Nurses announce strike at Dominican Hospital Oct. 30

Frustrated by prolonged contract negotiations, the California Nurses Association on Monday announced a one-day strike at Dominican Hospital starting 7 a.m. Oct.

[Cruzer]

And we wonder why medical care is so expensive! While nurses are certainly valuable,$120,00 in compensation is just too much for someone with a bit more than a four year degree. And, if the Sentinel has its facts straight, a 32 percent increase would put the compensation at well over 150k. We simply can't afford this. Nurses, should realize that other professionals in comparable lines of work earn far less and should back off their demands for more.

[Ameriki]

Wait, hold on, let me get this straight...the nurses want MORE money EVERY YEAR...6%! Holy moley, I want 6% a year but that would drive my employer (and ANY employer) right out of business! Whatever happened to merit ONLY raises. Or cost of living adjustments...heck, they might even get a pay decrease this year. And they are concerned that they may otherwise have to shift from a PPO to an HMO...Why doesn't the nurses union just come out and say that the HMO healthcare model is poor healthcare and SHOULD BE SCRAPPED for EVERYONE. Why don't the nurses just OPT OUT of their employer paid health coverage and pay for their own darn PPO if that's what they want.

[That is crazy]

We aren't giving raises at my job at all and they want 6%!!! Can you people say Recession? Give me a break! Be grateful you even have a job in this economy and if you don't like it - Try and GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!! That is absolutely crazy - No wonder healthcare is in crisis!

[patient]

If nurses earn $100,000 a year, they could afford to pay half of a PPO plan; the employer paying the other half.

[John Galt]

Perplexed, you say ?

The only salary numbers in this article are from the employees.

What is management offering, other than a perplexed look ?

Healthcare is broken; the costs should not be placed on the backs of the nurses.

[Observer]

First of all folks, do we know (really) what the nurses want, or do we just know what union leadership is demanding? We have been seeing a growing rift between the workers and the union leadership in many segments of our society. I have a strong suspicion that this is not nurses talking here...

[Kate]

Greedy nurses. A two year associate degree making over 100k per year? Be grateful you have a job and health insurance. Many people are having their hours cut and are not receiving cost of living increases. It's shocking the entitlement the nurses display.

[Kate]

John Galt wrote:

Perplexed, you say ?
The only salary numbers in this article are from the employees.
What is management offering, other than a perplexed look ?
Healthcare is broken; the costs should not be placed on the backs of the nurses.

Should not be placed on the backs of nurses? Give me a break. They are well compensated. I have several friends who are nurses at Dominican and they make a VERY comfortable living.

[Talk What You Know]

Nurses SHOULD be well compensated for all of the care they provide to their patients under unacceptable circumstances. The next time a nurse is taking the time to wash, bathe, comfort and inform your elderly parent or medicate & soothe your critically ill child, think about how valuable that service is. Let's face it folks, some workers deserve to receive a higher level of pay and I'd certainly rather see nurses, firefighter and teachers be the ones handsomely compensated rather than greedy CEOs.

[disabuser]

Since radical, non-nurse but professional union activist Rose Ann DeMoro took over the California Nurses Association, they have become an extremely greedy union. She pushed her whoring Democratic Legislators to impose staffing mandates in the face of an existing nurse shortage, greatly aggravating it. Then they used the massive shortage they created to extract huge compensation increases becoming far and away the highest paid nurses in the known universe. These nurses make more than doctors do in some countries with government run health care system, which is incidentally what the union wants. The nurse staffing measure's main sponsor was Sheila Kuehl, the perennial author of single-payer legislation.

These massive salary increases transfer into medical inflation and the increased inability of people to afford insurance. The C.N.A. is imposing costs on the rest of society to extract a privileged economic existence for themselves. I don't think there is an occupation that pays more relative to the amount of education.

Take a look at international comparisons of salaries of nurses in this data, which is a bit old but gives some sense of the massive growth in compensation for the nurses in this country and especially California.

http://www.worldsalaries.org/professionalnurs...

[woah]

120k/12 months = 10k/month /4 weeks = 2500 per week / 3 shifts = 833/shift /12 hour shift =$69.44/hour.

Not too much to complain about in a recession!

[Here is a bright spot]

Nurses don't even have to treat gangbangers during their shift, they're all helicoptered over the hill.

[RN at Dominican]

Wow, not sure whose pocket book they are looking in but I DO NOT make $100K/yr or close. Benefits are NOT fully covered for me or my family. I also struggle to pay my rent and pay my student loan bills while I keep patching my car together to make it another few thousand miles.

While I chose to be a nurse and am proud to be one, I have had an extensive education to bring me into this field. My body physically aches every day when I come home from lifting and helping your loved ones and I will probably not be able to stay in this field until I retire because of the physical toll on my body. My mind never shuts off after I leave because I think about all the patients I am concerned over and the stress of taking care of very mentally ill people while we are inappropriately staffed does not drop off my shoulders when I walk out the doors. I do not earn $100K a year but what I do make, I feel like I work damn hard for every cent.

Take your loved one to another state if you would like them cared for by a nurse that has 10+ patients AND makes a significant less wage.

Don't begrudge nursing because we have organized and been forced to have a union. This IS what helps us protect patients and helps us protect ourselves.

[health care inflation]

Where is the lone independent who will investigate the impact of medical worker wage increases on health care inflation. I have seen nothing on this but am well aware that in the countries oft mentioned who insure all, salaries of health workers, including nurses are a fraction of those here. The median HOUSHOLD income in California is $59,000. Two nurses would have a household income of $200,000 putting them in probably the top 5% of earners in California.

[scmom]

1st: Didn't they enter the field to help people? Sounds like they are doing it for the money.
2nd: this must be one of the reasons(just one) why i paid $14 for each ibuprofen i was given after giving birth.(yes i paid alot out of pocket, because my insurance sucks)
3rd: NO sympathy...sorry...youve got it pretty good, job security, and a living wage.
I wont be honking when i drive by their strike. I may just flip them off for their greed. Once again, didnt they get into the field to help people?

[Concerned]

I agree - a 6% per year increase is CRAZY! Most people I know have either taken cuts in pay or been given no raises and have still had to pick up some additional costs in benefits. Full benefits with no employee contribution!! That is getting so rare, they should be grateful. Even if they have to keep their PPO by paying a small portion of the premium, they should be grateful! It's time to get rid of the union people who think a strike is acceptable to get these types of increases in this economy!

[Mila]

Get rid of the union.

[rio fairy]

what about woman giving birth during the strike ???? I gave birth at Dominican

[Mila]

Observer wrote:

First of all folks, do we know (really) what the nurses want, or do we just know what union leadership is demanding? We have been seeing a growing rift between the workers and the union leadership in many segments of our society. I have a strong suspicion that this is not nurses talking here...

All the more reason for the nurses to get away from the union.

[Ephraim]

Here is a bright spot wrote:

Nurses don't even have to treat gangbangers during their shift, they're all helicoptered over the hill.

Unfortunately, this comment holds a strong element of truth. Witness recent news events.