FarmgrrlRN

We are treated like professionals when its convenient... i.e. when talking about Magnet status but other than that we are usually treated like we work at McDonalds. We don't write essays for med errors and such...we make posterboards!!!

Yes, if you call out anytime between Friday morning and Monday night they count as a make up day on the next schedule....meaning you will be scheduled for an 'extra' Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday... i.e. if you miss a Friday shift you may be scheduled for an extra Sunday shift beyond your weekend requirement. Many staff feel that it should be 'an eye for an eye'...If they miss a Friday they should only be scheduled for an extra Friday. Of course, my manager schedules their make-up shift on a weekend 'to meet the needs of the unit'. Nobody has to work an extra shift beyond their budgeted hours (this was attempted once by my manager and was quickly shot down by HR once employees complained about mandatory OT). Also, everybody is encourgaged to find coverage for their shift, if they do, it is not counted against them...but good luck getting somebody to pick up a Friday night. If you're not needed on your make up day, then it is not counted against you. Sick time is another issue...but yes, you do get paid out to your budgeted hours if you miss work. (We have recently changed to a system where all paid time off [vacation and sick time] is now in one bank...that's a topic for another thread!) No unions in this area...I'd probably get fired for even saying the "u" word at work LOL

At CHKD it also depends on what area of the health system you work in...inpatient vs. outpatient areas...outpatient areas make less

Trust me, I totally see the need to hold employees accountable for missing their scheduled weekend shifts...but Fridays and Mondays? I don't get paid a weekend diff for those days so why am I being held accountable for those shifts? Are we only allowed to be ill on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays? I was curious to see what other facilities count as a weekend... Thanks for the replies so far :)

I am curious to hear what your facility/unit requires of you, if anything, if you must call out on a weekend shift? Recently our unit expanded our make-up requirement from Friday night (the 1830-0700 shift) to Sunday night shift (1830-0700 Monday morning) to Friday day (0700-1830) to Monday night (1830-0700) claiming that Fridays and Mondays now count as weekends. I had thought the previous call-out/make-up policy was a bit unfair as those who worked during the day shifts were only liable to make up two shifts while the night shift staff was liable for 3 shifts. When I asked my manager about it at the time her answer basically was "the night shift gets paid enough so bascially they can suck it up" (I'm paraphrasing a little bit but that was the jist). About 6 months ago they changed (unit leadership) it to the new policy and slipped it into the new scheduling guidlelines, having staff sign to verify they had received them. Unfortunately, many staff members did not realize what exactly had changed in that one paragraph of the three or four page document. So, we are now culpable to make up a 'weekend shift' if we call out for any of our shifts that fall on these four days out of the week! We do NOT make up a Friday for a Friday...basically, your make up shift is on the next schedule in which you make up a shift on ANY of these four days. To top it off, I am a member of the scheduling committee and sometimes catch a little bit of flack from co-workers for their schedules, particularly their make-up shifts. Keep in mind, a) My manager has final say over the schedule so she can change anything she wants on it after we turn it into her. and b)we have about a 50% chance of actually receiving the list of make-ups from our manager on time so my hands are usually tied anyway. Also, with the anticipated number of call outs expected this fall, HR has sent out a mass email that staff will not be disciplined according to the absenteeism policy for calling out for influenza-like-illness (we are required to stay out for a minimum of 7 days) but I'm curious to see how our manager handles absences regarding the make-up policy. Any response is appreciated! Thanks :)

Well, I worked my first shift orienting to charge. It wasn't too bad, opened my eyes to what all of the responsibilities are! Of course, it helped that we had a secretary all night long...hopefully on my next shift there will be no secretary so I can learn how to admit pts on the computer, etc before i'm released on my own!

