Are any of you loyal?

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2011

Feel what way? That we'd like to get the job we want and stay at it? Sure. Am I loyal to employers? As loyal as they are to me. So no.

diva rn, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2011

Sure, there are a lot of nurses who feel this way. However, the truth of the matter is many hospitals have been burned far too many times by new nurses who get hired on a unit that is less than their "dream job" with promises to stay forever and ever....with the hospital only to be stuck in about 6months to 1 year when the same "loyal" new nurse now has some experience and leaves for a new job on a more favorable unit...

It is very costly to hire and orient any new hire-especially a new grad...so you can perhaps see eveyone's concern here.

Yes, maybe YOU are loyal and maybe YOU won't leave, but thousands of new grads will and have....in fact, there was a fairly recent thread on this topic where some new nurses voiced their thoughts...that they felt that their professional futures were of no concern to the hospitals...if you can find it, you may be enlightened...and not in a pleasant way!

MyUserName,RN · Sep 25, 2011

I understand your frustration, but the fact of the matter is, you probably are not going to get hired on to your most desired unit right out of school. I am a recent grad as well and you don't know how many of my classmates expected (and still do) to get hired onto ICU, ER, NICU, L&D, etc etc and those that feel that way, still don't have jobs. The people who went into the job search not being so picky, are the ones who are getting the job offers and interviews. Whether you want to be loyal or not, sometimes you just do what you have to do.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2011

I am not loyal to any workplace or employer. I was 20 years of age when Enron collapsed back in 2001, and it left a profound impact on my personal views regarding workplace loyalty. I watched as all of those loyal, long-time employees lost everything. That corporation was not loyal to the employees, so why should the employees return the loyalty?

I will continue to work at a place of employment as long as they are meeting my needs regarding compensation and working environment. Once they stop meeting my needs, I will hit the road and hop to the next job that meets my needs without one morsel of guilt or remorse.

MyUserName,RN · Sep 25, 2011

I also agree that employers really don't care about being loyal to their employees. This is in any field. Companies care about bottom lines and they will do what they have to do to make more money without regard to employee loyalty. You have to watch your own back and do what's best for you. I'm with thecommuter on this one. I'm loyal as long as my needs are being met as well.

klone, MSN, RN · Sep 25, 2011

It's an arrangement of mutual benefit. I treat my employer with respect and am ethical and moral in my practice, but loyalty doesn't really figure into it.

diva rn, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2011

In today's job market, I think you should be happy to get a position..ANY position...it's very tight right now and experienced nurses are having a difficult time, as well. It is almost impossible for a new grad to get hired now in the area of the country I am located in. It's sad, it may be unfair, but it's true.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Sep 25, 2011

I can understand the position of the hiring hospital. And with pediatrics, I have personal experience that helps me understand it a bit. (as do many others). Pediatrics is not about all kids coming in and getting better after their tonsillectomies. The floor I worked on was about 80% frequent fliers from growing NICU kids (some were teenagers- but had permanent disabilities d/t prematurity), DD kids, kids needing livers that glowed in the dark an unearthly color of green, babies/kids being taken away from their homes d/t abuse, MVAs with bad outcomes, s/p multi-organ transplant kids, kids with ALL manner of genetic issues, an unexpected number of ambiguous genitalia with more organ deformities, etc. We didn't do pediatric oncology on that floor, but just about everything else.

Not everyone can handle what REALLY is involved with pediatrics...nothing wrong with that- but the hospital needs to do what it can to make sure someone at least can deal with nursing in general before hiring for some really fragile patients.

Can you handle the sound of a parent's indescribable cries when their baby dies (5 months old- didn't get a liver)? Or the same sound when a toddler dies after an MVA? The toddler who has been submerged in scalding water and knows at age 2 that crying is pointless- nobody will come- even during dressing changes? A 10-wk old with a broken femur thanks to mom's boyfriend? A 6 pound 1 month old who has dropped weight- had open heart surgery 3 weeks before r/t Downs syndrome issues- and mom left it to get infected....she sent the DOG in to check the diapers- if the dog barked, she'd change the baby....If it's on the evening news, you know your assignment list? What about the kid with bowel issues that requires Q6h "irrigations" to avoid becoming impacted- and throws things at you (which isn't inappropriate for a 3 year old- especially one who is treated "special" because of the physical issues).

