Hospital Profits Over Patient Safety: The reasons you should not be a nurse

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I saw this and it just spoke to me in a thousand ways. I want hospitals to be profitable enough to be stable, and to expand services, but the goals for profit are FAR beyond those meager goals. Your healthcare sucks because of capitalism. And the reason you shouldn’t be a nurse: capitalism = nurse abuse and poor patient outcomes. 

Specializes in Home health.
5 hours ago, KalipsoRed21 said:

Home health is not without theirs. No way I’d go back to the pissant pay of “salaried” home health or per visit home care. The charting is dramatic and the drive miles on my personal vehicle inordinate compared to the compensation. The one good home care company I worked for at least paid me hourly and gave me a car and a gas card. But they still wanted me to drive 150-200 miles, see 6-7 patients and chart all that. Sorry dudes, I need a life or I need to get paid. Apparently having both in nursing is not possible.

 

I'm satisfied and have no drama here. My pay is great only minor stuff with caregivers such as being over protective other than that everythinh is great. Maybe you need to talk to your management? Hospital politics, drama amongst staff, micromanagement, being forced to be vaccinated or fired, then forced to come back to work even with covid, the nurse to patient ratio is bad and you guys don't get the pay to deal with the drama. Hospitals aren't wanting to pay you. I'm good in home health. I don't deal with none of this drama. The hospital nurses are miserable

1 hour ago, nursel56 said:

I agree with you.  I would not characterize home health nursing as drama-free.  

It is true that you have only one patient in private duty, but in my experience there is plenty of drama.  It's just a different kind of drama compared to hospital staffing drama.

I get one patient at a time. I'm in and out during visits no drama. And I do PDN one patient entire shift ,week and ongoing. The only drama I have ever gotten is the over protective parent or caregiver over a loved one which is normal.

0 Votes
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
59 minutes ago, Ashlee59 said:

I get one patient at a time. I'm in and out during visits no drama. And I do PDN one patient entire shift ,week and ongoing. The only drama I have ever gotten is the over protective parent or caregiver over a loved one which is normal.

I'm happy that you've found the right job for yourself in private duty.  I would never generalize about any job in nursing, because there are variables and exceptions in almost every conceivable individual situation.  I've worked in PDN for years and had both good and bad experiences.  I would never tell anyone they should absolutely not go into the specialty.

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I finally figured out a while back that Healthcare is NOT about the patient and keeping their best interests in mind and as healthy as medical advances allow since...it IS their HEALTH for God's sake....but about the famous red cent and how to make more and more red cents. "Ma'am,  I'm sorry but your type of insurance just doesn't cover that operation that will save your life. You have to have A) and B) insurance plans plus yadda yadda yadda. I know you have 3 young children and a husband but sorry....you'll just have to sit this one out. You didn't choose the right insurance." About those advanced directives though.  We probably need to discuss that since you will most likely pass soon because your insurance sucks. Dr Betty Sue gets to have the procedure though.  She has the best, most costly insurance." OK that was a bit ridiculous but you get what I'm saying. I've seen patients admitted for things like a raging uti for example but their admitting dx is something way unrelated like bacterial meningitis or something off the wall like that. Yes, another ridiculous exaggeration. As long as my drift is caught. Also, It just feels like pts HAVE to be super informed about their medical conditions (which honestly they should anyway, but usually aren't) because the Dr's are hardly even doing assessments on them. A bilateral amputee is still somehow blessed with pedal pulses and the stroke pt with flaccid left side has strength to all extremities WNL. Pts care is super rushed and important things are often missed until the nurse brings it up. This is in the hospital setting anyway.

On 1/24/2022 at 4:01 PM, DavidFR said:

Health care is not a business. Good hospitals can never make a profit.

Yet another thread that makes me grateful I work in a socialised health system. Not perfect, of course we have our problems, but when the World Health Organisation used to publish league table for health outcomes, two socialised health systems repeatedly alternated first place, France and Sweden.

