Mandatory Meeting With CNO

[mindlor]

So all of us have to go to this mandatory meeting.

She wants to find out why my floor cannot keep nurses.

I guess she cannot figure out on her own what working constantly short and without techs does to a nurse.

I am going to suggest that everyone in senior management put away their fancy clothes and come work the floor for at least 2 consecutive weeks.

Maybe this will give them a fresh perspective?

Too late for me though, I am out. I am not going to tolerate this abuse any longer....

I hope though for current and future colleagues that someone wakes up and learns how to staff a floor.....

Actually, I think before I go I will off to take over the Director position......

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

these meetings are usually just lip service and a waste of time.

[TopazLover, BSN, RN]

.

During an appointment with my Internal Medicine doctor 6 months ago, he stated that he no longer sends patients to our hospital. In his words "________hospital's reputation is in the toilet." It just breaks my heart.

This is probably where the pressure can be applied. If doctors refuse to send patients there they can not get reimbursements. Eventually they will become only able to fill beds from ER. So many of these admits have no insurance and will be treated for little return...

The other thing that may make a difference is to get word to the board that the CEO is responsible and should not get any incentive pay or perks. If there is enough noise perhaps it will be heard.

Union in CA got mandatory staffing levels. In right to work states you are up the creek without the paddle.

[elprup, BSN, RN]

Sigh. So sad that this seems to be the norm.

There are over 700,000 all nurses members. I would think we could change the world if we stood together! Yep, I am still an optimist and still seeking a decent job where I do not feel like I have to sell my soul :).

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

Union in CA got mandatory staffing levels. In right to work states you are up the creek without the paddle.

Yeah and we initially lost our CNA's and Ward Clerks. It was unsafe staffing.

They've brought back one CNA who doubles as a Ward Clerk but only for certain hours. We've lost so many nurses and have traveling nurses, which costs much more than hiring a CNA and a Ward Clerk. This has been happening off and on - we hire brand new nurses, they burn out, we bring back the traveling nurses . . . . .

California is not Utopia.

[TopazLover, BSN, RN]

We all know that CA has issues. As least there nurses tried to support each other and have some say. In a right to work state it is worse, believe me.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

So, would you rather the CNO try to fix your floor's retention problem without speaking to the staff nurses? The tone of your post makes me think that you have a bit of a negative attitude towards the CNO & her efforts to make meaningful change on your floor. Maybe the staff's attitude has something to do with the retention issue?

Well it sounds like its pretty obvious and self evident that the high turnover is related to poor working conditions, short staffing. This happens many times when hospitals try to cut staffing hoping to save money, but then come to the conclusion after many people suffer and quit that it was a bad idea and then restore staffing levels albeit relunctantly. I know places that have done this, not sure if it was simply to save money or if it was a plan to drive out the senior staff and than replace them with cheaper new grads or maybe both!

[prmenrs, RN]

Whatever happened to staffing by acuity? There are 'tools' out there to better document how many nursing hours per day your clients need; this provides hard data for the suits to justify hiring more staff.

Joint Commission really out to evaluate facilities on staffing ratios. Goodness knows there's enough "evidence" based research out there to support the concept that correct staffing solves a LOT of outcome issues.

Nobody asked me, that's jmo.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

I still think we need unions if not an outright federal staffing ratio law to improve working conditions across the country, but I don't think there is much support for a staffing ratio law in Congress because of medicare and medicaid. They do not want to interfere with the hospitals if it will cost more money for govt programs like the above. People always say if you're not happy quit, and go where if just about every other hospital has the same staffing problems? Your basically gambling that things won't be worse at the next place. Wouldn't it be better to stay and improve things if only we had the power to do that! Shared governance is not the answer because it always comes down to money and management doesn't want to spend more money to improve staffing even when better staffing has been proven to improve patient outcomes!

[lmccrn62, MSN, RN]

I think it would be beneficial for some of you to really understand hospitals and how they work. Unions do not improve working conditions but contribute to mediocrity. If someone thinks that its management fault and they want staff to work short, I think not. Much of what is endured in institutions is directed by regulatory bodies and reimbursement. Obama care is only going to add to the burden.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

I admitted a fairly high ranking management nurse last week. Honestly, I was frazzled. My pt load was horrible, we had one CNA on the unit, and she was gone to lunch. (CNAs get to take their lunch, the nurses usually don't) The admission was rocky at best. The pt/nurse asked me where the CNAs were. Where was my help? My mouth probably fell open and I stared dumbly.

This nurse being admitted to our hospital, was part of the decision making process that cut our staff to the bone. She wanted to know where my help was.

I told here how many pts were on the unit, and the staff scheduled to cover.

The pt/staff ratio was staggering. Maybe instead of making them work the unit as we do short staffed, we should make their loved ones be the patients when we're short staffed.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Joint Commission really out to evaluate facilities on staffing ratios. Goodness knows there's enough "evidence" based research out there to support the concept that correct staffing solves a LOT of outcome issues.

TJC ain't gonna do anything that actually threatens hospitals. Hospitals will stop using them if they actually started regulating stuff that matters.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

In December 2010, I was forced to retire from nursing after 35 years, due to my deteriorating health, and now receive SSDI. I worked in the NICU for 31 years. When I left, we had 85 Level III beds.

The staffing situation has gotten so much worse since I had to stop working. The month after I left the hospital made drastic cuts in staff hours & benefits. They changed many positions from full to part-time. These changes were presented to the staff in a series of meetings with the Nursing Director, the CEO, and other members of Administration. I watched one of the taped meetings.

Staff members in the audience looked stunned. They were crying, asking questions, and offering multiple possible alternatives to what they were being told by the CEO. All were denied.

I think what upset me the most was the way that the information was passed on to staff. Starkly, brutally, with no advance notice. No compassion, no understanding of what these decisions meant to families. That it was putting some employees in an impossible situation. That staff would be forced to quit if they could not adjust their schedules or live on the decreased income. Administration just DID NOT CARE, and it showed.

Within 6 months, our hospital lost over 200 nurses. The NICU where I had worked initially lost 40 nurses. Many of them were senior nurses. For this note, I will define senior RNs as those with >10 years NICU experience. Over the past 2 years, an additional 15+ senior nurses have resigned

Many of staff lost in that period were replaced with new graduates with BSN degrees. I don't have anything against working with a new graduate in the NICU. I have done so multiple times over the years, & enjoyed precepting them. I had actually precepted both the current Nursing Director and Clinical Instructor in our NICU. I love to teach. But it got scary when the most senior staff member on the NICU on a particular shift had 2 years experience, & was expected to precept new employees.

I watch the show "Undercover Boss" every week, and I want someone to work undercover in our NICU, and in various units throughout the hospital, for a week each. I badly want this. Because the hospital is suffering. Staff morale is down. Stress is sky high.

During an appointment with my Internal Medicine doctor 6 months ago, he stated that he no longer sends patients to our hospital. In his words "________hospital's reputation is in the toilet." It just breaks my heart.

So I wonder after the senior nurses who were forced into part time status quit, did the new grads get part time status or were they upgraded to full time? I think we know the answer to that already! They just wanted to get rid of their senior staff!