I'm just so upset right now, and tired, and frustrated... maybe if I just take some time and vent here, I'll actually feel a little better.
I'm taking care of eight patients tonight, plus one patient coming from surgery, late. We will have eighteen patients on the floor, with two nurses.
We were SUPPOSED to have a third nurse, but this little girl didn't check her schedule, and seems to think that she has a fixed schedule. Normally she works Sat, Sun, and Mon nights, and tonight is Tuesday. Well, NO ONE on this floor is fortunate enough to have a fixed schedule, and we have a nurse on vacation and one that just transferred to another unit, so night shift nurses are having to pick up nights that they don't normally work.
Anyway, so the supervisor called her when she didn't show up for work. They talked to her and she was like "Well, Sammie (our manager) and I have an agreement that I only work Sat. Sun and Monday nights." Okay, well then we should ALL have fixed schedules then.
I'm just... not feeling up to being responsible for nine patients tonight. And these patients are high acuity. We have two patients that have advanced cancer, one six week old baby.. several new surgery patients... one patient that recently had a small bowel resection and is on TPN... I have one fresh knee replacement... I have a pneumonia patient that is also confused... I just don't feel up to it tonight, at all. There is a chance that I may be pregnant, so I'm not sure if it's hormones or what... I just feel like crying right now, and I can't even get it out. I feel like if I could get all of that out, I'd feel better.
Have you ever noticed that you can't vent your frustrations to your coworkers? That is ALWAYS how I have felt here, every since I have worked here (six years). Nights that are good, are great, but often when I am very frustrated... I feel like I have no one to turn to.
Anyway.... I feel a bit better now. Thanks for listening, all.
You have to chaulk it up to the girl probably just didn't know. EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES. It happens. Besides, is she supposed to be doing an extra shift? If she just worked three in a row... and now they want a fourth? That is hard for everybody... even if they are young enough to be called "little girl." I think she's actually being pretty nice agreeing to work every weekend (Saturday and Sunday).
I understand how frusterating that can be. Can the house not get you some help? I would call my manager and talk with her directly about the unsafe staffing level.
I am not sure if it was the way I was raised or what but..... If I made a mistake with the schedule and was supposed to be there and was not, as soon as someone called I would drop whatever I was doing and zip right in. Maybe this girl made a mistake maybe not we don't know. I think i would be upset about taking care of that many patients regadless if I was pregnant or not. Hang in there, if stuff does change maybe you should think about a job change.
I've noticed over and over again my managers will hire a new young nurse who announces this 'special arrangement'...will only work this day or that...then the rest of us are supposed to jump in to accomodate the new kid on the block. I understand where the OP is coming from. Where is the retention instead of the recruitment? Where is the appreciation of longterm staff? It gets old.
I've watched entire shifts run off a new employee who comes on board this way. While I would never take part in it, and don't condone what they do, I CAN understand the frustration behind it.
I know where you are coming from! We've been just so busy lately and it seems like all of our patients are high acuity. We have a lot of people calling in sick because we are just so tired and burned out...we're averaging 8-10 patients assigned to each nurse...I know that is the norm for a lot of places, but when you're used to having no more than 4 or 5, it's a bit nerve wracking. We're all so tired that no one is willing to work any extra shifts, but if everyone could pick up even half of an extra shift every week, we probably wouldn't be so tired...just can't win.
And it's true that a lot of places are starting to go all out for new employees...promising set schedules, huge sign on bonuses, promising they won't have to float, better education reimbursement, etc... What happened to taking the best care of the people who have been there forever and have proven loyalty? I can name at least ten nurses who have been there for less than a year that are making more money than me, are enjoying sign on bonuses, and are planning to leave as soon as the two years they have contracted are up...sigh.
I've noticed over and over again my managers will hire a new young nurse who announces this 'special arrangement'...will only work this day or that...then the rest of us are supposed to jump in to accomodate the new kid on the block. I understand where the OP is coming from. Where is the retention instead of the recruitment? Where is the appreciation of longterm staff? It gets old.
I've watched entire shifts run off a new employee who comes on board this way. While I would never take part in it, and don't condone what they do, I CAN understand the frustration behind it.
not a nurse yet but, i can see that a lot of the more experienced nurses seem to feel resentful of some of the things the managers are doing to recruit new nurses, and rightfully so! But please try not to resent the new nurses, because they probably have no idea that others are not getting the same benefit. I know that when i interview for a job i look for a schedule that will satisfy my needs, and if the company can and is willing to accomodate me (and all other requirements are in order) then i would accept. I would have no idea, unless someone else told me, that others are not being accomodated. The same goes for salaries. I guess what i am saying is try not to get angry or upset with the newbies who are probably just doing and getting what they signed on for. Management is the entity at fault in these types of situations (inmho).
not a nurse yet but, i can see that a lot of the more experienced nurses seem to feel resentful of some of the things the managers are doing to recruit new nurses, and rightfully so! But please try not to resent the new nurses, because they probably have no idea that others are not getting the same benefit. I know that when i interview for a job i look for a schedule that will satisfy my needs, and if the company can and is willing to accomodate me (and all other requirements are in order) then i would accept. I would have no idea, unless someone else told me, that others are not being accomodated. The same goes for salaries. I guess what i am saying is try not to get angry or upset with the newbies who are probably just doing and getting what they signed on for. Management is the entity at fault in these types of situations (inmho).
exactly. and while it is in a lot of people's nature to go ahead and come on in and help (as it would be mine) you just never know... this person could be the primary care giver for someone (such as an elderly grandfather, for example) on her time off. she may have very good and important reasons for a set schedule and as to why she couldn't work that night. i mean, just as people are understanding of you needing your time, they need theirs also.
personally, if it were me... i probably would have came in and then told them that they needed to find a replacement ASAP as this was not when I was supposed to be scheduled. that is, if she truely had an agreement with the manager.
