Their have been lay offs,and more coming in my area. They are still hiring nurses and tell me it won't affect pt care. How can this be? I am so very concerned about the situation as it was. I have been joining all kinds of boards, councils,and committee's trying to learn all I can to be a part of some solution. The situation is surely getting climatic. Is it pre-war economy? Lets share free thoughts and concerns here. Maybe we can stumble on some helpful solutions for daily work, and national awareness. Is it possible to condense and improve pt care?
Hey Judy, I know where your coming from. My wife has worked at the same hosp for about 18 years and we have watched them go thru various periods of lay-offs. fortunately she hasnt been caught up in them. But your right, it has to effect patient care because most of the layoffs start at the bottom and work up. From housekeping, tech's , lower level lab people. And all of this causes crap to run uphill untill it gets to the patient. But all of these things directly effect pt care. It's the admin mentality of we have no idea how to make this work without just slashing jobs, and then wonder why everyone gets chapped when pt care is compromised.this is a good vent subject Judy. Have a great week end.
Off yesterday and today, Working hard over the weekend. They laid off from the top and the bottom. We will have trickle up and trickle down. They get them in and out so fast it has us already at a very dangerous situation anyway. I don't know what I believe they should do with the sick who need admitted when we are too busy caring for the ones already there, I go home blaming myself when I have to ignore some to get more. God Help Medicine...
I know what you mean. I have some LPN's and others in my classes. There is probably about 60 of us who will be getting our interviews with nursing school to get all our apps submitted properly. We all talk about being stretched to thin and will it be worth it. Sort of like how can you help everyone when ur short staffed. My reply is you can;t help everyone, you just have to do the best you can and help all of those you can. If you can only make a diff in one persons life, or their death, on any given day. Then thats one more for the good guys. One day, one person at a time. One lady that i have 2 classes with was telling me that when she was working as an aid, she had a lady die and she felt sooo bad because she didnt think she did enough. And I asked her if what she did do made the passsing for this lady better, and she told me that she was the only contact this lady had, and she enjoyed it when she came on duty, and when she passd away they were together. A diff can be made even in death, and she did make a diff. So one day, one person at a time. Do what you can every day
Oh Jerry you said that so well. Thank you I needed that just now. I do go home most of the time feeling good about some care I did, above the usual. Sometimes its something as simple as taking the time, I do not have, to feed a feeder I see no one it trying with. Sometimes it just takes a couple of meals into a stomach that has been empty for a long time to turn the entire outcome around. But when three other people are upset with you because you did not have that time for them, it is hard to keep telling yourself the one is important and the good you did is still good.
Thanks again.
Judy, it seems that the ones complaining were in pretty good shape if they could get that vocal. I'm a firm believer that there are forces greater than anything we can understand going on around us all the time. You can call it divine intervention, fate, spiritual guidance from a former life, whatever u feel comfortable with. But i think there is always a reason why we do certain things, whether its just spending time with a certain pt, or the time a sacker spends with the older lady when hes taking her groceries to her car, just being there when needed. someone or something else is the driving force behind that. My opinion is go with the flow and let who or whatever it is use you however they see fit.
Thanks again Jerry, They are putting so much pressure on us to get our charting done as soon as possible so we can get out on time. But my phone keeps ringing as soon as I start charting, A pt or family member wants something or to talk to me. I called the CA and she agreed to take my phone so I could chart and get off work faster and safe them money. She was not able to go help my patients like I would have. I got my charting almost all done all the while feeling miserable knowing my pts needed this or that but the company needed me gone fast. I will take this to the head nurse. I was really feeling miserable. I felt they need to choose do they want me gone or pt care. I told them I was miserable. I will not make that choice agian. If my higher power tends to this I will be put someplace in the right time even if I get fired. But I sincerely do not believe that would happen.
They know who the people are who are really working.
Thanks for the reminders.
You like to think and believe that they are more concerned with the pt than the bottom line, but way to many things occur to make you wonder. All we can do is keep plugging Judy and let the course be ran. Would have thought these threads we are running would bring in a few more responses. come on folks, life is to short to sit on the sidelines.
Jerry, I sure have enjoyed the communication with you. Would love to have more input. Wonder what the students on line are thinking. You have encouraged me when I get down though and I thank you genuinely for that. Alll Aboard..Everyone
Addendum: I went to the head Nurse today and talked about all the pressure to cut down on time and get the charting done when the pts are asking for us. I now believe if I keep a log of the small things and BIG things that slow me down, she may be able to use it to find more efficient ways to get a job done. I feel better about it knowing something I can do to get some control over the situation during these trying times. Anyone else got any ideas on quality fast nursing... The problem is documenting all the things that slow ya down, slows ya down...
your right, and I think ther is more people here who could have some really good input into this. We both know your not the only one going thru this. I hope your posts here get read and more people start getting in the thread. Got to be a better way out there. Lets hear from all you nice people.
