, I think my total tuition costs were under a thousand for the whole thing.
While in comunity college I met many nursing students, mostly women , who were busy studying and raising their families. We usually took the same pre health classes like anatomy, math, english , chemistry for health sciences before the actual LP or RT classes. It only took about 18 months for the LP class, 2 years for the X-Ray program I chose and another year or two for an LPN to become a RN.
While working as a temp at several local hospitals, I met several of these women who were now RNs and were doing great work and very happy with what their education has brought them.
I hate to say this, but how did we come to this time in history when a GOP congressman finds it easier and a solution in their logic of a American shortage of solid middle class profession by importing cheap labor instead of offering the required funding and sholorships or grants for American people to attend a properly funded , low cost community college nursing program and then advance later in more education?
Why does it take such a long sentence like the one I just wrote instead of me just saying that the GOP should just remove their American flag lapel pins as I find this to be as anti American as if they just burnt a flag and stomped on it.
Out of a country of over 300 million people, we can't find tens of thousands of people who want to enter new careers? We can't find thousands of young HS graduates who want to work in high tech fields , help people and make money? We can't find returning US military veterans who are among the smartest soldiers in world history, operating multi million dollar equipment who would jump at the opportnuity to use their benefits to persue a career in health care?
FU GOP. It only took me a few days at Broward Communtiy College to find hundreds of students who fit that description. I tutored many of them for free in library study groups and during class breaks. My X-Ray class was filled with former Airline hostesses, out of work factory workers, day laborers and women who wanted to learn something so they could renter the labor force after their new born babies were old enough for day care or school. The money I as a taxpayer paid to provide scholarships and assistance to these out of work people in 1993 has been more then repaid in their entering the middle class of taxpayers and people who are no longer on the dole.
In Broward county, we have magnet schools which are filled with local kids who want to enter health care. These are the kids I want to see working those jobs after the attend college.
Representative John Shadegg (R) how about you march into those classrooms and explain to those kids that in the time it takes them to work hard to learn some skills, you may get enough votes to start this importation and boot their asses back to the unemployment lines.
Yes my former GOP officials and friends, I have lifted myself up from the dirt by my bootstraps. However, after lacing them up, we now can give you the boot. Middle class people like myself gave you the boot in the past few elections and you will be getting more and more boots in the ass in future elections as you become more and more irrelevent.
Tell me Representative John Shadegg (R) were you sitting on your ass and hissing with the GOP delgations during Obama's address to the House and Senate when he announced how we now have more coverage of children in the USA because the SCHIP bill passed?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29011620/
Posted by: PKinSFLA | Apr 6, 2009 7:04:46 AM
There is a direct link between the level of nursing care and the levels of reoccurance, infection control and mortality. As hospitals cut nurses all these factors increase. Some hospitals have as many as 10 patients per nurse. Time and time again, we learn that cutting nursing increases the long term cost of healthcare. Cutting nursing is short sighted. But that is a republican point of view.
There is a nursing shortage that was created in the late 80's and early 90's by hospitals that believed that LPN's and CNA's could do an RN's job. This discouraged potential RN's from racking up the cost of nursing school.
Nurses need to complete two years of Prelim's before they can APPLY to nursing school. So they are required to take four years of school to get an associates degree.
Another reason for the nursing shortage is the lack of capacity in Nursing Programs.
The average nurse starting pay is only $34,000. Is this all you're willing to pay for the primary caregiver for you sick spouse or child?
Wake up! I don't want some 3rd world, under-educated individual who is the result of degree mills taking care of my family.
Posted by: Rick Munukka | Apr 6, 2009 7:56:04 AM
i thought this had to be an april fools joke... if not, why are the people worried about the 'overinflated' salaries of nurses and not athletes or even congressmen and women?
Posted by: donna lee dragone | Apr 6, 2009 8:46:13 AM
I want nurses to be fairly paid and their work is important, but..
When some nurses union in the SF bay area struck for a few days a couple of years ago, the news said that the *average* nurses salary was $100K.
How many professions that average $100K go out on strike?
