Nurses Fight Back! Why Some Hospitals are Despicable
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This article was written by a member on allnurses in response to reading the article
Hospitals Firing Seasoned Nurses: Nurses FIGHT Back! . Due to the controversial and emotionally charged nature of the article, she is afraid of retribution if her hospital administrative staff should read this article and link it back to her. So we offered to publish it for her anonymously. Please add your comments regarding this issue negatively impacting nurses and the healthcare system.Sue, a new nurse three months into her first job, had a rough assignment, along with every nurse on the floor that day. A wing of 25 beds - and 24 of them filled, there were only 4 nurses - including the charge nurse. Sue barely had time to do an assessment more than open the door and check to see if her patient was breathing. If they talked - they were breathing - and that had to be good enough. The doctor was rounding and wanted to talk to her. Bed 8 needed pain meds and bed 10 needed to get off of the toilet. Would have been great if they had a tech working that day, but that is just fantasy. She still had not taken vital signs or opened her charts to see what meds were needed by 8 am.
Overhead, a Code blue was being called. As Sue ran to assist, she passed by room 11 and her patient screamed out that she had fallen out of bed. The IV pole was lying on the floor next to her and her iv site was bleeding...she was on a dopamine infusion. Sue stops in her tracks to help her patient, a 200-pound female who tried to move from the bed to the chair without calling for help but tripped on her IV tubing. Undecided if she should immediately restart the IV while her patient was still lying on the floor, or try to move her up to the chair without help, Sue wanted to scream in frustration. It was only 7:30 am.
Sadly, this is an example of nursing that should not ever be imposed on anyone, much less a new nurse who has no experience to draw on. Hospital administration who expect to have success by cutting corners and hanging the staff out to dry are at high risk for increased turnover rates, high morbidity/mortality, and disgruntled employees.
10 Reasons Nurses Believe Some Hospitals are Despicable
Understanding why some hospitals are despicable paints a clear picture of how NOT to manage a hospital, and lends credence to creating a hospital workplace that succeeds. The comparison from one environment to another is striking. Hospitals that succeed place a lot of time and money into proper training of their nurses and value the staff. Take a look:
Anna was a graduate nurse who landed her first job at a local hospital. While waiting to take her board exam, Anna was started in a Pathway Program with other new nurses at the hospital that lasted 6 months. During the first week, the hospital prepared the graduates to take their NCLEX exam with an intensive review.
After the nurses passed their boards, they spent days in Pathway training in classroom training. This included going over hospital policies, safety issues, guidelines, and best practices for hospital patients. Over the next 6 months, they worked on different units with mentors, trained on medication administration, the computer programs used for patient charting, and completed the hospital computer education curriculum. The program instilled the hospital values and mission in the training. Nurses were not "eaten" by the staff, but supported and encouraged.
Anna, along with the others in her program, then graduated and started on the unit they were hired for full time. She had an assigned mentor who she could approach at any time if she had any concerns in caring for any of her patients. The workload at the hospital was acceptable and did not overburden the nurses. In the unit where she was assigned, she found the charge nurses started off the day without an assignment so that she/he could help the other nurses with discharges and admissions, and if need be, could take on a patient or two during the shift. Anna learned the value of teamwork.
Additionally, Anna found she could increase her hourly pay through ambition. Pay raises are attainable through yearly evaluations, gaining continued education certifications, and through continued college education degrees. A reimbursement program for continued education was available. Overtime bonuses and pay during "crisis" seasons when the hospital was overflowing was offered. The hospital gives back to their nurses through yearly bonuses, PTO, Nurse Appreciation Week, and recognition of achievements.
Anna asked her mentor, "Is everyone here this nice?" She also told one of her family, "It is really hard to get a job in this hospital, no one ever wants to leave and work someplace else."
This is true. When hospitals want to become great, administration must realize it is nurses who are the foundation of care, understand what it takes to move a nurse from a graduate nurse to a strong, experienced nurse, and what it takes to keep them.
Hospitals that succeed value those who can create a trusting relationship with patients; who have time to educate and provide quality care for them (decreasing readmission rates); and create positive outcomes -in many ways - even through death; and who have the power to define in action the value and mission of hope and healing many hospital's claim they have.
Nurses, let your voice be heard - stand up for what you believed in when you decided to become a nurse. Be the leader of change in your hospital, be the compassionate, caring, daring, brave nurse you know you are meant to be!
Share your comments here, and join the movement -
STAND YOUR GROUND!!! LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!!