Do you actually like your unit?

rockabye · Jan 14, 2011

I think I may be a minority on this subject, but yes I like my unit.

1. Neonatal ICU

2. anywhere from 1-3 patients per shift

3. I like it because staff is friendly and there is lots of teamwork. My coworkers are always there to help me out. I love my patient population and the different diagnoses and procedures keep me interested. There are many committees on the unit to get involved with to help develop policies and sharing ideas for a better unit. There is a lower turnover rate so more experienced nurses are available for feedback. The managers are easy to approach. The doctors are pretty good for the most part. The pay is important in that I can pay all my bills and have some left over for saving and entertainment. My unit isn't perfect but I have seen much improvement in the short amount of time I have worked there. :nurse:

Queen2u · Jan 14, 2011

Hey, Little Mouse.....to answer your questions...

1. Type of unit/department: Postpartum

2. Nurse to patient ratio: 1:6, but if the acuity changes (ex, PIH, blood transfusion, recent cesarean section, as

our unit requires us to assess recent cesarean sections more often), the ratio changes accordingly.

3. Why do you like it?: :redbeathe:redbeathe:redbeatheI LOVE IT for many reasons. I knew since about the age of 5 that I would be a health care professional working somewhere in the area of women's services. It is such an amazing environment!!!!! How could you not love assisting a family make the transition into expanding their family??!!!:redbeathe:redbeathe:redbeathe

4. Is pay an important factor, or is it the RN:PT ratio? Good/supportive staff? Generally liking the unit/patients?: Honestly, I currently am paid what an LVN in my home state would earn....having said that, I can pay my rent, bills, buy food, eat out, shop......anything I want, and still have more money in the bank than I have ever had in my account. Everyone I work with is supportive (minus one house supervisor), and this DEFINITELY helps!!!!! I LOVE the patients I serve because they are very appreciative of what you do for them!!!!!

I hope this helps!!!!!

RNperdiem, RN · Jan 14, 2011

1.SICU

2. 1:1 or 1:2

3. We have a reasonable workload, good teamwork with the other nurses. There is a resident posted just for ICU so we always have a doctor close by or quickly accessible by page. We see lots of interesting surgical patients in a Level 1 trauma center. We are equipped to give the best care possible. The job satisfaction of being to give the patients the care you would like them to have has kept me in my low-turnover unit for many years. This is a unit where everyone eats lunch 99% of our working days.

4. Pay: Well, I am per diem and work for a good set rate depending on shift worked. The pay is reasonable. Job satisfaction is at least as important as pay.

TonyaM73, ASN, RN · Jan 14, 2011

1. Med/Surg

2. 1:6-7

3. It is busy as all get out, but the patients are interesting with a wide variety of diagnosis and age. My co-workers are awsome exept for just a couple. Great support from CN and managers. I just love the people that I work with!

4. Pay is okay for the work that we do, but the biggest attration for me is the teamwork and managment support.

When I was in school, I really didn't want to work med/surg at all. All I wanted was to work with Moms giving birth to babies..(Didn't want to work with the babies all that much, just the laboring moms) When I graduated, I couldn't get a job in the hospital without experience, so I found a job at a LTC/SNF. HATED IT! Too many patients. No managment support. No teamwork. I have come to appreciate the Med/Surg experience and am not sure I will leave, at least anytime soon because of the people that I work with and the managment.

danh3190 · Jan 14, 2011

Yes I like my unit.

Cardiac unit many post-cath and post-pacemaker but some longer term cardiac

Usually 5 pt/nurse in daytime. Sometimes 4 occasionally 6.

Like Cardiac. Like the Unit director. Like many coworkers.

Pt/Nurse ratio is important to me as is management and coworkers. Pay not so important.

Jules A, MSN · Jan 14, 2011

I do like my psych unit because of my awesome coworkers and patients, most of them anyway.

1:10 ratio. Pay and schedule in that order are the most important things to me when it comes to my jobs.

Anisettes, BSN, RN · Jan 14, 2011

1. Type of Unit/Dept - OR in receiving hospital for wounded military from downrange

2. Nurse to patient ratio - the OR is 1:1 per case with a line-up of successive cases

3. Why do you like it? - pay is nowhere near stateside or civilian levels, but Extremely high level of personal job satisfaction. So much so that pay is the last consideration on my mind.

Or is it the RN:PT ratio? Not an issue in the OR

Good/supportive staff? Staff pretty much like anywhere else - outstanding nurses mixed in with a sprinkling of clock watchers, whiners, and lazy-asses.

Generally liking the unit/patients? - I like the OR, I love my patients - everyone of them is my child, every one of them has somebody back home who only wants to have them home again - no matter how jacked-up a condition a they come home in.

iNurseUK, RN · Jan 14, 2011

Love my unit;

Type: Oncology, does both chemotherapy and radiotherapy and occasional palliative care.

Ratio: 1 RN to 4 patients

Why I like it: The hospital is a known centre of excellence with high standards and a very active research component. The multidisciplinary teamwork is second to none and the hospital is keen to promote (and pays for) its nurses to attend higher educational courses.