What is the deal out there today? Is it me or do staff nurses place increasingly unreasonable expectations on us?
Seems like every shift is the same...they sit and watch me run with the worst assignments AND admissions. And what is this deal about expecting an agency nurse who comes in once in a blue moon to manage a critical unstable patient? What kind of charge nurse would make an assignment like this? I don't know their docs, their unwritten protocols, their 'ways' of doing things....
Had to vent guys...its getting to me....can anyone relate? How do the rest of you manage getting 'dumped' on...sadly, I can no longer find anywhere to go where this does NOT happen to some degree and its more than wearing on me...
If you dump on your help you can't expect them to come back, can you?...
It's almost as if staff nurses do not think of that. Would you rather work without the extra help (It's usually not even extra these days), or have the agency nurse there, and divide the workload equally?
But I don't expect to receive the short end of the stick simply because others don't feel they want to do much that night and the assumption, "she's only here one night anyway..". Dude, it's MY overtime. I'm just as tired as everyone else out there!! The assignments need to be divided up as equally as possible IMO....
As a per diem (and am considering picking up agency work), I agree with that statement. I haven't experienced it too much (but have, at times), but everyone 'envies' me because I 'don't have to be there'. Well, neither do they. I have to be there as much as they do, as I'm not married to a millionare Besides, I usually work the equivalent of a full time week, so I'm not sitting home eating bon bons when I'm not working at one place.
It's my guess that they've already ticked off enough RN's that they've LOST their staff. That's why WE go in, right?...
That is always a consideration. Sometimes it is the place (or management), and not the staff. The peds LTC facility where I sup has been usuing agency nurses, on travel assignments. Most run out of there right after their contract is up, and don't even consider re-signing. One of them did, and right after she did, they moved her to a different unit. It seems they hired a FT staff for the unit she was originally on. I don't understand why they didn't put the new FTer on the other unit. The traveler is not happy :angryfire , and I'm sure will not even consider re-signing.
This facility has had long term problems retaining nurses, and I think they are just taking it one day at a time.
It must be hard to please everybody. God forbid we all work together, to get the job done and take care of our patients
Topics like this make me want to quit Nursing school....
I was born with a positive disposition and would like to keep it that way...I annoy my friends and family for seeing the brighter side of things all the time...(I hate stress) and would like to keep it that way...I'm afraid of becoming a bitter, mean, vengeful person...I want to make a difference...I belive in teamwork...that's the only way you'll make the job easier for you and everyone else...Why do some people spend so much generating negativity when they can be constructive and in charge of their own well being? What ever happens, I hope the day I start Nursing, I'm with a wonderul crew such as everyone that has posted on this topic! :)
Topics like this make me want to quit Nursing school....
I was born with a positive disposition and would like to keep it that way...I annoy my friends and family for seeing the brighter side of things all the time...(I hate stress) and would like to keep it that way...I'm afraid of becoming a bitter, mean, vengeful person...I want to make a difference...I belive in teamwork...that's the only way you'll make the job easier for you and everyone else...Why do some people spend so much generating negativity when they can be constructive and in charge of their own well being? What ever happens, I hope the day I start Nursing, I'm with a wonderul crew such as everyone that has posted on this topic! :)
You know, you seriously may encounter problems in nursing, due to your positive attitude. I mean no disrespect. Actually, nursing would be a much better place if more were like you :) Enter with caution!!!
You know, you seriously may encounter problems in nursing, due to your positive attitude. I mean no disrespect. Actually, nursing would be a much better place if more were like you :) Enter with caution!!!
LOL...we all started out with a positive attitude and we all strive to maintain it....no doubt in my mind. After several decades of beating ones' head against a proverbial wall, it does wear.
i definitely understand how it feels to be treated badly. however, we choose to be an agency nurse.
