Is anyone else feeling the effect of this economy in your job?

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Specializes in LTC.

As we all know this economy sucks right now....in my are of NC though its extremely bad. Our local hospital just permanently laid of 60 employees ranging from housekeeping to nursing departments. At the LTC facility I work at we are feeling it too....we are not very big...we have less than 100 beds and are on low census AGAIN...so our administrator and DON have told us nurses that we have to clock out for an hour in our shift ...every day ..every shift...the cna's take the regular 30 min...and all other depts including the office staff, housekeeping/laundry and dietary are to take an hour too.....This is putting a major hurting on my paycheck and they dont want to let me use my earned time to make up the difference. I have put in some apps for prn or pt work in other facilities to no avail thus far....I need to make up the difference in what I am losing . What bugs me about this is that on my shift which is 2nd...I do charge which includes my 2 big med passes, tx's, any admissions we get, calling the doc, charting galore, skin sweeps, dealing with the pharmacy, the lab, and families nonstop. An hour is impossible for me to do. 30 mins is hard for me to do b/c on top of my 8 hrs of work I get stuck with 4 hours of leftovers from day shift most days. My response to this hour demand was " ok...but dont come fussing to me when stuff isnt done or passed on or completed like it shoudl be." ...and omg....has stuff been messed up! important orders have been missed for important appts...like ct scans and mri's.....none of those orders belong to any of my patients luckily but still those nurses never picked up the orders and thus appts have been rescheduled and missed d/t this . I just wanna know if anyone else out there is dealing with this same thing in the nursing field and how you are handling it. I budget my money as it is..but now its even tighter. It wouldnt be so bad if it wasnt for the state eating me up in taxes after the insurance company eats my money up....I have to pay 251.00 every 2 wks out of my check for insurance for me, my baby, and my hubby. Insane!!!!! It went up 100.00 from last year and I expect it to go up again at this years renewal in november. Me and my coworkers on my shift have come up with a way we deal...since we can wear any type of uniform we bring in our uniforms and shoes that we no longer wear or dont fit and we all trade out....we have been growing some vegetables and fruits too and bringing in the extras for each other at work. One of my patients family owns a well known produce business and her hubby is always bringing us veggies and watermelons which we all share among each other and our residents if they want some.......thats just how we are dealing with it at the moment.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

My previous workplace, which was a nursing home, recently dealt with their low census by forcing all hourly staff to clock out for lunch for 60 minutes instead of the usual 30 minutes. Meanwhile, they were spending over $1 million to restore and renovate the facility.

I voted with my feet by quitting.

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Specializes in Correctional, QA, Geriatrics.

My job got cut right in half....from 40 per week to 20. By putting me in to part time status I no longer qualify for a single benefit. With my husband also only working part time we are in a very bad spot. Due to some chronic health issues I can't get a job just anywhere i.e. working a LTC on the floor all day so I am scrambling to find a decent full time job again that I can physically do at an acceptable pay rate.

What irks me the most about how this all came about is that my non profit added a VP position a month before they reduced my status to part time. No other nursing slots at any of the other offices in my state have been eliminated or had hours reduced. Because we have the lowest census (always have btw) suddenly a full time nurse is a luxury. They also eliminated a field supervisor position and now have 1 person overseeing 5 group homes solo. Yes client care is suffering and many things are falling thru the cracks because I can't do proper oversight. I sure hope that new VP position proves worthwhile (sarcasm intended). It is being funded on the backs of the compromised client care brought about by looking at ledgers instead of decency.

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Specializes in LTC.

Hmm.......I see completely.....one other thing that bugs me about this issue is that at my facility the upper mgmt ppl meaning the DON and administrator get huge bonuses for keeping us under "budget".....several yrs ago it was around 1200 bucks...Id bet money its more than that now. I think this plays a big part in our cutbacks as well. We can be full to the gills and they still tell me to send some of my cnas home etc etc. We need 6 more admits to be ok they say. We have pulled in patients all the way from georgia this time. I am just waiting for the kicker though...my don told me that if all the nurses dont comply with the hour break deal that she will have no choice but to cut out a nurse. This worries me b/c if that nurse just so happens to be on my shift or 3rd shift...someone will have to pick up more extra work which would probably be me. I have already put in my apps at 2 other facilities for prn work ...talked to one don who told me to come by and redo a paper app b/c i did mine online...so i did that and havent heard squat. Ive got a former cna of mine bringing me one from where he went to work at but its about 45 mins from my house but the pay is alot better and nurses get a 5000 sign on bonus...get 2500 after 90 days and at 6 mos but you have to work there a year. The thought of going somewhere else terrifies me b/c im familiar with things where i am now but I have a 2 yr old son who has to be fed and have diapers etc. I have a mortgage like most others so ........im backed into a corner on this one. when youre the new nurse somewhere its like there is always one other one there who is out to get you it seems like. I would love love love to do a 7p to 7a track somewhere but my biggest problem is that i dont have someone to watch my son in the day time for a few hrs while i could sleep and daycare is outrageous.....400/mo and i cannot afford that.....unless i get a w/end job or something.........this whole thing just blows!

