nitenurse911

talk to me in 20 years- you are 27 y.o. and 7 yrs into it. Get down off that cross- someone else needs the wood. Nurses are humans first and foremost and you can't think straight if you are stressed AND hypoglycemic. Cranky nurses are no pleasure to their pt's or co-workers. You'll get over your martyrdom and giving yourself away to management for free- get compensated for missed breaks at least; as Dr. Phil says, "you teach people how to treat you"; don't disrespect or de-value your time or your service.

PLS, PLS- do yourself and your future co-workers a huge favor and spend a year in a Med-Surg/ Tele setting. Getting a good foundation is critical, no pun intended. For all the reasons sited above, your first year you will learn more than all the time you spent in school and then some not to mention building your confidence and intuition. All houses need a strong foundation; it's hard on you and your peers when you can't cope and expect them to shoulder part of your load and theirs when you are floundering and it is uncomfortable to work with staff that you question in terms of their skills/ reliabilty to pick up on cues or plan ahead. I believe in teamwork but you get tired of constantly carrying the heaviest load because you can. Personally, I am battle -weary from the "Barbie's" who are more interested in working on their "M.R.S's" and landing themselves a Resident on their way to life on "Pill Hill" - for those of us who have chosen NOT to have a family, I resent working short when management doesn't cover the shifts vacated by maternity leaves; I have no viable excuse to take the same time off with pay which I find is an inequity that sits unaddressed

This, I agree is an internal problem, not an ED problem. Get a NM with a backbone or an ERMD with "huevos" to stand up for you. EG. We have had residents want to send a pt down for sutures after a fall upstairs- we told them to come get a lac. tray and have at it - not our problem as the pt. is an IN- patient. Same thing goes for Tele/ ICU problems- let them duke it out. The most accomodating we will be is to be "the Code bed" if ICU is full. Fight for those pt ratios ladies!!!!!!!! The law was passed years before they complied and I wouldn't work in any other state that doesn't have them- pt acuity is much too high to put your licenses on the line for people who won't back you when the you know what hits the you know what.

an eloquent piece that made me proud, especially coming from an ERMD; we don't get that kind of feedback everday or decade for that matter. It would be nice if our MD's acknowledged what we do- the last comment I overheard was that we were too well paid for what we do. This person thought that since nurses were paid by the hour and MD's by the patient, we were content to "sit on" the same pt's for hours because there was no "incentive" to move them. (What alternate universe he lives in I don't know) Yes, I work with some who are "minimalists" but the majority bust their humps to keep the flow going and I would be happy to be paid by the number and acuity of those I see as I pride myself on a good turnover and push to get my pt's upstairs where they will be more comfortable out of the chaos we call our workplace. This is an MD I would LOVE to work for- he should be cloned!!!!!!!!!

Take heart in knowing that all hospitals and all nurses do not behave this way but I will say that all nurses are not as supportive of each other as we need to be and cattiness has not declined in the 25 yrs I have been practicing- note the number and frequency of males being promoted to charge and management positions with less experience than their female counterparts. There is still sexism and racism to be overcome and it pains me that African-Americamn nurses and other minorities have felt the need to form their own associations in order to feel legitimate and heard amongst the larger forum. If we can't be for ourselves, who will be for us? Certainly NOT mangement