You are part of the problem with healthcare today if...

CathyLew · Mar 15, 2010

I found it funny and in the light sence it was meant to be.

As a nurse who worked the night shift, med surge for 14+ years.... It seems a few weeks after I went *management* I became the bad guy. no one comes to my mandatory training.... I get the looks... and hear the grumbling. I grew thicker skin.

But I can still get a joke. And to some extent, I still agree with a lot of those posts.

Triage24 · Mar 15, 2010

Make no mistake you are closer to the truth than you realize. That is why it strikes a chord. What you said is pretty much correct but it is not politicaly correct and you forgot sensitive. I have been in this game a long time. I can remember when a manager or director ca

lisamc1RN, LPN · Mar 15, 2010

Wow. I've been a floor nurse for almost 4 years now, and I bet I could come with just as long a post (satirical, of course) of how we, the floor nurses are (a huge) part of the problem. And if I were a betting nurse, I'd bet that some here who are saying lighten up would be a little put off and just a bit defensive about things I might say. Bottom line is, IMO, your satire wasn't funny, wasn't helpful, wasn't anything but divisive. You certainly have the right to post, but don't be surprised that not everyone is amused by it.

Sugarcoma, RN · Mar 16, 2010

Originally Posted by ROMANO

"Therefore, I'm one of the few that comes in when the staff is short-handed and rolls my sleeves and perform all nursing duties side by side along with my staff. In addition, I strongly disapprove those called leaders that when the tough gets going the only effort they perform is spending 45min. searching in other units for nurses to cover their own staff, and believe that they have accomplish the solution."

Romano, Good for you for being PART of the solution! You have no idea how that boosts morale. My manager will also come out to help with meds, pts. etc. She has even been known to PCT!! I love her and she is the ONLY reason I have stayed on my unit as long as I have.

I can definately understand 360joules post, perhaps it may paint with too broad a brush, but I do not think he/she was referring to EVERYONE who is an administrator or manager or some other type of "business casual" nurse. I think they were referring to those who spent very little time on the floor or who have forgotten the struggle.

As an example, we had a presentation from a holistic nurse who basically told us that if we have agitated, sundowning, dementia or CIWA patients etc. trying to rip out IV'S, foleys, NG's and such, that instead of putting them in restraints or using sedating chemicals, if we could just give them a nice massage then we could calm them down that way. This same nurse, when it was brought to her attention that we don't have time to eat, pee, or take a break, much less give agitated patients massages q hour, preceded to tell us that if we weren't taking breaks it was our own fault and we needed to learn to manage our time better and if we REALLY CARED about our patients we would find time for the massages.

Another example would be the bed coordinators calling up at 300 am to tell us they a need a tele bed and we need to d/c some pts. tele immediately. umm, I did not go to med school so if a doc ordered tele I most certainly will not take it upon myself to d/c it and I am not calling an attending at 300 am to ask them if I can so i can get chewed out and a complaint filed with my manager.

Or when I call bed desk and tell them we have 8 patients each and your trying to send us more from SI and there is NO WAY we can safely take another patient and the response I get is too bad so sad you've got an available bed so they're coming even though other units have open beds and more nurses available.

Or you've been working short staffed forever with barely enough time to pass meds and chart and you get a VIP mandate chastising everyone for not filling in patients religious preference and highest level of education completed and we will be auditing charts to make sure thats filled out. Really? is that really what you want me to be focusing on?

I often wonder when confronted with these issues were these people never nurses themselves? Do they not remember how hard it is? Instead of blaming the nurse who is 2 or 3 or 4 patients over a safe ratio for "not managing your time well" because they didn't get a break why don't those in management who have the ability to plead our cases to the powers that be do so on our behalf?

If I would have had any idea what nursing was really like, I would have NEVER entered this profession. The patients have become secondary to making sure all of the boxes are checked off on our forms. And just when you think there is nothing else you could possibly be required to fill out; here comes yet another form on some pressing critical issue like you must now document that you have asked your patient if they would recommend us to their friends and family and if so why and if not why not? Please fill out patient response verbatim and send the yellow copy to your manager, the white one file in the chart and the pink copy needs to be tubed immediately to the patient relations department and remember we're gonna be auditing those charts and verifying your answers with the patient!!

