evilolive07

As an update, my social media accounts are now being targeted and reported to management. I am going to close this conversation out by saying I'm disappointed to hear that some think my uppers are correct in their actions, but will accept this as they are your opinions. I just wish there was actually a bit more compassion from those who call themselves nurses, whether they are staff or management. Goodnight and god bless. This will be my last post.

This past Friday November 3rd, I had an experience with a member of my upper management team that left me in tears, and questioning whether or not I want to stay in my hospital system or leave the career altogether. I was about to take my lunch break when my program director approached me and asked if I would have a few minutes to chat today. Historically we have had a good working relationship, she keeps an open door, and has been very approachable. Based on our history, and other issues that have been occurring in the office, I told her that I had time as I hadn't yet started my break. We close the door to her office and she began by asking me how I have been doing. I responded that I've been better, and was just getting over a chest cold, for which I had to take Tuesday/Wednesday off (I work 4 x 10 hour shifts a week). She continued by stating that is actually why she called me into her office. She stated that the amount of PTO I have taken this year, specifically sick call-outs has "gotten ridiculous." At this point I quickly realized that this meeting was not going in the direction I had planned, and immediately became tense and defensive. As some back story, this has personally been the worst year of my 15 years in nursing. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer early in the year and I returned home at one point to support her s/p lumpectomy. In the Spring, I began having GI issues and learned that I have a wheat/gluten intolerance. Over Memorial Day weekend my 36 year old younger sister died of complications from long-term alcoholism. My bereavement time was spent cleaning out her hoarder-like apartment with my father, and rescuing her cat (which was extremely traumatic). I traveled for the first time in three years in July and developed COVID-19 on my last day, requiring me to take additional PTO to quarantine (as pandemic was declared over, and my personal time had to be used to cover the required time off). I've had food poisoning one day, a GI bug in August, and most recently this chest cold. I make good money but I am living paycheck to paycheck during this awful inflation period. I'm the breadwinner in my home and cover the majority of the home expenses. Needless to say my body has been under an immense amount of stress, which I feel is the cause for the multiple illnesses I've experienced this year. I was taken aback by the verbiage that my director used during our meeting. She essentially stated that my use of PTO has been excessive, told me that "You blew through your protected sick time by March," and reinforced that my team has been quite flexible in giving me my allotted PTO (took 3 weeks of vacation, and assorted hours off for appointments, etc). She told me that "things need to improve next year," and coldly asked if I needed help from Employee/Family Relations. I am a highly sensitive person and by this point in our conversation was bawling crying out of frustration and for being completely unprepared for the conversation. I told her that EFR could only help me if they could prevent me from getting sick. I responded to her numerous times by saying this has been the worst year of my life and that I cannot help that I have been sick this much. I explained that looking back at my 15 years of service to this system, that I have never taken as much time as I've required this year and I am equally as frustrated. She inquired if my manager had broached this topic with me, to which I responded "no." We have an attendance disciplinary process in our system (my manager has not given me any verbal or written warnings), which I am familiar with. I stated that if I was going to face discipline, I would accept it. My director told me "no disciplinary process is going to be initiated, we are going to consider this a 'counseling' session which would not be a part of my record" which to me, meant an off the record conversation. She ended our 8 minute meeting by telling me she would ensure that my manager was aware of my "counseling," and then asked me to go take a walk and get some air before I return to my duties. She asked if the other RN I was working with should take my next patient in clinic, to which I responded "no, I will take the patient." I went home livid, and extremely hurt. I felt as though she was questioning my personal integrity as a person, and almost insinuating that I was taking personal days instead of actual sick days (very untrue). Worst of all, I was not comfortable with her calling this a counseling session, as it felt like more of an empty threat against me than counseling. There was no sympathy or empathy in her tone or actions. No "it will be okay, don't worry about it" or pat on the shoulder on my way out. I left her office feeling unseen and confused, and utterly frustrated that this would occur two weeks before my yearly review/raise meeting. I was extremely depressed for my weekend, had some very dark moments, and ironically had to call out today and tomorrow due to testing positive for Flu A (after getting my flu shot). Am I overreacting or am I correct in thinking that this is a shady form of bullying to someone who has 15 years experience, maintains 2 certs and my level 2, and is on a nursing professional governance council for my hospital. What would you do in my shoes? I've considered filing a grievance because of this interaction, as well as writing top nursing leadership. I'm 100% considering leaving the health system altogether because of how this situation was handled. Best, evilolive07

The internet sadly did not reflect my tone. Perhaps I'm coming off as disgruntled and entitled, but what I'm really feeling is deeply disappointed. I realized a long time ago to never expect great things from "the man," but this was some new level stuff IMO. Happy Nurses Week.

