Hello All!!! I am new to this sight and was hoping that I could learn from other nurses out there and also shed some light on some of the problems facing nursing today. I have been an RN for almost 30 years,working as a travel nurse and traveling with my retired husband now. Still going strong but very saddened about the state of our profession. No wonder there is a severe nursing shortage. I have worked in various areas of nursing and have been in management, never had a mark against my license and have never even been "written up". I have always loved nursing and taking care of my patients. My patients have kept me going and I always care for them as if they were my own family member. But lately, the hospitals are crazy. What I find that patients complain about most is their basic needs are not being met. Hospitals need to hire more nursing assistants and pay them well so they will stay and give good care. Patients need total care in the hospital as you all know...they need to be turned, bathed, fed, toileted,etc. I am working in a hospital now where the nursing assistants have up to 18 patients some days...and what ever happened to the old fashioned "orderlies"---it's a known fact that men have greater upper body strength and a lot less likely to have back injuries. In the "old days", we used to have 1 or 2 orderlies on every floor and they were big guys and we always had enough nursing assistants that the patients even got back rubs! The patients had wonderful care. The nurses could do their jobs without being totally exhausted from everything else....and alas!..fewer mistakes!! Seems to me, it's all about money!!! The hospital CEO's get a great big bonus if they save money and if a hospital is making billions, then they don't care how many lawsuits they have to "settle"...and the nurse is left on her own if something happens anyway. It's not all about the nursing shortage...to me,it's more the ancillary staff shortage. Talk to some seasoned nurses about how life was in the "old days" and it really did work. The hospitals will not listen because it's more out of their pocket and we all put up with it and keep working under horribly unsafe conditions. We all need to start speaking up because our healthcare is in a world of trouble.
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