UGH!

GadgetRN71, ASN, RN · Mar 16, 2010

Agree with most of it except the "every other weekend" part. Different departments have different staffing needs..in the OR, we take call about every 6th weekend and even then, always people who want extra call and will take it for you.

I thought the post was kind of cute but I took it with a grain of salt..meaning, it was more a vent than something rational and objective. Obviously, this person is a little burnt out..maybe a change is in order?

neurorn6 · Mar 16, 2010

I personally found the comments funny, and let's be honest, most if not all of us have said similiar things on a bad day. It doesn't matter where you work, when the powers that be hand down so mandate that is suppose to help us but just takes us away from our patients, we all get angry.

As nurses, we need to step back and be supportive of each other. We don't have to agree with each other, but respect is always a mandate. We don't have to like each other, but we are in the same profession and need to support each other.

I do think that management's salaries should be the first ones cut during a financial crunch. I also think that management needs to listen to those of us working the floor.

And for the nurse who posted being forced to take a patient with unsafe ratio, you are within your professional right to refuse to accept the patient. You are a licensed professional, management can scream, but they can not force you to accept the patient. The problem comes from nurses not sticking together. Consider this, if we all came together as a group, what could the powers that be do? Think about it.

360joules · Mar 16, 2010

i find it telling that everybody that has jumped on me about my satire automatically assumes i'm only talking about nurses or the nursing heirarchy.

why does the hospital support an army of billing people, dutifully filling out forms, locked in mortal combat with another army of clerks at the insurance companies, dutifully denying claims or procrastinating on payment, negotiating reimbursement rates, preapprovals and god knows what else, until 270 days after the service is rendered, the provider (maybe) gets a check for 30% what was billed?

how does all this busy work contribute anything to the end product?

why, in the digital age, is it getting more complicated rather than less to get paid?

how many assistant nurse managers does the manager of a unit need? if all 3 are on duty, is it unreasonable to ask for relief for a real lunch when short staffed?

does an education department that simply leaves a video tape at the desk with a sign off sheet need 6 full time staffers? (how about one of them come take over so i can go put on my "business casual" clothes to sit in the conference room to watch a 45 minute manufacturer's video on how to prime an iv pump?)

if the nurse manager has a fruit bowl, jelly beans and a coffee maker in her office, why is it such a big deal if i have a (covered) drink tucked out of sight at the nurse's desk? (especially when i frequently miss meal breaks due to short staffing?)

if my nurse manager has so much empathy for me, why can't she look the other way and ignore the drink and save the intimidation game for something that means something?

why do i have to carry a voip phone with me every minute of my shift? can i pee in peace rather than be told "room 6 wants a warm blanket" at that private moment?

you folks that "did what you do for 20 years", did it 20 years ago. come out here now and be flogged for 12 hours and see how dark your "education-phobic, nitwit" mood becomes.

then you'll have some "street cred" with the unwashed masses and every right to tell us "whiners" to suck it up.

chances are, you'll see just how petty silliness impacts my ability to render safe, efficient care. oh, and maybe enjoy my job (like 15 years ago) rather than cringe everytime i see yet another memo posted telling me i'm not working hard enough.

prove me wrong and we can transform the nursing part of healthcare together. continue in the status quo and watch the attrition rates continue to surge.

mustlovepoodles, RN · Mar 16, 2010

if, in your "healthcare job" you never touch anything but paper, or smell anything but coffee, you are part of the problem with healthcare today!
if your job description doesn't have an annual requirement to be on your knees, geting freaky with resusci® annie, you are part of the problem with healthcare today!
if your hospital department is closed on christmas day, you are part of the problem with healthcare today!
because this is tiresome.

