Hospital now paying a price for understaffing? - Page 5

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  1. Mar 6, '10 by
    Quote from stucky621
    The only repair that I can see to actually fix this problem is that everyone in the healthcare field has to take a pay cut. I'm not just talking about RNs but LPN, RT, PT, MD, all of the acronyms. Just think about it... if four nurses on a floor take a 25% pay cut this means there would be money to hire another nurse to the floor..problem solved
    And just watch everyone leave! Our hospital system wastes so much money on continual redecorating, signs, new protraits of managers or the newest ad campaign hanging in the hallways. Of course that all comes out of a different budget, but that is money that could be spent elsewhere. We also lose money in orienting employees who don't stay more than a few months because they are so overwhelmed, or tired of getting put on call or cancelled.
    inshallamiami and GooeyRN like this.
  2. Mar 6, '10 by
    I have to blame it on Obama. This whole healthcare thing is ruining our current healthcare system which is the best in the world. I have to say for the first time in my life, I am truely scared for my country. Who knows what horrors await in the wings for nurses,doctors,clinics, and hospitals. I am SCARED.
    Last edit by sirI on Mar 12, '10
    rags and PherbRN like this.
  3. Mar 7, '10 by
    Yes, understaffng has been a problem which has become worse over time. I am not willing to risk my license because the hospital admin decided I should have an overwhelming assignment. I am held responsible for the mistakes that are made due to stress, nt having time to eat, mutitasking, etc.

    I believe there are very few hospital employers who support the staff, and do things to make their life better so they can do their job-taking care of their patients in a caring and timely manner.
    Nurserton, elprup, rockwell108, and 2 others like this.
  4. Mar 7, '10 by
    excellent comment !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is so true!
    understaffing is a reality today. as nurses, we are known to be giving people. someone out there saw this and decided to cash in on it.
    a hospital top administrator once told me that there's no place for my compassion and that everything i do is strictly business. they do not care about your license. all they care about are profits. i once worked in a big factory. i loved my work and the people. management respected you as a person. i know that those days are not gone. if it can be done in other businesses it can be done in health care. the problem is that i never had the courage to do anything about it. this is happening in the us, canada and all over the world.
    this division among us(nurses) has weakened what links us together and management continues to sit back and watch a bunch of socially dysfunctional nurses attacking one another. ( i know that it is stress related )as long as this is happening, we are not focused on who started this mess in the first place.
    inshallamiami, elprup, rockwell108, and 1 other like this.
  5. Mar 7, '10 by
    To PherbRN,
    Wonderfully written and wonderfully said. Spot on, and I could not have said it any better. My sentiments exactly!!!

