help, short staffed, at wits end

Straydandelion · Mar 21, 2009

I am sorry.. hoping things improve for you.. that little sleep with your stress sounds like a good day to call in IMO. Yes, I agree... begin looking for a different job/transfer options at the very least vacation/time off. Possibly taking a sabbatical would help? Burn-out can be very stressful and having tried to work and take care of parents I understand fully the stress is not all work related, yet being able to relieve just that part should help.

Trauma Columnist · Mar 21, 2009

You sound so very stressed - I'm so sorry! Please cont to put in applications. Things are so hard right now but you don't have to live with such a stressful job. I do think you need to get some quality sleep too. Take care and let us know what you decide.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2009

I so hear you and feel for you I am so sorry to hear about your stress and I know how horrid it is to be worrying about a loved one who is sick.

I too understand being an 'old nurse' how hard nursing seems to be at the moment and if I hear one more person say 'your lucky to have a job' I will scream and scream.

I am so sick of pain medicating drug seekers who take my time away from the real sick.

There should be a floor just dedicated to pain med seekers and they should all have PCA's then we wont be risking our licences everyday.

classykaren · Mar 21, 2009

Hello I really feel for you please consider Private duty you have so much to offer

starletRN · Mar 21, 2009

Maybe you could find a job away from the hospital environment all together. Home health is big right now. I am a new grad and I had two offers to go into HH. Obviously, if they're willing to hire a newbie they must need people.

I didn't take either job because I do feel there is too much autonomy involved for an inexperience nurse, but with your experience this could be just the thing you need. And you're not seeing multiple patients at one time.

NewMexicoJohn · Mar 21, 2009

Look. Life is just way too short for that kind of immature nonsense. I doubt anyone in administration said "shut up or you'll be dismissed". If they have, try to document it covertly and then go to administration with your concerns and tell them if things don't improve you will file a complaint with the Joint Review. There are laws that protect both nurses and whistle blowers. If you can document cases of how a pt. was neglected due to the short staffing policies, and also document their failure to hear staff concerns you will have a compelling case. May I give you some advice? Stop whining about it and sprout some gonads. Crying yourself to sleep isn't going to change a thing. If you are indeed a great nurse and give great care then continue to do so but denying yourself breaks and working yourself to death while others relax is martydom. You bring it upon yourself. Do your work. Take good care of your patients, TAKE YOUR BREAKS, work your shifts, go home and shake it all off. If you find that it's getting too much to bear then LEAVE. It's your life. You owe it to yourself to be self actualized. It sounds to me that you're an excellent nurse so I am sure you'll find an awesome job. Come on, challenge your own paradigms about yourself. Stop being a shrinking violet. YOU CAN DO THIS! STEP UP or STEP ASIDE! We are all here to support you. If the administration continues to run people into the ground then you need to do all you can to stop it, OR.........just leave.and file a complaint with the Board of Nursing. They don't have broad regulatory powers but they do have influence. I'd also consider filing a complaint with the Joint Review Commission or with your State Health Regulatory Body. Bottom line is that you need to advocate for yourself. I think you'd do well in Home Health and they do pay well. Don't sell yourself out. I wouldn't work in a place like that, why should you? Stop crying. Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and tap in to your PERSONAL POWER. YOU CAN DO THIS.

jrbl77, RN · Mar 21, 2009

Thanks for all the support. I forgot to add that I am the primary support for my husband and myself. when i talk about quitting- he responds what do you mean- you have to work. thsi morning he got mad when I told him I didn't sleep weell last night and his reply was why are you alway so ******.... I might add that he works in a non nursing job at the same hosptial that I do. I will have to consider my options and see what happens. When I did work for hospice the bad part of that job was on call and needing to go into some of the worst areas you can imagine- alone at 3 am. When other staff members had called for police escort, the police laughed and said then don't come down herr. not an option. I don't miss being on call at all. I will wait to hear what happens with these 2 job applications i have submitted.

starletRN · Mar 21, 2009

Thanks for all the support. I forgot to add that I am the primary support for my husband and myself. when i talk about quitting- he responds what do you mean- you have to work. thsi morning he got mad when I told him I didn't sleep weell last night and his reply was why are you alway so bitc.... I might add that he works in a non nursing job at the same hosptial that I do. I will have to consider my options and see what happens. When I did work for hospice the bad part of that job was on call and needing to go into some of the worst areas you can imagine- alone at 3 am. When other staff members had called for police escort, the police laughed and said then don't come down herr. not an option. I don't miss being on call at all. I will wait to hear what happens with these 2 job applications i have submitted.