Hospitals are a public service, they're not here to make money. That ethos is deeply entrenched in most European countries. Here in France our strong unions ensure our pay and conditions never hit rock bottom. And if I feel unsafe on a shift I can sound the alarm bell without fearing repercussions. There is actually a system in place exactly for highlighting your concerns about safety or undesirable situations. I shudder when I read posts here about nurses scared to speak up.

I've visited  the USA four times. I love your wonderful country, but if one thing ever dissuaded me from going to work there (and I did in my youth pass the CGFNS with a view to doing so), it's your system that put me off.

Well put.

0 Votes
Specializes in Home health.
11 hours ago, Ashlee59 said:

I'm satisfied and have no drama here. My pay is great only minor stuff with caregivers such as being over protective other than that everythinh is great. Maybe you need to talk to your management?sounds like you were played and underpaid .Hospital politics, drama amongst staff, micromanagement, being forced to be vaccinated or fired, then forced to come back to work even with covid, the nurse to patient ratio is bad and you guys don't get the pay to deal with the drama. Hospitals aren't wanting to pay you. I'm good in home health. I don't deal with none of this drama. The hospital nurses are miserable

I get one patient at a time. I'm in and out during visits no drama. And I do PDN one patient entire shift ,week and ongoing. The only drama I have ever gotten is the over protective parent or caregiver over a loved one which is normal.

 

0 Votes
On 1/26/2022 at 10:50 AM, toomuchbaloney said:

I disagree.  

There's zero evidence that the broken and failing American health system offers the most opportunity to make things better.  The real solution is a single payor model that protects the health consumer from capitalist interests. 

Throwing around words like "socialist" isn't helpful and suggests a specific political bias that is founded in rhetoric and emotion rather than facts and evidence, IMV.

I wonder if you believe that Medicare was designed with the capacity to scale up to cover most Americans health needs?

Thank you. ❤️

4 Votes
Specializes in Community health.

I am going to be hospitalized for a minor surgery soon and I am frightened. Particularly because many hospitals are still disallowing family visitors. Which, I’m sorry, is incredibly irresponsible. When I am incapacitated because of a surgery, and my nurse has been given 8 patients and won’t even be able to HEAR a call bell, let alone respond to it— what happens if I have an emergency?  My husband won’t be there to shout for help. I die and the nurse finds me when she’s finally able to round three hours later? 

2 Votes
Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
11 minutes ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

many hospitals are still disallowing family visitors. Which, I’m sorry, is incredibly irresponsible.

I feel for you and hope that your upcoming procedure is successful and your recovery is without complications. I think that one of the hardest things, for everyone in the hospital environment, has been the disruptions to visiting patients. You bring up a very valid point that with staffing the way it is, nurses and aids are overworked and I'm sure that tragic outcomes have happened. I hated the times when our hospital didn't allow any visitors and patients were dying without ever seeing their family again. Even now we allow only one visitor per day for four hours. Definitely not ideal.

However, part of this is necessary because of some of the things that have happened when visitors were allowed with less restrictions. We had a patient last Summer with multiple family members that would refuse to keep their masks on. During that patient's hospitalization, I think it was half a dozen staff on that floor and three other patients all came down with covid. Just a few weeks ago in the ICU we had a family member lie about their own exposure to COVID, come in and visit their COVID positive family member and two nurses came down with it. A couple days later she called and admitted she was sick with it. 

It's unfortunate that just like everything else, a few people ruin it for everyone else. 

2 Votes
21 minutes ago, JBMmom said:

I feel for you and hope that your upcoming procedure is successful and your recovery is without complications. I think that one of the hardest things, for everyone in the hospital environment, has been the disruptions to visiting patients. You bring up a very valid point that with staffing the way it is, nurses and aids are overworked and I'm sure that tragic outcomes have happened. I hated the times when our hospital didn't allow any visitors and patients were dying without ever seeing their family again. Even now we allow only one visitor per day for four hours. Definitely not ideal.

However, part of this is necessary because of some of the things that have happened when visitors were allowed with less restrictions. We had a patient last Summer with multiple family members that would refuse to keep their masks on. During that patient's hospitalization, I think it was half a dozen staff on that floor and three other patients all came down with covid. Just a few weeks ago in the ICU we had a family member lie about their own exposure to COVID, come in and visit their COVID positive family member and two nurses came down with it. A couple days later she called and admitted she was sick with it. 

