Maybe nursing doesn't suck...

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Telemetry.

So, for the last 3 years I've gone from one crummy situation to another. Started out as a tech in a level one trauma department with a 16 to one ratio (RNs had a 6-8 to 1 ratio, which is also crazy), then got my first job cardiac step down with a 5 to 1 ratio with tech ratios 10 to 1, then went to a ortho surgical unit with a RN ratio of 8 to 1 no techs or secretaries. Needless to say I have quite a few sarcastic posts on these boards about the stupidity of choosing nursing as a professional career. Mostly because I felt that the ratios above don't even allow for the bare minimal care a person should get in a hospital, much less the care that we are expected by most facilities to give. It's wrong. Yet I only get two answers from other nurses that go along the lines of the following: a) You are a nurse and thus you must give up your life, body, and soul to your patients along with putting up with a crappy work enviornment because if you stand up for yourself and refuse to work under such conditions who will take care of the patients? b) Yeah, it's stupid and we hate it, but what are we going to do? We have no power.

I hate both of those answers.

I regress. I finally traveled to a hosptial that seems to care. Its SOOOOOOOOO crazy. I'm working on a medical surgical unit (which in normal hospitals have ratios of 1 to 6 - 10) that has RN to patient ratios of 1 to 5!!! 5 is their absolute max! Is that crazy or what? But wait, it gets even weirder....they have PCAs/techs/CNAs ratios that match the RNs!!!!!! It's a Nurse/CNA team that cares for 5 patients!!!!!!!! Have you ever heard of something soooooo wonderful?!! Plus everything is computerized, which I love, and they have every kind of niceness in the individual rooms for the patients. My first day there I cried, just went to the bathroom and cried because I had no idea that this sort of nursing even existed in reality. I don't know how this hospital got this way, but every hospital on the face of the planet should care so much about their staff AND their patients.

It was relieving to find out that I don't really hate the life I chose for myself and that it is right for us to be angry with hospitals that force us to have ratios that do not allow for excellent care of our patients.

Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

Are you sure you didn't die and go to heaven?:smokin:

Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

wonderful if facility can afford it. Ideal, in fact.

Specializes in Telemetry.

@CrunchRN I really thought I did.:) What was cute was some of the young ladies that I worked with had never worked in another facility and would try to tell me how hard and fast paced their current work environment was. :p Then I'd tell them about the places I worked and they were speechless. So cute!

What state are you in, and are they hiring? I would like to join you in nursing heaven!!!;) Feel free to pm me. lol.

Specializes in LTC.

Holy crap where can I apply?!?!

Congrats on finding a job that is awesome for you.

Specializes in pediatrics, public health.

You sure you didn't move to California? (When I was doing hospital nursing, I thanked God just about every day for our ratio laws.)

Congrats on finding such a wonderful place to work!

Specializes in Peds Medical Floor.

I, too, want to know where this awesome hospital is!!!

I'm on the edge of my seat for you to tell everyone what state your working in?!

Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Kalipso, was your 8:1 ortho/surgical unit job at BH?

Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Also, I'm guessing the reason they can afford to staff well is because they're using travelers?? Are there lots there?

Specializes in Telemetry.

Saint Luke's East in Kansas City Missouri. Yes ladies and gentlemen they are hiring and will be hiring more as the second part of their facility is being built. Get this, there are a lot of travelers at their hospital right now...wanna know why? Because they are letting their staff take their summer vacations!!!! Have you ever heard of such a thing?! It's like I'm Alice walking through the looking glass. Seriously I feel like crying right now writing about this. I'm so relieved that I don't hate the career I spent 4 years getting a degree in. It took 3 years to figure that out, but at least I finally did!

The 8:1 ratio ortho was in a hospital in Wisconsin. Wonderful people in Wisconsin but all the poor girls I worked with were new grads on this horrible floor and most of them were trying to quit nursing all together. But who could blame them? Their poor floor manager was honestly trying to get them some aids but the hosptial wasn't comming through....so aggrivating. 24 patients post op patients, 3 nurses, no aids, what kind of madness is that?!

I recently read an article about a nurse that commited suicide after she accidently harmed a baby with an over dose. The hospital fired her and sent her home without any couseling support after 24 years of service and one mistake. The family should sue the hell out of the hospital for that sort of negligence of a current or former employee under those circumstances. Plus if the family did sue and made a big media stirr about it maybe hospitals would finally see that they can no longer treat us like slaves and use us as scapegoats for the f***ing lawsuits!

Sorry, side rant there. I just know how often I feel something like that will happen to me because I was so overloaded that I couldn't slow down. Heck, I know I've had a few near misses as it is because of high patient ratios. If I accidently killed someone I'd feel like commiting suicide too, and it's really not right that we give up our time with family and friends for the love of strangers then get s*** on by our employers.

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