Well, I'm not sure what area you live in, but from what I understand, you can refuse to go to scary areas and you never should go to a residence at that late hour anyway. I was told by an HH nurse that if client/family calls that late then you need to instruct them to call 911 instead.

If it's such an emergency that they need help at that late hour, they probably need to be at the hospital anyway. There are some things that can wait until morning. For example, you don't need to go anywhere at the crack of dawn for a dressing change.

I feel for you about the husband thing. Mine is pretty supportive but he's not a nurse and he won't get why I'm stressed. That's why we have this forum. To discuss this stuff with other nurses. Do you have some nurse friends from college or work that you can go to when you need to vent? It sounds like you need some nearby folks to talk to who know what you're dealing with.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Mar 21, 2009

I suggest going to your Employee Assistance Program, because it sounds like you can't talk to your husband and you can't talk to anyone at the job because he works there too.

AN is a great place to vent about work problems, but venting only clears the air, it doesn't really solve a problem. Looks like your husband is not very supportive or helpful, either, so I suggest a few sessions with an EAP counselor.

NewMexicoJohn · Mar 21, 2009

I am going to start believing RIGHT NOW that things start getting MUCH better for you. We can all be REVERSE PARANOIDS. That means we believe that the universe is CONSPIRING to do GOOD things for us.

You give good care to your clients. That has generated a pretty good chunk of good Karma for you. Ask for it. Have you asked for what you want? Take a few minutes, sit down in a comfy chair at home and think about WHAT IT IS YOU REALLY WANT. Is it a new job? Is it something different? VISUALIZE what is is you want and then ask for it. PULL IT IN TO YOUR REALITY.

SoundofMusic · Mar 21, 2009

Well, I can agree with this nurse as I'm seeing the exact same thing at our hospital. Sorry, we're short staffed, but we aren't doing any new hiring and you should probably just be glad you have a job. Now, get back to work, here's some new paperwork requirements to add to all the others, and, by the way, no, you can't put in for a vacation as we are understaffed that week and even bugging more nurses to put in overtime. Being able to take a lunch break is something you struggle to do every shift as demands on each nurse are escalating.

This is the reality right now -- and the sad thing is, this nurse may or may not be able to leave because she's signed a contract to the unit (at least that's how it is for all us new nurses).

I am seeing more and more shifts where there are no techs, no secretary, short nurses and supplies just seem to be dwindling or slow to be stocked. Hospitals are cutting corners everywhere they can now to avoid the inevitable: salary cuts and layoffs. Meanwhile, they are stepping up admissions, admitting the wrong patients to the wrong floors just to "fill beds" and stepping up discharges, just to "fill beds." And I guess they'll do that - until all the money just inevitably runs out.

I am also burned out, and I'm a newer nurse. I suppose one could go complain to all the higher levels of authoriy, but, tell me -- who has time for that in between shifts and taking care of home and often a family to boot? I don't.

I just feel that as the whole mess is supposedly linked to our bad economy, then the problem goes way above my own head and is more a political problem in this nation. Something needs to give, because ALL of our lives are endangered by it. And by IT -- I mean forces that are perhaps beyond all of our control. Our country is changing -- and it's not for the better. We used to be a strong and successful nation, once ruled by a Constitution -- but that is slowly being eroded. I guess what I'm trying to say is that to simply tell a nurse to "pick herself up and pull herself up by her bootstraps" is almost putting an impossible burden on a nurse. Nurses are NOT the problem -- the political realities in this country are the problem, and I'm not sure what it's going to take to solve them.