Working For Local Hospital Not So Great

Here's my daughter's story. Years ago she got a BS degree and became a registered nurse. She's been working in one of the critical care units at a local hospital. I'm not going to go into all the accreditations she's received since then, but I will say this.. she's made herself too valuable.

Since she started she now has twins who are less then a year old. She worked 12 hour night shifts for years, but wants to go days so she can properly care for them assisted by my wife. I tried to tell her working for a hospital is no different from any other job. I being a former blue collar worker in manufacturing tried to share with her my own experiences which she didn't believe, but is coming around to conclude the same thing. She made herself too valuable to be released to another department..

I won't bore you with all the details about the numerous positions she applied for within the hospital over several months. Suffice to say, she isn't going anywhere. As a matter of fact one of the nurses she works with did get a day job, but that was over a year ago and still hasn't been moved.

The hospital calls my daughter rather regularly from week to week asking her if she wants to work for a 25% bonus in hourly pay because they are short. Duh, anywhere else OT is paid 1 1/2 times the hourly rate.

This hospital (whom I shall not mention) claims they are having trouble finding nurses yet have not placed advertisements or sent representatives to area campuses. Anyone remember when the old 'Allentown Hospital' trained their own nurses at a school across the street from 17th & Chew?

Point Is...
Whether someone is a grunt working in manufacturing or a professional in any other line of work... they are all treated the same. Make yourself too valuable and your going no where fast. Make yourself replaceable and they'll move you. Is this the best outcome regarding the bottom line of any business or patients for that matter either?

Frustrating employees, to my way of thinking (not just because she's my daughter), is not a great business model. This especially when it comes to medical care. I've known dozens of former workers at this particular hospital (including doctors) who became frustrated and left because of this who found jobs elsewhere.

This is another matter of cutting staff so they can open and spread out their investments by buying up practices, opening additional buildings dedicated to more lucrative centers for exercise, diagnostic and therapy centers that receive federal government and private insurance payments. In short, medical treatment has become more about making a profit over concerns for what's best for either the patients or their employees.

Anyone who thinks hospitals are different then any other kind of business (for profit or otherwise) are deluding themselves.