Another one wanting to bite the dust.

[martymoose]

 

Warning, kind of a rant that nurses might understand....

I know many of my prior postings stated I want out of nursing; that is still true. But making it happen is such a difficult thing to do. Especially since the latest thing at my job is to steal our nurses for other overflow floors, and leave us with 10 patients each ( or more) to take care of on a cardiac stepdown floor. I can't get out fast enough!

All this does is make more people quit ,which is why they're stealing nurses to cover holes from other quitting nurses. Vicious cycle.

Of course the easy answer is , " well , why don't you quit too? " or find another job? Well, because only  jobs available are these patient care jobs, or jobs that want you to know everything already, such as care management and UM needing to already know regulations, etc. Or jobs that require on call, and I already live 50 minutes away, or excellent IV skills , which I don't have ( think bull in china shop) .

So then one says , well why don't you get a job in another field. Well, a 50 percent cut and no benefits is going to make me make my family have 1.) nowhere to live( we'd lose our house we've paid 20 years into, and believe me , its a dump as it is) 2. )no benefits- so if any of us gets sick or injured, well, too bad I guess. 3) There's this thing called needing food to live. Not gonna happen on a McDonalds job ( and they prob wouldn't hire me anyway, as I'm , lets say, Gen X. ( even though I worked there 3 years in 1982 ? )

Sooo, the conundrum. I've thought, well , go back to school? for what? The thing I was good at was nursing when in a fairly controlled situation ( oh um , like 4 pts on a stepdown for example) Even the ICU's are having  4 pts at times . The covid floors have 8 pts a piece!) 

I could get another two year degree at the community college, but still end up making 12 bucks an hour. I could go for a MBA- mega huge cost there which makes no sense at my age. 

So it's no wonder I dread every day I have to go in, and and upset that there seems to be no alternatives. Is this common in the "gen X" group? I'm guessing all hospitals are like this too. The PCP offices only hire LPN s and Med techs now, so no hope there either.

What to do, what to do.........

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

17 minutes ago, LibraNurse27 said:

10 step-down patients??? are you serious?? How do you even do that? My step-down pts often turned in to ICU pts and I could be stuck in one pts room with the RRT team, then helping with ICU transfer... what would happen to the other 9 pts??? OMG. How do the patients stay alive? How do YOU stay alive? 

 

Many of the patients were ICU patients that got kicked out early cause they have no beds. Many of them end right back there. I basically have to prioritize who can get away with not being seen much. I still try to make passes and keep an eyeball on them. It is absolutely ridiculous. I say  this hospital is a disgrace to make us run like this. Aaaand we have the 9 pm med pass which is almost impossible with those types of pts. 

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

At least you are all telling me this is NOT normal. I just don't understand . It's been like this for about 2 months now. It's not like an occasional thing. We cant replace people fast enough, and they didn't renew or hire any travelers. I guess they really don't care. And its probably any bad outcome will be blamed on the nurse , not on them. Yeah its real fun titrating o2 n 3  pts ,CHF and covid, and then titrating meds like nitro and amio and Cardizem.?

I'll keep looking . Thanks for the support so far.

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

23 minutes ago, martymoose said:

At least you are all telling me this is NOT normal. I just don't understand . It's been like this for about 2 months now. It's not like an occasional thing. We cant replace people fast enough, and they didn't renew or hire any travelers. I guess they really don't care. And its probably any bad outcome will be blamed on the nurse , not on them. Yeah its real fun titrating o2 n 3  pts ,CHF and covid, and then titrating meds like nitro and amio and Cardizem.?

I'll keep looking . Thanks for the support so far.

The worst assignment I ever got was 9 patients on a med oncology floor with no tech or secretary. Worst assignment I had on PCU was 6 patients one of which was a chronic vent. Recently had 16 sub acute covid positive patients by myself with no cnas we only sent our covid patients out if they required bipap so care was pretty acute, it was really hard.

