what nurses want.....

Decent patient ratios...

well let's see... safe pt ratios, pay in proportion to experience AND responsability, a charge nurse who doesn't have a pt assignment on days/eves-reduced assignment at night, meal breaks on all shifts, adequate staffing levels for ancillary staff, unit clerks and techs who are trained to perform their job duties and do not resent being asked to do so, functioning monitoring equipment for EACH pt bed, two O2 regulators per pt bed, computerized order entry, unit dedicated pharmacist, pyxis (die omnicell, die!), unit dedicated phlebotomist and resp. therapist, a nurse manager who is visable on the unit and makes an effor to discuss issues on the floor with off shift workers, and to get it all off the ground, how about PAID classroom time WITHOUT a pt assignment to educate staff on gtts, arterial lines/swans/pacemakers/whatever else their pts will have that they will be responsable for taking care of. you asked. if you can't tell, i am wrapping up 2 years on a dysfunctional step down...

Equipment! Ivacs, thermometers, pulse ox's. portable/transpoprt monitors, cables that work, automatic cuffs for everyone, in various sizes, supplies in patient rooms and a dedicated staff person to keep them stocked, linens available on all shifts, not just when the cart is refreshed each AM, box lunches in patient frig for instantly available meals after procedures so the patient doesn't have to wait on food service when they've been npo for 20+hours. Rooms large enough for all the equipment, nurse and visitors, plus the patient, all at the same time! Bathroom doorways large enough for an ivac, patient and nurse to fit through. Showers in all patient rooms.

Good luck!

Melissa