adhazelett

I work in a long-term psychiatric facility. We offen get fluid restriction orders due to patients drinking too much and washing out their sodium. This also can interfere with their psych meds. I will not give these patients fluids once they have maxed their restriction amount; however, the nurse who comes on after me has this to say: "we cant keep them from killing theirselves". I'm sorry, what?! isn't that why they are in the hospital?! isn't that our primary goal when any patient is admitted...safety?! I know for a fact that our patients manage to get more water than we know about. Psych facilities are extremely difficult to work at with policies changing constantly, patients with exacerbating symptoms and never enough staff.

I cant honestly say this person has seniority over me but day shift nurses where I work sure seem to run the place. Anyway, I have noticed, unfortunately, that the day nurse that comes in and takes over for me has a special attitude. And it isn't a "good" attitude but everyone just smiles and goes on. First, she acts like she knows EVERYTHING and shes only been a nurse about two years. I'm not saying I know it all cuz I know I don't but I've been a nurse over 30 years and have seen A LOT. Second, she lies. And then she lies about lying and does so loudly and in front of an audience. This isn't exactly something I can counter professionally. I have attempted to let our manager know without it coming out like being a tattletale. I am so burnt out in nursing. Am I just being overly sensitive? I feel like this day nurse is just doing whatever it takes to get ahead, no matter who it hurts. Specific patient details I have documented so even if she does lie in these cases (& she has), I should be covered. But it is disconcerting to know the turn nursing has taken. I am more convinced than ever to leave the profession- soonest rather than later now.

Better question, why is that all anybody cares about during this time of pandemic?! I made my Constitutional choice NOT to be vaccinated along with MANY other healthcare workers of varying degrees and our place of employment gives us that RIGHT. Why not actually look at the elephant in the room- the virus instead of causing issues that only take away from patient care. Wether vaccinated or not, be smart enough to mask correctly AND social distance and let others take care of their own lives.

OK….I work in psych- and I want to stress AGAIN- WE ALL RECEIVE THE SAME TRAINING, from orientation to annual. However, we are not all treated the same when it comes to floating. CERTAIN nurses absolutely REFUSE to float while others don’t even get a choice. And travelers are generally within the refusing group and it’s just ALL accepted. This is not a unit issue, it’s a facility issue and management as well as administration is apparently willing to lose half the staff due to this and other issues we’ve been dealing with lately. All I can hope for is finding a job within my new career so I can write about it and not have to live it.

FIRST OF ALL…I am far from “inexperienced”. I have been a nurse for 30 years. SECOND: this kind of treatment, from my employer AND from MaryB7 in this thread has made me STOP caring and I have completed a second degree in order to LEAVE this discriminatory profession. THIRD: if I’ve done nothing, I’ve spent most of the last 30 years trying to educate not only my patients who generally don’t give a damn, but also my co-workers. So, before you start spouting like my employer, step off. Apparently, you didn’t fully read it or are only seeing what you want to… which is what I generally experience- nursing has always been ‘eat their own’. Not a profession I would recommend to anyone.

My facility apparently doesn’t have a float policy and there is no taking turns or float pool. It’s basically whoever the supervisor wants to pull and has led to a mass turnover. We had one nurse simply walk out because she, like myself, is the designated floater for our shift. I have yet to comprehend why as we all are trained the same but not treated the same. Preferential or discriminatory treatment- which?

I appreciate all the feedback- I have already started looking for another job; rumor has it, management has been investigated(for all the good it did). But, you all have to understand, I live in a rural area- changing jobs is not all that easy. When I left my last job(last year) for the current one, it had taken me over a year and a half to finally be interviewed and chosen....there's a lot of favoritism around this area! I guess that's what comes from living in a small area- quiet most of the time but also clique-ish. We all knew what would happen but had no control...now we are living it. Well, live and learn- I also am in school to leave nursing. If I can hold out until I get far enough along in my new career, maybe I can just jump ship. Thanks again for validating my own thoughts and giving me the feedback, thoroughly appreciated.

More details - I guess "new" wasn't the right term- "adjusted" because the management in place now was moved up from the floor.... I don't see this person changing for others- and I have already started looking for that mentioned exit. But in the meantime, we still have to deal somehow and it's causing friction from undue stress. We are trying to back each other but there always seems to be unknowns at every turn... I'm trying to keep a running record of details as they occur. After I get home each shift... Thanks for that validation and we will continue on.

We've had a change in management and it's coming from there... Shift discrimination, friendships- things of this nature.

Any advice on dealing with favoritism among staff? Especially if it's causing a near hostile work environment...?

Sorry to sound callus, but get used to it. Nursing is a back-biting profession. There's always someone around ready to throw you under the bus to save themselves... And it only gets worse the longer you're in it. My favorite was "grow thicker skin"...

I want to work where you do! Where I work, it doesn't matter if your an ADN, BSN, or MSN- we all work doing the same thing and very few places are willing to pay you for your degree.

Yep, you have to have nurses- or do you? As I commented earlier, our automony and nursing judgment is being restricted, mostly because of corporations taking over companies and facilities- they only care about the bottom line. How can you run a "business" based on human lives without considering the humanity angle?

To go from CNA to RN, you should expect a significant increase...think about the education you achieved. But it still isn't enough...stay an RN long enough, and that will become clear. No matter where you work, your higher-ups continue to stack work on you but do not add staff or $$$$! It's just become expected...

I agree so much so I am leaving the profession(these aren't the only reasons I decided to leave); but last month, I started taking classes to steer my life in a direction as far from nursing as possible... the reasons listed in the thread are only a few- understaffed, not enough pay, overworked, poor hours; incompetent co-workers/bully co-workers, autonomy and nursing judgment restricted... these are some, but definitely not all my reasons. Enough for this response anyway...