If I Hear One More Time........

[Tweety]

"we called everyone and no one will come in, and there's no agency available you're running short staffed tonight." I'll just scream. Everytime someone calls in sick they can't be replaced.

Why in one ear are they telling me I'm going to be short staffed and the other telling me we're getting admits!. :angryfire

I refused to take admits, saying we are short and I need time to take care of the three I just got, so what do they do? They fax report, call housekeeping themselves and bring the patient under the direction of the supervisor. I'm so angry if I wouldn't loose my license I'd quit right now.

Thanks. I feel so much better. Now I'll go back to looking up that med I was looking up, but just wanted to scream to someone who knows what I'm talking about, you know?

[mattsmom81]

I have ER nurses cruising my ICU nightly. They say scornfully "We're holding ICU patients. Why? You HAVE open beds". I bite my tongue as I explain, "Yes and my nurses are stretched with 2-3 critical patients already, SOOO you will keep those patients until administration supplies me with another ICU NURSE. A BED alone does not constitute critical care."

We will get as much crap as we will take like our friend Sjoe reminds us. Learn to say 'no' nurses. Know why it is so important that we DO draw a line.

I oriented a new ICU nurse the other night who said to me "You guys have it easy...we always had 3 patients...every night." My answer? "You had that because you accepted that. We choose not to. It is unsafe to accept this; its against AACN standards for critical care, and as professionals we have a duty to say so. "

[MizzPrettyPilz]

I feel your pain 3rdshiftguy. At my hospital we are frequently told we have an admit coming (usually while short staffed and while dinner trays are being served), and have to go downstairs and haul them out of a car (no one bothers to tell us they are not coming by stretcher). And you guessed it, Admssions always promises them a private room. Who cares if the patient get's pissed off when an oriented 33 year old patient is placed in the room with a BM smearing, restrained vent-dependant 90 year-old?(lol) And the nurses get blamed for this. And of course being admitted at this time and short staffed the patient has an extended wait time for services. Thus a negative attitude towards the nurses the rest of their stay. It really makes me flame!! ggrrr!!!

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

We will get as much crap as we will take like our friend Sjoe reminds us. Learn to say 'no' nurses. Know why it is so important that we DO draw a line.

What was upsetting to me is that I did say no. The patient appeared with a faxed report without warning. :angryfire