i am a school nurse. i don't work weekends. i don't work holidays. i don't take call. i show up and do my job for 6 hours a day. i work with impoverished families. not only am i not part of the problem with healthcare today, in many situations i am the answer to healthcare. a gatekeeper of sorts. for many of my students, i *am* "the doctor", "the dentist" and "the social worker." often they come to me for community resources because they don't know how to access them.

i *did* work in hospital settings for over 30 years. i've been a school nurse for 2. i am well aware of how hospitals work. there's a reason i don't work there anymore. :cool:

lisamc1RN, LPN · Mar 16, 2010

I personally found the comments funny, and let's be honest, most if not all of us have said similiar things on a bad day. It doesn't matter where you work, when the powers that be hand down so mandate that is suppose to help us but just takes us away from our patients, we all get angry.
As nurses, we need to step back and be supportive of each other. We don't have to agree with each other, but respect is always a mandate. We don't have to like each other, but we are in the same profession and need to support each other. (How is the OP's post supportive? It's divisive.)
I do think that management's salaries should be the first ones cut during a financial crunch. (I know of several cases where that is exactly the case.) I also think that management needs to listen to those of us working the floor. ( I agree. I know several people in management who wish that very same thing from the floor nurses.)
And for the nurse who posted being forced to take a patient with unsafe ratio, you are within your professional right to refuse to accept the patient. You are a licensed professional, management can scream, but they can not force you to accept the patient. The problem comes from nurses not sticking together. Consider this, if we all came together as a group, what could the powers that be do? Think about it.

I have thought about it. A lot. I have had several conversations with management where I work now and the last place I worked and I do agree that it would be awesome if we could all come together and stick together. It's not a one sided problem though. I've seen many a floor nurse roll his/her eyes as management presented new evidence based practices that they wanted to implement and new safety procedures that were meant to protect us. A lot of time gets spent moaning and complaining over it, but rarely does anyone sit down and say "hey, this isn't going to work, and here's why. Oh, and I have a great solution, if ya wanna hear about it!"

So, that being said, if you are that floor nurse, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.

pennyaline · Mar 16, 2010

i find it telling that everybody that has jumped on me about my satire automatically assumes i'm only talking about nurses or the nursing heirarchy.

"everybody" has not assumed that you are only talking about nurses or the nursing heirarchy. we have noticed that you are talking predominantly about nurses and the nursing heirarchy, though. the rest of this post is ample evidence of that

you folks that "did what you do for 20 years", did it 20 years ago. come out here now and be flogged for 12 hours and see how dark your "education-phobic, nitwit" mood becomes.

what are you talking about? i've done what i do for thirty years, and i'm still doing it. i am now flogged for twelve hour shifts, deal with constant changes in procedures and protocols, adjust my life around the dictates of the joint commission, put up with managers and administrators with differing levels of experience and expertise, get next to no recognition for the work i do... just like most of us. it can be frustrating and hard to take, but it's not impossible. i don't think my "education-phobic, nitwit" mood has become any darker because of it, but it's plain to see that yours has.

then you'll have some "street cred" with the unwashed masses and every right to tell us "whiners" to suck it up.

i've got cred in spades, darlin'. lots of us do. so, suck it up.

chances are, you'll see just how petty silliness impacts my ability to render safe, efficient care. oh, and maybe enjoy my job (like 15 years ago) rather than cringe everytime i see yet another memo posted telling me i'm not working hard enough.

hospitals have changed. health care has changed. nursing has changed. not all of us like change, and yet it comes anyway. deal with it, like everybody else does.

prove me wrong and we can transform the nursing part of healthcare together. continue in the status quo and watch the attrition rates continue to surge.

you proved yourself wrong by default when you cited flawed examples in what you still call your little "satire," then let your game face drop and started defending your little joke to the death.

mappers · Mar 16, 2010

I have a question. Does your hospital have practice councils? And if so, which one are you on? Do you regularly attend meetings?

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Mar 16, 2010

Let's not all jump off the deep end on this one. It's a post that has touched a nerve, but also sparked some interesting conversation. Can we stay with the conversation and debate without taking either side personally?