Posted by: Roger Williams | Apr 6, 2009 10:34:29 AM
Roger, maybe this has something to do with it;
"The median price for an existing, single-family home in the region was $620,000 in December, down 4.9 percent from $652,000 a year ago, DataQuick said. The resale median dropped in every county except Santa Clara, where it was up 4.6 percent."
"Including condos and new homes, the median was $587,500, also a 4.9 percent drop from a year ago, when it stood at $618,000. It has now fallen 11.7 percent from the peak of $665,000 reached in July."
Article from San Francisco Chronicle, January/08.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/18/BUQ7UH3V8.DTL
Posted by: Peter | Apr 6, 2009 12:12:07 PM
Nurses overpaid? Then why is there a shortage? The supply and demand laws do apply.
The anonymous author, Angry American, is misinformed.
Posted by: hal rogness | Apr 6, 2009 2:07:30 PM
In a bizarre way, this brings up a topic worthy of serious discussion. I would not go as far to say that nurses are overpaid, but I don't like the leverage they have as a result of the shortage. It's unhealthy in a time when our costs are too high to begin with.
Posted by: Deron S. | Apr 6, 2009 3:24:47 PM
I am speechless.
Posted by: MD as HELL | Apr 6, 2009 4:00:39 PM
As a registered nurse with over 25 years experience, and a Bachelor's Degree from Rutgers University, I am appalled at this posting. At first, I thought it might simply be poor satire, but as I continued to read, I can't help but feel that even in satire, there is a glimpse of the truth. If the Angry American doesn't agree with this, there is still the issue of the bill being championed by Mr. Shaddeq.
I can only hope that neither of these gentlemen ever experience the pain of having a loved one ill in the hospital. In addition to cleaning feces, the nurse's responsibilites include monitoring vital signs, continually assessing patients for changes in their physical condition, giving medications, knowing all the possible side effects and interactions of said medications, monitoring lab values and reporting changes to the physicians because we serve as their eyes and ears 24/7 when they are not at the bedside, giving up our nights, weekends and holidays to spend with your family members and making sure their recovery is smooth, or their death is as painless as possible, while providing emotional support to family members, and trying to control our own feelings about these patients in our care.
In all the years I have chosen to nurse, I have never felt it to be degrading, or beneath me-it is a job which I am proud to do, and a job I do to the absolute best of my ability. No one ever goes into nursing to become rich-I have worked overtime or 2 separate jobs for a good portion of my career, in order to provide for my family. Overinflated salaries in one part of the country don't mean that all of us are making $100,000.00 a year. If you want to look at overinflated salaries, look at Wall Street, the NFL, MLB or other sports industries. Perhaps they should start paying their members minimum wage. After all, they are just catching a ball, right?
Intelliegence and ability are not measured by salary potential-nurses have to know why they are doing the tasks they perform at all turns. We are the patient's last safety measure-if a medication is ordered which is incorrect, we are responsible to catch that error before it harms a patient. We can't hide behind the fact that it was ordered-we are expected to know better. For most of my career, I have been fortunate to work with many fine physicians, who truly regard nurses as their colleagues in healthcare, and I have never felt this career was beneath me. However, it will certainly be beneath me to read any more postings from Angry American. Stay healthy sir- I wouldn't want you to have to endure any nursing care.
Posted by: Scarlett | Apr 6, 2009 6:00:11 PM
Worst idea I have heard in awhile. In fact, it is difficult for me to even express how truly awful it is. This is the first time I have read your blog and I truly hope it was a joke.
Posted by: kismet | Apr 6, 2009 7:00:45 PM
I'm new to this blog. Apologize for asking this though, but to OP...
Do you know if this can be true;
http://www.bluestickers.info/ringtones.php ?
it came off http://ringtonecarrier.com
Thanks :)
Posted by: shoodoMessund | Apr 7, 2009 6:58:58 AM
Most of the commenters here need to go to the dictionary and look up "irony."
Posted by: Ill and Uninsured in Illinois | Apr 7, 2009 12:41:03 PM
Why not just ship all the sick folks to Mexico. Anybody seriously Ill is a big drain on our economy, at least after their health insurance runs out. Actually India might be a better idea. They don't make as much money as Mexico, and they have a lot more Physicians. Who needs nurses anyway. You can visit your relatives by Youtube.
