it's christmas eve! Bah humbug

Mulan · Dec 25, 2010

You can't compare the census on medsurg to LTC, it's apples and oranges.

If someone calls in sick on a holiday, they'd better be dead.

Merry Christmas!

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Dec 25, 2010

Ok 10 people on Med /Surg cry me a freaking river. Really Really your going to cry About 10 people try a LTC . I would of loved to only have 10 people. Go cry me a river is your song for the day. I was going to sing i'll have a Blue Christmas but no Cry Me a River fits. And as far as that Christmas Attitude well that's on you.
Maybe what you need is 3 spirits coming to see you. Or maybe a Dead Friend telling you about the chains in Life you forge. ( love saying that i used it on another posting) So co-workers call in what's different then any other day of the yr??. They call in all the time no difference the only thing that has changed really is You. Yea you heard me YOU.
It sounds like it's the holidays in general and not people calling in and not having 10 people. So how can you change it?? Well you need to look inside and ask yourself why during the holidays you feel like Bah Humbug. Maybe it's to much Christmas or maybe something in your past or maybe it's your job and you thought you would be doing something different on Nursing or something different all together. But don't say Bah Humbug when You yourself can change the out come of the season... So go take a warm bath drink your favorite drink and really look inside yourself. ( Gosh I'm better then DR Phil ) with out the " AND HOW'S THAT WORKING FOR YOU" These are my thoughts use them as you wish

Acute care is so different from LTC that you can't compare the number of patients. Six can be too big of an assignment at my job, depending on their acuity. We sometimes have to take 7 on days and pm's, and it is TOO MUCH. It's a totally different job. Cry yourself your own river.

Cheers.

OCNRN63, RN · Dec 25, 2010

I feel ya.
This is a 3 day weekend for my home health gig and I am on call.
Two nurses job share a client, a 1 hour visit, 7 days a week to do morning CBG and insulin. The nurse working this weekend took the visits because she wants next weekend (another 3 day for the agency) off.
This morning, ONE hour before she's supposed to be at the client's she calls and says she changed her mind. Not sick. No family emergancy. Her plans for next weekend fell through so she doesn't want it off after all.
What. The. ****.
I ended up telling her that if she didn't go to the visits as scheduled I'd consider it her resignation. She quit via text message a few minutes later.
Guess who gets to drive 150 miles round trip for a 9am visit the next 2 days.

Man.

I hope payback is a beeyotch for her when she applies for another job, IYKWIM.

KarmaWiseRaven · Dec 25, 2010

Acute care is so different from LTC that you can't compare the number of patients. Six can be too big of an assignment at my job, depending on their acuity. We sometimes have to take 7 on days and pm's, and it is TOO MUCH. It's a totally different job. Cry yourself your own river.
Cheers.

It seems your the one who is crying. Like i said before whats the difference Calling in today compared to any other day? It sounds like to me you need to learn Time Management Skills Yes i said it Time Management Skills. Put down your coffee cup and donuts or whatever your snacking on and do some work. And as far as a LTC goes there's nurses who would beg to differ with you. Oh they are different i would agree to that but with the amount of work we have to do a 2 hour med pass is a 2 hour med pass no matter how you slice it on top of the all other jobs we have to do through out or day. So go cry yourself a river and Please work on Time Mangement Skills. ( Don't make me come to your hospital and run circles around you ) Time Mangement Skills will really save you in the long run to where you won't think 7 is TO MUCH. Happy Holidays and Cheers ... These are my thoughts use them as you wish

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 25, 2010

Sounds like a rough day indeed. I've had quite a few of those 12-hour but wind up being 14-hour shifts myself so I feel your pain.

Have a great holiday anyway!

flashpoint · Dec 25, 2010

Well...I had a great time working Christmas Eve. I work in a tiny hospital where we only staff two nurses at night. We take care of the patients on the floor and the ER.

We had four patients on the floor and two ERs. We wrapped up some slipper socks (bought on sale at Target...not the ones from the stock room!) for our patients on the floor and gave them each a sample sized lotion (from a drug rep). We decorated the packages with candy canes and Christmas ornaments. Our lady who couldn't sleep got parked by the TV and she watched "A Wonderful Life" or something like that all night.

Our ERs got Christmas ornaments and candy canes upon discharge. The other nurse and I grazed on healthy snacks all night and we got a bunch of stocking done.

mmm cdiff · Dec 25, 2010

Karma, please come down from your high horse. We're all in the nursing profession, and we work our butts off. End of story. Please end the one-upping.

Trauma Columnist · Dec 25, 2010

Hey - I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Lets be kind to each other - no one likes to work holidays and to work very hard all the time is the way it is for ALL nurses nowadays.

I am thankful that I have a job though they didn't replace the mid-level that left midway thru the year and their pt load was divided among the three remaining providers.

However, I am still so thankful that I can say I have a job - many in my area don't.

This is a time to be thankful for what we have. Take care.

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Dec 26, 2010

It seems your the one who is crying. Like i said before whats the difference Calling in today compared to any other day? It sounds like to me you need to learn Time Management Skills Yes i said it Time Management Skills. Put down your coffee cup and donuts or whatever your snacking on and do some work. And as far as a LTC goes there's nurses who would beg to differ with you. Oh they are different i would agree to that but with the amount of work we have to do a 2 hour med pass is a 2 hour med pass no matter how you slice it on top of the all other jobs we have to do through out or day. So go cry yourself a river and Please work on Time Mangement Skills. ( Don't make me come to your hospital and run circles around you ) Time Mangement Skills will really save you in the long run to where you won't think 7 is TO MUCH. Happy Holidays and Cheers ... These are my thoughts use them as you wish

Um, since I'm not the OP, I think you directed this to the wrong person. I simply stated they are different working environments, as did someone else. The call in was not on my shift, and that was not my post.

In my area, yes, that IS too much, and yes, it can result in a med pass taking two hours, just for different reasons. Don't you dare lecture me on time management, or imply that I do ANYTHING at work besides work. Anything else I have to say in response to this will violate the TOS, so I'll keep them to myself.

Hospitals aren't nursing homes. That's the bottom line, like it or not.

pinksugar · Dec 26, 2010

You can't compare the census on medsurg to LTC, it's apples and oranges.
If someone calls in sick on a holiday, they'd better be dead.
Merry Christmas!

Exactly. Patients in the hospital are sick. Patients in LTC aren't sick - when they are, they send them to the hospital! :idea: Big difference.

OCNRN63, RN · Dec 26, 2010

Nursing is hard, no matter where you work. Let's give each other credit for what we do.

netglow, ASN, RN · Dec 26, 2010

OK, I'm just gonna have to hold a few of you down and IVP some *wine

And since some of you qualify as true emergent cases, I guess I'll have to give you my last pieces of :BDCk:too. And as for that other "service" some of you are in dire need of... you can forget it, my charity only goes so far.