Nurses threaten with mass resignations

[Hank W.]

witchgi1.jpg

I thought that was the dress to go for a job interview when they were hiring for a "native speaker" for computer tech support

[Amandine.K]

The thing is if we get a pay rise like the one they ask I'm afraid there will be nasty surprises. We'll be ask to do much more work as they won't employ new nurses. They will use the excuse that they can't afford it anymore. In France nurses have been on strike for years but they don't get anything because the ministry for Health always tell them that if they do get a rise there won't be money to hire new people thus increasing workload...

[Hank W.]

There hasn't been "money to hire new nurses" since before after kekkonen invented sliced cheese...

[Karhunkoski]

witchgi1.jpg

I thought that was the dress to go for a job interview when they were hiring for a "native speaker" for computer tech support

[rinso]

I'm afraid there will be nasty surprises

You can bet on that. Already the 13% they agreed with the other union will cause negative effects. Either for the nurses or for other groups in the sector.

[Hank W.]

They're looking now who got the balls. Back in the "good old days" there would have been a post office special delivery from Tamminiemi; or the government in crisis, lo and behold new elections.

Seems the politics these days are... hrm... considering we even have Pave there from the "old guard" the politbyro has been really quiet...

[Amandine.K]

Thing is Tehy got signatures, no guarantee that the nurses who signed the petition will actually be brave enough to do it if it comes to this.

[odon]

[



I do agree, there should be some additional pay for nurses but perhaps it's unfair to compare their wages to those of doctors and dentists who've had to study considerably longer and more extensively.

The above with no disrespect to a nurse's job, mind you! Not sure if I'd be up to it myself.

(Nurses get 3000€ in Sweden? Clucking bell, I've picked a wrong profession money-wise!)

Let me say this, i have observed the nurses perform here, and i would say they are a very competent people, i have been in surgeries and i would say this even the doc's believe they are getting a raw deal, u do not know how good they are unless you have seen them work.
It takes a special kind of person to work with people.

[odon]

come to think of it, with the crazy nuts around, i think it is a more dangerous profession to care for people.....darn...give me a computer to work with and keep pressing a botton!!

[Timbeh]

I do agree, there should be some additional pay for nurses but perhaps it's unfair to compare their wages to those of doctors and dentists who've had to study considerably longer and more extensively.

Exactly. If nurses got their demand they would be earning as much as psychologists. Psychologists study from 5,5 to 6 years in a university, graduate to demanding job and the starting pay for a clinical psychologist is something like 2200-2300€. Not a lot either.

[Hank W.]

[ Psychologists study from 5,5 to 6 years and the starting pay for a clinical psychologist is something like 2200-2300€. Not a lot either.

Well, "humanists" or "masters of philosophy" in government/county employ in general. There was a bit on this just when the strike season started. Was the example now an "informatician" a.k.a. librarian, unless pushed up to a management job the "highest salary grade" is what it is so even the person in question had a licentiate degree there was a maximum cap somewere in the 2000's to ever achieve - despite the 10+ years study. Not only is this one reason to explain the male/female salary gap, as these "philosophy jobs" are in government (librarian, teacher) but some of these professions are for some reason seen as "vocation"(as in quasi-religious devotion) jobs and not so much as high salary jobs.

Well, it *was* back in the 1800's or 1900's a woman + education = teacher, nurse etc. and they were if not all from rich families, not "working women" as the "working women" died after a 30 year working career of childbirth age 35 from tuberculosis... Don't know how the logic has carried on to even modern times, but theres the discrepancy. Heck, maybe we have "living socialism"

[simon]

I guess at the end of the day there will be no winners. If the nurses get their pay rise someone will suffer in some way or another.

If they dont get their pay rise then the level of care will fall dramatically.

[zam]

I'm quite sure that even the officers of Tehy are not really expecting 24%, but you have to give something you can then negotiate...

And about education; there are EU directives governing health care education (or actually trained nurses and midwives' right to practice their profession) in the EU (77/452/EEC, 77/453/EEC, 80/154/EEC, 80/155/EEC), however, it has been implemented a bit differently in different member states. In Finland a Bachelor of Nursing (nurse) takes 3.5 years of full-time study. Public health nurses study half a year longer, midwives 1 year longer. Both publich health nurses and midwives get also the general nursing qualification, so they can work as "ordinary" nurses or public health nurses or midwives. In the talks and articles it has often been forgotten that Tehy represents many other health care professionals in addition to nurses: Nurses, midwives, practical nurses, dental assistants, dental hygienists, practical children's nurses, emergency medical technicians and ambulance staff, practical mental health nurses, radiographers, medical laboratory technologists, physiotherapists...

TEO registers all qualified health care professionals in Finland. It is not automatic after graduating, you must apply for it, although usually the educational institutions arrange this in the end of the studies and deliver all applications to TEO.

[sammy]

Let me say this, i have observed the nurses perform here, and i would say they are a very competent people, i have been in surgeries and i would say this even the doc's believe they are getting a raw deal, u do not know how good they are unless you have seen them work.
It takes a special kind of person to work with people.

I do wholeheartedly agree with you on that, but still it would be out of proportion to directly compare their wages with those of the doctors.

Also the people who work as cleaners (at hospitals, for example) - they can be quite hard-working, diligent, skillful in what they do, good people, what have you. All respect to them as well! Still, I do think it would be just sort of silly if they complained that they earn less than the docs (bad wages as such are another matter)

In one sense, it would be great if everybody, regardless of the job they do, got exactly the same amount of money. But that's not how society works.

[Hank W.]

In one sense, it would be great if everybody, regardless of the job they do, got exactly the same amount of money. But that's not how society works.

Well, depends on what society we're speaking of