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.