<font color="purple"> </font>
I know that they have been cutting back on hiring in area hospitals and can't believe that in LTC facilities they are cutting back too. We were told that because of goverment cuts, they would be putting a freeze on hiring. Not only that, but raises have been reduced and they are now saying that instead of having 3-4 cnas per wing, we can probably get by with 2!!!! You know what that means??? Patient care is going to be drastically affected. How can 2 aides make up for the work of 3-4? We have been told to participate in reducing overhead costs(turning off lights/not wasting paper/avoid copying/etc......). Also, the use of pool will be done only in emergency situations, meaning that they are expecting us all to pitch in and do extra(stay later, take on more pts etc). They want us all to do more yet they reduced the amt of raise one can get. As of yet, benefits haven't been affected but they aren't that great to begin with.
In the meantime, management gets bonuses still, like when overtime is below a certain amt each month. They are not being affected at all. It really makes me angry because it's our patients who are going to be affected by this. How will any of this make it better? <font color="][/color"> <font color="purple"> </font> <font color="purple"> </font> <font color="purple"> </font>
It's like that pretty much everywhere Jude, I wonder what the upper crust would do if you asked to share their bonuses with all of you that are working free, and cutting the overhead so they can get their bonus. Boy I can just hear the whining about how much they do to earn those bonueses,, what a crock
The nurses at a hospital here were asked to donate their paid time off to the construction of a new ER wing that's going on. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Thanks, but no thanks.
It never ceases to amaze me what the paper pushing admin folks will think of next. Did they evn offer to put a plaqu on th wall saying it was donated by all the Nurses. I doubt it. Being as this is a shared site, I will just that that took a lot of nerve, and they wer probably wondering why no one wanted to do it. LOL Keep em honest.
The second day , (I had a dead pt that was a coroners case and an organ donor), at shift onset. The people who used to come get the bodies didn't do it anymore. No one knew who did, where it would go, or even where the morgue was, or if it should go to surgery first or not. It took me forty minutes of needed time to work out all the resolutions to this problem for one dead pt, while I had six living ones I was to busy to care for. I said to the head nurse, "It's not going to affect nursing right??? " She did start helping me. Lord knows what are we coming too.
I dont know where its going Judy, but i sure hope ya'll have it figured out before i get out of school. LOL But head nurse sholuld have taken the responsibility of the dead pt. She ought to know who to get onto to get it taken care of. But you never know anymore
They had just laid off staff, but not nursing saying it would not affect pt. care. The people who usually move the dead were having to do more of the work the people who were laid off couldn't do. My point is you can not lay off help without creating more work for someone else to do. It all affects nursing and pt care. If they were not performing a needed job they would not have been their in the first place. Management must cut off its nose to spite its face. But... I can't get to a check out stand in the grocery store. A wait in a line for 40 minutes or more is expected anymore. No one gets in a hurry, and no one calls for more help. There isn't any. Unemployment is higher than it has been in my memory in the cities. But we can not get any help anywhere. No one will hire people, they want to train us to do our own work 15 items at a time only with the scan machines at the store and where ever the shoe fits. It seems to me lately the whole world is afraid of going bankrupt. Except me... Maybe I am much more wealthy than I ever believed. No credit cards. Guess that makes me rich. OK.... I'll Stop Now.... Someone elses turn...
It's very hard to tell where things are going now days. I live in a town with a pop around 100,000, and i have been here 22 years. The last job I had before getting laid off, I made 36,000. But that company and most of the ones who pay any descent money are cutting back. They have laid off approx. 1,500 people in this area in the last 12 months. Which means that the rest of the people hiring dont have to pay much of a wage at all. I have been trying to get into a local hosp as a patient care assoc, CNA ever since i was laid off and decided to get into nursing. They always have anywhere from 8 to 17 openings in that area. But do you think I could do that, NOOOOOO they are leaving most empty expecting others, LPN's and RN's to pick up the slack. And who loses in the end,, the pt. And the sad part is that admin knows that, but the bottom line carries more weight than pt care anymore. Get it fixed Judy, I dont want to have to deal with it 2 1/2 years from now : ))
Hey, OK if someone new gets in on this conversation? Just kidding.... I have been at this for 26yrs. I have seen highs and lows and every time as it is "currently" happening, it is very scary. My advice to any nurse or anyone at all is to CROSSTRAIN! I somehow knew that I should do this a long time ago and that is why my resume is a small novel, LOL! The hedge against layoffs is to make yourself as marketable as possible. Get ACLS, PALS, NALS, CCRN, AORN and anything else you can. Get a part-time job in another field. For example, I worked in Home Health and infusion therapy in tandem with my OR work which allows me to move out of OR if need be. There will always be a need for OR nurses and ST's as long as you can relocate. It is a great specialty. Looking at the travel sites, ICU seems hot too.I don't think being a new grad will hurt anyone as many hospitals welcome the entry level salary vs. the more experienced nurse. They also like newbies so they can mold you to be "like them" although you are incouraged to think critically which means asking the dreaded Q-"why".
