Nurses week Cheap gifts from admin.

[nilepoc]

So, with nurses week coming up, I was fondly remembering all the neat swag my employer has offered me as a token of their appreciation.

Over the last four years as a nurse I have received -

A calculator that broke in one week,

A fanny pack that was made out of sheet plastic,

A coupon for a free cookie from the cafeteria,

Shoelaces with the hospital logo,

A lunch bag made out of the same sheet plastic as the fanny pack,

And the only gift that was ever usefull, a badge holder like the drug reps give out where your badge is on a string with a spring.

so what kind of gifts does your institution pony up for?

There have to be some worse ones than mine.

We all know that a cheap trinket from our employer will ensure our future longevity with said institution. So what made you stay working where you are.

[OBNURSEHEATHER]

Originally posted by KlareRN

What do I as an RN want for Nurses Day?

1. For the floor staff to quit whining about being "short staffed". If their peers would quit calling in and come to work; they would not be "short staffed" Some of the energy used to complain about it should be used to help come up with ideas to recruit staff

:chuckle :roll :rotfl:

This is not selling out?

Am I supposed to use my break time (on the days I actually get it, that is) to recruit nurses? No, that's YOUR job.

Why should I never call in? Will YOU follow me around with a basin when I'm sick? Will YOU go to my house and take care of my kid when he's sick? Will YOU stay at my house and coordinate everything that needs to be done after I get another 5 feet of water in my basement and it destroys everything that was down there? I didn't think so. So as long as I earn sick time, I'll use it. What did YOU expect?

I'll quit whining about the floor when you quit whining about the bottom line, the budget, and upper management.

Just remember, everything looks different from behind that desk.

Heather

[ArenRN, BSN, RN]

Sick Leave is a benefit to be used whenever needed.

I make use of that benefit everytime I need it, "even mental health days" I still have close to 1,000 hrs in my balance, and I sure will not leave them when I know that I will not get a penny for those hours if I change jobs or retire from there.

[Stormy]

originally posted by panda_181

well apparently up here in the north, they are having a nurse's dinner type thing where it's $25 a ticket! meaning...how many people are actually going to go? i have no idea...

amanda :)

there was a similar nurses' dinner here last night as well which is an annual event. however, these dinners are sponsored by the aarn (our professional association) and are "nurses celebrating nurses" dinners. they have absolutely nothing to do with the hospital or administration.

[jules-RN]

Originally posted by KlareRN

What do I as an RN want for Nurses Day?

1. For the floor staff to quit whining about being "short staffed". If their peers would quit calling in and come to work; they would not be "short staffed" Some of the energy used to complain about it should be used to help come up with ideas to recruit staff

2. To not be told for one whole week that they are overworked. We are all overworked and there is not a very bright light at the end of the tunnel (welcome to healthcare)

3. Do not assume that because I sometimes am in an office behind a desk that I do not have alot of work to do. Not only will I be in the building for at least 10 hours- but I will take work home and get phone calls into the night to solve "nursing" problems when the licensed staff cannot supervise the building. (I am not complaining- I chose to take a management position) I spend the greater part of my time trying to figure out how someone made such a huge medication error, recruiting staff (that you will drive out of the facility by your rudeness), defending the care you are providing to irrate family members, pacifying the medical director, counseling the previous shifts nurse that you have done nothing but complain about because of what she didnt do before you got here, shuffling the schedule to make sure there is at least some staff in the building, writing evaluations (so you might get a raise), checking admission/discharge paperwork (that is never complete), scheduling inservices (that you will not come to), and designing some kind of gift for nurses week (that you will not like)..yadda...yadda

Here is my 2 cents...

If you want to know why we whine & complain about staffing issues and being over-worked, then get off your cushy chair in your office far, far away from the units and come join the "lowly staff nurses" for 8 or even 12 hours and see what's going on. And I don't mean pop in for a few minutes...stay the WHOLE TIME. I'm sure you would be enlightened.