The nurses week activities, beside for ice cream, started the year of the acquisition. The only change this year is lack of a gift. Not even a generic printed thank you card. I used the burlap sack as a reference to compare the old system to the new system re:thoughtfulness. When the old Catholic hospital was on its last legs with little to offer, they still made a conscious offer to try to reward its staff for a job well done. To me, that speaks volumes. I'm expected to make a conscious effort to provide excellent care nightly to all my patients. Am I selfish to expect a little reciprocation from my leadership once a year? If so I own it.

Zosyn is given on any unit non-ED over 3 hrs in my hospital. It's been this way for years. Never read any literature about it.

I have worked for a large hospital system for about nine years now. My initial Catholic hospital was acquired by a larger hospital system in the same area more or less because of a failure to thrive. My "old hospital", even when in it's imminent demise, still provided a Nurses' Week gift to all of its employees. The gift was equivalent to a burlap sack, but it still represented the respect that upper management had for its nurses at the time. Fast forward to 2018 - this year the Nurses Week committee voted to not hand out individual gifts to nurses but instead offer them "plenty of events" to participate in throughout the week. These being the same events that we've had every week for the last 5-6 years since rebranding/acquisition. These events include chair massages that run primarily on day shift, ice cream socials that simply will not work for those of us trying to improve our health, and CE credits that are generally unavailable to staff who work the off shift. The individual gift was the one part of the week that united all of us as nurses. It made us feel good. It was the one giant "thank you," that we received from those who do not work the front-lines everyday. That thanks is now gone, due to what seems like whatever budgeting crisis the system is currently experiencing. 2017-2018 has been another average year. Another year with poor RN staffing, little show in improving employee satisfaction (IMO), and what seems like little thanks for again earning Magnet designation, proving HRO accountability, and meeting/exceeding other metric performance measures. Forgive my selfish-sounding rant, but I find it difficult to believe that unit clerks are entitled to a gift, and the nurses are not. A $5 coffee mug or tumbler for each nurse surely cannot surpass a CEO/CIO's bonus each year. Shame on my system. Shame. Thank you for listening.

Errors do happen, and as nurses we must take responsibility for our actions. If an error is made, we have to take it as a learning experience. I've administered incorrect medications, stopped infusions at incorrect times, and given incorrect doses of meds (despite ordered by MD and approved by pharm). Nursing is a human profession, and so mistakes are made - but by recognizing our errors and receiving feedback, we become more aware of ourselves and our actions in medication administration!

Here are three words to your direct management team that I'm almost 100% sure will get them to perk up and address the issue with your "mean" coworker: "hostile work environment."

I graduated in 2008 from a Bachelor's program, and I cannot recall learning more than the theory of placing a peripheral line. I'm pretty positive we practiced placing Foleys, but I'm not 100% sure - it was so long ago. Needless to say, 8 years later and I still have never inserted an IV. I've been fortunate to work for a facility that has an IV team. They've seen better outcomes (fewer instances of phlebitis, etc) with lines inserted by IV team as compared to floor nurses. I also am blessed to have a phlebotomy team. Maybe I'm just a lucky gal?

Location is correct! I started as a new grad in LTC at $22/hour in MA. I think new grads in acute care (in CT) now start around $27-28/hour.

On days that I am going back to work, I usually wake up around 8am (like I would on a regular day off), and then try to lay down for a nap by 1pm until 5pm. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to stay awake the entire night before, and will go to bed by 10am and sleep until 5pm. By my 2nd shift, I'm in bed by 9:30am and sleep until 5:30pm. On days I have to flip back.... let's say I'm coming off 3 midnights - I sleep the entire day until my body tells me to get up, usually around 9pm. Then go back to bed by 2-3am. This is usually enough to get me back onto a day schedule. Of course, sometimes it doesn't work, and I do not have a family that requires me to be awake early on days off. This pattern of mine also assumes that I'll have at least two days off. If I don't, then it's kind of a crapshoot as to what my body does. Please avoid the Ambien on your nights off! I took it for a year or two, made a few steak and cheeses in the middle of the night, and was left with intermittent anxiety attacks and a few pounds from the grinders I made. I use benadryl 50mg to help me get drowsy if I have at least 6-7 hours to rest. Good luck!

