thechartingnurse

In 1995, I made $11.50/Hr, and that was in a big city where the cost of living was extremely high.

You could not be more right. What happened to patient satisfaction and safety. I have been an ICU nurse for 12 years now, and have seen management be in the trenches with us, and against us. How can I care for a critical patient, where I am there lifeline for 12 or more hours, and be expected to bow down to management and make it more convenient for the visitors to come and go when they please. Where do we draw the line?

I know that is rignt. I love family to be with there loved ones, but not 24-7. We as nurses have rules in the ICU. The main rule that I go by, is that when I am giving report to the oncoming nurse, I like the family to either be with the patient, or off the unit. My hospital does have that rule just for that purpose. When I am giving report on an SICU patient that I have been taking care of for the last 12 hours, I like to be able to concentrate, and not have family on the unit. I know most hospitals follow that protocol during shift change.