No Wonder We Have Sooo Much Shortage Of Nurses

[mina123]

I am so sick of working in hospital due to unsupportive administration problems. I am an excellent nurse but i can;t do everybody's else job too. The hospital i work at and i have also worked in several other hospitals all have one basic problems. TECHS AND NURSES AID SUPPORT. Administration and big organization out there WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?? You want your organization and hospital to make money, you want patients to be happy HIRE FOR US MORE SUPPORTIVE STAFF, so we can do our job better and in more efficient manner. I am certainly not talking about all nurses aid, techs, pca out there, but OH MY GOD some of them are a shame to entire organization and the administration doesn;t do anything about it. WHY???? Hire a nursing student, hire somebody who has some compassionate, hire somebody who has some work ethics. NO WE NURSES CAN;T DO EVERYTHING THAT;S IMPOSSIBLE. Yes we can do am care, vital signs, take patients to bathroom but no non-nursing personel can do our job. So no it is not a codependent position i can do there job but they certainly CANNOT help me with mine. So i am urging every human resources out there please consider this before u hire somebody off from street to do patient care!!!!:angryfire

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

I am so sick of working in hospital due to unsupportive administration problems. I am an excellent nurse but i can;t do everybody's else job too. The hospital i work at and i have also worked in several other hospitals all have one basic problems. TECHS AND NURSES AID SUPPORT. Administration and big organization out there WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS?? You want your organization and hospital to make money, you want patients to be happy HIRE FOR US MORE SUPPORTIVE STAFF, so we can do our job better and in more efficient manner. I am certainly not talking about all nurses aid, techs, pca out there, but OH MY GOD some of them are a shame to entire organization and the administration doesn;t do anything about it. WHY???? Hire a nursing student, hire somebody who has some compassionate, hire somebody who has some work ethics. NO WE NURSES CAN;T DO EVERYTHING THAT;S IMPOSSIBLE. Yes we can do am care, vital signs, take patients to bathroom but no non-nursing personel can do our job. So no it is not a codependent position i can do there job but they certainly CANNOT help me with mine. So i am urging every human resources out there please consider this before u hire somebody off from street to do patient care!!!!:angryfire

amen to that...

[lnzjean]

I agree with what you are saying about support staff and you not being able to do everything. I am a CNA right now and have been for a year and a half. I'm hoping to get accepted to nursing school next year. One CNA that I work with is very lazy and doesn't care a thing about her job or the patients that she cares for. She doesn't help nurses out hardly ever and has been called out on it many times. I'm one step away from talking to the DON about her. I don't know how to make it any clearer to her that she is there for the patients safety, health, and comfort; not just for a pay check. I can imagine what the nurses in my facility have to deal with with her; having to page her over head and in rooms just to bring her our of hiding. I feel for you guys, really I do. Just know that there are some of us out here that are still here for the patient and not just for ourselves.

[BookwormRN]

amen to that...

Ditto here!

When I was first hired as a new RN, a pt had a problem with an aide saying some mean things to her. This had not been told to me by the pt, so how was I to know?

Got a call from the manager the next day, wondering about my side of the story, as the pt stated she had told the RN what had happened!

Long story short, the aide in question was going to be reprimanded AGAIN!!!! The manager stated that she knows this aide has a long history of reprimands.

SO WHY IS THAT PERSON STILL WORKING????? and why am I being treated like the person responsible for the wrong doing?

Oops, sorry for the rant.....got carried away:lol2:

[Cattitude]

Ditto to the OP... In this age of "me-ism" and entitlement, it's only going to get worse. Nurses won't stay long in the hospital setting at all.

Everyone wants their butt kissed from Admin. to the docs to the CNA's. Why does that have to go on for people just to do their frickin' jobs? The nurse carries the heaviest burden, having to do a little of everyone's job along with her own.

We need to take care of ourselves because no one looks out for us. Remember, they NEED US, not the other way around!

[Zookeeper3]

Geeze you're right. Problem is that you don't know who will work out as supportive staff and who won't. Problem is that in orientation these "red" flags show a small bit and they're ignored instead of strongly documented. Problem is that orientation and probation is not extended, it's granted because of lack of documentation. Problem is, that after probation, we all see the flaws that begin to add up, take more work on, gripe to a peer in quiet. Problem is that by now there are big problems and administration just can't "fire" someone.

There is a lengthy course of reprimand that flows, that if side stepped will give this or any problem person their job back.

Problem is that WE OWN the problem. Not saying we need to be in a write the other person up culture. BUT, there are people whom almost on day one, when looking back needed that paper trail started and it wasn't done. That is OUR fault of nurses, the "fixers".

We simply get up and get the call light, turn the patient, get the water... because it's more work to make others work. This is lack of professionalism and good delegation on OUR part and we Do own it.

