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Show Nurse's compensation Dear Editor: I wish to respond to JoAnn Hardy's letter concerning the Vernal nursing shortage. Her parting question was "why do five RN's commute to the Roosevelt Hospital? " I'm married to one of the nurses that did that for 18 months before taking a job in a related nursing field in Vernal. She would still be there if not for the long drive. When we moved to Vernal, after living liv-ing in many places in the U.S., my wife applied for employment at the Vernal hospital. She presented to them her credentials and record of experience which included 17 years of hospital nursing nur-sing in all phases of nursing care, hospitals of all sizes from metropolitan to small town, and exposure to all types of nursing techniques. The Vernal hospital offered her the same starting wage as a "green" nurse sraight out of school with zero experience. When my wife protested the offer and asked if they had checked her references, the answer was no, and that her experience meant nothing to them. Quite naturally she shunned the insult and returned to the Roosevelt hopsital where her pay was much higher and her experience respected. Contrary to common thought, nurses do more than pass out pills and TLC. Nursing is a very stressful profession with loads of responsibility. I know because of the frustration my wife has discussed with me and the exhaustion she would show after a shift filled with deliveries, traffic accidents, caring for severely ill and heart patients, who seemed to be doing well and then didn't. Yes, Mrs. Hardy, nurses do care, but they also need compensation. That includes in-cludes pride in their professionalism and just pay for the kind of job we demand de-mand these days to keep us healthy. Thank you, LOREN H. JEPSEN |