Can you hold down a 3 day old for a spinal tap, I&O cath, and sepsis work-up labs while the mom stands outside the procedure room sobbing (and she's an easy parent to deal with- just still reeling from having had a kid 72 hours before, and scared to death something is BAD wrong because the kid isn't eating what she thinks it should) - thinking she's making a mistake for "letting you hurt" her baby? Can you look the parent who abused/allowed abuse in the eyes when social services brings them up for a supervised visit? Can you spend half of the shift in isolation garb while RSV or the flu are r/o- after you've inserted a wire "brush" into the nose of a newborn to get the swab for lab to find out if they're infectious? Can you float to NICU and feed a baby missing the back half of its head? Can you float to PICU, to be assigned the patient who you can't hurt- because they're already actively dying?

It's not about the cute little kids (there were some- but not that many). And, are you ready for your hours to be cut by 1/3 over the summer with low census? And no adult floor willing to let you pick up hours there for some unknown reason, even though you've had a LOT of experience there? Pedi nurses generally stay if it's their thing. Openings aren't as easy to find unless you live near a Childrens Hospital- and even then, in this market, you're going to need experience.

Adult experience is NOT a waste with pediatrics. You need a solid base- and not all pedi patients are little (300 pound diabetic 14 year old?) You don't get to pick just the little ones :) You need to know what is "normal" with assessing patients who can cooperate before you tackle the ones who can't give you any info but a scream. Will you know what to look for with a suicidal teenage girl who just ate 40 Tylenol, and give her the nasty Mucomyst- that she can end up in liver failure if she spits any of it out? (teenage ODs are a dime a dozen on a pedi floor- psych can't take them until they're medically stable).

Can you deal with the parent who wants you to give the post-appy kid more morphine when he's desating- and tells the charge nurse you are refusing to keep their kid comfortable (and the kid nods off when you're not in the room), when you are on the phone non-stop with the tired hosptalist trying to get more orders for O2/various analgesics so you CAN medicate the kid while not causing brain damage from low sats? What about the Jehovah's Witness kid, who needs a transfusion to live- and the ethics department is involved in getting custody to "force" a transfusion that the parents are refusing (which is their right...but the hospital is trying to protect the life of the kid)? How about the 1 year old new diabetic who can't understand why YOU are coming in every 4 hours to do blood sugar sticks and insulin? Or the 6 month old who can't understand that you're squeezing his/her foot for blood- lab doesn't always do pedi labs; nurses do that. Pedi nurses also do pedi IVs. Got good IV skills? . Co-workers help- but they can't pick up all of your IVs because you don't know the tricks that come with experience :)

I loved the time I had in pedi - I also loved the kids I took care of on regular floors before most hospitals had floors just for kids (mid-80s, if you worked neuro, you got the neuro kids; smaller hospitals still put the kids on regular floors-even now, in smaller towns- OR if the hospital doesn't get that many kids to dedicate a whole staff/floor to them...maybe look for one of those :)).

Loyalty is great when it doesn't interfere with getting walked on. If an employer sniffs out someone who shouts their loyalty from the rooftops, they OWN you. You need to be loyal to yourself- and do the best job you can no matter where you work. But don't tell any employer how "loyal" you are- you will be on the top of that call-list before you can take your next breath.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Sep 25, 2011

As far as staying in the same job "forever"???? LOL.... :specs:

Your intentions will soon be meeting reality :) Nice goal...but unrealistic :smokin:

SweettartRN · Sep 25, 2011

I am only as loyal as my employer is to me. When that relationship is no longer mutual, the relationship is over in my book.

I also do not believe in a two week notice, or any other kind of notice for that matter. The employer would never extend me the same courtesy (with very few exceptions) and I am grateful to live in an at-will state.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Sep 25, 2011

Beautiful post, xtxrn.