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My previous workplace, which was a nursing home, recently dealt with their low census by forcing all hourly staff to clock out for lunch for 60 minutes instead of the usual 30 minutes. Meanwhile, they were spending over $1 million to restore and renovate the facility.

I voted with my feet by quitting.

That's because the money is there, they just don't want to spend it on staff. They want to continue to make the same profits that they're used to making so they cut down on needed stuff. They're not losing any money, believe me when I say this, they will still continue to make millions in profits even with low census. They're just greedy people.

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Specializes in LTC.

greedy is true. maybe it really is true when they say that money is the root of all evil. We have went without briefs, supplies like glucometer strips, otc meds, even nail clippers in all this mess. My buddy called me yesterday when i was off and said we got 3 admits so.....we'll see how that goes. one nurse has put in her notice....and i finally got a call back yesterday but its from an agency where they send you to fill in for a shift at a place. Ive never done that before but its LTC which is where i am experienced so we will see how that goes too. It couldnt hurt to have something prn on the side ..who knows I might find a facility that i like and that likes me enough to wanna hire me on sometime in the future. Wont know til I try. oh.....speaking of greed....with low census....isnt it convenient that every am. all the dept heads get breakfast and lunch from wherever they want.....for free? paid for out of our funds....yet we cant get briefs. the boss jumped all over my aides one day asking them why they were going through so many briefs....um...duh....they are changing these people like they are supposed to do!!!!!!....she told them to change them less often and let it get more "saturated" so they wont be wasteful....omg.......total bull**** I think. I told them to keep doing it the right way.....we dont need any more uti's or decubs which luckily on my unit....i only have 1 w/ a sore and shes had it since she was admitted.

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greedy is true. maybe it really is true when they say that money is the root of all evil. We have went without briefs, supplies like glucometer strips, otc meds, even nail clippers in all this mess. My buddy called me yesterday when i was off and said we got 3 admits so.....we'll see how that goes. one nurse has put in her notice....and i finally got a call back yesterday but its from an agency where they send you to fill in for a shift at a place. Ive never done that before but its LTC which is where i am experienced so we will see how that goes too. It couldnt hurt to have something prn on the side ..who knows I might find a facility that i like and that likes me enough to wanna hire me on sometime in the future. Wont know til I try. oh.....speaking of greed....with low census....isnt it convenient that every am. all the dept heads get breakfast and lunch from wherever they want.....for free? paid for out of our funds....yet we cant get briefs. the boss jumped all over my aides one day asking them why they were going through so many briefs....um...duh....they are changing these people like they are supposed to do!!!!!!....she told them to change them less often and let it get more "saturated" so they wont be wasteful....omg.......total bull**** I think. I told them to keep doing it the right way.....we dont need any more uti's or decubs which luckily on my unit....i only have 1 w/ a sore and shes had it since she was admitted.

Now that just chaps my hide! That administrator or DON that made that rediculous demand needs to be b**** slapped and thrown across the room! Ask that person to put their loved one in that place and to please include that person in those demands. Don't change them as often, let them get the decubs and utis, and see if their attitude changes. Ok, now if you did what the boss asked you and the patient got a uti or a decub, the CNA's would be in deep doo doo....Don't change the briefs so much, pftttttttttttttttt :madface:

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So far actually the facility i work in seems to be doing really well as far as nursing staff. Respiratory therapists and physical therapists are cutting hours, but so far we have had no layoffs in our faciltiy. It is a smaller size hospital, and the larger hospitals in the area are cutting LPNS.

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Specializes in LTC.

Luckily....I do have some aides that do the right thing ....they keep on changing these pts despite the mgmts instruction not to. My don used to tell us nurses not to give out any narcs unless it was last resort...whatever. You'd think that the don was forking out the money on their pharmacy bills.....but i ignored her then as well and kept on giving out pain pills when needed...I dont believe in ignoring pertinent issues. i couldnt in good faith ignore when someone was in pain or need of some type of relief. ......its mindblowing what a lil bit of power and authority will do to someone. I just kinda stay back and watch as much as I can....i dont want in the middle of the power struggles that go on and their nonsense. I choose to play no part in it.

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lets just say you are still lucky that you have a job. I am a new grad and I am having a tough time looking for a job. Facilities are not hiring or if there is hiring they prefer nurses with experience.

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Specializes in LTC.

this is true...i am glad to still have a job and I have been applying everywhere for a prn job just to have on the side to make up the difference but no luck..got several calls but thats it. no interviews...nothing yet. Its frustrating. I have seen in the news that they say that jobs are picking up but where????? mexico? guatamala? china? Im not seeing anything here. probably 85 % of my town is unemployed right now. No jobs, No insurance, some of them dont even get food stamps, medicaid or nothing if they are drawing unemployment. Ive been cutting back on every thing that I possibly can to save money. Ive already made 10000 less than what i made at work this time last year. In 08 I was constantly pulling double shifts b/c there was so many nurses on the night shift calling out all the time. Mgmt is always on us about the BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET.....yet....this past w/end....we were out of alot of otc meds like immodium, oscal, iron, tavist, eye drops, and briefs for the incontinent patients. Its insane!

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Specializes in NH, HH, Agency.

Terrible! I am so glad to do home health! I don't miss LTC!

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