nursing shortage???????

msdttob · Jan 2, 2001

Dear Clarice, I wonder if mijourney is the one who has just hit the target right on the mark. That this is really a balancing act to keep the vendors & the stockholders happy. I believe you that you are budgeted for great nurse to patient ratio but I wonder what got the hospital to the point where only a handful of nurses would actually apply. It seems there is no real draw for people who would be put in the postion of a 2nd shift where the RN has 12 pts & no nursing assistant. This seems to be more the running operation of things than not. Why would someone want to go into a situation concerned that they may be promised great working conditions w/ no danger to the patients or their liscense only to experperience what mijoourney has described? A draw to nursing would have to be a correct show of management's willingness to follow through on the sales pitches they make to prospective RNs

Originally posted by ClariceS:
Here in West Texas, we are not only posting but are gladly hiring almost any warm body that shadows our door. We are in desperate need of licensed personnel with full time hours and benefits. We had only 6 applications for licensed positions in our entire 300 bed hospital in November and only a few more in Dec when nursing classes are graduating!!! And we are offering sign on bonuses to RN's and LVN's.
The shortage is definitely affecting us here. We are budgeted for wonderful nurse/patient ratios but are struggling to fill the positions to reach those.

nursejanedough · Jan 2, 2001

Amen, to that Spacenurse. I think (and I know) of a lot of nurses who feel the way those department store/waitress "RN's" feel. They can not be sued for giving iced tea instead of hot tea, or Coke instead of Mountain Dew, etc. I tried to work as secretary for self employed husband. (Insanity) I have been fortunate to have a relative attorney that needs a nurse to review medical charts. I can pay my bills, now. For all you current, understaffed nurses, my advice to you is document,

document, etc. All I can do is give the facts as I see em. If you can't give the appropriate care and then document what you have done, according to standards of care, then you need to go to administration or quit. By the way, I'll have mine "medium rare".

Navy Nurse · Jan 3, 2001

The nursing shortage is real and will only get worse. Who is to blame for shortage? NURSES

Who is to blame for getting treated with no respect? NURSES

Who is to blame for unsafe working conditions? NURSES

And the list could go on and on.

OC_An Khe · Jan 3, 2001

Originally posted by Navy Nurse:
The nursing shortage is real and will only get worse. Who is to blame for shortage? NURSES
Who is to blame for getting treated with no respect? NURSES
Who is to blame for unsafe working conditions? NURSES
And the list could go on and on.

Your are right that nurses share "the Blame"

by some of their inactions. But its their actions that will be the solution to these problems.

pickledpepperRN · Jan 3, 2001

OK Navy Nurse what should we do? I mean NOW, however if you want to explain more I'll be interested to read it.

redd0711 · Jan 5, 2001

i work as unit clinical coordinator at a 200+ bed hospital. we are also beginning to feel the effects of the shortage. i have recently been placed on a retention and recruitment committee to look for creative ways at improving our r&r. i work at a great hospital with a very good ceo and nursing ceo. our hospital does give us a christmas bonus and numerous other perks throughout the year. but evidently these things are not enough when you are overworked and understaffed in some areas of the hospital during high census. the icu and er are now receiving $50 extra for every half shift worked over their regular and $100 for every whole shift worked. hospitals are going to have to offer alot more than just money to retain staff. longevity bonuses possibly, flexible hours, onsight daycare to accommodate 12 hour shifts, the list goes on. the baylor may one day ride again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

msdttob · Jan 5, 2001

Dear redd0711

I am glad to hear your compliments on your ceo's. It is encouraging. I also have a boss

who is willing to be flexible w/ my work hrs

I am at present able to have 5d off in a row

almost every wk. & still maintain on prt time status. However, I am sure that the shortage

has not affected this region as yet. We do have a couple of RN's just about 8 yrs older than myself who have paid their dues & are

ready to slash their work hrs. but on the other hand there are a couple of RN's on noc shift who are complaining that they are not

getting enough hrs because there are to many

RN's on night shift. These are good nurses

& generally very nice people but they are

concerned about pay. I offered to give up an

8 hr shift once a month so that one of our very talented new BSN grads could get some more hrs.I do not mind doing this at the present. Also the slow down in the economy

may affect how quickly the hospitals jump in

to start offering such positive draws as Baylor which I'd really like to see come back

but I'm not holding my breath. I hope that you are sucessful in attracting nurses. Good luck in your new position. Thank you for your

response.

Originally posted by redd0711:
i work as unit clinical coordinator at a 200+ bed hospital. we are also beginning to feel the effects of the shortage. i have recently been placed on a retention and recruitment committee to look for creative ways at improving our r&r. i work at a great hospital with a very good ceo and nursing ceo. our hospital does give us a christmas bonus and numerous other perks throughout the year. but evidently these things are not enough when you are overworked and understaffed in some areas of the hospital during high census. the icu and er are now receiving $50 extra for every half shift worked over their regular and $100 for every whole shift worked. hospitals are going to have to offer alot more than just money to retain staff. longevity bonuses possibly, flexible hours, onsight daycare to accommodate 12 hour shifts, the list goes on. the baylor may one day ride again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cmggriff · Jan 6, 2001

Navy Nurse, I have been reading these boards for a long time and never felt the need to write until now. The concept that nurses are to blame for the problems of nursing is common and wrong. This shortage began in the 80's with DRG's and the AHA whining that many hospitals would close d/t loss of revenue. We were told that everyone who worked for the hospital would have to get by with less and do more with it. This was the first time I heard the phrase "Work smarter, not harder." Hospitals laid off nurses, cut benefits and did not fill vacant positions.

For the next 15 years hospitals have recorded

the highest revenues in history. Those of us who have been nurses for several years can recall any number of lies and misinformation from admin weenies over the years. We have used and abused for a long time and it is time to quit finding fault with ourselves, and start working on the problems.

blindog45 · Jan 7, 2001

There sure is a nursing shortage. At the hospital I work we are pulled to different units all the time, given max pt. loads and expected to function like we have worked this unit before. The CEO's make too much money!!PERIOD!!! They make the decisions concerning the hospital but they should not make decisions concerning us.

My employer is spending 30 Million on a 4 story tower. It is going to increase the emergency department by 50%. Also, a new Cardiac Unit, Another Med Surg Unit. The reasoning is because we cannot meet the publics demand for beds. Great. But where are the Nurses going to come from?? There isnt enough nurses now. My employer is 165 nursing personel short now. That includes RN's, LPN's and NA's. Thats still too much. When answering where the new nurses are going to come from, they say, "We are going to recruit them from nursing school to fill the gaps". YEA, RIGHT!! If they could do this, they would do it now, why wait. The truth is, the new units will stay closed because there is no nurses to work it.

AND, They are renovating the Lobby, cost is 65,000$$.

All this money being spent, and today I recieve my yearly raise increase letter. My raise is 3 percent.3 PERCENT!!!!!! No wonder nobody wants to get in nursing. Millions of dollars spent on renovation and new buildings, but no money spent on KEEPING the employees they have. If there is a nursing shortage, its for a very good reason.

And that reason is the Hospitals and other healthcare agencies are not taking care of the Nurses they have now. People see this, and recognize it, and they say " Screw this proffession" they do not want to work 40 years, with there back thrown out, feet hurting and who knows what other infectious diseases we may pick up, Scabies, HIV, Hep. etc. Nursing is a high risk profession with low risk payoff.