I Just Quit the Worst Hospital in Canada and It Feels Great!

[giveface]

I'll spare you the nitty gritty of it, but suffice it to say this morning I tendered my letter of resignation to possibly the most unsafe, most understaffed hospital in Canada. I know for many it is a dream that may never happen, nor do I encourage the practice for others, but for me it was a matter of conscience and the right thing to do.

[Fiona59]

I don't think any Canadian Nurse gets the respect they deserve.

Here in AB, it's all about ER wait times and how overworked they are. Surgeries are cancelled because there isn't enough OR nurses working that day. It doesn't matter how understaffed the floors are (medicine or surgery). The floor nurses are constantly expected to accept new patients to clear out the ER or take the post ops. It's the floor managers that need to develop a backbone. So the ORs are fully staffed, that's really nice, but when a floor nurse is expected to take three fresh post ops within two hours there is something wrong. I have a friend who works on a day surgery unit, one day they had 15 unscheduled patients go through the OR. The surgeon in question found out there was an available OR and snagged it. Great for him and his patients. Not so great for the receiving unit who was only staffed for three surgeons worth of patients and got four.

[giveface]

@Fiona59

I have seen this a few times. Some docs clearly have no idea how bad things are on the floors receiving these patients. I totally wholeheartedly agree that it is nurse managers who need to develop a backbone and advocate for their front line colleagues (us). Too often I see them with their heads in the sand and metaphorically in bed with senior management. It is disgraceful. I'm so happy for you that you get to make $106K/year and have all these fancy titles but it wasn't so long ago you were me. Its a very sad state of affairs. It has all left me wondering, and I mean SERIOUSLY wondering, if this profession in its current state is for me. I just don't think I have the stomach for it. I ate the whole "nursing shortage" baloney hook, line and sinker in nursing school.