The Worst Its Ever Been

[abbaking]

This is the WORST it has ever been on my unit. I am a noc shift RN on a mixed 28-bed Tele/Surgical Post-op unit.

Why is it the worst its been in my 8 years there you ask?

1. Staff turn-over is at its highest - Myself included, we are down to 10 RN's (7 full time)

2. Hospital wide critical census on a daily basis - full units

3. When we are short staffed (everyday), we rarely can get float RN's due to the high hospital census.

4. We have no unit secretary on noc shift anymore

5. Its a challenge to get Temp or Registry RN's

6. Confused patients that require the lone CNA to become a sitter = another blow to the overworked staff

7. Patients and visitors are ruder than ever and are hellbent on making my life a living hell

8. Endless charting either on paper or online - Thanks JCAHO, OSHA, CMS, and State health!!

9. More and More "ICU" patients are being (wrongly) admitted to my unit = more rapid responses/code blues

10. Manditory Overtime = enough said!

11. Literally to busy to get basic care done

12. Even the director of nursing (the big shot) is working the floors extra as are the unit directors, house supervisors, clinical staff educators, and other big wigs.

I needed to vent - this is terrible.

If this is a sign of things to come in the future, lets hope that the world will soon come to an end and Jesus will come soon (aka 5-10 years from now)

[angelkerri]

I wish nurses all over the country would unionize. The fact that we haven't just BLOWS my MIND. I know a lot of nurses are against this. I remember a clinical instructor at nursing school took a very distasteful attitude toward it. "We are PROFESSIONALS and professionals do not use collective bargaining." Perhaps in a cushy teaching job you don't need to, but floor nurses absolutely do in my humble opinion. I know nurses are afraid if we all unionize it will put us somehow on the same level as blue collar workers.

FIREFIGHTERS. Firefighters, people!!! The biggest union out there. They are relentless. My dad is a retired fire chief and he always speaks proudly of the IAFF and the clout they have. I don't see anyone sneering at firefighting as a "low profession" just because they're unionized.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

Im not against unions- not at all- I used to be IUE- and even they went to hell. Sold my job right to mexico.Companies know they can do this to us- its a "buyers market" employers know that people will put up with crap because workers( or nurses) are a dime a dozen. If you are in an at will state- all they have to say is "don't let the door hit you where the good lord split you" There is someone waiting for a job right behind you.

I'd like to know how this current outlook could ever change?

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

We have most of the same issues on my unit, with the exception, perhaps, of #12. Our supervisors, managers, directors and educators do NOT get their hands dirty.

3 and 5 don't apply either because we don't have a float pool and do not utilize PRN staff. It's ALL overtime. But it's NOT mandatory overtime, a fact our manager is pretty proud of... we've been able to con people into working out of the goodness of their hearts.

We have a constant 15% vacancy rate for RNs; we often go several consecutive shifts without a CNA or unit secretary. Our ICU admits a minimum of 4 critical patients a day and transfers sometimes as many as 6 to other levels of care. The paperwork involved is staggering. Plus, we move patients around the unit pretty much every shift. One day our intensivist said it seemed like every patient on the unit had moved over one bedspace. And our census is at capacity (or OVER capacity, the new buzzword here) about 90% of the time.

We do have a union, perhaps one of the strongest unions in Canada. There are all sorts of provisions in our contract that should be making these situations uncommon, but there's such a high degree of bullying and intimidation on so many units around the province that the contract has no teeth. angelkerri, I've heard that song and dance from the academic nursing faculty so many times it makes me crazy. They have NO concept of the real world and are not giving the next generations of nurses any hint of things to come. One only has to look at the "I Hate Nursing" threads in the First Year forum to see that in action. It's only going to get worse, I'm afraid.

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

I wish nurses all over the country would unionize. The fact that we haven't just BLOWS my MIND. I know a lot of nurses are against this. I remember a clinical instructor at nursing school took a very distasteful attitude toward it. "We are PROFESSIONALS and professionals do not use collective bargaining." Perhaps in a cushy teaching job you don't need to, but floor nurses absolutely do in my humble opinion. I know nurses are afraid if we all unionize it will put us somehow on the same level as blue collar workers.

I don't wanna get too off topic, but I don't believe professionals need unions either. I'd rather speak for myself and not risk being forced to walk off the job just because GOD FORBID some hospital DARE to ask you to pay $20 a month as a health insurance premium (while people in other jobs have been paying $200 or more for years.) That should be my decision, to quit my job or risk being fired over $20 a month.

[GLORIAmunchkin72]

that kind of 'busy' is dangerous when basic care becomes last on the list. eventually something is going to give....

you don't want that kind of busy....that kind of busy will land you in front of the bon defending your license.

windyhill rn, bsn