The issue has been being unable to take it at all. One RN managed to get a day off because a part-timer was on vacation one week. Management has instructed us to continue to request days we need off, but not PTO days. We are also entitled to take a PTO cash out, which I am doing, but the fact of the matter is that even though 12 hours of PTO in my paycheck is nice, sometimes I don't want to work 3 shifts a week. Even if I found coverage for a shift (let's say, for example, a per diem) and requested PTO, it would be denied because it would essentially be "double paying" - paying me for my time off, and that RN for working my shift. Here's to hoping this is a short-term problem....

I'm curious to see if other floor nurses are currently in the same situation I find myself in. We use a PTO system in my hospital, but it seems that lately it's nearly impossible to use any unless it is for a scheduled vacation. I've been told by management that if any two RNs are on vacation the same week (day/night) then there is realistically no time for her to give, since she is budgeted for 80 hours/week. There would *maybe* be 8 hours available, and since we work 12 hour shifts, that available PTO would not even cover a full shift. This was not the case in past years. I used to be able to strategically take a PTO day every two months or so to give myself a stretch of time off. I've pushed this up to HR who seemed to be clueless, as apparently every department has their own rules regarding PTO. Is anyone else having issues with PTO because of bigger issues such as budgeting?

I worked in a SNF for 15 months before transitioning into a Med-Surg hospital unit. I feel as though my orientation to my unit was great, and knowing the nursing basics (time management, assessing my patients thoroughly, med pass, wound care, tube feedings, etc) really made the transition much smoother. I had a lot to learn, but felt as though the foundations I learned in the SNF were nothing but beneficial! By the way, going to a 4-8:1 patient ratio from 50:1 may not be as easy as you'd think, trust me!

I tend to agree with the simple snack ideas. I have a big lunch bag, and it's generally filled with granola bars, guacamole cups, hummus cups, wheat thins, yogurt, mixed nuts, fruit cups, and maybe a turkey or ham sandwich. I never eat everything in my bag, but it definitely gives me options if I'm not in the mood for one particular item on any given night. I probably wouldn't do well with the pre-made meals, because I only work three nights a week, and between the pre-prepared meals for work and what I'd have to buy for my off days, I'd be spending a fortune.

Thanks everyone for your input. I actually am looking for other work, I don't want to stay in LTC forever. It was a good ease into nursing, but it wasn't my first choice. I simply couldn't find any positions for what I wanted at the time (L&D), and now that I'm off that kick (had done a Senior internship in it), I want MedSurg to broaden my skill set and organization skills. We'll see if I can find anything, most are MedSurg/Onco units, which I don't think I'd be comfortable with right off the bat.

I've been given that kind of advice by my ADON too... I understand exhausting all options in house before sending someone out, but they are so worried about numbers they don't want anyone going out... AT ALL! And P.S. yes I am a new grad, passed boards in March this year.

My facility has made it clear that night shift nurses are primarily responsible for doing editing. I did about 20/32 edits one month, and had one Psychotropic that didn't get carried over. Of course I heard all about that one. To make things worse, not all nurses transcribe new orders to the current monthly sheets. I know that it can be hectic on days/evenings, but it would be so much more efficient if the RN/LPN taking the order could transcribe it to all necessary areas (MAR, TAR, order sheet in chart, care plan, etc.) My one wish would be to have charting done electronically. It would be quicker, hopefully less error-prone, and it would save the harm done to my hands by opening and closing those damn HEAVY THICK charts all night long!

I never have to do weekly weights, that is generally a day/evening shift responsibility (I do 11-7) but as far as I've noticed, we do weekly weights on EVERYONE on my unit. I'm not really sure what the motivation is behind this, but I think it's because it's a good measuring tool for any kind of general decline that may be happening for our residents. They often lose weight when they're ill, or go in and out of the hospital...and let's not forget those Lasix pts. We also have people on restrictive diets, diabetics, pre-diabetics, and tube feedings. That's all I can think of for a rationale right now. Plus we have a mock survey next week, joy.

I have been trying to sleep tonight and I can't because I'm so worked up over this issue. If I had other immediate job choices I would give 1 month's notice and get the heck out. What I'd really like to do is get some solid Med-Surg hospital experience, but I really can't find much of it in my area (northeast MA). Most job postings lately are for specialty areas, and especially Oncology units. I can't get over how my ADON was telling me that she worked a 62 bed unit, did the med pass, responsibilities, and got the editing done. It was like rubbing salt in the wound. Believe me, I'm looking for work, and I really want to get out of this place. I have a feeling they will probably attempt to cut my hours if they can find a per diem nurse who will do both floors. I did indeed get a phone call from the scheduler today asking if I wanted to work Thursday night... Thursday is one of my regular nights!!! Ugh. I am way too stressed.

