Editorial

The Bluing of White Collars

You are awake all night with a toothache. A s soon as your dentist’s ofice opens you call hoping to be seen as soon as possible. The ofice manager tells you that three of the ofice staff have taken snow days, so the dentist cannot add any patients to the day’s schedule. You are advised to go to the emergency room.

Recently I was told of a new benefzt negothted by a bargaining unit for stafjrnurses: two snow days a year. The nurse manager shared this story: After she spent two hours driving in a snowstorm to get to work, she answered a callfrom a staff nurse who lived 20 rninutesfiom the hospital. The nurse said she wasn’t coming to work. The manager said the hospital van could be sent to pick her up. She said, “No, I’m taking a snow day!” I will not profess that this one example is representative of a trend in nursing but, I must admit I am concerned.

Smeral weeks ago, I received a letterfiom a group of staff nurses soliciting m y support to fight a pro- posed change in the department of nursing at their hospital. The proposed change was that raises will now be determined by merit rather than years on the job.

This past winter was a very dzficult one for health- care agencies and their employees. Storm after storm made travel v e y dangerous. Sometimes per- sonnel could get to the agency but found stafing so low that many worked extra shifts and slept there to return to their unit in eight hours. Some institu- tions showed their appreciation of their staff with cash (eg., bonuses, triple time), while others shared their gratitude with a personal day or a recognition luncheon or dinner. Do some nurses feel their employer owes them for money for coming to work during an emergency?

Ofen when I dialogue with staff nurses, the topic of respect surfaces. Nurses report they are not respected. When 1 ask them how they can gain respect, they cite external sources, more money, collective bargaining, and better benej-its.

Certain professions carry automatic collective respect from society, such as physicians and theolo- guns. The respect generatesfiom the years of prepa- ration required to serve and the service provided to humanity. Be aware that automatic respect can change at anytime to disdain and disgust for an individual whose behavior is not acceptable.

An interesting example of a profession that once commanded the collective respect of society is law. In the past 25 years society has rescinded its col- lective respect for attorneys. Instead, each lawyer must earn the respect of his or her clients; it no longer is automatic.

The other kind of respect is the earned type. For example, when someone has personal pride and rej7ects this pride in his or her work, others notice and respect the service and the person. One does not need to belong to a profession or earn a sub- stantial salary to have personal pride. Personal pride has to do with respecting yourself. I t is not a result of others respecting you, in fact, personal pride may be the opposite. Individuals with per- sonal pride and high sev-respect have a higher likelihood of respectfiom others.

Test this pride theo y yourself. Identi& individuals who have your respect. How much pride do they exhibit when they do their work? Be sure to’extend your evaluation to other departments in addition to nursing, such as the pharmacy, lab, housekeeping, etc.

Nming Forum Volume 29, No. 2, April-June, 1994 3