Bad working environment

[LilyNurse123]

I'm just looking for some advice as I just don't know where to turn.

Ive been working on a medical admissions unit for over six years and always loved it there until recently. There has been some major changes on the ward with regards to the management team attitude, and a lot of junior staff have left over the past six months or so. The ward is very poorly run and the ward managers are very unsupportive and bullies to be honest. They are very manipulative and deliberately make life difficult for staff with rubbish off-duty and a nasty attitude. I could go on all day with examples but I won't.

Anyway, the point is that the stress levels in there at the moment are sky high. We have no staff, working short EVERY single shift, with no support from the managers who just sit in the office and come out only to moan we aren't answering call bells or phones quickly enough. We have no equipment, sharing three obs machines between 50+ patients because they are all broken and "being repaired" for months now. Plus the patient turnover is higher than it's ever been, with more and more pressure to transfer patients because a new patient is waiting for their bed. It's completely unrealistic, and the patients are not getting good care from us as a result.

Staff morale is at an all time low and we are finding it difficult to even find time to support the newly qualified nurses who have started there. They end up in tears most shifts, and we physically don't have the time to give them the support they so desperately need.

I don't know what to do. I hate it there now and it's affecting my confidence and my home life. I am constantly in tears and just feel I can't cope. I have always managed really well on there, but the demands are too high now. Nobody seems to be investigating why over half the staff have left, and I feel so hopeless. I don't see how it can ever improve while the management team stays as it is, but I want it to get better because I always loved it there. I feel I have nobody to turn to because it will be seen as me not being able to cope, rather than too much pressure. I don't want to affect my chances for the future by making a fuss, but I can't go on like this. I get on well with our matron and she is quite approachable, but the management team are her friends, and I feel I can't go in there and be honest about them. What can I do? Any suggestions welcome :) xx

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

What can I do? Any suggestions welcome :) xx

For your own sanity, the only thing you can do is leave. A job is just a job, and no job in existence should have you constantly in tears.

I suspect your new managerial team knows exactly how things are being run, but they do not care about employee turnover. I get the vibe that they are trying to manage the day to day operations while doing the bare minimum to get through.