Blogging with Mayo

Mayowa Oroyemi

Professor Penaz

English 2150

4/29/09

Hardship of New York Nurses

When speaking about our New York nurses the first question I think a lot of people will ask is what is a nurse? A nurse is a highly trained and skilled professional who cares for the sick and infirm. A nurse helps to educate patients in issues of healthy living and wellness as well as any current or chronic disease process and treatment. A nurse performs treatments and procedures as prescribed by physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Nurses combine the fine art of caring with scientific knowledge and skills acquired throughout their education and careers. Nursing is a lifelong learning experience. Nurses work in many different settings and perform duties related to the setting in which they work. A nurse’s Scope of Practice is defined by the level of education and license earned.

Nurses need to have a great deal of compassion for their fellow human beings. They have to have good communication skills in both listening as well as speaking and writing in the language of the area in which they practice. Nurses have to be patient and they often have to have a thick skin. Patients are usually ill or concerned about their health status and are not at their best. (http://healthfieldmedicare.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_a_nurse_#ixzz0EURxShR1&B) These are some of the characteristics and requirements needed in order for a person to either become a nurse or even think about choosing nursing as a career.

Living in New York already has its high demands and being a nurse isn’t as hard as being a New York nurse. This being because it is already very hard to secure a job in New York. Looking to get a job in New York is like trying to find Santa clause in Hawaii. Nursing jobs in New York are very demanding and unless you have something over the next candidate like education or experience then you will have the toughest luck trying to find a job as a nurse. The funny thing is that there are so many open positions for nursing because hospitals are always looking it is just being the person that they are looking for that is the problem.

My mother is a nurse and she is one of my hero’s. When you first start off you don’t make the kind of money that you expect to make and sometimes the benefits promised to you aren’t given to you unless you go through many processes like calling up your union and demanding it from your job. The hours that you are looking for aren’t always available and you have to either take whatever hours that they offer you or leave empty handed and with so many bills that New Yorkers have to pay I don’t think anyone would want to leave with nothing even if it isn’t what they expected to get. I had an interview with my mother about her recent experience at the hospital she works in.

Me: Hello Mrs. Oroyemi how hard is it being a nurse?

Mrs.Oroyemi: Very hard, it is a very demanding job

Me: Tell me some things that make this job hard.

Mrs. O: For one you have to deal with supervisors that don’t really care about you and your needs. Then you don’t always get the hours you want, you might want to work weekdays but they will only give you weekends and part week days.

Me: I had no idea it was like that.

Mrs. O: Well when it comes to nursing people don’t think that nurses go through a lot of problems also.

Me: Well what does your typical day consist of?

Mrs. O: Well today I could be assisting a doctor with a patient and tomorrow I could be taking care of a bitter elderly person who no one knows why they are as bitter and mean as they are.

Mrs. O: Sometimes some of the patients don’t even give you the same respect that you give them but that is where you have to keep on showing them respect because it is part of your job.

Me: Do you get paid vacations?

Mrs. O: We are supposed to get paid vacations but sometimes it depends on how long you have been working there, and vacations are hard to get.

Me: Tell me more; what is your biggest worry?

Mrs.O: Well you know that your father and I have to pay bills, your tuition and the family needs and when you are working in a job that could be paying you the money needed to get what you need done but isn’t doing so it not only frustrates you but it almost brings you down as a human, but like I said you can’t really do anything but keep your head up in hopes that you get what you deserve when God thinks the time is right.

There are many other nurses that go through what my mother was talking about in her last answer. New York is one of the most, if not the most expensive city to live in an if you own a home instead of an apartment in areas like Brooklyn then chances are that you are paying not only bills but mortgages. This means that a person must be able to secure a good paying job if they hope to not only live a comfortable life but a stable one. My mother told me about a lot of her friends who were nurses also but they could not meet ends meet with their rent or mortgages and either had the homes repossessed or had to move to another state like states down south because of how cheap homes are down there and how less expensive it cost to live and maintain yourself out there.

In order to become a nurse in New York, besides the educational requirements you must have the metal requirements, you must have the mind set knowing that you may start off with low wages and may not get the hours or vacations that you should be getting but you have to still work hard in hopes that things will change. This is what I think New York nurses have over nurses in other areas. Due to this I believe that being a New York nurse is even harder than trying to be a nurse in Georgia, South Carolina, or any other city and state. New York nurses understand that they have to endure the hardship that they go through and I think this makes them stronger and even better suited to work as a nurse in any other state or city if they so choose to leave New York.

This recession makes it even harder on the nurses in New York. People say that because nurses work in an environment that demands them all the time they won’t get laid off but Yes … the economy always has and always will have an effect on the nursing job market. In some places, new graduates are already having a very difficult time finding jobs any jobs. As the economy worsens, hospitals feel the financial pain and start to tighten up on their hiring to save costs. Perhaps more important, nurses who are already employed by the hospital volunteer to work extra shifts because their family needs the extra money. Spouses get laid off, food and gas prices increase, etc. People who once were able to work only part time now want to work full time. That gives the hospital the ability to cover its needs without having to hire a lot of new people (http://allnurses.com/new-york-nurses/economic-crisis-affecting-337714.html). All in all I believe that our New York nurses understand the hardship that comes with the job and I believe that they will pull through this recession and the problems they have with getting the pay they deserve.