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I work at an ambulatory surgery center that is owned by a big hospital system. They have decided to move away from staff volunteering to stay late to assigning staff as "late person" on our staff schedule. My question is around the fact that we are being told what days we will be expected to stay late vs staff volunteering to stay late. This is happening in Pennsylvania and there is ACT 102, but I'm not sure if that applies in this situation. I'm even questioning if this would be considered mandatory overtime?

It's driving me a little crazy because I've been picking up PRN shifts here and there and I could have a lot more opportunities with a compact license, but PA seems to be in no rush to get this done.

I don’t understand why the OP is applying for a night position when they cannot physically WORK night shift? What am I missing? 100% bait and switch.

I guess it shows your age, that you were alive when aol was at it's height-or at the very start of the "internet.” This article is pretty disappointing all around.

To be clearer, I’m asking if there are any University of Penn nurses who work at the University City location in Philadelphia, PA.

Hi, are there any Penn Medicine operating room nurses here? If so May I send you a message via inbox? thank you.

I think it means you have to report to work. It’s happened to me maybe once my entire career. I’ve worked sick plenty but didn’t try to call out.

We lost 1/2 of our staff for a variety of reasons and #1 was being told we could go ahead and go if an opportunity came up by administration so 1/2 of my unit went. We have been treated like trash for over a year and it’s been hard. I’m doing what I need to do to get out in the next few years. Also, the reasons why nurses are leaving is complicated. I’m in a FB group that is advocating for nurses and first off we need safe staffing laws. Here’s a post I made in a neighborhood app: Nationwide Nurse staffing law-we need your help! Please review this bill H.R.3165, introduced in Congress that will mandate how many patients a nurse will care for during their worked shift. Please be aware with 2020, some nurses have left bedside nursing with many more planning on leaving due to unsafe staffing and feeling overwhelmed by trying to adequately care for too many assigned patients. Review the bill here: https://bit.ly/3ykRtMX Write your congressional member here to ask them to support H.R.3165: https://bit.ly/3lmG6ke More info here: https://bit.ly/3flchfS

One of my co worker told me, at the height of the pandemic: “You need to do what is right for YOU and YOUR FAMILY; look out for yourself.” That being said, Covid upped the ante; everyone is entitled to make their own choices. I will never shame those who do not throw themselves on the sacrificial alter.

Don’t waste your time or energy stewing over this situation. It’s only going to distract you and undermine your unit. You need to mind your own house and not what other people are doing. You don’t know what anyone’s personal situation is so you cannot caste judgment on them. As far as management, you’re not a manager and while we always have thoughts about what they are doing “wrong” it’s not in your wheelhouse. Whatever transpired between nurses taking leave and management is their business. You seem a lot like me; someone who goes to work, does their job and avoids personal entanglements with co workers. Trust me, I used to be like you, watching what everyone isn’t doing and everything I was doing, and keeping score. It took me a long time and lots of hard lessons to let that s*** go; life is too short. Do your job, help your teammates and don’t judge them; it’s ultimately going to bit you in the a**.

Thanks for your comments. I can write and write well. I do not want a program that sucks the life out of me with papers due constantly. I need a more balanced curriculum of 50% research papers. Capella did not work for me as I’ve written above which is why I’ve asked for information/personal experience with Galen or Aspen. Also, this is for a BSN program not a bridge program; I have zero intention of getting a masters. Again, thanks but I’m not looking for a discussion about what my weaknesses or strengths are, nor opinions on my academic pursuits just others experience with these RN to BSN completion programs.

Hello, I’m hoping someone can help me. I’ve been trying to complete an RN-BSN program for over 10 years, but I can’t seem to follow through. This will be my third attempt. I started a state school completion program, but I was unable to successfully pass the required math classes. Then I started Capella, but it’s 100% papers and discussion threads. I just lost my interest, plus my time was challenged. It’s extremely difficult when you have zero support at home from your spouse. Now, I’m looking at Galen College of nursing OR Aspen University. Can anyone here tell me the following: Are these programs 100% paper writing? If it’s not, what other types of assignments are there? Is there a practicum or capstone? What is your overall opinion of either of these programs?

