Taking away chairs from nursing station

[pinkessence_58467]

I work at a nursing home and is my night off and I just got word that administrator has taking away our chairs from the nurses station to get us to work harder. There has been lack of documentation in all units. People think he did this because a power trip. The administrator is only 24 and he is new and he's ****** a few people off. I think it gonna cause a lot of conflict but if people accept this change, it could be a positive change. I have charted standing and it's taken less time to chart. Less time charting means more time supervising and more time at patients bedside which overall will improve patient care. I totally get it but I will take some time adjusting.

[eeffoc_emmig]

What part of NURSE'S station do these people not get?! The NURSE'S station is for the NURSES to use for the 5 minutes they might be able to sit down and chart or use the phone. Don't these people have their own offices or something? Our doctors avoid the nurse's station like the plague because someone might ask them a question or a family member might want to speak with them. They have their own office and a sleep room. I don't understand how taking chairs away from hardworking staff is going to encourage them to chart. Good grief! Better not take too long next time you actually get to take a bathroom break..they might take the toilets away so you don't waste precious time sitting!

What is this bathroom break you speak of? I worked LTC for about 2 years and I can count on one hand the number of times I went to the bathroom while on duty. I made sure I went just before I clocked in and then usually ran like crazy to the bathroom after I clocked out. Might explain the UTIs I had - never had one til I worked LTC.

And NEVER EVER did I get a real lunch break. Didn't matter if I tried to eat at the nurses station or back in the breakroom - someone always demanded/needed something.

We paper charted at both facilities I worked at and we charted on just about every one of my 30 - 40 residents each night. There is no way I would stand up while doing that! Countertop it would be whether they liked it or not.

I would love to see them go through a day of work without sitting.

[sas8536]

As a night shift nurse at a Magnet hospital, we work 12 hr shifts and I cannot imagine what we would do with ourselves if we had no chairs. On the orthopedic and rehab floors where I work, it slows down dramatically at night. We'd all be just standing around looking at one another! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard...the day they do that is the day I look for another job.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

They have been trying to do that at my hospital, too. We can only chart at the patient's bedside, which is hard because the patient does not want us standing there, charting! We have to drag the computer into their room, plug it in (because it won't work unless plugged in!) and stand there to chart, so you are right up against their bed. Frustrating for both the patient and the nurse. The only electrical plugs are behind the beds, so you can't move farther away. The desk computers are only for the physicians and case management. It gets clumsy when the patient has visitors, or you get called away and have to take the entire computer with you. We can only get meds out for one patient at a time, all from the pyxis, and then you have to zap them to make sure it is the right med, etc. etc. So you are constantly going back and forth with the computer cart. And most of the meds won't scan. It is fast becoming a pain to just take care of your patient. I am too old to keep standing on my feet for 12 hours per day.

If I was the patient...as I frequently am....I would throw you out of my room if you were in my face that much. Get in do your thing and get out! So now we drag the computer bedside to bedside spreading germs...interesting.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Well I give up, just trying to show positive side of change but everyone is focused on the negative.

I think many nurses appreciate your point of view. I actually don't think it is the act of standing that they are objecting to.....it it the insult rendered by the administration that the assumption they are lazy (and some my be) and that nurses do nothing but sit around and chart.

It's insulting to treat educated professionals with punitive punishments like we are children being sent to our rooms. It's disrespectful of the administration to treat the nurses that way, and the CNA's. If there is a problem at your facility it is sad that the administrator doesn't have the ability nor training to address the problem directly...but the assumption that all nurses are lazy and therefore must be punished is insulting.

Sadly.....Nothing good can come from this mindset of the administration. This is another devaluing the bedside nurse as disposable property instead of an individual educated professional. I am so sad....sigh

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Wow. I can't believe I found this thread! I had no idea other hospitals in various states are doing this. Just assumed it was only mine.