When I first entered the LTC facility I now work at for an interview I couldn't believe the smell! It just smelled like.... old people. Now that I'm used to my unit, it only smells like urine and poop when the aides are doing rounds, and only if you walk by their dirty linen/trash cart. We have carpeting in the main walking areas, and that linoleum/tile in the actual rooms. It seems to work out pretty well. The only foul smell I somewhat dislike (but I'm used to) is when I or one of my aides empties a certain resident's colostomy bag. That smell certainly wafts down the hall!

Hi everyone, I post in here once in awhile, but I felt compelled to tonight. As a little background I am a RN in a LTC/Rehab facility in MA. I have been working approx. 6 months and work 11-7. My administration has been driving me nutty lately. Our census is way down, and for some reason we are not getting any new admissions to our building. 1st floor holds 32 residents (we're currently at 25+1) and 2nd floor has the same (census about 25). I feel that this has caused my administration to go beserk lately, and I feel like I'm possibly being taken advantage of. It's not unheard of for them to leave me as the only nurse for the 50 some odd residents on the two floors. If their hours are "off" (like they will be tonight and Thurs.) I have to keep running up and downstairs to do meds (albeit mostly PRNs), order checks, and all the other 11-7 responsibilities. I've heard many of my nursing colleagues in the building say they'd refuse to do it, or demand double-time pay. I have been doing neither. I asked my ADON if I'd be compensated and she never got back to me. I'm doing double the work for the same pay. The thing that absolutely got me this morning was my ADON. After feeling like death from 1-5am and finally pulling myself together for my 6am med pass, I got it done. I did not, however get any assessments or "editing" done for our changeover this weekend. My ADON made me feel like a complete failure, and kept giving me this "what are you thinking?" kind of look. She said 11-7 is the time to do paperwork, but didn't understand that I felt awful, could barely stay awake, had no color to my face for those 4 hours, and had to stay close to the bathroom just in-case. I just feel like she was so heartless. I realize we're in a crunch, and that 7-3 deals with a lot of care plan meetings and physicians, etc. But come on, I had ONE off night. This woman told me straight out on Saturday morning "people think I'm nice, well let me tell you, I can be a *****." Good for you, lady. Sorry for the long post. Does anyone else just want to strangle administration sometimes? I feel like I'm either doing very poorly in their eyes, or I'm their "angel."

Shopgirl1: I did not get hired after completing my coursework. I waited until January (a month after I got out of school) to begin job-hunting and still have had no luck. I did pass my NCLEX on the first try, which was a plus. I think a lot of my problems with finding jobs is my location (an hour outside of Boston on the Northshore). I'm beginning to apply to rehab/long term care facilities now.

I just graduated from UMass, here are a few things I learned about it: *Many of the staff are wonderful resources to go to, but you will quickly learn the Professors who are on your case about EVERYTHING (ex. attendance policies, losing grade letters for missing class, etc). *Make sure to study and pass pre-req's, it can kind of mess you up if you're held up for a semester! *A lot of the clinicals you'll do are probably in the Springfield area (about a 25 minute drive), but you may go upto Greenfield, Northampton, and as far out as Worcester, the Berkshires and Boston for clinicals. *You'll get great instructors, and not so great clinical instructors. Try not to take it too personally if an instructor is "harsh." I got a B- in my first clinical semester, but every one after that I got A's. 1st semester is always the hardest. *Most of the classes in the first two years are "fluff," like your GenEds and Intro to Nursing courses, excluding A+P. Junior year is probably the hardest and most time-consuming, with senior year being a breeze (more fluff, in my opinion, combined with clinicals). You will easily know which courses people really don't take seriously and are considered (and I hate to put it this way, but it was the general consensus) a waste of time. *Whatever people tell you, you do NOT have to spend every waking moment doing Nursing work. I've met so many people that had multiple nervous breakdowns stressing if they didn't get an A on a test, or as a final grade. I buckled down when I needed to, but I also learned to not neglect my friends, hold down a PT job, and be able to go out at least once a week. Just be confident in yourself, study your material when you need to, and you'll do fine. *And as a note to the above note - try not to slack too much (aka - partying 5 nights a week, then you're destined to fail the coursework)

I am a new grad (as of Feb. 1st) and I have probably applied to at least 15 places in the Northshore area. Only one hospital, with the specialty I want, has interviewed me. A few other places have informed me that new grad programs only happen at certain times of the year, which bummed me out a little bit. The one hospital I'm hoping to work for basically told me to come back when I passed boards, so it's hard to figure out what to do. I sometimes wonder about that "shortage!" Maybe it's just harder for winter/new grads sometimes.