I just get frustrated that so much is done to recruit new nurses, but so little is done to retain the ones that have been on board for a long time. Someone in payroll dropped a list of employees and their wages in the parking lot of the hospital...someone found it, made copies, and passed it out to a bunch of other employees. I am making just over or less than a lot of nurses who have been there for a lot shorter time than I am and who have less experience than I do. Management had a big meeting about it and explained that a lot of the new nurses are being offered more money because they have education loans to pay back or because they are head of household and need more money to live on...so I am making less than someone who is a single mom because I am married??? Not bashing single parents or anything, just making an observation... My complaint is that people are being hired with a lot of perks...if I went in to my manager and told her that I needed a set schedule to care for my elderly father, she would probably tell me that she could not accomodate it...she knows that I am probably not going to quit...that I would struggle to make other arrangements, but someone who is brand new is being accomodated just to get them to sign on. There should be some extra perks for people who have been with a facility for a long time and who have proven their loyalty...
I would NOT risk my license by taking on a load of 9 patients, much less with such a high acuity. I definately would tell them that if they don't get me some help I will be handing in my 2 weeks notice at the end of the shift. Sorry hon, that's just too dangerous for both you and your patients. I feel so blessed because we vent at work all the time. I can't imagine not being able to. Our ratio on days is 5:1 with techs, a charge nurse, who helps and a unit secretary. I have been on occasion asked to take more. I will take a sixth if my other 5 are not bad. If they are I simply say no I will not take another patient. They have to understand or I'm out of there. So far no problems. When I'm in charge I refuse to let patients come up from the ER or PACU if were not adequately staffed. The first time I thought well I'll get repemaned or worse fired but nothing was ever said and I have done this several times. Like I said I feel blessed. We have just begun to do peritoneal dialysis, I will refuse to take the patient unless it is my only patient. This has not come up yet but it will. That's just too much responsibilty having only a 30 minute orientation. I'm venting now, sorry. Stick to your guns girl, there is a nursing shortage and you can find better working conditions!
My first question in thinking of your situation is....what type of hospital mixes those types of pts together. A cancer/chemo pt and for that matter fresh post-op knee should never be on a floor where you have pneumonia and the like. I was in your position once.....the next day I gave them my resignation in that it was my part time job at another hospital, and I wasnt going to risk my degree that I worked hard to get on some place that didnt care for the staff much less the pt care.....The reason why I dont like floor nursing, you are always at the mercy of the higher ups that think you can always get the job done with one less nurse and tech. No one considers the pt care.
That is a totally unsafe pt load. I don't know how you can do that. That's awful.
I totally agree! Eight patients per nurse in acute care nursing is entirely too many patients. Remember......when you receive report on those eight patients, you are totally responsible for them. Don't receive report or agree to an assignment that you cannot SAFELY manage or you may place your nursing license in jeopardy, not to mention legal suits if something goes wrong with one of your patients during your shift. Nurses need to really think about what they agree to accept. The risk is on us. Be watchful and proceed with caution. :)
not a nurse yet but, i can see that a lot of the more experienced nurses seem to feel resentful of some of the things the managers are doing to recruit new nurses, and rightfully so! But please try not to resent the new nurses, because they probably have no idea that others are not getting the same benefit. I know that when i interview for a job i look for a schedule that will satisfy my needs, and if the company can and is willing to accomodate me (and all other requirements are in order) then i would accept. I would have no idea, unless someone else told me, that others are not being accomodated. The same goes for salaries. I guess what i am saying is try not to get angry or upset with the newbies who are probably just doing and getting what they signed on for. Management is the entity at fault in these types of situations (inmho).
I believe that mattsmom who were responding to was expressing her anger at management, not the new person.
Who can blame a new person for negotiating what's best for them. And you're right, they don't know the culture of the unit they are going to.
I gotta give my manager her props. She's more accommodating to the people with seniority than the newbies, in certain issues. She tries to be fair to all, especially students who need a special schedule to attend class. My schedule is pretty set, as we are self scheduling and I get the same schedule week after week. She gives me every Monday off to be in a bowling league (been there 13 years). But we all know nothing is set in stone and I check that schedule every time it comes out to see if it's been changed based on the needs of the unit. And when it is changed, which happens occasionally, I work it without complaint, as I know there is no such thing as a permanent schedule for anyone.
To have new people with a set schedule, and not allow all employees the same benefit is wrong. I'm all about recruitment, but the flipside is retention. :)
jeepgirl, LPN, NP
851 Posts
You have to chaulk it up to the girl probably just didn't know. EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES. It happens. Besides, is she supposed to be doing an extra shift? If she just worked three in a row... and now they want a fourth? That is hard for everybody... even if they are young enough to be called "little girl." I think she's actually being pretty nice agreeing to work every weekend (Saturday and Sunday).
I understand how frusterating that can be. Can the house not get you some help? I would call my manager and talk with her directly about the unsafe staffing level.