[teeituptom]

Originally Posted by NicoleRN07

Let's see.....I began working when I was 16 years old. I started working a full time job after high school so I could pay my way through nursing school, and halfway support myself, so yes, I have quite a bit of work experience other than nursing! I guess I was just raised differently than all of you. Whining and complaining gets you no where in life! I am a happy person, and I do not dwell on the negatives in life or my job!!! If I did, I would probably be a psych patient! I love nursing, and I am thankful that I have a job that I don't dread going to everyday!! Not many people can say that! I may have only had 7 years nursing experience thus far, but I am not naive!! I know my limits, and I do not need anyone to tell me what they are or judge me for my personal opinions.

When one person complains, it starts a chain reaction. All of your peers begin to complain about working conditions, management, staffing, breaks, etc, etc, etc, thus decreasing the morale of everyone around you. That's what's wrong with nursing! Unhappy nurses make even more unhappy nurses, and I am not willing to sacrifice my happiness in my career for anyone!!

Really thats very nicely put.

[teeituptom]

Originally Posted by sonnyluv

DUDE!
Quitting is not the answer, and neither is teeing-it-up. Stop telling people to quit and just be happy. Nurses need to fight for their rights. Man, I can't believe you just told a fellow nurse to quit instead of addressing the problem. Heck yeah she should just say no. Now lets find a legal resource for her to back it up, and hopefully not damage her reputation in the process.

Trudy- your logic is awesome. Fight the fight sister!

Erdiane: How dare they demand you sacrifice your health so they can make some bucks and continue TO NOT DO THEIR JOB AND ADDRESS STAFFING PROBLEMS. Erdiane, everytime you don't take a lunch break they get away with it and plan to do it again. Look at their faces, you can watch those wheels turn...

One Im not a dude, Im Bubba

two, quitting can be very effective

three Teeing it up is highly effective, cant even imagine why you wouldnt be able to understand that.




Remember " Live to fight another day"

[erdiane]

I actually got lunch yesterday because a nurse showed up to work a short shift and no one (except staffing) knew he was coming. Of course, we were supposed to have someone go home as soon as he showed up, even though >50% of the ER beds were admits waiting admission; and our tech called in sick.

I actually think that Unionization may be the answer. Nurses @ my facility that complain seem to "disappear". If you complain about conditions, it can't possibly be the fault of managment, it must be some type of fault in YOU. That is one of the reasons that people are, basically, afraid to complain. Isn't that sad? I don't want to quit. I've been in my position for a long time. I just want it to get better, and don't know how. It sounds like it is this way everywhere. what happened?

[4nomark]

Re: slave labor
Quote:
Originally Posted by NicoleRN07
Let's see.....I began working when I was 16 years old. I started working a full time job after high school so I could pay my way through nursing school, and halfway support myself, so yes, I have quite a bit of work experience other than nursing! I guess I was just raised differently than all of you. Whining and complaining gets you no where in life! I am a happy person, and I do not dwell on the negatives in life or my job!!! If I did, I would probably be a psych patient! I love nursing, and I am thankful that I have a job that I don't dread going to everyday!! Not many people can say that! I may have only had 7 years nursing experience thus far, but I am not naive!! I know my limits, and I do not need anyone to tell me what they are or judge me for my personal opinions.

When one person complains, it starts a chain reaction. All of your peers begin to complain about working conditions, management, staffing, breaks, etc, etc, etc, thus decreasing the morale of everyone around you. That's what's wrong with nursing! Unhappy nurses make even more unhappy nurses, and I am not willing to sacrifice my happiness in my career for anyone!!



erdiane asks, "what happened?" and others ask themselves the same question; well here is the root of your problems to one extent. If you do not complain to management about working conditions, breaks, and even management themselves how are you ever going to effect a positive change in your work environement, imagine the insult you feel when people tell you that what is very real and legitimante to you is "whining and complaining" not only will you hear this from management but from nurses within your own ranks that feel like it's a non issue if they can't agree with the issues you raise. There's mention of a chain reaction but we need to understand that when Nurses stand up for their rights and fellow nurses back then up then yes you do start a chain reaction, but a chain reaction for positive change and accountability from management.

But, alas this is only a dream because the very nurses in your ranks undermine you and make you appear to be the bad guy . How dare you say something is wrong in shangri-la and you want everything that was promised you when you took the job or you want adequate compensation when you routinely don't get the things you were promised.

Untill nurses stick together you gets NOTHING but what management is forced to give you. Say you are a non union hospital and two or three nurses decide enough is enough and they want their lunch break, 15 min break, etc and they approach management, where is the power these nurses have not only to have their greivance heard but also to keep their jobs after management labels them "Bad Apples" and starts the process of making them "disappear". So,not to stray to unions I go back to nurses who undermine any nurse or nurses who want to effect any type of change, untill these nurses are gone, mature up, or experrience life at middle age with a middle age body then any change is hampered at the source because some Nurse will always say your fight is not my fight, your opinion is not my opinion so therefore you are on your own because I don't think anything is wrong with our treatment. Sounds like the Stockholm syndrome.