(i also do not return to facilities that dish out the attitude.)
we can choose to work as a full time employee and reap the benefits. but, if you were full time, wouldn't you expect to get better assignments than a nurse who was there only one shift? we are, after all, considered "temporary" staffing.
etc. end of my editing for brevity's sake.
i agree with you save one thing. it is essential to get some sort of effective orientation, and not to have our hands tied trying to function.
case in point: in one facility, (i've pretty well got their method down after 3 shifts), you hit the ground on the run the first day. i learned to read my pt. report sheets by 'osmosis' more or less and spent considerable time running from hell to breakfast trying to find meds and supplies. additionally, their med machine won't allow a contract to "override" to get a med for a patient, and we have no computer access to chart our meds and treatments. we are at the mercy of finding a regular with time and inclination to help.
following my second shift swimming against the tide, an oncoming regular rudely and vividly brought attention to a very minor matter which i had already clarified with the charge, and was going to fix. no biggie. she started in on me, and after three times in a row explaining and trying to be pleasant, assuring her i would fix the minor problem, she kept beating the dead horse like a record with a skip until i asked 'what do you want me to say or do?'...(blank stare, then resumes 'counseling' me-skipping record again)... 'i understand the problem. i could have had it remedied by now. shall i commit hari-kari? will that satisfy you? it was an error of knowledge, not laziness or malice. pardon me.' then i walked off and fixed it. [i love 'nursing' words... counseling = venting your spleen rather than dealing productively with a matter that happened at home.]
point being, when we work with our hands tied ignorant of certain methods and locations of supplies, (including a patient's likes and dislikes known to a previous caregiver, which we are apparently supposed to be born knowing) it takes more than a few hours to learn to do the good job you want to do.
so far, the general lack of recognition on the part of the staff that the contract nurse has not achieved complete familiarity during their first couple of shifts is my only complaint. i'm not a newbie to the profession, and they are not my nursing school instructor. all i require is the same peer respect and common courtesy that i give. once i know the place, go ahead and dump on me. i don't care to sit at the desk and socialize, and it makes my shift go faster.
I always expected to get the difficult patients and the ones the staff was sick of. That's a given as agency.
What I DIDN'T expect was (as I posted) being given the critical admits and then the staff sits around and critiques you with hostility...this is just plain nasty and NOT conducive to best patient care outcomes, IMHO. After I've been there awhile I will be happy to do my share of admissions, but its too important that an unstable patient just arriving be managed appropriately and a brand new agency nurse is NOT the best candidate.
Enough said on this topic...as I'm no longer choosing to do this type of work due to the hostile atmosphere in my local ICU's.
I always expected to get the difficult patients and the ones the staff was sick of. That's a given as agency.
What I DIDN'T expect was (as I posted) being given the critical admits and then the staff sits around and critiques you with hostility...this is just plain nasty and NOT conducive to best patient care outcomes, IMHO. After I've been there awhile I will be happy to do my share of admissions, but its too important that an unstable patient just arriving be managed appropriately and a brand new agency nurse is NOT the best candidate.
Enough said on this topic...as I'm no longer choosing to do this type of work due to the hostile atmosphere in my local ICU's.
I worked agency for awhile and upon reading your comments found myself getting sick because everything you say is true, I know, because I have lived it.
I work full time Monday-Friday, and occasionally do agency work on weekends to supplement my income.
My personal solution to some of the problems I see posted here is to accept work assignments at only one or two facilities. Eventually the staff becomes familiar with you and they almost forget that you work for an agency. If you take assignments in LTC facilities, this also means you have better opportunities to get familiar with the residents.
On another note:
Cancelled shifts burn me up!!!! You make sure you are well rested, free yourself of all committments, and mentally prep yourself for a hard day of work, only to get that phone call 2 hours prior to the anticipated start of your shift. There are facilities that are known to "pad" their schedule in order to brace themselves for call-offs, then realize that they have all the staff they need. Arrrrgh! I was looking forward to that extra income!
What is the deal out there today? Is it me or do staff nurses place increasingly unreasonable expectations on us?
