How does YOUR hospital waste its money?

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Like most hospitals, we are overwhelmed with busy work courtesy of the state and JCAHO. Not to mention the resident families, some of whom are more work than their patient. But we can't get enough staff to cover all this so that the nurses can nurse. Costs too much. So it drives me WILD when I think about how much money they throw away every day. To name a few: carefully prepared supplemental nutrition shakes that get thrown out because no-one has time to feed them to the patients, silly little contest prizes to make their employees feel "loved", employee surveys (that nobody will answer honestly because too much identifying data is asked for) to prove everyone is deliriously happy, and of course the ridiculous advertising wars with the other hospital in town. How does your hospital waste its health care dollars?

Specializes in SRNA.

On another note, I don't think that advertising dollars are money poorly spent. Like it or not, we all work for businesses that want to make money. If advertisement helps allure people to your place of employment, it's doing what it's intended: to make the business you work for money so you may get a paycheck.

If you want to make the argument that advertising dollars are money wasted, I guess any corporation that has ever purchased a magazine ad, tv commercial, billboard is wasting money. Give me a break!

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$8 million over the past few years for a facility-wide computer system that's supposed to be easy to use and crash-proof, and isn't.

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I would like to see you go and do all the work they do for the pay they get.

What in the name of Joe Pesci does that have to do with anything?

They work cheap. Good for them. You know what would be even better? If they worked back where they belong. And if every employer who knowingly hired them and every do-gooder who helped them break the law were in prison. That's another place you can work hard for little money.

There's a process to come here legally. My grandparents used it, all four of them. So did millions of others. Get in line.

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Everyone has the right to health care whether they are documented or not. No such thing as an illegal alien, they are undocumented immigrants. If someone is suffering, refusing to provide them healthcare just because they don't make enough money is immoral and unethical.

Wrong.

Coming into the USA without a Visa is a Federal Crime, and people like you who support them need to deported and have your US Citizenship revoked as well.

You go to other countries in the world, and if you don't have money you don't get healthcare, Plain and Simple.

Why should US Citizens have to pay for a "Illegal Alien" that 15 years old who crosses the border to have her baby in USA so it will be given US Citizenship and then go on the US Welfare system until the age of 18.

You need to pull your head out of the sand and take a look at how our economy is bleeding from the 20 milliion Illegal Aliens is USA.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

By paying experienced nurses about the same as the new grads. The experienced nurses are insulted and the new grads think they're hot stuff. The end result is that the newbies leave because they never planned on staying long on that unit. I read somewhere that it costs thousands of dollars for the hospital to train each new nurse, so that money's lost.

At the same time, the experienced nurse gets fed up over the salary vs responsibility issues, so the unit loses that nurse too. Seems to me that if someone's been on the same unit for a few years, does Charge (for a pittance), precepts students and mentors orientees, the hospital should make it worth her while to stay.

By failing to retain nurses, hospitals ultimately waste millions each year.

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There are plenty of Americans who don't work and are bleeding our health system/government dry. And while I agree that entering this country illegally is a crime,it does not make an illegal less of a person. We spend plenty on health care for prisoners convicted of much worse crimes. The bottom line is a patient is a person deserving of care regardless of their circumstances or choices. IMO money spent on patient care is not a waste and shouldn't be compaired with hiring consultants or watering the sidewalk just because of who those patients are.

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Specializes in Peds Hem, Onc, Med/Surg.
What in the name of Joe Pesci does that have to do with anything?

They work cheap. Good for them. You know what would be even better? If they worked back where they belong. And if every employer who knowingly hired them and every do-gooder who helped them break the law were in prison. That's another place you can work hard for little money.

There's a process to come here legally. My grandparents used it, all four of them. So did millions of others. Get in line.

You know, no matter what I say or what proof I give you, you will think the same way, as will I. So why waste our lives going around in circles.

My OPINION in regards to those hospital closures is the number of uninsured people. When I worked with financial services most people that asked for charity grants and the like where people who grew up in this country, had every opportunity to work and were too lazy to take advantage of all the opportunities this country has to offer and now they are working at B.K or McDonalds so they could stay under Section 8 and they could obtain other government help. Then when we wouldn't give it any help to them they would come up to me with the "I'm an American so you have to help" card and expect me to help them. I especially loved the ones that said "I paid my dues to society". Yet here they come with only brand name clothing.

