Happy Easter To ME! (rant)

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

Really? Why does EVERY holiday(ok, ok, I know it's not TECHNICALLY a holiday) suck to work?

I came on shift to a admit arriving in the middle of report(so of course I had to stop and help move them over)....1 other nurse each of us with 5 patients, no secretary....2 aides for 1/2 the shift. I get patient situated, talk to them, finish report, get her pain meds, and then get my regular meds and then go see my first patient.....

Who has a positive holmans sign, which means that NOW i have to call and get a STAT ultrasound(of which xray is on call...so takes a while to get). My patient load was a heavy wetter with a keofed tube and feeding/IV fluids....A back pain who wanted a shower NOW(at 8pm?....sorry sir, you have to wait til the CNA has time). A DD patient from our area state facility who had a stage II(which I found at start of shift) no poop in 5 days, and a hip fx(day 9 after sx). The admit-Left hip fracture. and the positive holmans sign lady had feeding tube and IV fluids and confused, etc.....by the time I got done with the general things(meds, shift required assessments, pain meds), it was 11. then I had to go check the 2 people who hadn't pooped in 5 days.....even though they've had low intake they probably should have pooped something by now, right? 2 rectal checks later, 2 impactions.....2 for 2. yay me!

I had 3 of the 5 charted on by midnight....then I had a admit(who had just been there 3 days ago for sx).....pain 10/10. didn't want dilaudid because "I'm dizzy and nasueated"....Call dr. back for morphine....2mg. NO relief...PCA ordered. gave him 6 right away.....then he wouldn't hit his button because "I don't like drugs". Refused to even let me educate him about meds....then hit his light every 15 minutes from 1 to 5.....

I took that admit because our hospice patient passed away for the other nurse at 0230....so she had extra work to do also. The upshot? I didn't finish charting until 0615(45 minutes after the end of my shift) which in 2 years I've done ONCE before. And I didn't eat dinner because I had no time....(that tiny sandwich bag of doritos from home was the only nourishment I had)....

I try hard not to b**** about my job too much...I should be glad I'm working.....but it really tees me off when acuity is not factored into staffing....it's just soo silly.

Then I had to go to the dentist..........had a procedure done...now I'm home and swollen and drooling....it's been a bad 2 days...........ok rant done. Thanks if you read this far.

[kathy313]

That was an awesome rant!:yeah:

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

looking back at it....I agree! LOL

[oramar]

Good rant, so authentic sounding. Once I got a newsletter in January(I know it is different Holiday but same concept) from the president of our local nursing association. She started it by saying, "I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and New Year and is all rested up from their holiday". I had just come off a particularly exhausting holiday period and was completely drained physically and emotionally. Here was this pencil pusher that was so out of touch, I was so mad . Holidays for nurses are not holidays they are nightmares. Working all the holidays means missing all the fun, working doubles and working short because every one get extra days off. All the while having your routine disturbed by family and friends that are in party mode(sometimes they get a week or two off while nurses don't even dare mention taking a vacation between Thanksgiving and Christmas). My spouse was always grumpy because he thought somehow I was working to spite him. But the real nightmare started when you actually clocked in, everyone was so sick and the floors were always so short of help. Meanwhile, you knew that everyone from the manager and up(shift supervisors excepted) were home enjoying themselves. No one who would write a nursing newsletter starting it off saying "hope you all had a nice Holiday and are all rested up", has any business being in a leadership nursing position. PS the food in the cafeteria is always lousy and cold on a holiday, wouldn't it be nice if management realized how depressing it was to work on holiday and brought some good food. PPS I can do a pretty good rant too can't I.

[Straydandelion]

I honestly think it is the hiring practice of the hospital causing the most problems. You see a hospital telling you that "normal" schedules are every other week-end off... so and so holiday versus one saying every third weekend off and less holidays which are you going to apply to? Most don't think when looking for a job that every other weekend off means the weekend you DO work is a nightmare. Same with holidays. I've only worked at one hospital that the weekends were similar to weekdays in patient load etc. due to every third rather then every other weekend off... and the weekend off could usually be arranged as a Friday, Sat., and Sunday sometimes even a Monday, it was almost a mini-holiday.

[Ivanna_Nurse, BSN, RN]

Hey, I had about the same luck! I worked both sat and sun nites, and found out this am that it isn't even Holiday pay. I would have much rather been with my fam and going to church rather than playing with rectal tubes and taking care of patients that are circling the drain. Hopefully it will get bettter this week for you :) Ivanna

[bubblymom373]

Holidays suck to work, no way around it. Never enough staff and really no one wants to be there. Hope the rest of your work week goes better.

[everthesame, LPN, LVN]

Wow! And I thought my Easter shift was bad. At least I got to eat my lunch...very quickly but it was much more substantial than a baggie of Doritos.

You can rant here anytime. I hope your next shift is much better.