saguaro13

Thank you for the input. I knew that my suspicions about this situation were correct but just needed to hear it I guess from someone closer to the specialty area. I appreciate the input!

Hi, I am a RN in another specialty. It is my understanding that as long as someone is cognizant , aware and completely with it and able to sign for themselves it is not legal/ethical to sign for them. I had a situation where a family member of a patient signed the patient up for hospice and did not tell them. This patient had expressed prior to this that they did not want hospice services. The patient is homebound and is unable to go outside. The family member posted a sign outside stating that no visitors or hospice workers were to even mention the word hospice to the patient. The family member also instructed the patient's caregiver and hospice server that they were not to tell the patient under any cicumstances. I am just wondering if this is legal/ethical or if you see this frequently in your specialty? Note: My father was in hospice care and they did a fabulous job and I am pro hospice. Thanks for any input.

Ok, so I'm looking for a new job, possibly as a traveller possibly not in AZ.. I just found out I'm pregnant, barely 4 weeks. I will be starting a new job mid Sept-Early Oct. Would you tell the nurse manager interviewing you up front you are pregnant or wait until after you have accepted a job? All opinions greatly appreciated!

Thanks everyone for the info. I had suspected that there were laws in place but since what's a law isn't always in practice, I wanted to see what you all had seen in your experience. I had planned on working for a travel agency only in the town we are moving to so we could get a housing allowance. I am on his insurance so that's not a concern for me and getting maternity leave would just be a bonus. My major concern is just having the stability of having a job travel or at a facility as long as I am able to work since we'll have to maintain two households... Thanks again everyone, you really helped ease my worries!

I have a unique situation. I just found out I'm pregnant, after 5 unsuccessful tries, and my husband's job is transferring us to another state. We so far have been unable to sell our house where we currently live and so we will have to maintain two homes with all expenses that go along with it until we sell the house we have now. I would love to work for a travel company, but am not sure if they would still hire me knowing I was pregant. Has anyone had any experience trying to find a new job early in a pregnancy? Whether for a hospital or for a travel company? I will be about 10 weeks when I start a new job. Any suggestions?

I get called almost on a daily basis to come in to work. I am a noc employee, but work days, afternoons, nights extra. Constantly flip flopping. I get called all hours of the day and night. I have the ringer turned off on my phone. All my friends and family have my cell phone number and I tell them to call that if they can't get me at home. It works ok. I have caller id and if I see the number to the hospital. I don't pick up. I used to pick up extra, but they are so rude to you if you say no, I'm just abou ready to quit. It's really a shame. This yet one more reasons nurses get burned out and leave the profession all together. But the idiots running the shows, just don't get it!

Absolutely, I want to know what is bad about EP. My husband may get transferred there and compared to where we are now, I think it may be better or it may not....any feedback on living there is appreciated....I hear it is growing.

OMG! The person from Detroit, what hospital do you work at! I want to apply there! I work at a suburban hospital on an ortho, etc. unit and reguarly, almost daily we have a ratio of 6-9:1 And sometimes we have no nurse aid or secretary!......6 is a good day....

Hi there, I'm considering relocating to TX, the El Paso/Las Cruces, NM area. Anyone out there working in those areas? If so, can you give me an idea of what hospitals are better to work at than others, salary range, etc? Any info would be MUCH appreciated. Thanks!

if full benefits were available for nurses working a minimum of 24 hours would that be an attraction for you, and if so, would you work only the minimum or would you remain working a typical 36 hours or 3-12's?i don't take the benefits offered at my hospital. they are terrible to begin with and my husband's benefits are much better. if i did need the benefits, full benefits at 24 hours would be great. and i would only work 24 hours! how many of you work for at least two hospitals? if so, what are the major reasons for working for another hospital verses the additional hours at one hospital? one hospital for me. but that said, i am considering others. it all depends on the working conditions at your hospital. it is much more appealling to have a place with self scheduling, better and more vacation time. sick time that is for sick time and not sick time that is taken out of your vacation time (big big deal for me) ability to take days off if needed without retribution. also if the staffing is poor, management is unaccountable or doesn't support the staff, no amount of money or benefits will get me in there on my day off. i've been offered double to quadruple time for extra shifts....i look at my caller id when the phone rings, and if it is my hospital...it goes unanswered. if benefits/salary were enhanced for employees working at least 36 hours one week and 48 hours the next, would you be interested or is 48 hours in one week a total turn-off?again, working conditions. i would happlily work 36 then 48 the next if the conditions were right. and 9 times out of 10 no hospital can meet that criteria, they simply do not care about their nursing staff...who make the hospital run smoothly and make sure their patients are taken care of.

