a54flo

I have two comments. First, I like the post requesting the NM to put this into a policy format; you know that will never happen. And second, when I am in any meeting where upper management is blathering on and on about some inane topic, I just think to myself: "3 u's" because there are 3 u's in shut the **** up! I have zero tolerance for much of the nonsense in nursing anymore. So, everybody, let's make "3 u's" our mantra!

Nursing is so stuck on titles that it can't see the qualifications of people. I have a friend who has a bachelor's in education and an ADN. Her plan has been to get a master's in either business or health administration. But because she works in a magnet facility she MUST get her BSN in order to stay in her job as a manager. No options whatsoever and it has to be done by 2014 or she will have voluntarily quit her job! I am currently in class to get my BSN (was going to go on for MSN but with the amount of time and effort, I am not going to do so) and two of my classmates have master's degrees; one actually has two and they have been told that they must get the BSN in order to get their MSN. Another of my classmates is a manager and she too has to get her BSN in order to keep her job; she is also working in a Magnet hospital. Talk about jumping through hoops! So far in my education I have learned very little. I am simply jumping through a hoop and paying for my degree. No wonder some of our new grads don't have a lick of sense or ability except to demand Monday through Friday day shift with no holidays, weekends, or off-shifts.

Our hospital recently changed our policy on who can check blood at the bedside to "two healthcare individuals, one of whom must be an RN". They have interpreted this to mean an RN, LPN/LVN, MD or a CNA. They say they have research to support this decision though I have not seen it yet. When I questioned this policy I was told that "they are just numbers" and "it's just another pair of eyes" I tried to explain as cogently as I could my severe reservations about having unlicensed people verifying blood, to no avail. I approached this from a safety issue and also said that the difference between professional nursing and being a CNA is that we have rationale for our actions. The numbers on the blood bag and band are more than numbers; they represent the potential lethality of the product and therefore the rationale for two people to check. It only takes 15 cc of the wrong blood to kill a patient. I also expressed concern that we as registered nurses are charged with the duty to directly supervise CNA's and questioned how we could then ask them to check what we are reading is accurate. They believe this will free up the nurse. I told them I do not need my nursing assistants to do my job; I need them to do theirs, to pass the water and assist patients to the bathroom etc. If they did that, we would have time to check blood. And if truth be told, I have never heard a nurse complain about having to check blood but we all complain about getting called to a room because the pt. needs water. Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I am really interested in what others have to say about this new practice.

This has also happened where I work and the nurse was fired. Period. No discussion. Our policy states that you cannot sleep during your shift (not on breaks not on your lunch).

I work at a magnet hospital and two years ago one of my co-workers was on her BREAK and found asleep. She was fired. I do not believe she was reported to the BON though. Our hospital policy specifically states that you cannot sleep at any time (lunch or breaks) during your hours of work.

Clearly the patient's husband made a racist request and unfortunately, in this consumer driven business, patients can request whatever they want. Patient rights allow them to request the care providers they feel most comfortable with; this is their call, not ours. It may be very wrong, but it is their right to be wrong. I think the hospital did the only thing they could to both appease the patient and protect their employees. They didn't violate their policy.....I'll bet that policy is written to ensure that PATIENTS are not discriminated against, not employees. And if the same situation happened tomorrow, what else could the hospital do? We can't reeducate these bigots in a hospital stay. Do we really want the patient upset and looking for problems? Do we really want our co-workers subjected to this demeaning behavior?