ACNORN

I'm wondering if all of the salary wars, bonuses, incentives, etc. that are offered to the bedside nurses these days is removing one of the long standing advantages (higher pay) of nurses moving into leadership positions. I am finding it much more d...

I have to add it makes me crazy when I hear people say "Idear" instead of "idea" And I try not to laugh when a co-worker says she is going to "nip it in the butt" versus "nip it in the bud". On a patient satisfaction survey, one patient thanked us fo...

There have been some layoffs in one hospital in my area too. They say it is because of the balanced budget act that significantly reduced medicare payments to hospitals.

Do you have any best practices that have decreased RN turnover and/or increased RN recruitment? What are your success stories?

I also have PCOS. Its a long discouraging story - many docs and repeated misdiagnoses. I have lived with all the classic PCOS symptoms all my life. I have since had to have a total hysterectomy due to severe anemia and atypical/precancerous uterin...

First, I'd like to say don't feel alone with this problem. I have worked in several management positions in different facilities and this issue has been present to some degree or other. The staff usually don't appreciate the challenges of another's...

I am outraged/embarrassed that we even have this discussion in my profession. Doesn't anyone see that sleeping on the job is STEALING? Your employer has HIRED you to perform WORK for a designated shift. Those of you who have such a poor work ethic...

Two very astute points llg & Glad2behere. We know that nursing leaders and advanced practice nurses have an entirely different skill set (in addition to their clinical one). I have seen many companies put good clinical nurses in managerial posi...

I agree that we have to be assertive and make sure that we are paid what we are worth. The only problem with the comparison is that in other businesses you don't have the majority of revenues coming from the government with caps on the payments. Sh...

My thoughts exactly. I appreciate all of the encouraging remarks. I took advantage of a discussion with our CEO about the nursing supervisor vacancies that we currently have to discuss the disincentives of nurses pursuing leadership positions. I ...

I don't think my company is probably acting any differently than the others. I have to say we are very proactive with trying to retain staff RNs. And I have to compliment my company that the incentives for the staff get approved and implemented pre...

Glad2behere, To pull in 130-150K I'd say you would have to pursue a Administrator position, or corporate VP of some healthcare company (again depending on location and the local pay scales). I have to remember that I live in an area where the cost o...

Glad To Be Here, I don't know enough about your background to give a thorough response, but as far as formal education a BSN plus a MSN, MHA, or MBA is a good start. If you have only had bedside positions, I would volunteer to be on some committee o...

Maxter, I remember having the same anxiety you have expressed. I went from being a bedside nurse to a clinical coordinator of a small 10 bed unit, to a nurse manager of 2 units in the same hospital. Then I moved many states away and took a chief nu...

Gardengal, thanks for your reply. Your answer is what I think is happening more and more. I work for a growing LTACH company and we are opening up smaller specialty acute care hospitals in many different locations and I have never seen such a lack...

All of our RNs and RTs have to have ACLS within the first 6 months of hire (company pays for the ACLS) we also encourage our LPNs to get ACLS and pay them a $500.00 bonus for every time that they get ACLS. Therefore, most are very familiar with the ...

I would certainly like to know from others how they complete the change of shift report in your facilities and what way you think works best. I've tried walking rounds a long time ago, taped report, live report to the entire oncoming shift, 1 on 1 r...

Hi Alkat, Staffing...............The age old problem........... First of all, I totally agree with all the comments of llg. I have recently had more of a problem with last minute staffing problems and had to get some things in place so that we had op...

Nurse Diane, please refer to the last post by TheGame. IMO it was not patient abandonment. Yes, the supervisor could have been called, the orientee could have sought another preceptor during that shift, but it would not surprise me one bit if many ...

fab4fan: Don't assume that all of "management" thinks this is a good thing. I'm a nursing administrator and would never allow an unlicensed person to pass medications. I would never work in a facility that thought it was OK to have unlicensed perso...

I kinda agree with Cheerfuldoer. If you are dependent on others for your happiness, you may be disappointed. But since you asked........ I think my company rewards people very well. From my personal experience, my husband and I did some free cons...

MelH, If you wish to read some of the published articles on the shortage, here are two web addresses. There are many others as well. http://nursingworld.org/ojin/topic14/tpc14_4.htm http://www.rwjf.org/newsEvents/nursingStrategies.jhtml You need ado...

As I said, opinions are fine. There are other factors that are the root causes of the negative experiences that nurses are facing at the bedside. Until we deal with the root causes, the nursing experience is not going to get better. I tend to be a...

Opinions are fine, but facts are better. Knowledge is power. Nursing could use some power.

MelH, Despite all the griping and complaining of the other respondents, your question seems to be sincere and deserves a more thoughful, global, objective answer about this nursing shortage. I am a chief nursing officer who is also responsible for n...