Daisy Child

AMEN AND AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BRING ON MY VACATION!

For the 1st time in my Nursing career (since 2001) I'm thinking about changing my profession. I can't take it anymore. My boss has created a terrible working environment. She has came in and turned our unit upside down. She has given us more change than Obama promised during his campaign. The motto of each Nurse when they come in, "What has changed since I was here a few days ago?" We share in the fear of making mistakes. Communication sucks. We feel we can talk to no one without being retaliated against. Now the new thing is she has decided to pit all of us against one another. She is interrogating each Nurse to find out what everyone else is doing while she isn't there. She wants each of us to rat one another out. I'm DONE!!!!!!!!!! It has become a shark pool from H*ll..

I'm having a little trouble with this one. I'm not saying your friend is lying, but I had a good friend who was diverting and was eventually caught. They did everything in their power to help her keep her license. They let her go to rehab the 1st, the 2nd time, and even a 3rd time. She drug tested positive all 3 times. This went on over a span of 2 years. They suspended her license and once she went thru the steps they granted them back to her. Eventually, she almost killed a patient because she was too drugged up to even know what world she was in. They finally took them from her. Thank God! She doesnt need to be around drugs... she is an addict and it would be like an alcoholic working behind a bar. Sadly our friendship didn't work out... I stuck by her for a long time, but she started stealing money from me so she could buy drugs. This woman was not like this when she and I first met. She was a totally different person... she changed very slowly and I didn't even know she was diverting and I worked at the same facility as she did back in those days. People can fool you.

It is extremely hard for even an experienced Nurse to get a job right now. I dont think we have a Nursing shortage in our area... we have too many Nurses and not enough jobs. A cousin of mine is a Nursing Instructor and she says she has students who graduated last year and still cannot find jobs. They are having to move out of state. If you graduated and can't find a job in a hospital... look for jobs at Nursing homes, doctors offices, etc.. any place that can give you nursing experience until a hospital job opens up. The hospitals are not wanting new grads.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/587794

where i work- it doesnt seem to be an older vs younger ob thing. we have an older ob who accepts medicaid patients and the trend with him is to section 90% of the medicaid patients for one reason or another. he sets a record for the fastest section. in and out in 40 minutes or less. (he actually uses forceps during all sections) he has already lost practices at one local hospital... why he has the ability to work for ours is questionable. then we have another ob who should do sections, but instead chooses to rip the woman half to pieces by using the vacuum more than it is indicated for use. when we have a woman with a 4th degree we typically always know who the ob was, before we are even told. it's disgusting what some ob's get away with...

We have house keepers, but we still have the responsibility of pulling trash and linen when it gets full. I usually just tie up the bags and put them by the door. We also have 4 couplets and occasionally 5. We have to supply the fresh towels, wash cloths, and make beds with fresh linen. I work 7p-7a.. we do not have a CNA or a PCT. Only days has a PCT.

Those are some wonderful ideas!!! Her plan is to get volunteer's from day shift to come to nights for 8 weeks. She is going to rotate us out.. 3 at a time. So far she has had one Nurse volunteer and the Nurse is one who used to work nights. If she doesnt get more to volunteer they will be forced. She has really upset 95% of the entire unit. I'm going to do some research!

I have known LPN's who are better Nurses than many RN's. Sitting in a class room isn't where you learn to be a Nurse. You learn on the floor. LPN's are just as capable of doing anything that an RN can do. They used to run the hospitals years ago, before people like yourself, decided they weren't good enough. If this NURSE (yes, she is a NURSE) isn't doing her job then it isn't because she is "only" an LPN. As far as the skills she is allowed to perform- that is up to the state board. It varies from state to state...

We are in the process and it has been a bumpy road. We get to deal with starving Infants during the night. I don't care what the experts say. I know a hungry baby when I see one and many ARE hungry. Not all mom's produce colostrum right away... the ones who are able to pump 10 ML's the day of delivery are few, but their Infants are the happiest. During the day, lactation is there, at night the Nurses have to deal with many issues, concerning breast feeding, ON top of our regular duties... when you have a mom who just had a c section, cant get OOB, and has been told formula is basically poison and paci's are evil... you are in a terrible situation. Count on spending a lot of time in her room.

I think your hospital is nuts. If this Mother wants to feed her Infant breast milk then that is her business. I'm sure she made sure the milk was coming from a safe donor. Some people are so uptight about breast feeding.

i'm almost scared to even post this here, but i really need some advice. i have been a nurse on the l&d/mom-baby unit for 2 years. i've worked both units because, at one point, they were combined. our hospital delivers around 300 babies a month. we recently got a new nurse manager. she is over both units. she has come in and turned everything around. to say the least, employee morale is at the lowest it has ever been. slowly by slowly, she is taking away and changing everything. we just found out she has decided night nurses, who have been there for only 2 years, didn't receive the training she thinks they should have received. she is sending us to days to be trained again for 8 weeks. she thinks we will be able to learn new skills and be able to get to know the ob's. (apparently, we have a couple of doctors complaining that they don't know the night nurses and have trust issues with them. i think it is worth noting the ob's who have issues are only female ob's.) let me also mention, we were all trained on days for 4 months and then trained on night for another month. in my opinion, if we didn't get to know the ob's in 4 months- how will we get to know them in 8 weeks? some of these nurses have been nurses for 20-30 years in the ob field. (we only have 2 new grads.) this may not seem like a big deal to some, but it is a slap in the face to be told you aren't as competent because you are not a day shift nurse. with this change we will be losing our night shift dif's. that means our paychecks will be almost $300.00 short for 2 months. not to mention- the majorities are mothers and have childcare issues.. this has been one of the biggest strains in my nursing career. i have never had one complaint in the 2 years i've been there. how is this fair?

In all honesty... I am shocked anyone in the medical field would vote yes. I've never met a seasoned Nurse who doesnt agree that Nursing has become too political. When the government sticks it's nose in Healthcare- it will become even more about politics and even less about patient care. Doctors will lose more flexibility because more rules will be put in place. Is anyone happy with the public school system? The Department of Transportation? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Social Security? Besides, I'm not sure how they can call it "free" when our tax dollars will be paying for it.

Our policy states we can't pull a foley or get them OOB until 12 hours post op. They remain on anaesthesia orders for 24 hours. as long as they have voided on their own, we d/c the IV @ 24 hrs. They switch over to OB orders at that time.

The Inn is always full here. :)