Last year, in an effort to keep us out of the nurses station where we would sit and use the computers to chart, they suddenly made a new rule that they were for doctor's only. They sent us all out in the hall with computers on wheels. A few months later, someone from the CNO's office came and took away all of the chairs in the halls. No notice, no discussion, just took them away. One nurse was actually sitting on one in front of her computer and got up for less than a minute to get something and when she came back, her chair was gone. Of course, there were many times when it was necessary to use the computers in the nurses station, like if you were on the phone taking report and needed to look up details about the new pt or something like that, and lots of us did, esp when it was quiet and there were no doctors around. So, 3 months ago, they fixed it so that the computers there can only be accessed by swiping a hospital badge and only doctors have the type that will work. So, now we can't use them.....ever.

Oh, and they changed the name of the nurses station, too. It is now called "clinical station". Someone came around to each unit, removed the old signs and replaced them with the new ones.

We are a Magnet hospital and this is the way we are treated. We are due for re-certification soon. Lots of us wonder what the Magnet surveyors would say if they knew......Would be pretty funny if somehow they found out......hmm.

p.s. we all work 12 hr shifts

ARE YOU KIDDING ME????????????????

This profession is in deep trouble.

[KRSLPN, LPN]

Oh yes, another person in mgt who wants to "change the world".

Here's a thought for you on that one: take the chairs away because you feel the staff would document better if they were forced to stand and compose their notes after a long day of running up and down the halls pushing an incredibly heavy med cart.

The ONLY thing you are going to accomplish by doing that to your staff is finding even poorer documentation because the nurse wrote the very bare minimum so that they could go somewhere else in the facility and sit down and rest their legs, feet and/or back.

Also, to the member who started the thread, IF you don't think this is a bad idea, I have the feeling you've not been a nursing professional for very long.

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

Well I give up, just trying to show positive side of change but everyone is focused on the negative.

It's a discussion board and that is what you are getting.

If you want no discussion this isn't the venue.

[OCNRN63, RN]

What the heck is wrong with people??? What is going on??? Why would you treat a bunch of professionals like this? refuse for them to sit or 12 hours? Are you kidding me???

I am once again Gobsmacked!

What NY facility is this?

What other profession would tolerate being treated like this? Does he honestly think that when staff are exhausted they'll still be able to keep pace with the needs of the unit?

[OCNRN63, RN]

What part of NURSE'S station do these people not get?! The NURSE'S station is for the NURSES to use for the 5 minutes they might be able to sit down and chart or use the phone. Don't these people have their own offices or something? Our doctors avoid the nurse's station like the plague because someone might ask them a question or a family member might want to speak with them. They have their own office and a sleep room. I don't understand how taking chairs away from hardworking staff is going to encourage them to chart. Good grief! Better not take too long next time you actually get to take a bathroom break..they might take the toilets away so you don't waste precious time sitting!

Why do you think some of us joke darkly about mandatory Foleys?

[brownbook]

I used to take pride in seldom sitting during my 8 hour shift. I thought, for one thing, it was a good way to keep physically active, and honestly I would find if I sat down to chart there was a subconscious....this is comfortable, I don't want to get up...mentality. Several months ago I became more aware of aches in my upper back. The light went on and I realized standing to chart put me at an awkward angle.

Now I sit down to chart, no more back aches.

Just go ahead with no chairs, then start making appointments with your Dr. about chronic back aches, call in sick, and put in for work comp!

[SlyFoxRN, BSN, RN]

Absolutely ridiculous. Anyone at a facility that does this should call their union or file a formal complaint with the labor board. No other professional would be treated like this. NURSES ARE NOT UNLICENSED LABORERS. STAND UP AND STOP LETTING PEOPLE TREAT NURSES LIKE HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS. WE ARE PROFESSIONALS WITH BACHELORS DEGREES. WE NEED TO DEMAND RESPECT

[Hygiene Queen]

If cna on day shift found sitting in recliner they would be reamed by charge nurse.

And Confucius says, "If CNA on day shift found sitting in recliner, then back hurts. Work done. No problem."