I have seen so many people take advantage of hospital help that don't deserve it, its not even funny.

Maybe that is why I am biased.

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Specializes in Psychiatric.
If you want to make the argument that advertising dollars are money wasted, I guess any corporation that has ever purchased a magazine ad, tv commercial, billboard is wasting money. Give me a break!

I would be inclined to agree with you, except that I don't think a majority of people choose hospitals the same way they choose cereals, hair products, or choose between Burger King or Taco Bell. Usually when people choose between brands, those brands are all in the same place and equally accessible.

I would hypothesize that a significant percentage of people simply choose the hospital nearest to them without regard to what it's called and with little knowledge about its reputation. Thus, advertising is far less cost-effective for hospitals than it is for most other industries that advertise.

You could also argue that, for every million spent on advertising, the hospital could have hired 15-20 more nurses, improving their nurse to patient ratio, thus improving the quality of nursing care and morale of the nurses, leading to happier "customers" and some potential word-of-mouth advertising.

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Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

Medicaid and a couple private insurers no longer cover circumcision in my state (fine by me). Our hospital charges close to $700 for circs, with none of that money collected up front. I really wonder how much of that money actually gets collected. A few weeks ago, a resident finished 3 circs and said, "Hey, I just made XXX close to $2000 on these circs." The other nursery nurse and I kind of cocked our eyebrows at him. Uhhhh, ok.

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Specializes in trauma, ortho, burns, plastic surgery.
By paying experienced nurses about the same as the new grads. The experienced nurses are insulted and the new grads think they're hot stuff. The end result is that the newbies leave because they never planned on staying long on that unit. I read somewhere that it costs thousands of dollars for the hospital to train each new nurse, so that money's lost.

At the same time, the experienced nurse gets fed up over the salary vs responsibility issues, so the unit loses that nurse too. Seems to me that if someone's been on the same unit for a few years, does Charge (for a pittance), precepts students and mentors orientees, the hospital should make it worth her while to stay.

By failing to retain nurses, hospitals ultimately waste millions each year.

Angie with all my respect for you, I could tell you, that IF an experineced nurse WILL stay one the same position as a new graduate she ALWAYS will be paid almost the same.

If you are experinced nurse means that you are able to work in nursing fields that require experienced nursing skills and you will be paid according with that.

I saw in my passed work nurses with 10-15 years experinece, always complaining about their "the same wages like new grads"...BUT... doing the same work like new grads much more trying each time to have the low accuity patients as possible.

So if you want a differential wage based on experinece... DO ... somenthing more than a new grad do or move in high responsability position and advance you nursing carrier.

Is sad to see a nurse with 10-15 years experinece running on halls moaning all the times trying to figure out the low accuity patients and low responsabilities BUT wishing a high salary...just because...and opening the new grads paycheck to compare with them... is just sickness dear Angy with all my respect for my oldies... Management need to figure out this situation until... new grads will not running out because are overloaded and work in a hostile envirnment and experianced nurses run also because they belive that deserve more dollars and in the same time to work less.

Money payed and work loading could be well balanced IF management really care about it. With this balance and regulations about payment scale and work accuity loading, start the happines or unhappines of employees.

But who care..as soon as FEW of us ;) are happy, loooool ...

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Right now my hospital isnt wasting much! They are on a scrounging phase. Seriously, lights must be turned off in the break room if you are not in it, after visiting hours hall lights go off. No, mopping up spills with clean linens...call for a mop. Do not change chux under people unless very soiled. Use the chux that can be laundered before disposable ones...the list goes on and on for miles. under no conditions even 1 minute of overtimes... CNAs and Techs are no on at all unless very needed.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
hey...yes traveling nurses! always i asked my self.... what reasons are behind that?

is a balance beetwen not paying benefits for a travel nurse and how much you spend hiring her by an agency?

why hopitals hiring travel nurses instead to hire a regular one?

is somenthig that i don't know ;) or i could not understand yet?

if the hospital hires a new grad, it will take 2-6 months of orientation to get them up to speed so they can handle a full patient assignment without help. even then, they may be high maintenence co-workers. a traveler can take a full assignment after 2-3 shifts of orientation. a new grad is a new grad; a traveler is an experienced nurse, and sometimes the skill mix in a unit is such that experienced nurses (even travelers) are needed to help keep an eye on the new grads.

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