I am so frustrated..........vent!!!

[Hagabel]

I just completed another crazy shift in our very busy ER(busiest in volume in our state) and am so close to resigning and going back to the ICU where I still do per diem.

We have 4-5 pts each per shift, including 2 hallway pts (more often than not). It does not matter if 1 of them is intubated etc, still expected to care for other 3- 4 pts who can all be very sick. These are all 3 or yellow and above, no ft pts. If you get a trauma you have to make a point of asking for the float or someone to cover your other pts. If you are lucky you get to eat! It obviously depends on whom you are working with but I am soooooooo tired of dealing with this crap. (excuse my french!).

I work in another ER elsewhere and it so different, just not enough work there right now. ( I am per diem at both).

I am tired of lazy nurses who do not pull their weight, bad nurses who should be fired and also tired of ff pts abusing the health care system and making the really sick people wait for hrs.

I get my eval today which was fine and then had a comment(that was bought to my attention but not part of my eval) that someone stated that " Nurse X(me) gets angry with the workload and seems to have a breaking point way sooner then she should. I am not sure if it is because she is used to the unit and a load of 2 pts of what the reason may be beyond this". " Nurse X gets frustrated with the ff pt population and is not very quiet about it."

Most of us are not quiet about it! ( I am not talking within earshot of ots, but in break room etc)

I have been very frustrated recently and have complained 2 or 3 times to the Unit sup or CN about how unsafe the ER is, not c/o about my particular work load! I did 14 -15 yrs ICU(last 3-4 per diem) and have been working prety much fulltime ER since then.

I want to resign tomorrow, I am so frustrated right now. My evals are always great and this one was too but these comments and the ff are just peeing me off.

Any suggestions besides a glass of vino or a vacation? (which I have in 3 months)

Thanks for letting me vent!

:angryfire:madface::nuke:

:zzzzz

[JBudd, MSN]

I don't think its because "nurses are allowing it". We scream and write up, and are slowly getting more nurses scheduled (can't schedule people that haven't been hired). But the thing is, the patient population is just growing faster than the numbers of nurses available, and the number of beds we have. When I have 60 people for 40 beds (including the 10+ in the halls), no matter what I do, that's more patients than I have beds for. That isn't nursing's fault.

OP: sounds like they don't want anybody to make waves (can't handle the load, BS!) That kind of comment is an intimidation tactic, don't speak up or else. Making noise about unsafe ratios is part of being a patient advocate.

I hear complaints as the charge about the ridiculous loads we are expected to carry, and make quite a few myself. But when we are all overloaded, I can't really give someone a lesser load that night; people need care. I shut down hall beds when I don't have enough staff to cover them, and let numbers stack up in the waiting room, depend heavily on the triage nurse to let me know if someone really urgent comes in. We have to go to 5 or 6 apiece during the night, because they're already in the back and my staffing numbers go down at 2300, and again at 0300. As we discharge (slowly) I try not to refill hall beds. But when 20 of my 26 real beds are filled with admitted patients I can't get inhouse beds for, in order to see anyone out the waiting room I have to use the halls. ARGHH! (We had over 40 LWBS the other day).

I tell the manager and the director every morning! and gets lots of sympathy (like that does any good). But we are slowly getting more people scheduled (travelers, agency, and a fair number of new grads going through orientation). Don't know how many will stay, one traveler already said he was looking for a place to settle down but would not likely stay under our current conditions.

OP: keep speaking up! Like the Biblical widow who hollered at the unjust judge until he gave in and gave her justice! we will be heard