Hey Lin, sure it's ok if someone new gets in the conversation. Judy and I have tried hard to keep thread going LOL. But ur very right. Even though i'm not even in nursing school yet, I realize that putting all ur eggs in one basket could lead to an early grave. So cross training is a definat must, And one day I might even know what all those letters in those certifications mean : )).
I have decided that the improvements will have to come from society. I am offering to run on the nominating commitee of the state board of nursing. I want to learn what can be done to improve the situation. I have no idea what this will lead to, but it is an involvement with a hope of making a change. Mean while be leary of buying purple pills because pharmacuticals want you to ask your Dr. for them. LOL
getting ivlolved at that level is a big step, but if you can actually have some input into any changes, it will be well worth it. and i know you will do us proud.
Did you hear about the nurse who died and went straight to hell?
It took her two weeks to realize that she wasn't at work anymore. I stole it from another site, too tired to think for myself.
Absolutely!!! On my days off other nurses are calling me at home. Scared, hurt, and feeling so pressured, to cut self without lunches and not turning it in for paytime, or patient care, to keep the floor within budget. Sometimes I think we should just change the budget, or nationally just print more money to give to the hospitals. We are trying to share with each other where we feel we can cut to save us time. Like I have decided not to answer the unit clerks phone while they leave for a cigarette. The trouble for that job should not fall back on me. Management may or may not decide to fix that problem, then maybe they will stop pushing me. It will be a problem, but it may get some of the pressure off me. At least when I am working overtime, I am not talking with other staff about parties and my recent surgeries, I am giving high quality work, without needing to answer the spectra link phones. The pressure is so bad on everyone, No choices on who and how much work they put in. I don't know how management could look at that without getting in more trouble, but logically it should matter. Sorry, I'm probably verbalizing to much now. Still feeling stressed.
Verbalizing is good. It's something more probably wish they would do but dont for whatever the reason is. The hosp where my wife works has a hiring freeze on everything but RN's and LPN's. This includes aides and is due to the pt cencus being down. This creates a really bad catch 22 since the vacant aide positions place more work on the RN's and LPN's. And admin just cannot see past the bottom line. Before these 2 hops merged, it was ran by catholic nuns, and there was no bottom line, in fact, the worse it was made them feel they were helping more of those people who wouldnt be helped otherwise. Go figure, thats what happens when u put paper pushers in charge. Vent all you want Judy
Judy, you really have a finger on the pulse of the problems. I love that you are getting involved. That energy reserve in me was tapped and depleted a long time ago. While I consistently put my patient first in any nursing venture I take on, I am going to travel down the road. First, it will be like a working retirement and second, the pay will be better than working in a hospital where admin. sees you as a means to their end. It will be most beneficial to have someone with your heart and soul in a leadership position! Way to GO and thank-you!
Lin, Jerry, Aaron, and all of you have been an inspiration to me. I was thinking about being a part of the solution, when I joined the new forming union, the state and American board of nursing, I can not blame anyone for wanting to make money. If the hospitals all go bankrupt, then where will we go to tend the patients. I would love to go work privately without benefits and take care of Brenda. I really would love to do that. But my husband is ill, and I must keep the benefits, and be responsible for all the bills and keeping things going. I want money. But... what have we gained if we can not adequately care for the pts. we have. What corners can we cut and live with our conscience. Lets keep on encouraging each other and everyone we can. Anyone with any ideas jump in. We all can use all the encouragement we can get. Nursing is more than a job, It's an expression of an inner longing to help make improvements in pain of all kinds, spiritual, emotional, physical,and mental. We do it even unemployed. You can play a piano but not be a pianist. But if you nurse and enjoy it and continue with it; you are a nurse! Not just nursing. It's in your heart and soul. Ahhhh!
I know what you mean about benefits. We all need those and sometimes work places we dont want to just for the benfits. But I think more and more private duty compantiesare offering better benefits to get better nurses. I know you have probably checked into this. Might ask Brenda;s care giverers who they plan on using and check them out. Might be beneficial to all concerned. and Lin, I think you have a good grasp on what your doing. I recall you talking about traveling in an earlier post. this seems to a good way for a nurse to break the burnout cycle. I really wish you the best in it, and I know whereever you go, you will be the best they have ever had. Good Luck
The schools around here don't crank out enough nurses, so there's usually a shortage. I can't remember anyone getting laid off... fired maybe but not laid off
A couple of things- Yell and yell loud. You need to join together as a unit and go to your bosses every day if needed. Every small and big problem. Get your Doctors involved. Have them call administration when they feel pt care is compromised (this is very effective). When family or a pt shows dissatisfaction or threatens to call administration- tell them please do, give them a comment card.