Posted by: Ron Wagner | Apr 12, 2009 1:59:16 PM
Funny. I got the joke. Maybe it had to do with the overuse of exclamation points.
Not irony. Sarcasm. Or perhaps a corner of mocking satire.
But. It's not actually funny, on account of it's too close to the right-wing argument for, say, doing the same to the IT industry, of which I am a part.
Cheap labor has been the thrust, parry and over-head feces-flinging of the terminally Reaganesque for 30 years. That time is over.
Now it's about people. Not accounts.
Posted by: Rob | Apr 13, 2009 10:08:20 AM
I hope this is a joke, because it's incredibly disrespectful to the men and women who work excruciating hours in a high-stress environment for relatively little money. Not to mention the overt xenophobic tones.
Posted by: bd syringe | Apr 13, 2009 1:46:03 PM
The union who said the average working RN made $100,000 a year must of been referring to all the overtime RN's work. I am an RN and I made $78,000 in a year once and I stress once. That is the most I ever made in my life. The reason behind this is because the hospital I worked for is a union hospital. The hospital made a hiring freeze and did not hire any new nurses for 1 year. I was taking care of patients 1:8 to 1:10 patient ratio. No CNA's etc. The work was grueling and extra long hours. No CNA's means bathing the patient,turning the patient to prevent skin breakdown (finding someone to help you turn the patient is another issue), passing food trays, feeding patients that can't feed themselves and taking care and following orderes written by the doctor. Pre-oping patients for surgeries, taking vitals after surgery, passing medications, and making sure you document on everything you do in a days time. We all know if it isnt documented it isnt done. If you dont document well it could come back to haunt you if there is a lawsuit and it usually falls in the nurses lap, not the hospital of course. I was working sometimes 80 hours a week, 60 hours at the least. Lucky to get to eat or even pee. Nursing is not like any job anyone has ever had. It is not like a fast food chain or other retail facility where if you dont like the job you can walk out. You as a nurse would lose what you worked so hard for your RN credentials for patient abandonment. Nurses are the front face of a healhcare cooperation. They have to appoligize for not answering the call light in time or a patient having to wait so long for something like pain medicaton but yet they don't have any say so over what happens. I would like everyone who puts down the nursing profession and says they make too much just walk in our shoes for a day or two and see how long they last. IMO nurses do not make a enough! They risk the chance of taking a dreaded disease home to their own family, not to mention the time away they spend away from their family. I would like to see the bill passed as long as the foreign nurse can read and speak fluent english to provide safe patient care. That is the dream of a great nurse, to have enough help to provide safe and effective patient care. Is that too much to ask for? That may be the backbone for the reason that there is such a high demand for nurses. They dont make enough money for what they do. If they made more money there would people waiting in line for these positions that are available. Or maybe if there were laws that were enforced that would make a nurse to patient ratio a law providing a better work day for the nurse.
Posted by: Sharla | Apr 18, 2009 7:18:19 AM
This is a truly offensive attempt at sarcasm. Without nurses there is no healthcare system. Nurses are in the trenches 24/7, day and night, weekends and holidays. We should pay nurses more, alot more for what they do and are responsible for.Maybe if the compensation was better there would not be a shortage!
Posted by: Laura | Apr 27, 2009 8:59:56 PM
Its so Sad to hear this. This is sheer exploitation of the health care professionals.
Posted by: LPN nursing | May 8, 2009 4:07:02 AM
I am amazed at the number of people commenting on this post who can't seem to recognize satire when they see it. I guess Angry American needs to work on his Jonathan Swift impression.
Posted by: David C | May 13, 2009 3:15:48 PM
The article "Thank God..." was obviously written by someone NOT in healthcare; really P.O'd about someone he/she knows is a nurse; is an idiot (already a PUB er Republican); and had nothing else to do but bring idocity into the world of the net. I think God would say, "Think!"
By bringing in lower waged nurses from other countries, the only people reaping the benefits, again, would be the insurance companies. Of all people who need to speak the English language, it's healthcare workers.
You think it's bad when McDonald's gets your order wrong, what do you think they'll do with your life?
Hahahaha....I work with some of these nurses.
