Mass exodus of staff

Nurses Relations

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Our morale is at an all time low. New administration took over and now they are reducing staffing to the point where you really just cannot do a good job. We are stretched so thin we are all ready to snap. Half of our floor has given notice or quit. No one is being hired. All of the higher paid (well seasoned and EXPERIENCED) nurses are being let go for various bogus reasons. One entire floor now is all new grads. I love new grads, but there needs to be SOMEONE to go to when you have a question! Their charge has been there less than 6 months. It is all about the almighty dollar. You would think that having so many nurses quit or get let go and leaving the hospital SO UNDERSTAFFED would make the administration nervous, but they seem to be moving forward with the whole "take more patients" and hope no one dies route. So discouraged.

I am so very sorry that you are going through this. The hospital that I worked at for 8 years up until one and a half years ago was doing the very same thing. I never thought I would leave my job but I did not feel that I could practice nursing the way I wanted to and the way the patients deserved to have me practice at that facility any longer. I came home and cried more times than I care to remember because of the lack of time I had to spend with my patients. I was simply becoming a task nurse and was not doing a very good job at it. The number of nurses that I saw, myself included that charted off of the clock was shameful, all so that we would not get in trouble. The nurse to patient ratio was not safe.

My advice to you is to start looking for another job. Not all places are the same. I am much happier in my new facility. The nurse to patient ratio is usually 4 to 1 instead of the 6, or 7 to one at my last job. Occasionally we are at 5 to one because of call ins but the patients still need to be cared for so there are not even complaints from the nursing staff. I was told before leaving my old job that it is the same everywhere, but, that is not always the case. I am thankful now that I did not stand by to see some talented nurses let go and I am sure mostly due to the length of time they had served the hospital. I will tell you that I love being a nurse again! Hang in there. Nursing really can be a wonderful profession.

Specializes in Critical Care, Medical-Surgical.

@Beeker: I had to quit my job because I had a high risk pregnancy. Don't quit! I found out the hard way. Today spoke with an agency and the recruiter told me that you should never quit. Maybe an option is turn per diem and do the minimum required until you are ready to come back.

I think we will be seeing more of this as the economy continues in the toilet--and as we approach inevitable inflation.

Before quitting, consider PRN work. I know its different for every place, but here it's only required to work one shift every two weeks; you wouldn't burn a bridge during a difficult job search time while pregnant. It would be better than no money at all (ie, quitting) and you'd only have to tolerate the workload a much shorter amount of time. Being pregnant gives the perfect excuse that is not "I hate this place."

With luck, things will eventually change. But if they don't, you've secured yourself until you can safely look for another job.

Specializes in Operating Room.
Our morale is at an all time low. New administration took over and now they are reducing staffing to the point where you really just cannot do a good job. We are stretched so thin we are all ready to snap. Half of our floor has given notice or quit. No one is being hired. All of the higher paid (well seasoned and EXPERIENCED) nurses are being let go for various bogus reasons. One entire floor now is all new grads. I love new grads, but there needs to be SOMEONE to go to when you have a question! Their charge has been there less than 6 months. It is all about the almighty dollar. You would think that having so many nurses quit or get let go and leaving the hospital SO UNDERSTAFFED would make the administration nervous, but they seem to be moving forward with the whole "take more patients" and hope no one dies route. So discouraged.

We've been going through something similar, it sucks. Our evening staff is getting pummeled, and TPTB don't seem to care. They'll care when a horrible mistake gets made and then they'll only care about stringing up the nurse in question. Often no one on our shift gets a supper. I know that in many departments, that's usual, but in the OR, it's not.

And we don't do traumas. This is almost all elective surgeries. We can have a horrible night and then get picked at by day shift and/or management, because rooms weren't set up perfectly. It's insane. People are reaching a breaking point.

Sorry for the vent- that was therapeutic though!

Im not in hospital but sometimes I feel like I work in one. Our facility has been taking on more acute residents lately , IV antibiotics, post- operative patients, isolation patients, extreme geri-psych, etc. The last few nights have been awful, running over shift and still not getting it all done. We are not staffed for this level of care and I have heard both CNA's and Nurses say that they might quit in the last week. I know one postion is now opened up because of a Nurse either being let go or quitting over issues could be fixed by staffing.

I was very anxious last night at work, a resident on IV antibiotics had complaints of "hot flashs", and low Spo2, and stated that they "hope they are not having an allergic reaction to the antibiotics".:eek: I am one LPN to 40 residents in an LTC and ofcoorifice no Dr in the facilty or any way to deal well with someone who would have a reaction to an IV antibiotic. If one thing comes up like this my whole night is blown to Hell, needless to say I was in and out of that room all night and called the Dr over this resident. Other residents did not get their regular charting or assessments done and most I only laid on eyes on only when passing meds as quickly as I could. I also had a resident with a head injury (nasty gash on the head still bleeeding) after a fall that had been to and from the hospital same day, etc.

Specializes in OB/GYN/Neonatal/Office/Geriatric.

I haven't worked in the hospital for 20 years because it got so bad. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like now. All I can say is that if you are mentally, physically, emotionally burnt to a crisp and feel like you can't go on like that anymore, then it is time to leave. No place is worth you being miserable and afraid.

Specializes in ER, ICU.

The multimillion dollar settlement they might pay would come out of a different budget bucket. How about an anonymous call to the local news station about the plummeting safety issues?

Before quitting, consider PRN work. I know its different for every place, but here it's only required to work one shift every two weeks; you wouldn't burn a bridge during a difficult job search time while pregnant. It would be better than no money at all (ie, quitting) and you'd only have to tolerate the workload a much shorter amount of time. Being pregnant gives the perfect excuse that is not "I hate this place."

With luck, things will eventually change. But if they don't, you've secured yourself until you can safely look for another job.

You can't just go prn on my floor, you have to wait for a prn spot to be advertised and apply for the opening. There are none available. There have not been for the entire year I have worked here. For some reason, they are hiring part time, no prn and no full time. I think its a benefit saver thing, but that is just an idea.

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