A rash of firings...

[kesmarn]

Is this happening in anyone else's place of employment? Since the beginning of 2012 our 240 bed acute care hospital has fired at least a dozen nurses and a few PCTs (nursing assistants). Many of them have been over 50 years old and had worked there for many years. Those of us who remain don't have any info on reasons for these abrupt terminations. The nurses involved will usually be working as usual when they're suddenly pulled off the floor into the office and told to empty their lockers and be escorted out by security.

Needless to say those of us who remain have stress levels that are through the roof. Most if not all of the nurses terminated seemed to be "good" nurses. It seems odd that someone could perform acceptably for 30 years and then suddenly become incompetent...

Could this be because new Medicare reimbursement policies factor in patient satisfaction scores and young attractive nurses get higher ratings from patients? As an older nurse, naturally I'm worried.

[PennyWise]

Is this happening in anyone else's place of employment? Since the beginning of 2012 our 240 bed acute care hospital has fired at least a dozen nurses and a few PCTs (nursing assistants). Many of them have been over 50 years old and had worked there for many years. Those of us who remain don't have any info on reasons for these abrupt terminations. The nurses involved will usually be working as usual when they're suddenly pulled off the floor into the office and told to empty their lockers and be escorted out by security.

Needless to say those of us who remain have stress levels that are through the roof. Most if not all of the nurses terminated seemed to be "good" nurses. It seems odd that someone could perform acceptably for 30 years and then suddenly become incompetent...

Could this be because new Medicare reimbursement policies factor in patient satisfaction scores and young attractive nurses get higher ratings from patients? As an older nurse, naturally I'm worried.

Funny, about the younger nurses getting better ratings with patients. It doesn't go that way where I live. Many (actually, most) patients get annoyed if there is nothing but young nurses working on the unit. IDK what their reasoning is. One patient on my unit always says "Some days, its too much of a Barbie Parade here."

We all float down here.

[PennyWise]

This is why I would never work for a non union facility. They can't pull that BS.

Mmmm....if the conditions are right they can. The hospital I left not too long ago had a union, but the nursing staff was not in it. The maintenance, aids, housekeeping and dietary staff were a union. They voted not to let the hospital withhold their annual raises one year and the hospital admin responded in kind with layoffs/firings.

The maintenance staff were targeted with many layoffs that were politically motivated. They did not follow the guidelines for layoffs (seniority). They got rid of the highest paid workers first, then got rid of the ones they thought may have influenced the union to vote the way they did.

When the union complained, they practically dared them to strike. There was no strike, and the hospital was free to do w/e it chose to.

We all float down here.

[MJB2010]

A lot of places use this tactic to save money. Once you are experienced you are making more per hour. They get rid of you and fill your spot (or not fill it) with someone they can pay less. They save insurance, retirement, and wages. It is a pretty crappy thing to do but a lot of places do it. I have worked both union and nonunion jobs and all places are different. I do have to say sounds like you guys need one.

Sad thing about nursing in my area, no one is willing to pay new grads and want experienced nurses, but they are also not willing to pay for that experienced nurse. People are getting desperate and taking less per hour, so nursing hourly rates are getting worse and worse. Then you have to decide how much of a pay cut am I willing to take? When you look around and see far easier jobs paying slightly less, guess what is going to happen. We arent quite there yet, but in my area it is coming. New grads are making 6 bucks an hour less than new grads at this same facility 5 years ago. We are going backwards. We are paying more for our insurance and making less each year. Sad.

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

One patient on my unit always says "Some days, its too much of a Barbie Parade here."

LOL. Barbie parade.

[netglow, ASN, RN]

No. It's the way hospitals are so very corporate in their very essence now. Yes, they were always a "corporation" but now, like the banks they exist to bring in serious cash. They exist for no other reason. Those in charge are there for that purpose only. Maybe you have some MDs in admin? well, ummm, no not anymore, they are glad to be out of patient care and are there to be representatives in title only. They are glad to think of themselves as "suits" but the real suits see them as chumps, which they certainly are - they will throw all of us under the bus in a second.

OP, is your facility building a new tower? Or, have they recently built one? they will pay for it by firing experienced nurses as one just did a few months back near me @ 100 of them.

In many areas there is this purposeful dumbing down of patient care. Believe me when I say that if there was a way to cross-train housekeeping to be RNs and MDs, it would be done. And yes, it's been pondered over and over again. In my area most docs are employees of the large hospital networks, very few having independent practices. Now, few can survive independence since the other employed docs are not allowed to refer to them - only to in-house docs. So these independents are starved of patients, and the employee docs are being treated just as crappy as nursing is. Nursing is something corporate wants to do away with if at all possible near me, excepting one hospital that seems to want, want, want NPs (to get rid of MD staff at the clinical specialty program supervisory levels ... and this is a well known teaching hospital)

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

It's all about money. Always is. They can trump up any charge they want against a nurse, we are so vulnerable as far as employment goes.

I'm mid fifties with almost 20 yrs exp. (I was a late bloomer). I make about $5 more an hour than the new nurses being hired where I work. That's with the new nurses opting for no benefits. That's roughly $700-800 dollars a month. Factor in sick time, vacation time and benefits and you can see I'm much more expensive.

When money gets tight, and costs must be slashed, eventually you get to staff.

[jodyangel, RN]

What retirement benefits LOl

[jodyangel, RN]

Kesmarn: Yes I did; I got fired last August and I just now found a new job;however I also just now threw my hands up and decided to really look atLTC jobs again. I've been looking mostly at hospitals and home health/hospice. Hospital jobs where I live are getting harder and harder to comeby, for anyone. I've put in many applications at hospitals and gotten NOreply from many of those.

So have you given up working in the hospital? Do you think you being fired had something to do with your not being able to find anything??

[kesmarn]

Thanks so much for your thoughts, netglow. Believe it or not, our facility (besides firing all these people) forced all the unit secretaries to become State Trained Nursing Assistants! They were very upset about it -- understandably. Why would admin assume that people who applied for jobs that involve computer entry and phone/call light answering want to empty bedpans and check blood sugars? (And of course, I do know the answer to that....$$$$$) So now they're expected to do both jobs.

When there's no STNA or unit secretary available, they force RNs to work as aides.

[kesmarn]

MJB2010, I agree. We're losing ground. People say negative things about unions, but it's beginning to feel as though things could hardly be worse with one than without! We're almost at that "we've got nothing more to lose" stage of the game.

[kesmarn]

Terrific comment, PennyWise. We all float as well, and there is also a float pool. But some days we're still short staffed because of all the firings, and also all the people who left when the firings started. It was a sort of pre-emptive move: "I'm getting another job before you do this to me too." Now we're really hurting -- to the point where admin is denying people their vacation time this summer. You can imagine how THAT's improved morale.

[caliotter3]

You said it in your second paragraph, they performed acceptably for 30 years. Your employer is getting rid of employees to preclude paying out retirement benefits. Obvious. If I were getting up there in seniority, I would become nervous too.