It's unfortunate that just like everything else, a few people ruin it for everyone else. 

We always must write laws and protocols based upon the abilities and intentions of the slowest thinkers and those least likely to choose correctly without outside incentive.  The anarchists and trouble makers decide which way the government has to treat WE THE PEOPLE during a pandemic because they make it difficult and more dangerous for everyone with their selfish focus on individualism rather than patriotic duty. 

2 Votes
9 hours ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

I am going to be hospitalized for a minor surgery soon and I am frightened. Particularly because many hospitals are still disallowing family visitors. Which, I’m sorry, is incredibly irresponsible. When I am incapacitated because of a surgery, and my nurse has been given 8 patients and won’t even be able to HEAR a call bell, let alone respond to it— what happens if I have an emergency?  My husband won’t be there to shout for help. I die and the nurse finds me when she’s finally able to round three hours later? 

1st, someone should be visibly checking on you at least once an hour, even if it's just cracking the door and peeking in. Usually nurses make a round one hour and the tech makes a round the next hour. 2, I know you're frightened. I would be as well. But to say that's incredibly irresponsible is incredibly irresponsible in itself. Times are different right now and the way we operate right now is different because it has to be. Because it's the responsible thing to do. 3rd, if you're going to have a minor surgery and wind up dead.....well damn. Me personally, I'm not going to a hospital that I already know gives their nurses 8 pts. That's despicable. Nope. Would never. That should not be allowed. It is unsafe. I don't care If they're short staffed. Your pts aren't getting the proper care when you have so many. I don't care what anyone says. However many patients,  they should all have someone round every hour at the very least. I'm just going to say this too. That paragraph you wrote makes you sound like one of the more dramatic patients that I get. Just saying. You'll be fine though. 

0 Votes
Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

 

15 minutes ago, mnj7351 said:

Me personally, I'm not going to a hospital that I already know gives their nurses 8 pts. That's despicable. Nope.

I've been at my hospital for four and a half years. Night shift nurses have had eight patients regularly the whole time I've been there. The problem is the patients are getting sicker, so eight patients now isn't necessarily he same as it was then. Especially because our med surg floor is the COVID unit. So many post surgical patients are sharing the floor with the COVID patients that take a lot more time for care. Also, the staffing has been such that sometimes there are only two techs for those 28 patients, not four techs, which is what we had when I started. So yes, hourly rounding is certainly the goal, and when I'm on a med surg floor I do my best, but it's not a guarantee. 

2 Votes
27 minutes ago, JBMmom said:

 

I've been at my hospital for four and a half years. Night shift nurses have had eight patients regularly the whole time I've been there. The problem is the patients are getting sicker, so eight patients now isn't necessarily he same as it was then. Especially because our med surg floor is the COVID unit. So many post surgical patients are sharing the floor with the COVID patients that take a lot more time for care. Also, the staffing has been such that sometimes there are only two techs for those 28 patients, not four techs, which is what we had when I started. So yes, hourly rounding is certainly the goal, and when I'm on a med surg floor I do my best, but it's not a guarantee. 

Everything you described, I've experienced. Mixing surgery patients with covid patients, no techs, etc etc. It doesn't matter the situation, you better at least have an hourly round, no exception. This is exactly why you shouldn't have that many patients. If you can't make sure hourly rounds are made, then some better decisions need to be made by your facility. Do it sound safe to you?? 

0 Votes
Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

Of course it doesn't sound safe to me. When I was on the med surg unit recently one of my patients had to be intubated and I was in that one room for almost two hours. My other five patients (fortunately I only had six that night)? Well, the four other nurses on the floor were trying to cover them along with their own assignments. And it was a night we had two techs for 28 patients because the third tech had to sit with a confused patient on high flow. So hourly rounding probably didn't happen that night. That was my only point. Those of us on the floor are doing our best but we're set up to fail patients when we aren't appropriately staffed. 

3 Votes
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