I love this article. Having attended nursing school back in the 90s there were several guys in my small evening/weekend program. I grew up in an environment that it was, somehow, drilled into my subconscious that girls are nurses and men are doctors. My parents grew up during WW2; what can I say? Anyway, I’m the youngest of 9 and it’s so interesting to me that my siblings cling to antiquated views on gender in general. To them if a guy is a nurse he MUST be gay. You can’t convince them otherwise. When my brother was hospitalized with a set back from cancer he had a gay male nurse and a non gay male nurse. He said derogatory things about both of them; not in front of them but behind their back and to us. The non gay nurse seemed to bug my brother the most because why would a dude choose a women’s career? Please understand that all of my siblings (7 out of 9) are uneducated beyond high school. I will say, at my brother’s funeral my sibling stood up and made sure to speak about my brother’s comments about his male nurses, it was told to make everyone laugh, I sure didn’t. Also, being the youngest afforded me the special spot that even though I an a nurse, I know absolutely nothing.

I’m very concerned about the fact that you’re blowing off ibuprofen and Tylenol. Please do some research. Ibuprofen and Tylenol, taken together, has been proven to offer as much pain relief as narcotics and since we have a bond fid opioid crisis, we need to find other pain relief; I work in periop and no one gets opioids as a standard discharge script anymore. What is key is keeping up on giving the medication to provide a level of pain relief. If you were giving these and your patient was “writhing” in pain as you’re describing, the hospitalist should have been call to evaluate your patient’s concerning symptoms.

I very much appreciate and respect your post. As a manager I’m sure you’re doing what you can. Unfortunately, I think you know, helping/supporting and actually performing the duties of a nurse are two different things. The responsibility always stops at the nurse charged with that patient’s care. I don’t think it’s the actual idea of nursing that’s the issue, it’s the job conditions. The push and pull, the constant pressure from those above nurses to put as much on nursing staff as possible, dismiss concerns of staff and make them feel they should shut up and do their jobs; it is, in fact, a very oppressive environment. I wouldn’t being lying if I told you I have been informed multiple times over the years by my manger that if I don’t like something, there’s the door; for one of you I have 2 people applying. Recently, before covid, my unit was being asked to do something that we were very uncomfortable with, as well as not oriented to, and my manager was having meeting after meeting with us, really exerting pressure and when someone asked if we, the staff, could be fired for not complying, my manager stated “I don’t know, maybe I’ll get fired.” Then went on to state that her yearly bonus was already in jeopardy if she couldn’t get us to comply. (Ask me if I care.) So, while I love helping people, and I think many of us carry this in our hearts, we are mostly kind hearted and giving which allows us to be manipulated, threatened and bullied on the regular by so many different disciplines and management in hospitals. It’s actually a sad state of affairs. Personally, stories of wanting to get in a car accident on the way to work, crying before a shift, just hating going to work, I think these are signs of a toxic environment that nurses are unable to enact changes to. I don’t fit the role very well, I’m quite an abrupt person who my manager describes as a straight shooter, I say things to co workers without thinking and it’s more fact stating and not malicious, yet, these co workers take things personally, so they are quite delicate people who easily become taken advantage of; this is why there is such an oppressive environment, the type of people attracted to nursing are good hearted people. It’s like going to parochial school.

Is anyone else being forced to deplete their PPL bank by their hospital system? This bank of PPL s both vacation time and sick time. After it’s depleted we are to take no pay days. My unit is schedule driven and has not returned to pre covid capacity, therefore we are overstaffed. At the rate we are going my PPL will be depleted in a matter of weeks.

So, first off, take a deep breath. You’re not the first nurse to make a mistake. I think you should request a few days off to really think things through here. My first question for you is what brought you to nursing? Are you, typically, an organized person? What aspects do you enjoy about nursing; I’m not asking you about general idealized thoughts about nursing, but what are the things in your job you enjoy right now, today. Do you have moderate trust in your co workers? Do you feel like you can be open with you manager enough to have a transparent conversation with them regarding your training needs; because I think you need re training with a reliable co worker. Do you have a mentor to talk to about this? In my opinion, you need to review your facility’s medication policy, make a copy of the 5 rights of medication administration, laminate it, carry it with you and follow every step, every time you administer a medication. The biggest most impactful thing for you to do is to look at each patient like they are your family member. Now, treat them as you would a family member, take the extra time to safeguard your patients by slowing down and making the commitment to make the right decision. Do not be swayed by pressure or rushing through your tasks when it’s time to administer medications. Follow the steps, be safe. I’m sorry to say that I would not want you to be my family member’s nurse. You need to commit yourself to safe patient care and administering medication is the most important part of this job. If you cannot learn from the mistakes you’ve already made and develop an improvement plan, then I can’t say nursing is right for you. I feel like you’ve made a lot of mistakes, but continue carry out your job duties without trying to improve. You can’t do this job on a wing and a prayer.

