Grandma came over yesterday afternoon so that I could go to the hospital to picket. Yesterday was the largest nurses strike in US history. There were over 12,000 nurses in the twin cities that were on strike, that's 14 twin cities hospitals. It was a day filled with mixed emotion. I'll be honest, it was hard walking outside of my hospital knowing that I was supposed to be inside taking care of those patients. On the other hand, I was out there fighting to give them better care in the future. There are many days that I leave work feeling like a crappy nurse, knowing that I didn't (and couldn't) give my patients the care that they deserved. I don't know how effective our one day strike was...time will tell. As of today there are no negotiations scheduled. There is a possibility that we will strike again. It could be another one day strike, or an open ended strike. Once again, we would have to give the hospitals a 10 day notice prior to the strike. I'm praying that it will not come to this. I just want both sides to sit down like adults and negotiate in good faith. It's difficult not being present during the negotiations, since all of my information is second hand. I want to know what is really going on behind closed doors. It's frustrating that two groups of people, who both claim to want what is best for patients, can't agree on a fair contract.
I was one of the lucky people called back to work today. My day started out in a large conference hall where management came in to call out our names individually and then take us to another conference hall. There we waited for security to come and escort us to our unit that we were working on. It was all very odd. I'm assuming that they did this so that we wouldn't run in to the replacement workers that were brought in. It was all very bizarre. I just wanted to get back to the floor and take care of my patients...not deal with all the drama! I'm off the weekend and looking forward to it.
Grandma & Grandpa Becker are on their way up to visit for the weekend. We're looking forward to seeing them. We don't have a whole lot planned besides Ava's second attempt at getting her 3 month pictures taken. We'll probably run to the mall, play some cards, and just hang out. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
She's got her mommy's thighs and her daddy's belly
Ava at 15 weeks
Walking the line for patient safety! I'm hoping to not be out there again anytime soon, but will continue to fight for safe patient care!!!
So glad you were called back to work, I know how hard it is to strike for what you believe in and it sucks that it even has to come down to that! I feel so bad when any of our groups have to go on strike, but everyone is always so upbeat and supportive of each other on the picket lines! I can't believe Ava is 15 weeks already!!!
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