lucieRN.

I'm a new grad working in Oakland. It is next to impossible to handle six patients on a surgical floor here- they are very acute patients. We see ortho, GI, respiratory (head and neck), GU, GYN- basically every kind of patient one can have. I'm finding that the sea of endless paperwork is really socking away our time, plus the fact that our acuity system does not provide didly for "unexpected events", such as changes in status, or untoward reactions to meds, or equipment failure. But the one thing that truly gets me is LAZY BRAINLESS UNCARING PEOPLE who are getting paid to frustrate those of us WHO CHOOSE TO WORK!!! A good example is one night when I had five pts, three fresh post-op, two aides distributed over three RN's with 18 pts. I had to get my non-ambulatory pt OOB. Whenever I called for the aide she would disappear. All the RN's were desperately busy. Finally when I got her help, she was pathetically unhelpful and full of attitude about how much work she had to do, and how the RN's act like they're too good to help do the dirty stuff. As I got the pt up, he peed on my foot ( my shoes weren't waterproof!) And to top it off, the aide asked me to go get new linens and a new gown for the pt. Boy, I was irate! As we attempted to get him situated, we soon realized the bed was broken, to a point where we really had to wrench our backs to get him back into bed. Ever since I've started here I've noticed most NA's are pitifully worthless, and some of them do more harm than good! On our floor, They are the real slugs- they sit and chat all day at the nurses station, then take long breaks off the floor without telling us they're going for break. I really loved the idea for salt- tape for the nurses station to prevent mollusks or brainless creatures of any type from remaining and oozing noxious body slime into the environment. At our hospital management strategically provides a maximum of 4 chairs on day shift, when the number of professionals and staff on the floor on any day around 1000 can reach 25, or more. Snail Death, available at Home Depot, may also work. I don't mean to blame the aides everywhere. Some are very good. But I find I'm wasting precious time redirecting aides who either don't know what they're doing, or who havent bothered to do basic things like taking vital signs, or turning pts q2 hr if on bedrest. AM I ALONE IN THIS? CAN ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE RELATE? HELP! -Going schizo in Oakland, Lucie, NewGradRN:eek:

Hello, I am a new nurse, I just graduated from an adn program:) and I'm making 25.50 to start. Not bad, but I do live in California. The price of a cup of coffee can cost three dollars or more (at starbucks, of course), and the taxes (state and fed) that are taken out leave us just about enough to pay rent and buy a sandwich. Sad! There are hospitals nearby that are offering up to $40 an hr to start:eek: Lots of luck, LucieRN