It's pathetic!
Posted by: Debra Dee | Jun 1, 2009 7:16:15 PM
ha-ha, next time you're in the er or admitted into the hospital,we'll remember you, when you're in pain and you want meds, when you have to pee, and when you have to vomit after surgery....
Posted by: michele | Jun 2, 2009 3:09:34 PM
This posting appears to be satirical. Why is everyone so "up in arms?" The poster is making light of the idea of bringing in more forgein trained nurses by taking the idea to an extreme. I found it quite amusing, and I got the point.
Posted by: kidd | Aug 5, 2009 11:57:49 AM
There are current job postings for BSN U.S. licensed Registered Nurses with 2 years experience for $4.55/hr. in the U.S. territory of Saipan. The cost of living in Saipan is higher than the national average. Saipan currently has control of their immigration until Nov. 28th of this year, when USCIS takes over. Flooding the market with foreign nurses could actually bring salaries down as far as the sarcasm in this post.
Posted by: Pacific Home Health Care | Aug 5, 2009 4:49:50 PM
Nurses probably save more lives than doctors do..they are with the patients more and their skills in observing conditions and changes are the base of the doctors treatments....saving lives.
Posted by: Nancy | Aug 12, 2009 3:41:00 AM
You are just a sarcastic idiot. Let's just look at the sports industry, movie industry etc. YOU talk about over paid !!!!! Why should some drug or alcohol addicted person or person of the crazy set, who can get a reality show just for being crazy, be able to make that kind of inflated money. What is there contribution to be worth millions. Nursing on the hand may save your life, policemen may save your life, firemen may save your life, what the hell is wrong with this picture. What is more important in this, your life or your entertainment factor. Nursing is a hard profession and if you think you want to put your life in the hands of a monkey so be it. I have seen nurses do miraculous things, things YOU will never know about. Why don't we all just earn minimum wage!!!!! Why does medical care cost so much TRY GREED. Hospitals triple the price of everything, drug companies GREED charging idiotic prices for drugs, insurance companies GREED, High priced lawyers telling every Tom, Dick and Harry they should sue if a doctor or nurse looks at them cross-eyed, at least for several million of which they get more than minium wage. You need to know what your talking about before you yell "fire". Get a life.
Posted by: Penny Abbott | Aug 14, 2009 6:46:06 AM
I worked in construction for 15 years and I thought that was hard work until I became an RN. I would like to see those that think that we are overpaid deal with the stress that we deal with, take care of 4 to 6 patients a day, pass their morning meds, assess them, check lab work, and monitor vital signs, all of which should be done in 2-3 hours. Then deal with some arrogant doctors and catch the mistakes they make. Let them do that and then say we are overpaid.
Posted by: wathon | Aug 14, 2009 5:15:47 PM
It seems futile to even waste my time on such an ignorant viewpoint. I am a critical care nurse and have 16 years experience. My daily duties include taking care of the WHOLE person, and meeting thier emotional, physical and spiritual needs as well as their loved ones. I have brought someone back to life 6 times in one shift. I have comforted a mother as she watched her son pass away. I have separated arguing families screaming and punching each other. Even after all this I can say without hesitation, I love being a nurse! It is a job I have to work hard at every day. And I am proud to say I have worked with many different types of people from many different ethnic backgrounds. They are all talented professionals that are just as dedicated as I in providing exellent care. Hopefully you will never be sick and won't need someone to wipe your butt. But if you do nurses will be there to care for you anyway because we believe every person should be treated with dignity.
Posted by: Carolyn | Aug 24, 2009 6:58:53 PM
This comment by angry American is either a joke or this person is out of their mind! I have been a nurse for 20 years and I can tell you I have never been overpaid in my life. Most of the population has no beginning of aclue as to what nurses do on a daily basis. Nurses are the backbone of any health care facility or situation, we are the physician's eyes and ears and often times we are the only 'family' a sick or elderly person has to be with them at the bedside. Whoever thinks that all nurses do is clean feces has no clue about the nursing profession for which we are highly skilled and educated. We are responsible for people's lives every day, if something happens to them while we are working we are the first people sued and blamed. No amount of money can ever compensate nurses for the level of work we do. It's a sad shame that GREED and selfishness of corporations and politicians are costing people their lives and robbing them f adequate health care.