A little background on me: I graduated last May, passed boards and started working in July and finished orientation at the end of September. My manager (new to the unit and hospital started in April) pulled me into her office last week and told me that she wants me to orient to charge by Christmas. Something in my gut tells me its too soon but the charge nurses on the unit are confident in my ability (or so they tell me!). The idea of it freaks me out but I don't want to seem as though I'm not a team player. We don't see many codes on my unit (I work peds) and just recently took and passed PALS. I feel like I definitely need more experience under my belt before I take this on... Any advice or opinions out there for me?

Has your MD suggested physical therapy? Are you exercising now? I also have a herniated disk at L5-S1...I did physical therapy 3x/wk x4wks and was told to pick up my physical activity (walking, swimming, etc.) The first time my back went out was 4 yrs ago and it definitely helped, then a year later it happened again (3 days after I finished a 10 week yoga class!). I have been 'incident' free since then. They will probably advise you that you need to strengthen your abdominal muscles and possibly lose some weight (if you need to). While in nursing school my back definitely stiffened up after lifting pts, etc. Its part of the reason that I decided to go into pediatric nursing. I still do have some lifting but no where near as much as in the adult world.

1. non-compliance 2. on my unit: renal pts (ESRD, acute transplant rejection --->non-compliance big time), asthma, (we don't usually see diabetics on my unit) 3. Gain trust by being honest, talk to them as young adults (not like children) 4. Empower them, let them take on more responsiblity in managing their disease (own BS, own insulin, etc.) 5. It depends on the illness....

anybody doing pH testing at your facility? This is new for us and I've only had to do it once so far, worked like a charm. Still do air bolus and aspirate gastric contents (of course); we also measure Q4hrs.

http://www.tcc.edu/academics/divisions/healthprofessions/nursing/packet.pdf I just graduated from their program in May. When I applied in '03 there was no waiting list and they still do not keep waiting lists. If you are not accepted that year, then you must reapply the next. My advice is to take A&P I/II, Micro and English Composition before applying and do well. If you do that, then you'll get in. If you can, take as many of the other classes as you can (psych, child psych, eng comp II, etc) so you don't have to worry about them while you're in the program. That's what I did and it worked out prefectly for me. If you take your classes at the right times (ie A&P in the fall, A&P II in the spring, Micro in the summer or fall) then it will take you a year to complete pre reqs and you can enter the program the following year. Just a side note, I entered the program before they created the points system. I did terrible in my A&Ps (C in the both!), got a B in Micro and they didn't even look at your English grade (had to have it completed). I was still #69/100 on admission. (I did still manage to graduate with a 3.33 gpa) I'm not sure how much that has changed in the last two years. It seemed that while I was getting ready to apply, there were many students applying to ODU and hadn't even bothered to apply to TCC's program b/c they didn't even know it existed! Apply to as many schools as you can. TCC had a great program, lots of politics but you'll find that anywhere, but no complaints from me. If you have any questions, PM me! Good luck!

Anyone else seeing this yet at your facilities? Due to the severe shortage of nurses this holiday season, my employer is offering an extra $40/hr to any nurse that agrees to work any extra major or minor holidays this year (on top of holiday pay @1.5x). Oh, we work 12's at my facility but you can agree to work in 4, 8, or 12 hrs increments if you want to sign up. I was griping about already having to work Thanksgiving night, call on Christmas day and working New Year's Eve dayshift....now it might look a bit more enticing to pick up all the other holidays! Figured it out and I could potentially gross over $800 in one 12 hr shift. Don't know what would be left after taxes...for a newbie w/plenty of credit cards to pay off its awfully tempting!

Lisa, I'm PMing you....

I haven't ever ordered scrubs online b/c of experiences trying them on in the uniform shop. I'm 5'5" but have to buy petite pants or else they drag...they also carry tall scrubs as well... they are no-name brand pants but run ~$15/pair

Ulices, Keep taking the Mosby CAT tests!!! As you practice more of the exams, the difficulty will increase but as you practice more that will help you learn how to pick the right answers... Keep in mind your ABC's, Maslow hierarchy etc. to prioritize.