Dear Source:
I agree a 100% with Linda Morland RN, BSN when she states that money is not the only reason of the nursing shortage at the JFL Hospital.
Really, somebody should look at why nurses leave and don't want to come back to the Hospital to work. The lack of respect for the nurses, the lack of support from the Hospital and from the Nursing administration to their nurses plays a very important role in the staff shortage at the Hospital.
I worked in the Operating Room for 22 years as a Registered Nurse, 3 of those years as the OR Head Nurse, I have a total of 26 years of experience as a nurse. My coworkers and I where removed from the OR just to satisfy the Nursing Director and her puppets (sadly, some of them are nurses too).
We were accused of stealing instruments, we were called trash by some surgeons, we were accused of destroying government property (we didn't and nobody has been able to prove the staff ever did this things) we were called "dysfunctional" by the Acting CEO at the time, we were replaced by traveler nurses with practically no experience compared with the permanent staff and making much more money than us.
We pleaded with the Hospital Administration and the Nursing Administration to hear our voices, to give us a chance to try to solve the problems of the OR caused mainly by the appointment of an OR Coordinator with no experience whatsoever in such a critical area but we were never afforded that opportunity, they solved the problem removing the entire staff before the VINA (Virgin Islands Nursing Association) forced the administration to remove the root of the problem: the coordinator; but we were never reinstated in the positions that we held for so many years and with the experience that those years gave us. We were reassigned to units we didn't had any experience and had to start from scratch, like we were new graduated nurses, just out of Nursing School.
The result? After 4 years the OR has no staff and we are been asked to return. The answer? We aren't coming back. You can't treat people like dogs and expect them to return like nothing happened.
I agree, maybe the senators should get in touch with some of those nurses, retired or working somewhere else, so they can get a clear picture of why hardworking nurses, with years and years of experience don't want to go back to the JFL Hospital.
As for me, I have been working for the last 3 years with the Department of Health, I am the Nurse at the Mental Health Clinic in F'sted and in all my years as a nurse in these islands, I have never been treated with more love and RESPECT than how I am been treated now by my supervisors, coworkers and patients.
I will love to get in touch with Ms. Morland so we can share the documentation we have.
Maria del Pino Cruz
St. Croix
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