I would still take all of the above before I would accept working at a place that felt 10 pcu patients for one nurse is acceptable. If you guys are this short they need to be pulling administrative nurses to the floor and get some travelers in.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

2 minutes ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

would still take all of the above before I would accept working at a place that felt 10 pcu patients for one nurse is acceptable. If you guys are this short they need to be pulling administrative nurses to the floor and get some travelers in.

A freakin men!(amen!)

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

It is definitely not normal. I am in CA where we have ratios but I traveled to Arkansas and even in Med/Surg the worst I got was 7 on days and 9 on nights. Still horrible, but no titrating drips!! That is so dangerous. How can you even watch the vitals closely enough to titrate?

And some of the pts are covid?? So donning and doffing on top of everything. Covid pts on high flow O2 need a lot of titrating and support. I've seen their sats drop fast when they get up. How can you catch it and put on the PPE and run in if you're passing meds to 10 pts? Just thinking about this is making me stressed. I can't imagine doing it. What are the normal ratios for your floor? I feel so bad that if I knew where you lived I'd job hunt for you! This is crazy

[Chickenlady]

GI, outpatient surgery, occupational health, corrections are all good options

[Closed Account 12345]

Are you in a position to take travel contracts with an agency that offers benefits? There is some serious money to be made if you're able to travel right now - like $5-8,000/week. 

Those patient ratios are insane. If you can't get out locally, get out at a distance! (Of course this only works if you aren't needed at home for young children.) It may not be a long term solution but can buy you time while you find the right opportunity. 

Teaching is so much fun, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to make $30,000 or earn benefits teaching CNAs. You might, quite literally, make more at the jokingly mentioned McDonald's job.

 

[SilverBells, BSN]

You lost me at 10 patients on a cardiac stepdown unit.  Not because I think you're lying, but because to me that is unspeakable.   I remember when I did nursing clinicals on a cardiac stepdown unit (not the same as actually working as a nurse, I know) and found the two patients I was "assigned" to keep me busy/stressed out enough.  Heck, even 10 LTC residents can be stressful, but as others have said, these patients are usually medically stable.  Their behaviors can get to you though...

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

16 hours ago, SilverBells said:

You lost me at 10 patients on a cardiac stepdown unit.  Not because I think you're lying, but because to me that is unspeakable.   I remember when I did nursing clinicals on a cardiac stepdown unit (not the same as actually working as a nurse, I know) and found the two patients I was "assigned" to keep me busy/stressed out enough.  Heck, even 10 LTC residents can be stressful, but as others have said, these patients are usually medically stable.  Their behaviors can get to you though...

No not really . One post stemi, nstemi, hypernatremia in the 160 range, IV mag supplements, new chf'ers, covid, rapid a  fib, etc. One doesnt make this stuff up. and 3 of them were ED admits at the beg of shift within a 2 hour span. 

Its OK , I get the gist this is my fault for staying on.If I am stupid enough t o accept such an assignment, I'm just the dumb one for not quitting and finding something else.

And its clear employer doesn't give a rats *** for its employees or the patients. We are constantly told cant hold things up for staffing ( lack of). 

Our normal ratio now is 1:7 

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

17 hours ago, Closed Account 12345 said:

 

Teaching is so much fun, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to make $30,000 or earn benefits teaching CNAs. You might, quite literally, make more at the jokingly mentioned McDonald's job.

 

Aldis and costco are starting at around 16 bucks an hour. At least in retail no ones life is at stake, or license on the line. ?hmmmmm

 

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

1 hour ago, martymoose said:

ts OK , I get the gist this is my fault for staying on.If I am stupid enough t o accept such an assignment, I'm just the dumb one for not quitting and finding something else.

Not your fault. Not everyone can afford to stop working and lose benefits, especially if you have a family, that requires stability. Sometimes people outside the situation can more easily say "just quit", but the reality that's not always a feasible option. The system you're working in is overwhelmed and you have found yourself with unsafe working conditions. You're not alone in this either. You're going in, doing your best, and your patients are lucky that you care enough to be bothered by the current situation. I hope that something changes for your soon, or that there's another feasible option for your to explore. I'm sure it's disappointing and frustrating, but don't put it all on yourself. 

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

Thank you JBMmom MSN . Thats was very kind.