No one wants to feel like they are neglecting their pt's however do the important things. Other things will wait. No one died of being dirty. I'm definately not saying leave them lie in their own soiling, however triage your day. The more slack that a nurse picks up... overtime to fill in the holes(constantly), answering phones, picking up more pt's than any nurse should, we are all setting a presedence.
Utilize your resources. When you are not receiving help from ADN call your boss. Let them know. Document all problems that you are having from ancillary services. Have your hospital do surveys of all departments. It will help all departmets run smoother.
Request to your boss to call a meeting with the head honchos of your hospital. If they refuse request again. Bring all the documentation of probelms, bring a list of questions.
I came from an extremely busy ER. Staffing was short, aquity very high and quantity of pt's remarkable. We were having to board these pt's in the ER because the house was having just as many pressures. The staff started to inundate our boss with problems,complaints and concerns. The doctors involvement was a huge help. We ended up having a staff meeting w/ the President,VP, DON, human resources, nursing supervisors from different shifts and a couple others. The vp did most of the talking from the group. Placating people and essentailly fluffing off peoples problems. At the time I was in the processes of leaving full time status(still staying casuel) so I didn't have much to lose. I told the VP that I was leaving and exactly why and the concernes that I had. I then told him that all he was doing was "blowing sunshine up my a**". Needless to say that I received more than a few claps and he was called Sunshine for months. However, what I said received quite a bit of attention as a whole ( not just the "sunshine" comment). Overall the meeting was very effective. All our problems waere not fixed, but things definately did change for the better.
Anyway, these were just some of my thoughts. Goodluck to all.
I wish they would lay off a couple of people in my unit. We have 2 1/2 more nurses then we need. We used to get pulled (not too often) now they've closed our unit and we get manditory call off if nobody volunteers. Usually somebody will volunteer but if they don't and it's your turn you have to take manditory time. You can take it unpaid or use your PDO but if you use your PDO then when it comes time for vacation you dont have any left. I think if we're that overstaffed then send the bottom 2 to the float pool. I like the people that are the bottom 2 but I also work for money for my family and I don't like giving up my time/money because we're overstaffed.
Hi, this is my first letter to anyone who's got a better idea about my concern. I Recently passed the CA BON RN exam and it's been almost a month since I got interviewed but until now I still haven't received any positive feedback yet. My question is, is this really the normal process for a foregin Nurse who hasn't got any employment history here in the US and no connection to undergo a long time of waiting from the employer's response, though I already got 12+ years exp as a Nurse in my country (PHIL)..or should I say..I need to have a connection first before I could get myself on the right track but the problem is I don't have any...I've been toasted in my past interviews which I think I handled it well but still the waiting goes on. I don't really believe in applying thru the internet bec. most/all of the recruiters don't have time to look for an application in their website.I'm not choosy when it comes to work, I can work anywhere the hospital would offer me but..still the waiting goes on...Thank you for reading my letter and I hope to hear your expert opinion on my case.Thank you guys!
have you contacted the person who interviewed you and thanked them for the interview and asked if they have made any decision yet? YOu can hint that you have another offer but were wanting that job and see if they take the bait If it doesn't matter where you work have you put in applications all over and near where you live. I had sent in my resume in April to another hospital just for perdiem hours and just had the interview at the end of June and got hired on the spot but it took 2 months for the right person to get the paperwork.
Hi, thanks a lot for sharing me your thoughts. Actually, I did everything what the applicant should do. In my case, I was only interviewed by the nurse recruiter. I haven't really interviewed by the nurse manager yet, cause no one is available at this time..But probably, i'm just gonna have to wait hoping I would end up getting hired like you had experinced. Thanks again and have a nice day..
Judyd wrote:Addendum: I went to the head Nurse today and talked about all the pressure to cut down on time and get the charting done when the pts are asking for us. I now believe if I keep a log of the small things and BIG things that slow me down, she may be able to use it to find more efficient ways to get a job done. I feel better about it knowing something I can do to get some control over the situation during these trying times. Anyone else got any ideas on quality fast nursing... The problem is documenting all the things that slow ya down, slows ya down...
Time management is the hardest thing in Nursing.. Esp since there isnt a set schedule. You can try to predict your shift but there are always things that happen. Admissions, discharges, Pt's going south, or pulling out their IV's Foleys etc. As for Charting, I try to chart as I go. That way I don't have to try to remember what happened when. If I can't chart right away, I make notes so it's easy to chart later.
<font color="][/color"> <font color="purple"> </font> <font color="purple"> </font> <font color="purple"> </font> 
but not laid off