What do you think is a major problem in nursing?

Nurses Safety

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If you had to pick one thing that you thought was a major problem in nursing what would it be and what would you do about it?

Just curious! :)

I would like to see employers sent a actual contract from the board of nursing that would require them to adhere to specific safe practices.We pay the fee for a license and only here from the board if there is a problem( going by my winter news letter) How about seeing all this license money go to a better use. How about protecting your nurses!!!

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We need managers who have the courage to be true leaders, not yes men and women. :angryfire

Personally, I think you are being too generous by calling them yes people; I think of them more as prostitutes - they will do anything for the almighty dollar.

u tell me who wants to be in the line of fire-- no one -- that is why things stay the same no one wants to step up and open their mouth --it's not only about the money its about integrity...no one has any today ..

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I would like to see employers sent a actual contract from the board of nursing that would require them to adhere to specific safe practices.We pay the fee for a license and only here from the board if there is a problem( going by my winter news letter) How about seeing all this license money go to a better use. How about protecting your nurses!!!

u want to here something funny about the board of nursing ... they serve no purpose.. and let me tell u why .. i called them and asked a question about a problem i had with a case i was working on --private duty-- and they could not help me-- and the person on the other line was rude and asked me what school i went to.. bc i asked a question... isn't that a joke...she flipped on me and tried to say i didn't know what i was doing meanwhile she couldn't answer any of my questions.. so there's the board of nursing for u.. The case i was working on was with a vent patient and i had some clinical questions concerning his care in the home... so i asked what was the standard of practice ... no answer...

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Specializes in Psychiatric, Home Health, Geriatrics.
u want to here something funny about the board of nursing ... they serve no purpose.. and let me tell u why .. i called them and asked a question about a problem i had with a case i was working on --private duty-- and they could not help me-- and the person on the other line was rude and asked me what school i went to.. bc i asked a question... isn't that a joke...she flipped on me and tried to say i didn't know what i was doing meanwhile she couldn't answer any of my questions.. so there's the board of nursing for u.. The case i was working on was with a vent patient and i had some clinical questions concerning his care in the home... so i asked what was the standard of practice ... no answer...

You know another funny thing? At first I thought you might be dealing with the same state board that I deal with, but when I looked to see where you are, I realized that we are dealing with different boards, but they sure are equally as helpful... :o

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Ratios, ratios, ratios.

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I'm in Australia which is totally different from the American scene so my comments pertain to the Australasian environment. Also, as I know jacksheet about nursing being very new, my views are formed in part as a member of the public and partly as a student/nursing assistant.

Licensing for all nurse divisions is a mistake. It's just another revenue earner. There are three divisions in Australia - nursing assistant, enrolled nurse and registered nurse; the latter two being registered with a nursing board. There is a chain of command and for a reason: different levels of expertise. It's not about 'being in charge' - leave that to management. That's what they're for. It's about doing a good job in the job that you are assigned. To be an assistant nurse is a good way to enter the profession, particularly for those who are unskilled or would not have any other method of getting into nursing in the first place. It's all very well to slap a formalised rule on the process but by doing so you exclude a lot of people who would otherwise make damn good nurses and let's face it, being an assistant nurse is not exactly a road paved with gold and the qualifications are not handed to you on a silver platter either. I'm in favour of inclusive education and I feel that licensing would impede that. Registration is adequate.

Privately, I am quite shocked to read that one has to wait seven years to get into college. I value the fact that I have been accepted into college just recently all the more knowing that for some - and in a country known as a superpower - it isn't an immediate progression.

We have a show here that highlights nurses. It's called All Saints and it's one of the highest rating shows on prime tv here. Aside from the fact that the head nurse used to be a nun but left the convent for a sexy doctor who later died of a brain disease is beside the point but people like it, the nursing profession is in their faces and that's what counts. There is another show called "RPA" - a mud-in-yer-eye documentary/reality show shot at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, Australia. It pulls no punches and shows both doctors and nurses in situations not normally viewed by the public and sometimes it's gutwrenching stuff. In addition, there's another more recent show called "Rookies" which is a watered down version of the former but concentrates on brand new doctors. What is interesting about this show is that really brings the nurse to the fore in that the audience is made well aware of their important role in the hospital setting including the underlying premise that without nurses, the doctors would be [insert word meaning 'beyond help' in your own language]. :) But not in a bad way. I like the way it highlights the skills perfected by the nurse such as cannulation, floor management, patient care and doctor care but in an understatement but pointed way that makes you think, "wow, that unit would be in utter chaos if they didn't have those nurses on board.." (actual comment by a viewer).

Finally, to answer the question I would say this: nursing has an unfortunate image and this is exacerbated by some lazy nursing organisations (have had a similar experience to MissPiggy).

People still think nurses are bedpan handlers.

