majic65

I jjst got home from my favorite holiday tradition, and the one that "opens" my Christmas season every year. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, our loval motorcycle rights organization, ABATE, gathers for our Toy Run to benefit the Salvation army. 24 years ago, when we started this, we tried to give toys to Toys to Tots--were told they did not "need toys from bikers." Today, we were part of almost 5,000 motorcycles parading thru downtown Charleston, SC . In addition to filling two 30-foot trucks with toys, we also gave the Salvation Army a check for over $6,000. Pretty good for a bunch of bikers!! Its so great to ride past folks lined up on the road, cheering and clapping, and to watch those trucks fill up with really great toys. Then--we go to a neighborhood bar and have one serious party!! Happy Thanksgiving, all--as well as Christmas,Solstice, Hauunaka, Kwaanza, etc. etc. Oh, and Ramadan--

One of my instructors in Nurisng school used to say--"There are 2 kinds of nurses in this world--nurses who like their patients with tubes, and nurses who like their patients without tubes. Both are important--and they are NOT interchangeable!" If you are a tube person (ER.ICU,surgery--) then you will despise the non-tube areas, like postpartum, etc. By the way--they are called "Ben Wa" balls-used to have afriend whose nickname was "BenWa" Long story--

The threat of carrying an infection back to a mom or baby is very real, but unfortunately, many med/surg nurses do not take this seriously. Of course, many do not take L&D seriously, anyway. This is typical of the "all you do is rock babies and hang out" feelings about OB that I have heard for years. What got me was the time I was on call from OB--low census--and got called in in the middle of the night to take patients in ICU! When I politely refused, stating that obviously ICU nurses had special skills since they got a speciality diff and OB did not, the supervisor was incensed, but there was little she could do.After all, she was management, and part of the group who decided that OB should not get speciality diff. So if I'm not specialized enough, then I am not qualified to work ICU. You can't have it both ways! It would be helpful if we could all learn to respect the jobs that all of us do, without spending so much energy whining and playing the "I;m busier than they are" game. Try to understand your collegues, and value their skills as you want them to value yours. Until we can do this, we will never get the respect we deserve, because we look like silly, shallow women to those who observe us.

Robin--there is a nursing shortage, but only in hospitals and LTC and other "bedside nursing" jobs. Other nursing jobs are filled easily. So--why the bedside nursing shortage? In answer to your question--"All of the above!!" Every factor you listed is awful--and the age of nurses at the bedside is going up, because I suspect that new nurses have wised up and just won't do it. Question 2--all of the above, and you could add adequate staffing on all shifts. Question 3--the public could begin to actually payattention to and care who is providing their care. I have a theory that patients would accept Flipper in scrubs. They do not know they are getting care from non-licensed personnel, nor do they care that is they do get a "rfeal nurse" she has probably worked 60 hours that week. Once the public begins to care and ask, hositals will have to respond in order to ensure their census.

Interesting concept--could we use it to prove that we never get to take breaks and/or meals? Seems to me if it can be used to "catch" those who goof off, it should also be used to negotiate additional staff. Anybody who has this system ever use it for that?:)