Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

BroadwayBully t1_j3i8nnq wrote

Reply to comment by CrumpledForeskin in Talks continue as approximately 9,000 nurses threaten to strike at 4 NYC hospitals by DrogDrill

Nurses get paid pretty damn well, right? I was under the impression this is mostly about patient to nurse ratios, they want more hires.

35

Softestsquishy t1_j3idab4 wrote

They staff hospitals bare bones so as a nurse you get patient to nurse ratios that could endanger your license (or worse - precedence recently for criminal charges can be pressed for mistakes). Nurses are in charge of crucial aspects of care that could cause serious health consequences or death.

More than pay I pray for ratio legislation.

Positions for temp nurses are being offered for 500/hour to pay to cover the hospital for the strike (mt Sinai) but they’re too cheap to hire more full time nurses. Some desperate nurses from lower paying states travel here to take those rates. There’s an entire field of nursing for those kinds of contracts.

80

BroadwayBully t1_j3idua6 wrote

Yeah that makes no sense whatsoever, monte has contract nurses coming in for like $5k a week. It’s crazy.

21

Softestsquishy t1_j3iec6q wrote

Crazy.

Everything and anything to save the big guys a buck.

Who can blame travelers though for crossing the picket lines?!.

14

BroadwayBully t1_j3ijaog wrote

Does this even save money? If the strike lasts a month and they pay these inflated wages it must even out eventually.

8

uguu777 t1_j3jcyag wrote

real answer is probably no in the long term, due to the inevitable failures leading to costly remedies or outright legislative changes (introduction of UHC for example) but corporate governance rarely look past the immediate quarter outcomes

this is why you don't privatize certain industries, private industry is fine in most sectors but health care requires a national plan and scale to operate smoothly (even public systems struggle, but the private version is just warped incentives and broken systems)

9

[deleted] t1_j3io21n wrote

[deleted]

4

BroadwayBully t1_j3iooyx wrote

I do t think it’s 30% they’re looking for, they want more nurses hired and they would need to be paid of course. I’m saying, at some point, it would even out. Are they going to pay travelers for 6 months, a year? No, it will be a week so the cost is minimal. A year of paying travelers is like 4 years of paying additional staff. Some are getting 500 an hour, that’s almost 10x rn salary.

5

_mursenary t1_j3ipchb wrote

As a travel nurse at Mount Sinai, I can absolutely confirm that no travel RN is making $500/hour. The money is good, yes, but certainly nowhere near $500/hour. And yes, they want a 30% raise over 3 years. 10%/year. It will save money in the long run because it won’t last that long. But theoretically, yes, if it did last a long time, which it won’t, it would become more expensive at a certain point. But I do not see that ever happening.

9

_mursenary t1_j3ipnei wrote

I can also tell you that some travelers at some agencies are being offered only $5-10/hour in addition to their current rate to work the strike. While other travelers have been offered an additional $55/hr, and that is the highest number I have heard.

3

BroadwayBully t1_j3iqein wrote

You should look elsewhere.. travelers at monte are getting triple what you mentioned.

2

JustHereForPka t1_j3jevj3 wrote

Desperate? If I could travel out of state for my work and get $500, you bet your ass I’d be there as long as possible working my ass off

−3

FlamboyantPirhanna t1_j3j4m2u wrote

Yeah, my mom is a retired nurse, and she was making 6 figures before she retired. She also mentioned her hospital director was making $800k a year, so it’s pretty clear where a lot of the money they’re “saving” by not hiring more nurses is going.

29

BroadwayBully t1_j3jff7m wrote

Ya the execs salaries are public, the nurses are certainly aware.

9

akmalhot t1_j3jtfzy wrote

These executives run Very large hospital systems. 800k to run a hospital systems is not much.

The CEOs of the ones in question here make 4-5 mil

−12

jxf t1_j3jf6e5 wrote

Traveling nurses get competitive wages. Hospital staff often don't, and aren't rewarded for their loyalty.

8

orchid_9 t1_j3kkqou wrote

I’ve always been curious with the traveling nurses vs staffed nurses. Since travel nurses get paid way more why do they have them for momentarily when you can save money by hiring a full time nurse?

2

jxf t1_j3lhyrb wrote

The article covered this. In short, hospitals refuse to raise wages for nurses. That's why they're striking.

2

MysteriousExpert t1_j3lx36g wrote

That is also my understanding. Which is a fairly ridiculous thing to demand by having a strike. There are not large numbers of unemployed nurses around.

0

BroadwayBully t1_j3mz0oj wrote

Strikes are extreme, but effective. They have agency nurses to fill in, and strike nurses waiting in hotels. I doubt this strike will last long.

1