Nurses not immune to sick economy

Very true. I am so sick and tired of being told what I "cost" them, as if I'm some sort of parasite. It's true we are hourly paid, just like janitors and auto workers, but don't lawyers and accountants and doctors make sure they are being paid every cent that is owed to them?

I'm tired of the idea that we take money away from the organization when the doctors are bringing it in.....doctors and nurses both do vital jobs so why the difference in perspective?

I see the parking lot fill up at 8am with all sorts of non vital people - do they keep being told what they cost and are they treated as if they were some sort of unnecessary evil?

Our hospital did away with all of the travelers...as soon as the contracts run out, none of them are going to be renewed.

They said it was cheaper to float staff and pay them the overtime.

Duh!

...While I agree with this statement to a point for nurses WITH floor experience(I have 14 years); I absolutlely am against it for new grads. Patient safety should be of utmost importance and frankly, there are positions I would not take right now simply because they are unsafe and leave me as the nurse vulnerable to lawsuits and dismissals from jobs. It has happened to me already and I will not place myself in that position again. Unfortunately our BON has no amendments to protect nurses from refusing unsafe nursing assignments; thus we are left with the choice of refusing unsafe workloads and being branded a "non-team player" and our reputation for being such a "patient advocate" follows us...It sucks indeed!

Just my .02$

"You know what bothers me about this...I have taken a long-term care and Hospice job (both PRNs) because that is all I could get and I need to support my family somehow. Unfortunately, according to many [COLOR=green !important][COLOR=green !important]hospital [COLOR=green !important]jobs[/color][/color][/color] that I have applied to, they state that even if I have 1 year experience or more as an RN in long-term care or other non-hospital settings, IT DON'T COUNT. Even though they perform urinary catheterizations, handle IVs, do assessments, and use critical thinking all the time at either jobs. Totally annoys me that you still have to apply as a New Grad! So that means that I will be constantly competing with New Grads from December's and June's graduations. What hope do I have? I am not a young. I was a non-traditional student and I'm a mother of 2.

So don't assume that we are being picky about jobs. We just picked a bad time to graduate."

Thank you! That's exactly what I'm trying to say. I am also a non-traditional student and have two kids. I'm too old to be starting from scratch over and over again and I can't compete with young new grads, willing to work variable shifts much longer. There's nothing wrong with not believing I should be "thankful" just to have a job. I've worked my butt off for two degrees, no financial support, two recessions and two kids (one teenager and one toddler). I have a right to gainful employment and I've worked to get there. Again, I have all kinds of healthcare experience under my belt that required much more responsibility, patient care and education than most of my school peers. I am absolutely astounded. My networking hasn't even helped. I've called in every favor I'm owed. Nothing. Yes, I'm totally mad. Foreign nurses are contracted here for less money and come with less education. I'm tired of the outsourcing of America.

Here in NC we are also feeling it...bad. I work in LTC and they have been cutting our hours back big time b/c of "low census".....our local hospital just permanently laid off over 60 employees....and are on a huge hiring freeze. We have to take an hour break when we were already struggling to get in a 30...so many things fall through the cracks and get skipped all the time. Of course no member of nursing mgmt helps out with any of the extra paperwork or labs or orders....nothing...they get outta there...when technically they can stay and help...they are salaried. We just recently had a different md cover ours...who is...terrible to nurses. Nobody likes him...he comes in on 2nd to do his rounds...I told my DON that I absolutely would not go with him and take an hour break...how about she ended up staying til late that night helping me do his orders. The ADON is his wife....even she stayed and helped. It would be ok if we could just read his handwriting. I thought an order said 25 grams and it was actually 2 scoops......how anybody could get 2 scoops out of that is beyond me. One of our CNAs just took her RN boards and passed...and just now found a prn job after a month of being an RN working as a CNA. Nobody would hire her d/t lack of experience ....she wanted something other than LTC but I told her to grab onto whatever she could and get that experience under her belt and then move on to something else. Luckily ...she took that advice and I think she will go far eventually. I have been looking for PRN work and so far..nothing and Ive been applying left and right since mid JULY.

Layoff announcements supposedly coming out of my hospital today. With less than 2 years experience, I take nothing for granted.

I have great sympathy for the new grads who can't even get their start. I have nothing useful to offer.

The very last new grad hired by my unit will soon be finishing her orientation. She was a student preceptee and a NAP on our unit, took ACLS, PALS, and other certifications on her own dime, and it still took her 6 months to get this job. Now, she may be first on the chopping block.

It just plain sucks.

No wonder I haven't been able to get anything there. I have applied to over 30 positions all over NC and couldn't get anyone to talk to me. I did have my info forwarded to Nurse Managers in the units in 2 hospitals but no interviews.

So I have been trying in my local state for now, but as I mentioned in my earlier post the RN experience that I get in long-term care or in Hospice will not count next year when I reapply for NC hospitals. I would have to compete with New Grads all over again which isn't good for me because I am not as flexible with hours as the youngsters who live at home are.

Well, good luck to you and to all of us!

I did it. I finally wrote to Oprah on her website for show ideas. I think it will take someone like her to shed light on this so-called nursing shortage issue. I recommend that you all do the same thing so that they see that this is a national problem. Speak your mind! Here's the link:

https://www.oprah.com/ord/plugform.jsp?plugId=216

(Use your Microsoft Word to help you keep it under 2000 characters. Thanks for all your support!)

I guess the news is finally catching up...check out this article & video on Fox News website:

http://onthescene.blogs.foxnews.com/...sing-shortage/

In speaking to travel companies, I'm hearing travel contracts are off 30-40%. The travel nurse forums are also full of conversation regarding difficulties in obtaining travel contracts or regular staff jobs. An odd situation for a country in the middle of a nursing shortage.