[DusktilDawn]

Originally Posted by NicoleRN07

Let's see.....I began working when I was 16 years old. I started working a full time job after high school so I could pay my way through nursing school, and halfway support myself, so yes, I have quite a bit of work experience other than nursing! I guess I was just raised differently than all of you. Whining and complaining gets you no where in life! I am a happy person, and I do not dwell on the negatives in life or my job!!! If I did, I would probably be a psych patient! I love nursing, and I am thankful that I have a job that I don't dread going to everyday!! Not many people can say that! I may have only had 7 years nursing experience thus far, but I am not naive!! I know my limits, and I do not need anyone to tell me what they are or judge me for my personal opinions.

When one person complains, it starts a chain reaction. All of your peers begin to complain about working conditions, management, staffing, breaks, etc, etc, etc, thus decreasing the morale of everyone around you. That's what's wrong with nursing! Unhappy nurses make even more unhappy nurses, and I am not willing to sacrifice my happiness in my career for anyone!!

I think it's great that you have positive outlook and love your job, there is nothing wrong with that. I do disagree with you on what's wrong with nursing.

Unhappy people who are complaining for the sake of complaining do decrease morale, however, that's not what is being discussed. Poor working conditions, ineffective management, inadequate staffing, exhausted staff who don't even have the time to relieve themselves, etc, etc, etc, NEEDS to be complained about and administration NEEDS to start dealing with it. All these things impact PATIENT SAFETY. Advocating for a working environment that enables you to do your job effectively is also advocating for patient safety.

What I consider worse than the people who "complain just to complain" are the people who complain and than refuse to do anything about it.

[chip193]

Originally Posted by DusktilDawn

I think it's great that you have positive outlook and love your job, there is nothing wrong with that. I do disagree with you on what's wrong with nursing.

Unhappy people who are complaining for the sake of complaining do decrease morale, however, that's not what is being discussed. Poor working conditions, ineffective management, inadequate staffing, exhausted staff who don't even have the time to relieve themselves, etc, etc, etc, NEEDS to be complained about and administration NEEDS to start dealing with it. All these things impact PATIENT SAFETY. Advocating for a working environment that enables you to do your job effectively is also advocating for patient safety.

What I consider worse than the people who "complain just to complain" are the people who complain and than refuse to do anything about it.

And working in a Union environment is supposed to fix these "patient safety" issues? Gimme a break! All that the union will care about is increasing the number of dues paying members - at the cost of the entire healthcare system. Look at SEIU 1199 - they represent staff is some of the best and worst hospitals in the world. Do they look to elevate the poor hospitals? Nope. They look to line their pockets!

I work in a union environment for my FT job. If you happen to be a friend of the union committee, then you may have your problems heard. If not, perhaps you should go scratch!

At my per diem work, both hospitals that I float to are non-union. The Supervisor at both places is much better able to maintain safety (and fair patient placement).

[DusktilDawn]

Originally Posted by chip193

And working in a Union environment is supposed to fix these "patient safety" issues? Gimme a break! All that the union will care about is increasing the number of dues paying members - at the cost of the entire healthcare system. Look at SEIU 1199 - they represent staff is some of the best and worst hospitals in the world. Do they look to elevate the poor hospitals? Nope. They look to line their pockets!

I work in a union environment for my FT job. If you happen to be a friend of the union committee, then you may have your problems heard. If not, perhaps you should go scratch!

At my per diem work, both hospitals that I float to are non-union. The Supervisor at both places is much better able to maintain safety (and fair patient placement).

Where did I mention unions? I'm not quite sure why you're jumping all over me about unions. I currently work in a NON-UNION facility in Michigan. I live in Canada.

[iceyspots]

take away the beds!!

[pmcd8243]

These Federal laws supercede any local lawe in reguard to pay. If you do not get a lunch break at least get payed for it. The Nancy Nurse act is why nurses are treated so badly in the first place. http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs53.pdf

[fakebee]

When I read that NicoleRN07 doesn't worry about whether her shift is
short 1 or 3 nurses, she just works harder to make up for it I was saddened beyond words. The major reason was because short staffing is the single biggest threat to patient safety and it's also managements easiest way to save money at the patients expense. If your management routinely short staffs you and you don't document the near disasters and substandard care given because of it, no nurse can call themselves a true patient advocate. My management has decided that a 3:1 pt nurse ratio in ICU is acceptable on nights because "we just can't get any help." That's not acceptable to me, so you better believe that until I find another critical care unit that believes in proper staffing for pt safety I am documenting up the whazoo whenever I or anyone is forced to take an unsafe assignment and that includes my conversations with my unit charge nurse, the house supervisor, my unit director, the DON, and the state board of nursing. I wish I could just quit but the area hospitals have all decided that having 3 pts is acceptable on a routine basis and I have to work to pay the bills. As much as I love nursing, I hate to see what it has become and I fear it's only going to get worse unless we stand up for ourselves and our pts! Right now I wouldn't recommend bedside nursing to anyone. That kills me because I think it's the most important job in nursing, and in the right circumstances, the most rewarding...