Nurses' Week - Upended.

[evilolive07]

I have worked for a large hospital system for about nine years now. My initial Catholic hospital was acquired by a larger hospital system in the same area more or less because of a failure to thrive. My "old hospital", even when in it's imminent demise, still provided a Nurses' Week gift to all of its employees. The gift was equivalent to a burlap sack, but it still represented the respect that upper management had for its nurses at the time.

Fast forward to 2018 - this year the Nurses Week committee voted to not hand out individual gifts to nurses but instead offer them "plenty of events" to participate in throughout the week. These being the same events that we've had every week for the last 5-6 years since rebranding/acquisition. These events include chair massages that run primarily on day shift, ice cream socials that simply will not work for those of us trying to improve our health, and CE credits that are generally unavailable to staff who work the off shift. The individual gift was the one part of the week that united all of us as nurses. It made us feel good. It was the one giant "thank you," that we received from those who do not work the front-lines everyday. That thanks is now gone, due to what seems like whatever budgeting crisis the system is currently experiencing.

2017-2018 has been another average year. Another year with poor RN staffing, little show in improving employee satisfaction (IMO), and what seems like little thanks for again earning Magnet designation, proving HRO accountability, and meeting/exceeding other metric performance measures.

Forgive my selfish-sounding rant, but I find it difficult to believe that unit clerks are entitled to a gift, and the nurses are not. A $5 coffee mug or tumbler for each nurse surely cannot surpass a CEO/CIO's bonus each year.

Shame on my system. Shame.

Thank you for listening.

[TriciaJ, RN]

I have mixed feelings about Nurses Week. It's the same feeling I have when shopping for a Hallmark birthday card for a relative who really isn't nice and the platitudes don't fit. Sometimes I'm even glad when it's over.

I believe in celebrating Florence Nightingale's birthday but Nurse's Week often brings up reminders that as nurses we are not respected and empowered on the job. Sad to say.

Maybe we will always be disappointed if we expect something from our employers. I wonder if there's a way to turn it around and take charge of our own celebration. Celebrate ourselves bc we know we're awesome!

I'm with you on this one. Quit hoping and quit being disappointed. Nurses' Week should be our reminder to celebrate ourselves; we know what we do. This is a time to get a manicure or a massage or take each other out to lunch or bring token gifts for each other.

[mushyrn, BSN, RN]

They do give us something... they give us paychecks and benefits.

But the paychecks are getting smaller and the benefits crappier. Haha. I do wish we could just be nurses and be respected for what we are year-round, however.

[klone, MSN, RN]

But the paychecks are getting smaller and the benefits crappier. Haha. I do wish we could just be nurses and be respected for what we are year-round, however.

Well, we ARE the "most respected profession" by the general public.

[Coloradonurse1983]

Of course they do; if they didn't, they would not be viable. "Non profit" doesn't mean that they don't or can't or shouldn't make profit, it just means that the profit doesn't go to shareholders or a board of directors, but instead is invested back into the facility.

Yeah. Back into the facility. What a joke.

[Suzey]

LOLOLOLOL that's how they get a return on their investment in providing the burlap bags, now they get all their employees insurance reimbursement when they are treated for anaphalaxis.

[Roz, RN, BSN, RN]

Didn't you know?? Night shift doesn't exist! I've been asking the what about night shift question for years. When reps from our insurance carrier come, no consideration is given to night shift employees. When classes are offered and you have to work the night before and the night of the class, too bad. I was told that night shift gets a differential to compensate for the "inconvenience" of missing sleep to come to mandatory staff meetings.

[Have Nurse, ADN, RN]

A personal, in-person 'thank you' from one's administrative team to each and every nurse DURING THEIR SHIFT (yes, administration would have to come in at night) would go a long, long way.

I once worked in a facility many years ago that would cater a nice meal for all shift. Adminstration had to come in on nights and serve them too. It was nice.

[riverlands]

I have given up waiting for my employer to celebrate me. I celebrated myself during nurses week and I celebrated my coworkers. I celebrate myself every day when I put my scrubs on. I'm so proud to be a nurse!! Now where's that person with Syphilis because my bicillins are ready to go...

[drkshadez]

For me, and I am saying that this is just for me, my satisfaction as a Registered Nurse comes from knowing I gave the best quality care to patients throughout my shift. it is an internal satisfaction and I have never left a shift where a patients or another nurse have said, "Thank you for your help" at least once throughout the shift. Those words are just secondary to the internal satisfaction, as is any material form of "thanks."

I remember my first nursing job my manager asked if I got my "gift." i said "What gift?" She said for Nurses week - and then I replied, "This is nurses week?" We had a good laugh over that. It was a nice sized tote bag. There were individual bags with our names on them. I never thought of it as some type of recognition or "thanks" - because I really do not expect anything.

I do take issue with the CEs though. The best way to hanlde that is ask for time off without using PTO to take those CEs in lieu of shift work. If you are in a large MAGNET hospital, surely they have a float pool. It is very difficult to think of a manager, especially in a MAGNET hospital, who would deny an RN the opportunity for CEs. Whenever I had classes or CEs to go through, that was always figured into my 36 hour work week, because managers don't want to pay you overtime for "clocking in" for CEs :) .

Sometimes we base things off of assumptions ("I cannot attend these CEs because I work night shift") rather than discussing it with the unit manager. I am the type of person that, if enough CEs were offered to meet my contact hours requirement for RN license renewal, I would ask to not work that week so I can fulfill these requirements.

[T-Bird78]

Apparently our system has "hospital week" from May 7--18 and they provide box lunches (sandwiches, chips, cookie) but my location hasn't had it yet.

[sharkbacon]

I hate to be a real whiner, but I was disappointed with our nurses week, as well. It was lumped in with "hospital week" and the activities and goodies (there was a sandwich day and root beer float day, if I recall) were strictly 11am-1pm --day shift only. Night shift wasn't even given the sad leftovers like usual. No gifts, no administration telling us thank you, just a few posters up in the break room inviting us to "hospital week."

I know it's not a make it or break it deal, but a "thank you, we appreciate all your hard work," really goes a long way.

[mwilsbsn]

No gift from my hospital either. One of the events they had was a luau themed lunch. The CEO sent out an email inviting all staff to wear Hawaiian shirts, unless, of course, they wear the mandatory antimicrobial uniform --- aka everyone the lunch was for! I just thought the email showed how out of touch management can be. Like, first of all, did you really think we were going to be like, "I can wear a Hawaiian shirt to work?! I thought this day would never come! Thank you, Mr. CEO!!!" Second of all, if you expect people to wear their uniform, this Hawaiian shirt "privilege" is really only for employees that don't wear a uniform, which, in my hospital, is mostly management and office workers, who, while much appreciated, aren't being celebrated during Nurses' Week.