The New Face of Healthcare

thisismeRN · Sep 2, 2012

I used to think the same thing about the ego maniac docs (surgeons!) that I work for. Then, I took a 3 month travel position at a teaching hospital (for a "break"). Bless their young souls. I don't think those residents went to pee without my permission. It was a real eye opener for me to see doctors at their beginnings. I've been back home for about a year now and I tell these old foggies what's up whether they want to hear it or not.

PsychiRN · Sep 2, 2012

That's unfortunate. I work with MDs who want to know what I think and are truly involved in what is going on with the patient...how did they sleep and eat and what is their mood...

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Sep 2, 2012

I can relate.... :cool:

ajjones1322 · Sep 3, 2012

I was born in 79. I have been battling with my teacher over an 88%. I am a straight A student. I don't believe in a C. It hurts my heart. Let not the immature chanting drown out the love of the profession and the ability of someone who really wants to be a great nurse.

I think my intelligence makes me a professional nurse. And all the scrubs in the world will not make up for that.

nursewithskills · Sep 4, 2012

why do some of the babies have the nose of a pig, lol

grubb250 · Sep 4, 2012

So a nurse that gets C's isn't as good as a nurse that gets A's? I get B's and try really hard, i think it's foolish to look down on someone based on grades.

lbrn22 · Sep 4, 2012

I don't. Grades DO matter in my opinion. It's a mark of your dedication to learning, and whether you are willing to do the work and forfeit immediate pleasure for the delayed gratification of 3.5 or above. B's are okay sometimes, our classes are difficult and life does get in the way sometimes, but C's are a sign of laziness in my book. Unless you are stretched so far that C's are the only thing you can muster. Stretched meaning, a job, a family, AND school...then I might understand the C; at least you are getting clinical experience along with the C. However, shouldn't clinical experience equate to good grades? More A's than B's...No C's...

kf15 · Sep 5, 2012

Hospitals are single focused on generating maximum profit and care far too much about "customer satisfaction." Patients are "customers" who have been given the consumer power to criticize RNs and other highly qualified, hard working staff, usually for crap like failing to wait on them hand and foot. Most patients are medically ignorant and have come to see the hospital as yet another place in America where they are waited on and can expect "good service." God forbid if they are spoken to firmly and denied something that could harm them; mgmt will always take their sides, the good RNs resent this, and yet another field has become dumbed down.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Sep 5, 2012

I predict BSN will be the minimum for hospitals and that they will supervise teams of LPN's and CNA's with maybe one other RN (ADN) and that pay will drop for all RN's. All because we were too busy chewing each others hind ends to stand up as a professional group and restrict the glut of new nurses.

kf15 · Sep 5, 2012

Yeah probably so. I absolutely know that the reason hospitals will demand BSNs is to drive RN and all wages DOWN, and b/c they ultimately work hand in hand w/ the ed. business. The relentless political push to privatize all education will continue, and ultimately you will see these sectors sort of blend- where the schools and hospitals and other corporations actually set the standards, and the consumers (students) simply follow their rules.

Really, it's already like that. The icing on the cake of course is that the schools will continue to churn out students, and the hospitals will continue to refuse to hire them b/c of "inexperience." That is the main reason I refused to work for hospitals.

Susie2310 · Sep 6, 2012

kf15 said:

Hospitals are single focused on generating maximum profit and care far too much about "customer satisfaction." Patients are "customers" who have been given the consumer power to criticize RNs and other highly qualified, hard working staff, usually for crap like failing to wait on them hand and foot. Most patients are medically ignorant and have come to see the hospital as yet another place in America where they are waited on and can expect "good service." God forbid if they are spoken to firmly and denied something that could harm them; mgmt will always take their sides, the good RNs resent this, and yet another field has become dumbed down.

Sorry you have such a negative attitude towards patients. Most patients just want (and have every right to expect) good nursing care and good medical care when they are hospitalized. Yes, some patients are unreasonable, like people anywhere. When people are sick they have many more reasons to be unreasonable.

As far as the highly qualified, hard working staff, I am an RN and yes the staff work hard, but quite often the patient's complaints are legitimate. Patients do have rights, a Bill of Rights actually, and they or their insurance (which they pay for usually) are paying the bill. A family member of mine who was hospitalized had to tell the nurse he was giving him the wrong number of pills (the nurse calculated incorrectly). When a family member needed more assistance than the aide could provide, I stepped in to help, gladly.

In regard to your comment that most patients are medically ignorant, do you think that might have something to do with the lack of teaching they receive about their medical conditions in primary health care settings?

kf15 · Sep 6, 2012

It's not about a negative view of pts, it's about being a professional in a field where most of the dictates come from insurance accountants and lawyers, and being an advocate means less (to HR) than being in compliance and "proper documentation."

I know there are plenty of RNs who make these mistakes, and I can bet it's a result of exhaustion and pt overload. No excuse, but probable cause. The only solution is to decrease the burden on RNs but that ain't gonna happen, b/c that reduces corporate profits.

Now you would probably think I'm a bitter RN to work around but you'd be wrong, these are my PERSONAL feelings and I keep them to myself, I do a great job and educate pts all the time.

It is from interracting w/ pts and educating them that I see their ambivilance and lack of interest in their own health. Granted this may just reflect my socioeconomic area, but the people I deal with are more concerned w/ what's on TV and their next meal than w/ my quality teaching, even if it is their own health.

Sounds like you found a good fit tho, helping people who wanna be helped must be great... I wouldn't know tho.