cutbacks at work due to economy

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

I am so mad, I could spit nails. I know that the economy is bad, but its bad for the employees too. They now have us running on a skeleton crew which is dangerous. We are told to not use supplies unless absolultely necessary. Now they have suspended our merit raises, then they have the nerve to ask us for a donation! Twice the work, less pay. But yet they are remodelling and expanding. They can afford those things but dont realize that it is us employees who are the backbone. Anyone else's hospital doing things like this?

[CathyLew]

Yep... we were told to try not to order anything near the end of the year... and when we asked for 20Ga catheters, we were told we had used our limit for the month!

remodeling in some parts of the hospital, but the MSP floor I have been on for 17+ years hasn't been updated since I was born at the hospital! Yea, we get new paint every 7 years... but you can paint a pile of crap, and it still is crap. We need new heating, med room, windows, bathrooms for the pt rooms. new lights in the rooms. the roof leaks, and they have to put out buckets when it gets bad.... not to mention the equipment, or lack thereof!

ahhhhhhh.. I feel better now. *wine sometimes you just have to whine about the job! hang in there! and remember, never go to management and complain unless you are prepared to give some valid solid suggestions on what would help. They will listen more if you offer suggestions.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Years ago, city and state hospitals took a day's pay for 5 pay-periods due to a recession. It really would not surprize me if this were to happen again. What I do see is combining services in one area in order to reduce the use of electricity, overtime and security. I am sure there is more to come.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

I hope the management is also setting an example by forfeiting any raises for themselves.

[tencat]

I hope the management is also setting an example by forfeiting any raises for themselves.

Yeah, but that would make TOO much sense. How many of our CEOs are taking cuts themselves? They should be if they're asking us to.

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

It would have been nice if they had come to us FIRST to allow us to try and make cuts, keep lights turned off on rooms that were not in use, cut down on supplies, etc. It would have been nice to have been included in this decision, give us a chance to make it better before putting us through this. My job is hard enough, this just makes me want to quit. I cant work like this. I have too many patients, which caused me to make a med error yesterday. It makes me hate my job and just absolutely not care (I do care about the patients though). I know I may have the wrong attitude, but I am very disappointed in the lack of support from administration.

[mbdirt]

I see nothing wrong with your attitude. You are frustrated and tired of carrying other people's loads. I know. I feel the same way. While I work in a government hospital that will probably not cut back on supplies, we have opened a new bed when our night shift staff is dropping from an already marginal number due to transfers and retirements. What I WISH I would see is more nurses saying what you are saying and then getting together to say them in unison to the right people. We need to change things too, not just government. Does the idea of a union sound like an option? Isn't this kind of problem what unions are for?

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

How do you get a union? I have never worked for a union and have no clue how to get one in there. Anyone know?

[mbdirt]

Check www.calnurses.org and look up NNOC history. Are you aware of the movement now to allow unions to operate in every state without interference of hospital administrations? There is a Employee Free Choice Act being discussed by Obama's supporters that would make it easier to form a union/join a union.

[chenoaspirit, ASN, RN]

Thanks for the info, I am going to look into it. No, I hadnt heard about Obama's supporters. Ive never worked for a union and dont know much about it, but its something worth thinking about. I cant work like this. There are no other jobs within 65 miles and they know that none of us want to drive over an hour one way to another job. Thats why everyone cries in silence because they feel like they have no choice.

[BroadwayRN, ASN, RN]

I hope the management is also setting an example by forfeiting any raises for themselves.

We are not getting a merit raise this year, supposedly management isn't either, but they also said corporate wasn't getting any merit raises but according to the newspaper they did receive "hefty bonuses".

I'll have one of those too please! I'm not holding my breath

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

Unions can't really help when management wants to cutback. I've worked only at facilities with unions and management still acts this way. Unions can't stop that.