Nursecathy123ca

It IS frustrating. If your state does not have mandated resident:staff ratios, you have to look at whether the staff can adequately care for each resident's needs. Sounds fuzzy. And it is. I am learning how to dig for information regarding staffing as a possible cause for falls and other accidents.

So glad this column helped you make that decision. I did home health nursing for 8 years and have no regrets!

Wow. The ANA here sounds almost bedside nurse-friendly!

After asking the ANA it's position on minimum staffing levels, I received the same old "each hospital should decide proper staffing levels according to need..." pablum. Allowing hospital management to control staffing has gotten us into this mess. A nurse-led union with support from congress is the only thing that will assure patient safety and nurse working conditions. I just could not work at the bedside any more but my heart us still there!

After burning out of hospital and home health nursing, I am now a State surveyor! My goal is to be fair in judgment and always, always kind in demeanor. Benefits? 40-hour workweek, regular hours, low pay but good benefit package. And no more weekend shifts! And my team never forgets that we are patient advocates.

Time for a union run by real nurses.

Good for you, wanting to remain at bedside. I loved it but just couldn't do the 12-hour shifts any more. Also, the short staffing was killing me. I was a pretty darned good nurse by the time I left the hospital and took my skills into home health care. Good luck to you!

That is disturbing. I have never had a nursing job where I had to do an activity similar to sit-ups. I have, however, done lifting, stretching, kneeling, catching a falling patient and even lying on the floor to see something under the bed! You are right--they have missed a great team member. They must have plenty of applicants. Otherwise, they would be happy to overlook this 'flaw'.

I agree with CathRN. You would need to have very, very reliable childcare--you never know when a survey is going to go longer than planned. You will also have to start a few surveys at odd hours, such as weekends or 10 p.m.

Also, you may want to search for 'nurse' on your state employment website. I searched 'surveyor' and never found anything. BTW, the surveyor job is going great. Learning a lot. Love visiting small towns in Texas I have never seen before.

Thanks for the comments, CathRN. I am moving right along in training. Getting to know teammates, etc. Looks so good. And I love having real weekends and evenings off!

BTW, this hospital also has a discrimination suit ongoing, brought by some Indian physicians who were not allowed to advance in their positions. Seems they don't project the right 'image' for the hospital either!

[quote=nerdtonurse?;6410072 I have no desire to stand before God at the end of my life and when he says, "what good did you do with the life I gave you?" all I can say is, "I was thin and a snappy dresser." Amen!

HealthyNurse, I'm wondering if you took that surveyor job and how things are going now. I just started a state surveyor job. The training is interesting, though a little tedious. I'm not good at sitting in a chair watching Web-based training all day :) The people in my office seem like good coworkers. Eager to get started.

Let's be clear that this is not about a hospital's concern for the health of its employees. It is about appearance, plain and simple. Here is a segment of the story published in The Texas Tribune: "The Citizens Medical Center policy, instituted a little more than a year ago, requires potential employees to have a body mass index of less than 35-which is 210 pounds for someone who is 5-foot-5, and 245 pounds for someone who is 5-foot-10. It states that an employee's physique "should fit with a representational image or specific mental projection of the job of a healthcare professional," including an appearance "free from distraction" for hospital patients. "The majority of our patients are over 65, and they have expectations that cannot be ignored in terms of personal appearance," hospital chief executive David Brown said in an interview. "We have the ability as an employer to characterize our process and to have a policy that says what's best for our business and for our patients." Sounds like the boys in charge want good lookin' ladies around. But they can't say that, so they blame it on the 'expectations' of over-65 year old patients! I predict a 'clarification' of policy coming from the Citizens Medical Center folks soon. Stay tuned.