JamRN29

It sounds like your working in a terrible environment. The hospital I work at encourages everyone who works on a tele floor to get ACLS certified and they pay your hourly wage while your learning. They work around your schedule to make sure you get the education you need. If you don't get the education you need to take care of trach patients, who knows what could happen. If you have appealed all the way up your nursing chain of command with no results, I would start looking for a new job. The way you are being treated isn't fair you worked hard for your license. You deserve to work at a place where you can be Happy. Our job is a Huge part of our lives. If your not happy at work it's hard to be happy anywhere.

I started working for a new hospital. There was a break out of MRSA on our floor 2 different strains! The employees (including myself) were all tested. The hospital does MRSA swabs when a patient is admitted and has been at another facility within the last 6 months. I found out that I was positive for MRSA. I was shocked. I never had any symptoms. One of the patients on the floor had the same strain that I did. Infection control couldn't determine if I got it from her (she was not on contact isolation) or if she got it from me. The hospital managed it very professionally. It was kept completely confidential. I was given bactrim ointment to apply to my nares for 7 days BID. After the 7 days I repeated the MRSA swab and then one more time after that. I was given treatment, not punished or even talked to. The patient also received treatment and had no signs of infection- Pt came in for a total unrelated matter- blood sugar control. The hospitals main concern was giving everyone treatment and controlling the outbreak- not trying to find blame. I think that's way it should be because a gown and gloves can reduce spread- not eliminate it.

The hospital I was working at previously had a policy that a wouldn't allow a nurse that had a contact isolation patient to take care of fresh post-op patients or patients with immunosuppression (ie. cancer patients, HIV, etc.) Now the new hospital I work at has no such policy and frequently assigns a nurse with a contact isolation patient and a fresh post-op. I brought this up to the infection control nurse and she told me that due to staffing the hospital didn't have such a policy. Since when due we compromise patient safety because of staffing? I have only worked in one other hospital so I have no idea if I am just being overly cautious. Is it common for nurses to have to combine these potentially dangerous patient populations or do most hospitals have policies to prevent it?

Thank you for answering so many questions I have about going to Saudi Arabia. The experience you described sounds exactly like what I think I signed up for. Now that I have an idea of what I am walking into I may be a little more prepared for the shock. Your article changed the frame of mind I was going to Saudi with- I feel a bit less naive now. I am not so naive to think that i am going to this great vacation place to travel hang out and have fun. I just wanted to leave the US for a little while. I need some peace and quiet, some solace. I wanted to save some money before I get married. All I want from Saudi is fair pay for honest work and some time off to rest, read and write. I understand that being a female from America makes me a target for discrimination, but working as a nurse here hasn't exactly been a cake walk either. I have taken care of 11 patients (with promises that help was on the way but it never came and to just do the best that I could) but most of the time I have 7-8 with telemetry. I have had patients throw food, trays, bed pans, and colostomy bags at me. I have been bitten, pinched and punched. Not to mention all verbal abuse. Yet I still get up and go to work here. I think I can handle it over there. How are the accommodations? Is there mandatory overtime?