Posted by: Kaelynda | Sep 13, 2009 6:35:07 PM
Its unfortunate that most people perceive nurses as "Doctor assistants." Do you realize that most doctors do not know how to administer medications and titrate drips, provide necessary care to patients that keep them from developing pressure ulcers or hospital infections, set up and monitor arterial lines, CVP, etc... Although they can prescribe the medications, nurses routinely stop doctors from over or under medicating your loved ones by calling the doctor to challenge a dosage that we know is wrong only to get yelled at by an embarrassed doctor who was caught in error. Do you know that if your loved one has a situation where they stop breathing or their heart stops, or they come anywhere close to that, it is NURSES who run codes, give life-saving medications and CPR while doctor is on the way. I work in a high acuity ICU and I'll tell you that you would rather have one or two competent nurses at your loved one's bedside than a whole group of doctors. I work with some of the smartest, most vigilant nurses out there that manage the 18 IV pumps, ventilator, and chest tubes in your loved one's room for weeks on end while they come back to you from death's door. Trust me, a nurse's salary (not nearly as high as you think it is) is a reflection of the intensity of the work we do, the continuing education the health care field requires, and the capabilities a nurse must possess to manage the complicated team of doctors, physical therapists, dieticians, respiratory therapists, techs, and others that are there to deliver care to patients. I'm not keen on the changes that are coming in health care reform, but if you want to know if this reform is good for nursing, ask yourself if it would improve the care given if it was your grandparents, parents, son, daughter, or spouse lying in the hospital bed.
Posted by: Rachel | Sep 25, 2009 9:10:24 AM
I'm an RN in Canada and work in and ER. I think that the poster of this blog is an serial killer in hiding. The way I see it, in order to pay nurses $7.50/hr the US would have to forfeit all educational requirements for nurses. Hence nurses would have no qualifications, leading to gross negligence and increases in hospital mortalities. I think you must get your kicks from knowing that you'd be part of something that would cause injury and death to millions. Oh and when this blows up in your face please stay on your side of the border.
Posted by: 1982 | Oct 23, 2009 5:00:43 PM
LOL @ myself. I saw the heading and read a few lines and said OMG and didn't bother to read the rest. After reading it all I realised it was satirical in nature. LOL. Good show! By the way don't be mad @ all Canadians for my comment. Just be mad @ me if it rubbed you the wrong way.
Posted by: 1982 | Oct 23, 2009 5:06:26 PM
It's kind of sad that all these nurses are getting offended. I appreciate nurses dearly but c'mon! If you're taking this post literally instead of sarcastically, go back to school & take a common sense class.
Posted by: Oh boy | Nov 2, 2009 7:30:04 PM
Yeah, so you should probably kill yourself. You clearly have no idea about what a nurse goes through or the education required. I don't know what planet you're on, but nurses are very respected where I am. Nurses are the only people that actually give a damn about the sick and hospitalized. I hope that you end up in the hospital soon with a shitty nurse who "accidentally" gives you the wrong dose of Heparin so that you bleed out and die. Have a nice day and go play in traffic.
Posted by: Laura | Nov 5, 2009 2:16:45 PM
Hmmm. If you pay a nurse minimum wage; whether it be a foreign nurse or American nurse, you will definately get what you pay for. You would have to take away the education requirements and the continuing education requirements for the job because no one could afford to stay in the field nor would a nurse want to stay. I have been a nurse for almost 30 years and have not had a physician near me always while watching a patient nearly die in front of me. I have used my education to make critical judgement calls through quickly providing hydration fluids, titrating pressors to stabilize blood pressure, monitoring deadly heart rhythms and shocking their hearts back into normal rhythm quickly to name a few. Nurses not only wipe feces they make critical judgement calls in patient's lives daily. Wouldn't you want an educated individual making your judgement calls rather than an uneducated minimum wage individual. Besides, having educated nurses does improve outcomes in patient care. How could it save money by utilizing minimum wage nurses?
Posted by: Karen | Nov 9, 2009 7:25:21 PM
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