Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1462389
42 NURSING SPOTLIGHT Viewpoint: 5 common nurse myths By Erica Carbajal W hile the pandemic has brought renewed attention to nurses' critical role in patient care, the field is still "deeply misunderstood," a former research associate at UC San Diego wrote in a Feb. 3 perspective piece for e Washington Post. Here are five common myths about the nursing profession, as out- lined by Rebecca Simik, who spent 20 years at UC San Diego manag- ing clinical psychiatry and neuroscience research groups focused on severe mental illness. 1. Nursing is lucrative. While there's been a large focus on high rates for travel nurses amid the pandemic, "e reality is that most registered nurses make a solidly middle-class salary," Ms. Simik said, citing a 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics report that found the median annual wage for RNs is $75,330, what she calls "respectable but not remarkably lucrative." 2. Nursing is no longer a desirable job. Despite stories of troves of healthcare workers leaving the industry, interest in the nursing career is high. Ms. Simik referenced 2020 data from the American Associ- ation of Colleges of Nursing showing enrollment in BSN programs increased 6 percent, as well as reports of nursing programs having an overflow of applicants and a shortage of slots. 3. It's better to have a physician treat you than a nurse. Nurses are well-rounded professionals, Ms. Simik said. Not only do they provide direct medical care, they also educate patients and family members and perform routine procedures, such as placing urinary catheters or removing sutures, that physicians may not have done since medical school. 4. The pandemic has made nurses' jobs dangerous. e jobs were dangerous before COVID-19, Ms. Simik said, citing several pre-pan- demic studies that found healthcare workers are at increased risk of workplace violence. 5. Nurses are superheroes. Nurses oen work well under stress because of the demands of the job, but their resilience is not super- human, she said. Living up to the super hero image is simply not possible, as burnout is bound to set in as the exterior toughness wanes, Ms. Simik said, citing studies about COVID-19-related work stress having a negative effect on healthcare workers' mental health and nurses having a higher suicide rate than the general population. Ms. Simik is a graduate student in the science writing program at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University. n International nurses sue staffing agency over quitting penalties, wages By Erica Carbajal A group of international nurses is suing Health Carousel, a healthcare staffing agency, accus- ing the company of wage theft and other unfair labor practices, Bloomberg reported Feb. 2. The proposed class-action lawsuit comes at a time when hospitals are relying on international nurses more than ever to fill gaps created by a trove of U.S. health- care workers leaving the industry. It was filed by Novie Dale Carmen, a nurse from the Philippines who signed a three-year commitment with Health Carousel to come to the U.S. and work at a hospital in Muncy, Pa. Ms. Car- men ended up paying a $20,000 quitting fee to get out of her contract early. Low wages, mandatory overtime that did not count toward the 6,240 hours on her contract and a ban keeping her from discussing her working conditions pushed Ms. Car- men to the costly decision to pay the quitting fee. "I was basically trapped," she told Bloomberg. "Duped." Since originally filing the suit against Health Carousel, two more plaintiffs have joined. The suit accuses the company of human trafficking — which the Department of Homeland Security defines as the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor — wage theft and racketeering. In a statement to Bloomberg, Health Carousel denied wrongdoing. "We are proud of our work to place internationally trained nurses at understaffed hospital systems in the United States," the company said. "We invest to recruit these professionals and sponsor their employment-based visas to fulfill their dreams," adding that it expects employees who do not finish their contracts to pay back its upfront expens- es, which include things such as a visa, licensing and travel. The news outlet cited a filing from last year where Health Carousel said it "denies all allegations that Plaintiff or any of its nurses were indentured servants to Health Carousel" and denied claims that its contract terms are "draconian." If a class-action suit results in a victory for nurses, it could have far-reaching implications for the healthcare recruiting industry. "A win in this case will send a signal to the recruitment in- dustry generally, at least in the healthcare sector, that they can't continue to use these types of contracts without the very serious risk of contracts being found unenforceable and the recruitment agencies being called human traffick- ers," Jonathan Harris, a professor at Loyola Marymount University's law school in Los Angeles. n