I have to agree with you 100%. I came home from work today convinced that I don't want to get my advanced degree in nursing. I am a second career type coming from a business background. I love the pt care, when I actually get to care for them. I usually have 6-7 pt we can sometimes have 8-9 each, and most are unstable AND we don't have a nurse aide 90% of the time. I have good time management skills, and get the job done, but feel like I can never chart enough and never get to know my pt well enough, not to mention that what you do need/want to learn is impossible to since you are answering lights for ice, and water and blankets all day long! I am so sick of this, I hate it. We have mandatory overtime are always working short and never get two days off in a row. I never see my family or friends and barely get to sleep. Management never gives any feedback on how you are doing, and if you tell them no to coming in extra on your day off they get mad. It's like give me a break I have one day off in a week full of 14's-16's! Then they treat you like a child, act like you have to be told how to talk to others and how to give report and be professional. I'm sorry, but I'm the last person to lecture on that, even if you're lecturing the entire staff. The Dr.s are rude and obnoxious, the nurses are rude, back stabbing, etc. In my opinion the nursing shortage is caused by these factors, not pay! Pay is pay and no matter what you make if your job stinks then no amount of money or lack of money in the world will make it better. Nurses do themselves in. I for one am not planning on continuing in this lousy profession for the rest of my days. I say to all the nursing students out there, run for yourl ife, pick something else, get out while the gettin' is good. To the nurses who are burned out, please leave now, for the sanity of yourself.

Being treated like dirt from an aide infuriates me to no end. And I hate to say but you can bring muffins in, call them by their first name, pitch in and help, etc etc. A bad aide with a bad attitude doesn't change. I am all for being polite, nice and helpful, working as a team, but if that doesn't work, well all is fair in love and war! After all you are their "supervisor" they answer to you, not the other way around! You must be assertive and not take the attitude, or ignore it, which is the best way, tell them what you need, expect them to do it, help them when you can, be polite, but FIRM. Just remember, there is a big difference in each one's attitude. Find out which ones are the bad apples and treat them accordingly, the good ones, treat like gold :) I find that the ones that are good, nice and polite and respectful of me, I will go to the end of the earth for them. The bad ones, get nothing in return from me. And when they give me the attitude, I give it right back, tell them to go do it, and if I still am not successful that way, then I take it the next step. Bad attitudes and people bring everyone down, including the pts! don't let them push you around, they will do it forever :) good luck!

Well let's see. Bear with me here. As a night shift nurse, I can say I agree with the retaliation post. That is a distinct possibility. As far as the inservices go, I have never once had a inservice scheduled at a convenient time for me. It is always immediately after a 12-14 hour shift, or on my one day off. Sorry to say but that is not convenient. If they are scheduled during my shift, at night when we actually have the staff to leave the unit, AND we are AWAKE enough to remember what is going on, well that would be convenient. As far as them being unhappy and wanting to leave it could be many factors, shift wars, no mentoring, high pt ratios, poor leadership, high pt acuity levels, anything and everything is fair game. It may also be individualized, each person may have their own pet peeve. Bringing them in one by one may not be the best idea since then if they actually do voice an opinion, you will know exactly who said what, which opens the door to them feeling like they have the possiblity of being retaliated against. Have you tried anonymous surveys? That may be helpful, I would certainly fill one of those out! It should be generic, nothing where they have to actually write something out (handwriting sometimes is a big clue who you're dealing with) And it wouldn't take but a pinch of your time to write. In the long run it would take less time to address concerns than post jobs, interview, offer, paperwork paperwork, then train someone new. And if you live in a smaller area, word gets around where to work and where not to! I know this sounds like a venting post, but I'm all for management taking interest in things! Good luck!

What do you think is the major reason nurses leave the profession out of these? 1.) Nurse to pt ratio without accounting for pt acuity 2.) Scheduling of staff 3.) Nurses treatment of one another (Management's treatment of staff, etc) 4.) Pay (or lack thereof ) 5.) Inability to provide the pt care desired due to administrative requirements. All responses are valued! Thanks!:wink2:

ckraider--- i resigned my position, and felt great about it. it took me all of a whopping 3 days to find a new job and it was the only one i applied for. i don't know about how your state is, but where i am at it was not a problem for me to resign and find another job quickly (turned out to be a better job too). when i was asked by the hr recruiter why i left i was polite but honest about the working conditions at the other location. i was not asked about specifics and was not asked about it at all by the nurse manager i interviewed with. i have a friend who is also a new grad on the same unit i will be working on and they have a full 3 month long intensive orientation for new grads, classes they send you to etc. so i know this time around what i am told is what i will get. trust me, if you are working in these conditions it is not worth your license or your sanity. quitting that horrible position was the best decision i could have made.