Seems like every shift is the same...they sit and watch me run with the worst assignments AND admissions. And what is this deal about expecting an agency nurse who comes in once in a blue moon to manage a critical unstable patient? What kind of charge nurse would make an assignment like this? I don't know their docs, their unwritten protocols, their 'ways' of doing things....
Had to vent guys...its getting to me....can anyone relate? How do the rest of you manage getting 'dumped' on...sadly, I can no longer find anywhere to go where this does NOT happen to some degree and its more than wearing on me...
maybe its time to retire....
you r not the only one who has gone thru what u have just described.. when i first started out in nursing i was a big time softy---and i was stepped on quite often--- as the years have gone by my skin has becoming thicker and thicker--but before i let anyone make me into a bitter person --- i would rather find another profession to work in-- i know its not that easy-- plan --plan-- plan-- on the other side --i think no matter where u go u will encounter people who r just down right mean--so i think the best way to deal with it is to have a plan --u know what to expect so be ready--know how to deal with the situation-have a game plan--hang in there...
...I'm no longer choosing to do this type of work due to the hostile atmosphere in my local ICU's....
it seems i forget the lessons ive learned from the years of working agency: staffing, visiting nurse, private duty, school nurse, office nurse, flu clinic shooter, etc... after a while, i find myself double checking, double thinking, wondering if im doing the right thing, wondering if i shouldnt have become a lawyer, a teacher, an architect...
thats the time that i usually change agencies, or types of nursing im available for, or, if its been a really bad burn, sit at home and not work, until the bills knock at the door, and i go out there again, to smile and be exactly what the job needs, the poster-nurse for whatever agency im with-- until the next burn.
something new for me, i dont know if anyone else has had this experience, but here it is. at a ltc facility ive been doing night supervision for for the past 9 months or so, the staff has suddenly become aggressively uncooperative, actively defiant, and a chilly, chilly atmosphere prevails. no clue as to why this started. after two nights of this, with one date still committed, ive decided to come down with the flu, and let someone else handle the burden. for some reason, leaving before my time is up is as much of a downer as deciding not to return after the commitment is completed, or being asked not to come back after being accused of something i havent done, even tho theres no comfortable way i can face the current staff for even one more horrible night.
the hostile atmosphere mattsmom describes is so prevalent in some units, and so totally absent in others, it makes me wonder what the heck the hospital or facility is doing to their staff to make them the way they are, good or bad. i sure understand your decision not to return, mom, and i sure hope you find something that gives you satisfaction and brings in a paycheck, that doesnt involve the kind of vulnerability that our job seems to require!
I know this is an old thread but it I hated floating and getting dumped on and can understand agency staff who come there TO HELP get treated like dog do do.
One the floor where I was floated, virtually EVERY STAFF MEMBER WAS AN AGENCY/ CONTRACT/TRAVELOR FLOAT. On a 55 bed unit, the only regular staff was the charge nurse. And the floor was full.
ReinventingMyselfAgain, MSN, RN
1,954 Posts
It's almost as if staff nurses do not think of that. Would you rather work without the extra help (It's usually not even extra these days), or have the agency nurse there, and divide the workload equally?
As a per diem (and am considering picking up agency work), I agree with that statement. I haven't experienced it too much (but have, at times), but everyone 'envies' me because I 'don't have to be there'. Well, neither do they. I have to be there as much as they do, as I'm not married to a millionare
Besides, I usually work the equivalent of a full time week, so I'm not sitting home eating bon bons when I'm not working at one place.
That is always a consideration. Sometimes it is the place (or management), and not the staff. The peds LTC facility where I sup has been usuing agency nurses, on travel assignments. Most run out of there right after their contract is up, and don't even consider re-signing. One of them did, and right after she did, they moved her to a different unit. It seems they hired a FT staff for the unit she was originally on. I don't understand why they didn't put the new FTer on the other unit. The traveler is not happy :angryfire , and I'm sure will not even consider re-signing.
This facility has had long term problems retaining nurses, and I think they are just taking it one day at a time.
It must be hard to please everybody. God forbid we all work together, to get the job done and take care of our patients