I'm not saying that what you do isn't important, but I am saying that what WE do is just as important if not more. WE are the ones telling the end-stage cancer patients that it's ok to let go. WE are the ones holding the patients' hands when they are scared. WE are the ones who don't think twice about missing our lunch break because a co-worker has a patient who is crashing. With all of the emotionally and physically draining things that our jobs require, I think we are entitled to voice our dismay.

And come to think of it...I don't want some trinket of your fake appreciation for what I do. I know that what I do is important and that I have made a difference in someone's life. A "Thank You" from a patient or their family means a heck of a lot more to me than a thank you from management.

And just like Heather said...Things are very different from our side of the desk.

[KlareRN]

I have obviously hit a nerve that I did not intend to hit. From my side of the desk- yes- I have my job to do. I guess what makes my job different is that in the position I am in; if we are "short" due to call ins, nobody picking up, etc.; it is my responsibility to cover the floor. Yes- I do work the floor on an almost regular basis. WHY? Because I will not require you to stay because the next shift chose not to come to work. I see how hard you work (office is next to nurses station- door open-constant stream of nurses coming in to complain about each other) I will ask you to stay- but you have committments after work. I have seen you (and heard you) working "short" today because 2 of your CNAs called in (no car and fight with boyfriend) and I know you have not taken a break. I have apologized and spent 2 hours on the phone trying to get staff to come in. (thanks to caller-ID; mostly answering machines).So yes- I stay because someone has to provide the care for the pt. But- I will hear a constant line of "well you should have gotten someone to come in."Oh-by the way; I am on salary so I am staying over and doing this for "free". There is no overtime, half-time, anything. Your response will be "because you make the big bucks." NOT!! I may make more on paper- but taking the actual number of hours I work divided by my hourly rate- I make less than any of my floor staff. I have gone over the line and offered as much as a $150.00 "pick up bonus" to get a shift covered and been told "no- but that plus a gift certificate and a day off with pay and I'll do 1/2 a shift for you."

I know people get sick and need to call in. I have children and they do get sick. The legitimate call ins are not what I am referring to. But- how odd that where I work- if it looks like we will be down a nurse; guaranteed another nurse will be calling in (usually the same one every time) or when someone is floated to another area- they are suddenly sick and need to go home. The best is when they "just got a call about a sick child"- but I have been covering the desk for the last 45 minutes and no calls were recieved. (I have ALWAYS let nurses go for sick children..ALWAYS)

I have alot of nurses that reply the same way Heather did saying "that is YOUR job." Well- your job is also my job. When nurses choose to not show up for work and only give an hours notice-I know I will be staying. It doesn't matter that my son has a game or that I was going to write next months schedule to get it posted tonight-I will be on the floor. And most of you know that unless there is an emergency in the building or an act of God outside (tornado, etc..) I cannot mandate that you stay. (Abandonment is a joke- although alot of people threaten to "take your license for abandonment"...never will hold up in a court of law unless that walking nurse was the ONLY nurse in the building). Oh- and since I am staying to be a floor nurse- would you mind taking the schedule home and getting it ready to be posted...it is already 2 days late and nurses are complaining they do not know when they are working next month. And by the way- I need to investigate our supply charge outs to figure out why our supplies are over budget for the month- would you get that ready for my AM meeting with my boss for me? I will be here on the floor if you have any questions- call me from home. Oh...and would you come up with something for nurses day?

Lets just agree to disagree....

Klare

And Jules- I would never think of floor staff as being the "lowly"ones. And- yes your job is actually more important than mine. You care for the pt. What could be more important than that? I work in smaller facilities and have hands on time with pts and families. I call them to tell them their mother or father is dying, I sit and hold their hand because they have no family and the nurse is busy caring for someone else that is dying. I also comfort the new grad who just had her first code- I terminate the nurse who has gone beyond an acceptable number of call-ins ( no matter that she is a single parent and has a handicapped child that is frequently ill). I will cry afterword. It hurts because she had legitimate reasons. But- policy is policy and I cannot fight those above me because if I let her stay; then another nurse will come along and say why is her handicapped child more important than their child who had a cold? Why didnt she get terminated? Unfortunately- until you have been on my side of the desk- it is difficult to understand the bottom line, etc. I too wish I could forget about administration and pay the nurses what they really deserve and improve the working conditions by adding alot more staff. But it will not happen.

