I Don't Know Why She Swallowed that Fly...I Guess She'll Die

Nurses General Nursing

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i am so hopping mad:( ...and where does it all end?...got the word yesterday at work that our er nurses are going to have to start taking mandatory on call....l'm wondering if other facilities practice this too....the deal is supposed to be we get paid premium for the hours worked on call and so much an hour to be on call...still, i work full time, my off time is mine and mine alone to share if i want to....isn't this kind of the same thing as mandatory ot?.....they keep cutting our staff, they give us less rn's, and more pemt's...(and l love these guys, but they are so restricted in the er that the rn's have to help a lot w/ their assingment).....also, we have been attempting to get a sane program up and running...trained some staff, bought expensive equipment...but don't want to pass a budget to pay the nurses!:o ...we just get busier and busier, staff has shrunk, and responsibilities are ever increasing......and our nurses seem to just sit back ant take it time after time....they never say enough!...reminds me of the old children's nursery rhyme song.......there was an old lady who swallowed a fly, who swallowed the spider that swallowed the fly, who swallowed the bird who swallowed the spider..that wriggled and wriggled deep down inside her...i don't know why she swallowed that fly...i guess she'll die........l wish l could remember the rest of the lyrics...but you get the drift...they just keep shoving it down our throat......we just eat it....it's killing us and our profession.....and it's our faults......thanks for listening................lr:crying2:

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Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.

l.rae, you know we empathize with you. I'm sorry your management sucks. And they are just shooting themselves in the feet; ultimately they will lose more and more nurses because of these draconian policies.

And yes, in the end it's exactly the same thing as mandatory OT. You can't plan to do anything on an "on call" day even if you never happen to get called in. You might as well be at work.

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Specializes in Home Health.

l rae, I think that's how they get around mandatory OT, they pay you on-call time. That stinks! They will be sorry, b/c they will end up losing a lot of FT'ers in the long run. But these kids can't see the forrest through the trees.

I used to love singing that song w my kids! Did yu ever see them sing it on the Sharon Lois and Braham The Elephant Show?? That was a great kids show, I don't think it's on anymore (I'd probably still watch it!)

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I'm sorry to hear that. We have not sunk to mandatory on call yet. But, it's getting so bad, they are going to have to do something. Our ER has never had to work short staffed until the past 12-16 months. Now, all the experienced team leaders and floor RN's are leaving because we are holding so many admits. Brand new grads taking their places, plus working short staffed. I wouldn't recommend getting too sick around here.

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Maybe yours will work like our "Mandatory on Call" did! During the '96 Olympics, we were the hospital closest to the crew venue. We anticipated the worst due to heat, humidity, and a very steep incline that spectators had to walk down and back up when they viewed the venue.

All ER nurses were provided pagers by the hospital. We WERE required to do mandatory on call, but we could choose which 14 days of the month we wanted to be on call. Everybody worked that out great.

Okay, okay. I'm getting to the point-with almost a month's worth of Olympic activities, NOT A ONE OF US WAS EVER CALLED IN! Maybe you will be as lucky!:roll

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Originally posted by hoolahan

l rae, I think that's how they get around mandatory OT, they pay you on-call time. That stinks! They will be sorry, b/c they will end up losing a lot of FT'ers in the long run. But these kids can't see the forrest through the trees.

I used to love singing that song w my kids! Did yu ever see them sing it on the Sharon Lois and Braham The Elephant Show?? That was a great kids show, I don't think it's on anymore (I'd probably still watch it!)

Never saw Lois Brahm...around the greater Miami Valley when l was groing up...Uncle Al ruled..LOL:D .....anyways, l knw what you all are saying...mngt will be sorry...l've been taking a long hard think about going PRN myself.....interesting the other nite we had the absolute worst nite EVER and we happened to be orienting one of the floor nurses....when she called her old unit to give report they told her they couldn't take it right away....and BROTHER...she told them..l guess it really opened her eyes...she seems to be a great nurse, just wonder how long we can keep them under these circumstances.....AND in our area we have an area Hospital Association that monitors many of the day to day operations of area hospitals and they are reported to have significant influence on nursing salaries.....''so one hospital can't attract all the nurses''...isn't this something like price fixing?.......RATFINKS

:devil: :devil: :devil:

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Specializes in LTC, ER, ICU,.

i worked at a ltc facility where they had the lpns and the rns to keep the beeper on the weekend only to go in for the nurses who called off and they got extra pay an hour to come in. they took a weekend each. i was glad it was an option because the amount of money they offered in comparison with the time i needed for weekend time with my family, did not impress me.

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The hospital I just left 4weeks ago after 15 years is getting in a tight right now. Since I left there have been 4 other FT RN's leave and another whose last day is Friday. This little hospital only has 27 RN's, it's a 41 bed do all hospital. We cover ER, OB and anything else they want to throw at us. I got tired of having to spend the time from 630pm till 7pm or so calling around trying to locate enough staff to come in so we could go home. They would forget to write that so and so called in, ha. It would not have been bad if this happened only on occasion but was a weekly happening. Can't even recall how many times I pulled a 24 hour shift or at least 20 because not enough staff to cover night shift. They will have to wake up eventually with 1/4 of there staff gone. After 15 years of service they never even said kiss my foot when I turned in my notice. Just, good luck. Suckers. I was a thorn in their side. Also they can replace me with a new grad for a whole lot less money, ha. (nothing against new grads, I was one at one time too, but experience....Anyway, what's my point here, lets see, administration sucks.!!!!!

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l.rae,

I would be pi$$ed off too! At any rate, here you go...

See below post.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I felt the same frustrations and then I went Agency, it was the best move I could make. Lots more money, control over my life, I work only the days I want to. I am suprised more nurses aren't leaving in a mass exodus.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, ER, L&D, ICU, OR, Educator.

She swallowed a dog to catch the cat, she swallowed the cat to catch the spider, that wriggled and wriggled and tickled inside her.

I know there's more....it'll come to me....

And yeah, it does sound exactly like mandatory OT....They are trying to spit on the fire to put it out! Not great problem solving.

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