Always Forced To Be Sitters

[Ashleightopia]

I've been on my unit for six months and I'm honestly sick of it. I'm floated to be a sitter at least 3 out of 6 shifts every pay period. 12 hours during night shift and if's absolute torture. Whenever we have a low census or they scheduled too many nurses, we are sent to be sitters around the hospital. I wouldn't complain, but I've noticed that they ONLY send the newest nurses on the unit. My preceptor has never been floated since I've been here. Not ONCE. Others too. They blatantly ignore continuity of care just to keep certain people on the unit. I did not sign up for this. If I had known there would be this much sitting, I would have never taken the job. The even more ridiculous thing is that the hospital has contracted a company specifically to provide sitters, but they still want to force psych nurses to sit with the worst patients. I have consistently asked to be low censused and voluntarily take the pay cut rather than to sit, but they never allow it  I literally dread coming to work most days because of it. I'm already looking for a new job. The psych burnout is hard enough already. 

[Mommycakers]

I feel the same way when I have to sit on a 1:1. It is torture for me.  It rarely happens where I work now and at my old job nurses only sat on 1:1’s if there were no techs/aides to sit on the 1:1. If you are sitting on 1:1’s that often you need to tell management or HR that you were hired to be a nurse and not to sit on 1:1’s. If they do not come up w/ another solution for coverage of the 1:1’s let them know you will be looking for another job elsewhere. Keep looking for another job because this pattern most likely will continue.