Increased Workload in Hospitals

[Supernurse17]

In the past 2-4 years the hospital I worked for has cut back on secretaries, CNA's, transporters and instead of Doctors we have residents. Also the patients are more critically ill than ever before. With that said I have been told by a coworker, "I often become flustered and I'm all over the place" on the unit. That I cannot be this way in today's healthcare. I am looking for a different position and have decided to work nights. I wonder if anyone else is feeling extra pressure on the units? Any input into how I can project professional behavior in the midst of the faster paced units today?

[Cafelattee]

hate to tell you this is nothing new. I worked in a hospital back in the 90's. YES we had sick folks many drips intubated multiple chronic illness . We do have more sick ass people today cause folks are lazier and eat more but they were still sick back then. The hospital decided to save money by cutting cna, secretary and janitorial staff at night. I haven't read anything on this forum that even match the level of hell hard ass nursing yet. . WE were working at such a crazy ass level. I have never worked in anything worst. I've been at it 25 years.

So get folks vent on here and think they have had the worst. I bet you haven't. We worked at a time with lots chronic illness with no idea how to help folks with MRSA and hiv. Its was hell and hard.

So sorry you fill like the job is **** and hard. IT is way easier now. I have resp therapy, I have pharmacy mixing my drips. I use to maintain my own vents, 5 drip (I mixed by self) I had 3 pts in SICU. I had actually manual debridement of wounds. WE didnt' have a wound nrse.

WEe were all things to our pt. It was damn hard.

TOday computer this and that and so many of our roles are handed off.

ITs way easier. The only ones that thinking it harder never worked the 90's shortage.

We only had 1 nurse show up for a 19 bed step down. I can tell you hard stories. Where we had to make hard choices. There were not enough of us. We didnt' sit or chart the whole shift. I know that can't happen now which tells you how much less pt care your actually doing that you can chart all along the shift.

WE charted when the next shift showed up cause we had not damn time.

I would of loved to had a Ipad back then LOL. I would of love to call resp or some rapid response team. I would of loved to have all the modern help.

So nope nursing is actually easier. I've never had a harder acuity or number of pt since the 90's

ITs way easier.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I left floor nursing in late 2015 due to increased pressures that were being placed on us staff members.

Even if nine new admissions rolled into the unit at the same time, management entertained the complaint of the one patient who insisted he did not get his nightly ice cream in a timely manner.

No matter what I did, it felt like a lose/lose situation all the time.