Not enough is known about the profession in the public arena and when the profession is in the arena, it's more often than not about pay issues and whistleblowing ~ relevant issues but not good image spinners. This is something I hope to counter while studying by compiling some reports over the ensuing months, some of which I'd love to post here, on this forum. For example, my clinical placement in November will be in central Australia where the majority of the population is indigenous. It's a part of the country not often explored. I'll also be working with the Flying Doctor Service. I want to get these experiences out there so that a largely ignorant public can view first hand what nurses really do as well as fostering further cross cultural relations in here.

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CNAs and QMAs are legally liable for their actions or lack of them. But ultimately the person in charge, in this case the nurse, is responsible. That is what BEING IN CHARGE means. Ultimately the DON is responsible for what happens in her facility.

I understand what you are saying but the TX board of nursing or the 4 other states I've worked in do not consider CNA's to be licensed healthcare practitioners independently responsible for the care thay provide or fail to provide and that is what I'd like to see happen.

If anyone can come up with a case where a CNA was sued for their neglegence or malpractice I'd be very interested in hearing it.

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In skimming the responses I'm surprised I haven't already read this one; sorry if it's been said and I missed it.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

:angryfire :angryfire

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Specializes in Utilization Management.
If anyone can come up with a case where a CNA was sued for their neglegence or malpractice I'd be very interested in hearing it.

No problem! :) Here's the link and the story from the NSO website:

http://www.nso.com/case/cases_area_index.php?id=21&area=Nursing%20Home

http://www.nso.com/case/cases_area_index.php?id=35&area=Home%20Health

http://www.nso.com/case/cases_area_index.php?id=38&area=Student%20Nurse

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Thank you. What an eye opener for me. I had no idea that CNA's could be nailed to the wall just like LPN's and RN's.

With a few exceptions, you really couldn't tell from where I've worked.

Most, not all, but most pick and choose who they will care for, when, and how. They never seem to get into trouble for anything they neglect and walk out the door whether their work is done or not.

Thankfully the place I work for now has no bad CNA's, they are all great and very responsible. But for the bad ones I 've worked with over the years, I'd love to print copies of these cases for them to see. They probably still wouldn't care.

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I think one of the major problems is that almost all nursing programs have a wait list a mile long, my school is up over 800 and they take 160 per year, do the math. some LPNs can't seem to find jobs, and up untill very recently they were filling positions with with foreign nurses. they need to get the people on the wait lists in nursing school and taking the boards. why would anyone wait 7 years to go to school?????

kris

This is not just a RECENT problem. One of my daughters was on a "waiting list" at a school in Missouri well OVER 13 years ago. That's crazy. If there was a problem in the Nursing Schools that long ago, they haven't done much to fix it. The computer training departments sure got with the program! They trained gazillions of computer technicians in all degrees of importance and you didn't see huge waiting lists to get into those programs. They got people in, got them trained, certified and into the work place!

Also in the academics of getting nurses trained... what other programs in higher education do you have to go through all of the malarkey of "being accepted into the program"? You go to colllege and you get into a department and start working on your Major, you don't go to school working forever on a bunch of pre reqs and HOPE that the department will accept you into their program. There is an attitude projected with that kind of behavior by Nursing programs that projects a snooty feeling in a wierd kind of way. It is not contucive to getting nurses trained and into the work place. I'm sure that the mechanics of departmental politics in the schools have stagnated their ability to move the Nursing programs into the present.

The world needs nurses now. Do Nurses "need" to be required to take English comp, History, etc. to get the skills to work with sick people who need care? Maybe to make the nurse well rounded, but not to practice nursing. All of the emphasis is on BS to BSRN programs. That seems to be backwards thinking to me. It is hard as hell to find and get into Associate and LPN programs where they could get people working and then encourage the completion of the BS program. And yes how many do they lose because it is not practical to spin your wheels waiting to get into a program whether it is a one year wait or a seven year wait?! The education of nurses needs to be restructured to catch the student who wants to be a Nurse while they are interested, not after life and circumstances of living beckons them into a career or vocation where they can get educated and on with earning a living.

Sorry that I get so emotional about this... but the impracticality that the demands of asking some one wanting to be a future nurse to put their life, career, and income on hold, and wait around to be accepted into a Nursing program is just plain stupidity on the part of the Nursing education system. How many good people that would make excellent Nurses does the current system lose because of the rediculous (where is spell check?) :uhoh3: and impractical way the Nursing Schools have their programs set up? :angryfire

This is an issue that burns my butt! Please forgive me my rant!

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I understand what you are saying but the TX board of nursing or the 4 other states I've worked in do not consider CNA's to be licensed healthcare practitioners independently responsible for the care thay provide or fail to provide and that is what I'd like to see happen.

If anyone can come up with a case where a CNA was sued for their neglegence or malpractice I'd be very interested in hearing it.

CNA's and medical assistants are NOT legally licensed. They hold only specific certificates. That's the potential problem with unlicensed assistive personnel. They are working under the RN's license.

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