    I don't know what else to say because you said it all. Thank you so much.
  6. Mar 8, '10 by
    Quote from oakbourne
    I have to blame it on Obama. This whole healthcare thing is ruining our current healthcare system which is the best in the world. I have to say for the first time in my life, I am truely scared for my country. Who knows what horrors await in the wings for nurses,doctors,clinics, and hospitals. I am SCARED.
    While I clear you don't like Obama, I hate to break to you but the staffing problem didnt start with the year he got elected and it won't end when he leaves. I remember hearing about staffing problems when I first started nursing school 3 or 4 years ago, back my state (washington) start taking steps to ban mandatory overtime. I personally think if our health care was the best if wouldn't need reform. Yeah the people working in are great but the system need help. Too many people can't afford to get the help they need, too many people get screwed but insurance companies, and too many people like nurses get fed up with bad staffing. You may not like his plans to fix the problems but at least he wants to try and fix them!!!!!!! I dont want to get in a political argument, but I had to say how I felt, I and I feel making someone one the scapegoat for exsisting problems to not productive. thank you and god bless
    Last edit by sirI on Mar 12, '10
    Not_A_Hat_Person, tewdles, VegetasGRL03RN, and 2 others like this.
  7. Mar 9, '10 by
    This is the best medical care across the globe. It is not perfect, but nothing in life is perfect, but it's the best by far. Why are people crossing the border from Canada and England to come here for surgery, if we have so many problems in your mind? Try living in England, and needing a hip replacement - you are put on a long waiting list for two years enduring pain everyday. Watch the wrong legs get cut off or the wrong area of the brain operated on....You say how do I know this stuff, because I lived in England and I saw the horrors everyday, and it was not a pretty site. I am dead set AGAINST Healthcare reform, and if you want trouble in nursing, mistakes being made daily, and unspeakable horrors, just put medical care in the hands of the government. I also don't want to pay for someone else's medical care. Quit blaming insurance companies, I like mine very well, thank you, and they cover nicely, and many more people would agree with me. You are getting all your talking points from the left, and it's not about improving medical care, it's about government taking control of every aspect of your life. We could use some tweeks in the medical care arena, but don't throw the baby out with bathwater.You brought this up, so I had to respond. Have a blessed and safe week and God Bless.
    rags likes this.
  8. Mar 9, '10 by
    The issue is money. As well as having been a nurse for 30 plus years, I have also had to be a paitent in the past few years for cancer treatment. Let me tell you, I had great insurance, but the insurance company nickeled and dime me. Plus one of the drugs I needed for treatment was expensive. ($10,000 per dose every 3 weeks for a year). The only reason I am not still paying for my co-pay is that a private foundation stepped in an absorbed that cost. I was unable to work during that time due to the risk of infection, and my sick time and vacation time had been expended. Let me tell you, it was a helpless feeling. The drug industry is another big issue better left for another thread.
    May you all be well-it can happen to anyone .
  9. Mar 9, '10 by
    Quote from oakbourne
    This is the best medical care across the globe. It is not perfect, but nothing in life is perfect, but it's the best by far. Why are people crossing the border from Canada and England to come here for surgery, if we have so many problems in your mind? Try living in England, and needing a hip replacement - you are put on a long waiting list for two years enduring pain everyday. Watch the wrong legs get cut off or the wrong area of the brain operated on....You say how do I know this stuff, because I lived in England and I saw the horrors everyday, and it was not a pretty site. I am dead set AGAINST Healthcare reform, and if you want trouble in nursing, mistakes being made daily, and unspeakable horrors, just put medical care in the hands of the government. I also don't want to pay for someone else's medical care. Quit blaming insurance companies, I like mine very well, thank you, and they cover nicely, and many more people would agree with me. You are getting all your talking points from the left, and it's not about improving medical care, it's about government taking control of every aspect of your life. We could use some tweeks in the medical care arena, but don't throw the baby out with bathwater.You brought this up, so I had to respond. Have a blessed and safe week and God Bless.
    If I getting all of my information from the "left" where are you getting yours? As I said I didn't want to make it about politics. Try living with substandard insurance, or worse none. you don't want to pay for other people. I hate to break it to you but you do. it called medicare/medicaid!!!! You also pay for schools, roads, other peoples smokign habits....taxes are great huh. as far as waiting people.... wait here for things, sometimes years for life saving operations, sometimes for common things life pap smears, and as far as medical mistakes, those happen here too, Human error is everywhere!!!! My point was to say that this could be better, no it's not perfect, but if you sit back and assume because you care if so freaking great that others will be too you are sorely mistaken!!!!!!! I'm not blaming insurance companies but they are a business and want to make money, if every insurance company was as great as yours people wouldn't leave the US for other countries for care. As far as goverment control, well more goverment oversite I personally believe would be a good thing. Im sorry if I offended you but I just sick of the "right" in this country and have been since I was a kid!!!!! Healthcare is a right not a privilege, and until the other side stops whining "Obama bad" nothing will get fixed. Enough politics already!!!!
    Not_A_Hat_Person and inshallamiami like this.
  10. Mar 10, '10 by
    If you took notice , you will find that most people are happy with thier insurance.Of course insurance is a right, and you have the right to buy insurance from any provider you want. You also said people are leaving the US to go to other countries for healthcare when the opposite is true. Everyone from Europe and beyond is coming here for the best healthcare in the world.


    If you like government healthcare so much, why not leave and go live in England or Canada? Try waiting lists for surgeries,people dying in the waiting rooms because they are left on gurnies or ignored,nurses ignoring dying patients,and surgeries botched by incompetent doctors.The problems are enormous in the medical profession in England and I for one see the same thing happening here if we get socialized medicine in this country.

    I know of no waiting list in America,and I would appreciate it, if you would quit thowing around these untruths.If you are sick in America with no insurance, you still get medical treatment.

    Let's just stop this nonsense, because I do not like debating with someone who does not deal with facts, only feelings. Again, if you think the government owes you everything from cradle to grave, you seriously need to leave this country and go live in a socialist country. Enough said, I do not want to continue this conversation with you any longer.
    Last edit by sirI on Mar 12, '10
    neurorn6 likes this.