I am sorry that most of you are not told by your management that you are appreciated other than for Nurses Day. I am also sorry if you have consultants that have been in management so long that they have forgotten what it is like to be in the trenches actually doing the work. Please believe me- I am not that consultant!

I play in both back yards...yours as a nurse and administrations as a consultant.

[Q.]

Originally posted by OBNURSEHEATHER

Is there really even a doctor's week?

Heather

There is, apparently in April - a doctor's day. We joked with the physicians and asked, "isn't every day Doctor's Day?"

I don't want trinkets, but I also don't want Nurse's Day to get turned around into "Hospital People's Week" or "MA Day" either. I mean, can't we have ONE day where we are appreciated?

[Q.]

And, my two cents.

My job ends when the clock strikes 12; meaning, when my shift is over, I go home and LIVE MY LIFE. First and foremost I am a woman, a wife and daughter; and I was all those things before I became a NURSE. I have obligations at home and in my personal life, I am a student and MY life comes first. I refuse to worry about why staffing sucks. I KNOW why staffing sucks; but the thing is, no one asks the NURSES why it sucks so they can FIX it.

[Peeps Mcarthur]

What an interesting viewpoint.

I'm sure there are few on this post that can say they know exactly what an NM goes through.

I'm sure there are just as few NM's that really know what a staff nurse really "feels" like on a daily basis.

I'm also VERY sure that I will not be pursuing a BSN nor a NM job or spend any more than an obligatory number of years as a floor nurse.

What the hell for. I'm going to get a BS in biology after my RN.

It is all kind of humorus though!:chuckle What both management AND floor nurses will try to pass off as loyalty. It seems to be a two-way street only to be blocked off AT BOTH ENDS.

Between the call-ins and the stale cookies between 8 and 8:09 am on a full moon during summer solstice, I can't imagine anyone feels very appreciated.

I'm not looking forward to this much you know.

[PhantomRN]

let's put a positive spin on this mess.

what would i appreciate from admin during nurse's week?

it is simple i would like a personal note from my manager. yep, that is right. i would like my manager to remember me as an individual and write a note telling me i am valued as a member of the team..........and in that note i would like the manager (or whoever) to remember a good thing i did during the year and site it. (such as good pick up on joey in 203, or we really appreciate you helping organize the nurse walk etc.)

how about that klarern? save the money you were going to use to buy trinkets and use it to pay yourself for the time it would take to get the letters done.

[shay]

I have a really good nm. I guess I'm just blessed. She actually works 2 12 hour shifts a week as a regular old 'grunt' with the rest of us, so she knows the real deal. I respect the hell out of her, and she's got our back. Also, if she has to discipline/criticize someone for their work habits, etc., she isn't just talking off the top of her head, she knows what she's actually talking about.

[shay]

Originally posted by PhantomRN

It is simple I would like a PERSONAL note from my manager. Yep, that is right. I would like my manager to remember me as an individual and write a note telling me I am valued as a member of the team..........and in that note I would like the manager (or whoever) to remember a good thing I did during the year and site it.

You know, that's actually a really good idea. I'd actually like that a heck of a lot better than a keychain or mug or whatever. As long as it wasn't a cheesy form letter...."Dear______, RN: thank you for being such a supportive team player at ______hospital. Your work is appreciated, _______RN. Sincerely, Mr. Blowhard, CEO." Something like that would just pi$$ me off. :chuckle

[mom22]

My hospital has something planned for every business day of the week. I forgot what all they had planned, but one was a shopping day with vendors coming in, one was an ice cream party, and I think I remember seeing something about coupons for facials and manicures. They usually give us a meal coupon, too. Last year we had that stuff and they also gave us big coffee mugs and an insulated lunchpack. Once they had a photographer come for family portraits at a discount.

I'll update after the week.

I guess I should add that I love my job. They treat us very well and we have excellent pay and staffing. And, no, I won't say where, but it's a fair to big sized hospital in Houston.