100% agree with this. Never before have we been included in any discounts. This is a first. There still is no hazard pay for nurses while cops, EMTs, etc are receiving hazard pay.

I work for a large, urban, academic and research institution. They are transparent, my direct nurse manager gets a yearly bonus. Data is collected regarding overtime, staff meal cancelations and staff scheduling along with budget, utilization, and stewardship. This year has been challenging and we were “asked” to do something that was truly outside of our bounds and all of our concerns regarding protecting our licenses were dismissed. Our manager kept having meeting after meeting with us and her absolute panic was clear based on the pressure she was getting from above her; it finally resulted in a stand off of sorts because none of us agreed to do what we were being asked to do. The manger had a meeting with us, told us “someone” needed to step up, or else it would be mandated for all of us. One of my coworkers asked if we would be terminated if we didn’t do as our manager requested of us, she replied that she didn’t know, but stated more likely it would be her being terminated since she couldn’t get us to do what we were being asked; it was a nice dump on us. Then, she got very angry, told us her bonus was in jeopardy, and told us she was leaving the meeting but we were not to leave the meeting room until one person was identified to be the person designated to do the additional job.

Congratulations on your resolve, it’s a worthy goal for you. It’ll be clear for you in a few years what we’re saying. I wish you nothing but the best. Please know, I love to help people and instead of channeling that somewhere else, I chose nursing. My intention was to help people, be challenged and grow in the profession. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you’d like.

Because all management has on their radar is their bonuses. That is all. I’ve seen them just being human but frankly, chopping at the bit to keep staff from getting overtime, keeping people from cancelling their lunch if it’s missed, and manipulating the situation so they strong arm you to do what they want you to do. It’s all about the bonuses they receive for keeping everyone in line.

Thank you for your military service. I just want to chime in. I have 20 plus years of nursing under my belt. If I could go back and smack some sense into myself the day I decided to be a nurse I would. Let me tell you a secret: I never thought I would pass nursing classes, but semester after semester I some how did. Then I took the NCLEX, I didn’t think I would pass and figured the stupid decision I made to be a nurse would be taken out of my hands, but, of course, I passed on the first try. I don’t like nursing, I don't like being clumped into a group called “my girls” or “the girls.” I don’t like dealing with a bad day, personal problems and having a difficult time being dumped on all day at work and being taken to the office because I pushed back while at my absolute limit. I don’t like being so messed up mentally from all the stress and pressure to be productive; a literal cog in the wheel, that my personal relationships suffer and they do suffer because of my frustration level and a spouse who doesn’t understand and prays on my fragile psyche; I’m weary of giving myself 30 lashes for not performing to management’s level of expectations. I’m tired of being rushed, possibly making a mistake and then berated for being slow, I’m tired of impatience from management, physicians and administration; I’m just tired. The message is clear, burn yourself on the sacrificial alter, but guess what, I didn’t sign up to put my life in this kind of danger, I get it, we are needed, but it’s hard to come to terms with this when cops, fire fighter, EMTs are getting hazard pay but are not fulfilling their full duties to keep them safe during this crisis; cops, fire fighters, EMTs, military are able and encouraged retire in their 50s with full benefits. Talk to any nurse over 60 years old, they are tired, but will keep going until 65 and soon to be 67, they get none of these benifits; it’s just not right. Nursing is physically and mentally draining. I hear what you’re saying, but nurses are not military, cops etc and this is a huge ask especially not knowing what future damages could occur; plus our families will not be taken care of the same way a cop or firefighter’s would should we perish due to this. I do not advise anyone to go to nursing school and I’ve personally, successfully talked 3 people out of it, I will continue to talk people out if it. It’s toxic, abusive and self destructive. I could not take my family on a trip to Ireland during the Summer because I can only take one week off in the Summer, I finally told my husband to just take our two kids and he went ahead and booked it for the 3 of them. Of course, it’s now cancelled, but I think that sucks for several reasons and the first one being that I cannot take off the time I need and want for a family vacation. So while nursing is sailing into uncharted waters, we will be left with some very severely effected healthcare staff; I’m foreseeing workers crippled with PTSD for the long term; they will not walk away from any of this unscathed, I hope something is put in place because help will be needed.