Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/198051
Pensions:1 copy 7/22/09 9:50 PM Page 13 Kay McVay, RN Kaiser has one of the strongest contracts—for pay and for pensions— in the industry. She says she has no regrets over, unfortunately, not being able to take advantage of those benefits. "I look at my granddaughter and think, 'If she were to go into nursing, would I want her to get a much better retirement than I did?' Of course I would," said McVay. "The only thing that upsets me is that so many younger nurses haven't got a clue how hard it was to achieve," she added. "They haven't got a clue what it took to be able to get pay increases for nurses, what it took to be able to get security for nurse pensions and retiree healthcare. I'm always the conscience saying, 'Remember, we can't not protect the retirees. We can't not protect the retirees.'" Today, she remains a very active member of CNA/NNOC and continues to fight for RNs. McVay has found a way to survive, for now. She knows that she, just like everyone else, "is just one severe sickness away from disaster." But she's content in the knowledge that she's found a new family to help her as she ages: her network and close friends at CNA/NNOC. JUNE 2009 Only Enough for the Electric Bill Cothran's mother, a home health aide, worked on the day she died. Cothran, a 64year-old RN in Kentucky, thinks that may just be her fate, too. She's a little better off than her mother was, but just barely. She earned more money and will have a tiny retirement income of $187 a month from a traditional pension. She also has $2,600 in a 403(b) account, a Wall Street-based retirement plan similar to a 401(k). But it's not enough. "I put myself as working until the day they slam the lid on the coffin," said Cothran. "One hundred and eighty-seven dollars is almost enough to pay the electric bill, as long as it's not the winter. I don't think there will be any Social Security left." During her 25 years as a registered nurse, Cothran has supported one husband, been through a divorce, raised her son and two daughters without child support, and poured much of her growing income W W W. C A L N U R S E S . O R G REGISTERED NURSE 13