Administration can only fix this with our help, they are not on the floor, they are not side by side, they do not see what we do. They depend upon up to help eliminate those who don't provide what is needed.

Force in numbers work, have everyone lodge multiple complaints in writing, in the proper chain and keep doing it! Many times, administration is working very hard behind the scenes to do what's needed, they can't beg us for the paper trail, that comes from us.

Rant off, OP, instead of being frustrated, initiate your chain of complaints after you've been "fair" enough face to face. It's rare that after a few face to face "corrections" I have repeat bad behaviour with assistants, while the same assistant will dog another nurse that tolerates the games and takes on their work! If you've done that then all bets are off and USE your paper trail to your superiors and save copies, follow up, meet- speak in person to the manager.

It's so frustrating as professionals that we expect everyone else to show up and do the same, sometimes they choose not to and we have the choice to mandate the behavior change;)

[nursemary58]

Hospitals will put up with almost anything from the support staff. The caliber of people this postition attracts is horrific!!!!! No work ethic, caring, or compassion. Administration just need warm bodies, and will look the other way rather than deal with the problem.

Perhaps the salary structure needs to be looked at for these type of positions. Maybe if the pay was more it would attract a higher caliber of people.

Sorry for the rant, but it is an ongoing problem in every facility that I have been to. Something that we just have to put up with.

[Zookeeper3]

Hospitals will put up with almost anything from the support staff. The caliber of people this postition attracts is horrific!!!!! No work ethic, caring, or compassion. Administration just need warm bodies, and will look the other way rather than deal with the problem.

Perhaps the salary structure needs to be looked at for these type of positions. Maybe if the pay was more it would attract a higher caliber of people.

Sorry for the rant, but it is an ongoing problem in every facility that I have been to. Something that we just have to put up with.

NOOOO, okay, not being argumentive;) read my post below, we DON'T have to put up with this! we must become part of the solution, grab the process, control it, get management involved and fix it! The amount of work to do so is so much less than the work that would lie ahead.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

This thread was interestingly entitled, "No Wonder We Have Sooo Much Shortage Of Nurses."

I slightly disagree. There's no true shortage of nurses, because 500,000 RNs and countless LPNs/LVNs have active licensure, yet they no longer work at the bedside. Rather, there's a shortage of nurses who will deal with the crappy politics, stressful work conditions, high ratios, mediocre pay, unsupportive administration, rude patients and family members, snippy doctors, and other factors that make the bedside an absolutely horrible place to work.

[oramar]

Geeze you're right. Problem is that you don't know who will work out as supportive staff and who won't. Problem is that in orientation these "red" flags show a small bit and they're ignored instead of strongly documented. Problem is that orientation and probation is not extended, it's granted because of lack of documentation. Problem is, that after probation, we all see the flaws that begin to add up, take more work on, gripe to a peer in quiet. Problem is that by now there are big problems and administration just can't "fire" someone.

There is a lengthy course of reprimand that flows, that if side stepped will give this or any problem person their job back.

Problem is that WE OWN the problem. Not saying we need to be in a write the other person up culture. BUT, there are people whom almost on day one, when looking back needed that paper trail started and it wasn't done. That is OUR fault of nurses, the "fixers".

We simply get up and get the call light, turn the patient, get the water... because it's more work to make others work. This is lack of professionalism and good delegation on OUR part and we Do own it.

Administration can only fix this with our help, they are not on the floor, they are not side by side, they do not see what we do. They depend upon up to help eliminate those who don't provide what is needed.

Force in numbers work, have everyone lodge multiple complaints in writing, in the proper chain and keep doing it! Many times, administration is working very hard behind the scenes to do what's needed, they can't beg us for the paper trail, that comes from us.

Rant off, OP, instead of being frustrated, initiate your chain of complaints after you've been "fair" enough face to face. It's rare that after a few face to face "corrections" I have repeat bad behaviour with assistants, while the same assistant will dog another nurse that tolerates the games and takes on their work! If you've done that then all bets are off and USE your paper trail to your superiors and save copies, follow up, meet- speak in person to the manager.

It's so frustrating as professionals that we expect everyone else to show up and do the same, sometimes they choose not to and we have the choice to mandate the behavior change;)

I think the person who started this thread is saying that the people she is posting about have a long history of being reported and written up over and over again for the same infractions. The problem here is that for some reason administration will tolerated these behaviors. You can blame it on the RNs but arn't we all being blamed for everything already? I am not going to hammer my fellow RNs because administration refuses to fire bad support staff. I can't hire and fire and either can any other staff nurse.

[Sanuk]

This is part of the reason I now work in a facility with NO unlicensed personnel. No aides at all. All RNs with a 3:1 ratio.

[Idon'tcodgerdodge]

I'm with you on that..I used to work on an Orthopedic/neurology floor. We're the floor who needs the most technical help...yet, for some reason we were the first floor to lose our techs to the float pool.