oversaturation makes managers arrogant

[RN1980]

was in dept. meeting today. 3 different nursing unit managers along with the assistant don of our hospital. they were spouting off about how things are going to change and additional protocol driven nursing that was going to be implemented. a few nurses had issues with some of the topics and they were informed that if they didnt like it they could hit the road. furthermore, one manager informed us that since there is a surplus of grads and nurses out there that they were not going to put up with as much crap from the staff that they have been in the past. yep, this is the future of nursing in my part of the world...do as you are told, if you question it goto the house, snitch on your co-worker for trivial stuff so you can get a extra 5 cents come evaluation time, forget the yrs of training and exp of fine tuning your skills you now have to follow protocols for every pt, it dosent matter what the outcome is just as long as you document...is this what i got to look forward to for the next 20yrs?

[rockenmomRN]

seriously, there's a difference between a new grad and a trained nurse. they're talking out their noses.

[dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I]

Great example of a place to not work! I woulda walked on the spot, but then I've a bad attitude anyway. If I'm that easy to replace they don't need me nor I them.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

op: yes, these are the times of the arrogant nurse managers!!! i have an example for you too!

i was in a department meeting recently where those of us who work nights were complaining that often we work short staffed, have no translators, and are being placed on ot without our permission. guess what? the manger actually told us that not only did he have a slew of experienced nurses calling him and emailing him every day in hopes of a job with our department, but that it was our fault (those of us who only speak english) that we are unable to speak spanish. in fact, our manager told us with a straight face to learn the language!

i have officially stopped trying to speak spanish to my patients! i am now learning japanese (yes, i am serious). i have been in some dangerous situations when i have tried to interpret or speak to patients on my own without anyone to help. i refuse to do it any more. as for ot, i refuse that too. i pick up shifts here and there, but i refuse to work ot every single week 4-5 nights per week 12 hours a night any more because this too has contributed to the problem of less people being hired while others are quitting left and right.

sadly, the only way our situation will change will be when the economy changes and not so many people choose nursing as a career (thus reducing the supply vs. the demand once more). at which time the nurses can go back to being the arrogant ones! for now, those of us with experience will need to hop around to make work more tolerable or join an organization that knows the meaning of teamwork and professionalism.

-going army

[Maria Lenore,RN]

As a nurse we dont work as individual. We work as a team...

[tewdles, RN]

Sounds like a hostile work environment where the nurses need organization and union representation!

[RN1980]

our administration and management would crap gold bricks if a union rep. walked into the hospital. though, i doubt i'll ever have the chance of working with a nsg union in this state i certainly would welcome the opportunity.

[dcarriv]

you need to form a union, then it will be much harder for them to pull this kind of crap.

[Redhead28]

Sounds like contact with a union would help. I worked at a hospital that a union vote happened twice. It improved things greatly when management knew a union was trying to come into the organization. Ultimately nurses did not choose a union but it did help get some points across.

[NotFlo]

Yes. Our nursing meetings end with, "and if you don't like it, don't let the door hit your ass on the way out."

We've been told nurses are a dime a dozen, we're constantly reminded of the stack of apps sitting on the DONs desk, etc.

This and we just had a deficiency free survey!

It's just very apparent now that "they" can do whatever they want and there's nothing "we" can do about it. Expressing any disagreement and you find yourself on the **** list and it's a short walk from there to finding yourself jobless. No raise, anger at sudden increased on-call hours and mandatory overtime, working dangerously short...just told "you're lucky to have a job at all."

Talk about demoralizing.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

My job had a big staff meeting every April. It included all staff, not just nurses. Last April, the theme was "get on the bus." The phrase was repeated at least 10 times. And they wonder why turnover is so high.

[pedicurn, LPN, RN]

This will come back and bite the facilities on the behind ..... burnt out experienced nurses and resultant exodus from bedside + non-experienced new grads.

Happy, happy days are just around the corner ....