[kimmicoobug]

I say management too. I have had my former director shaft me twice in my short career and did it with a smile on her face, and then she shafted my best friend with a smile on her face. My hospital has been undergoing a ton of changes, and I just hope everything works out for the best.

[CseMgr1]

Management, Management, Management! In the 33 years that I have been in this business, I have seen a couple of Managers who, if it had not been for them, I would have probably quit nursing from the getgo. They were Cheerleaders (and leaders), in every sense of the word: They knew all their nurses by their first names, they didn't mind getting s--- underneath their fingernails, and they CERTAINLY didn't mind standing up to THEIR bosses, if she/he knew that some idiotic directive they had created was going to cause chaos.

I was a Manager for for 18 years...and finally gave it up, because I was no longer being allowed to function as one. I couldn't direct, educate or discipline my staff, because of the unending and mindless demands from Corporate, to justify MY existence. Now I am watching the same thing happen to my own Manager, and it is very disillusioning, for she knows what our needs are...but Corporate is tying her hands too.

[Rapheal]

Poor staffing, but poor management leads to poor staffing. So I agree the two go hand in hand.

[crazedredhead]

I agree, poor staffing is the pits. I heard a "joke": there's a DOA in ER, and it's a Jane Doe. The doctor looks at her and says, "I don't know who she is, but she's definitely a nurse." The nurse asked, "How do you know?" The doc replied, "She has a full bladder, and empty stomach, and her butt's been chewed."

Sad, but true. And HOW MANY TIMES has the poor staffing looked just like poor care to the patients and families. HMMMMM. Is there some highly negative symbiosis going on here???

The patients, families and docs ALL like the nurses better when they are given the opportunity to do their jobs well. That's what we thought we were signing up to do when we went to nursing school.

By the way, when the system finally realizes that it's driven out all the nurses, who is going to take care of US????

[maggiesma]

hmmmm...I didn't vote, but it told me that I did!!!!


I would say that the lack of recognition and/or lack of respect by physicians is my greatest cause of decreased morale.

[sanakruz]

Managed Care=Poor management=a breakdown in the healthcare delivery system

[webbiedebbie]

All of them I believe cause morale problems. Most go hand-in-hand. But I chose short staffing.

[kmchugh]

I chose management, but in doing so, I meant management at all levels, from the charge nurse to the Chief Nursing Officer. I think everything else listed are critical problems faced by nurses, but at the bottom of it all is management. Management is responsible for staffing, pay, job stress, nurse recognition (if the nurse doesn't get respect from his/her own manager, then the manager can't ask anyone else to respect his/her employees.)

The problem is that once most nurses reach management levels, they must recognize and go along with company or corporate policies, and try to sell their employees on the same. Its that or they are out of a job. So, the one you missed that I think is probably most important is the lack of nursing organization. If nurses at all levels organized and started to lay down the law, management (non-nurses) would be faced with the choice of accepting nursing demands or closing the hospital.

Kevin McHugh

[CougRN]

The most stress on our unit comes from poor nurses and the fact that managements hands are tied to get rid of them. When you have to spend 12 1/2 hours with a really bad nurse and someone who drives you nuts that is worse than anything else here.

[Audreyfay]

Poor management = Poor staffing; Poor staffing is due to poor management. Cheerful and Raphael could not have stated it better.