ADONLTC

Tinderbox, I won't argue with you on this EXCEPT... As the DON, staffing is something I am constantly dealing with. In the past 3 weeks, I have literally fired 7 people.. ALL for attendance issues. Staff complain about working short, then call in. I agree, we all need a mental health day, but sit down with your DON, Manager, scheduler...who ever does your schedule and PLAN the day, so it doesnt end up affecting everyone else!!

Actually, there is no law that REQUIRES you to join a union. If you read the union contract, you will see that the Union and the employer agreed to a closed shop. That simply means that you have to pay the equilivant of union dues. You do not have to become a member of the union. A fine line, I know. If you dont want to be a union member, don't join, but... if you dont join, you don't have say in contract negotitations. You can alway petition the Labor Board to decertify the union if you are not happy with it.

So you are blaming poor staffing on your lack of handwashing? Where do you work? I certainly would not want to be admitted there.

wincha states: if i worked full time my husband would still make more than twice my salary. so, does that mean that your job isn't as important as your husbands? i have been the "breadwinner" in my family, but my wifes job was just as important to her as mine was. wincha states: when i had a child that had a severe illness i had to take a 4 month leave off of work years ago. there is a big difference between taking a 4 month leave of absence and calling in sick everytime your child is sick, instead of yoiur husband taking the time off wincha states: my husband is a professional and has clients that he sees and cannot cancel because his children are sick. does that mean that you are not a professional and you should be able to call in? wincha states: i get it the poster is a male nurse and maybe his wife has a flexible job. actually, when my youngest was 7 we could work it out that my wife could stay home full time. but before that happened, i still split the time with my wife. im also the one who got up in the middle of the night with sick kids (my wife is not a nurse - cant stand sick people) wincha states: many companies do recognize sick days for the family including the children or even parents some nurses are now taking care of. i have no problems with staff occasionally calling in for a sick child and i certainly let the staff use sick time (persoanl time) to care for them. i have a real issue with the expectation that the women are the only ones to do it. and i have very big issues with staff that use it as an excuse. and btw, are you considered a "female" nurse? im a nurse, who happens to be male, not a "male nurse".

In our facility, the nurses are required to wear all white, the CNAs a light blue scrub top and white pants (we provide the scrubs for the CNAs). Now, can I throw in a pet peeve. Are people not cognizant of the fact that colored underwear shows under white pants???

I work as a DON in a moderately sized nursing home (140 residents) I have 3 nursing units, staffed with a RN nurse manager, LPNs and CNAs. I found this thread interesting for a number of reasons. In the 5 months I have been in this job, staffing and staffing issues seem to take up most of my time. I am constantly amazed at the excuses that people use when they call in sick. Recent excuses: -A LPN who called in, telling the supervisor that she was sick, but then told her coworkers that she had a wild weekend of sex with her boyfriend and that she was too tired to come to work. -A CNA who called in because he had to take his wife to the Emergency room. Actually, he was at a party and didn't want to come to work. How did we know? The supervisor called the ED and they had never heard of him. His coworker told me that he was at the same party. -A CNA, when being counseled for being constantly tardy, said that he was late because the speed limit on the road he came to work on dropped from 55 to 35 (and had for years) and it was slowing him down. It never occurred to him that maybe he should leave for work earlier. -One CNA didn't like the idea of being written up for attendance because "her son was sick." She forgot to mention the 5 other times she called in because she "just couldn't get out of bed." -A CNA who told me that "well, when I come to work I'm a great worker." -A CNA who no called, no showed because she "forgot" she was scheduled, even though she had told the scheduler the day before that she was working. Cotjocky stated that she "called in sick simply because I didn't feel like going in. There were just a few times that I needed a mental health day." What she did was make her co-workers pick up her slack. The idea of a "mental health day" is bogus. Calling in because you "don't feel like going in" is childish and immature. An adult take responsibility for being at work, even if you "don't feel like it." If one of my staff needs a day off I would rather they come to me, sit down and work out a scheduled day off that works for both of us. The OP says that she called in because she was taking care of sick kids and was too tried to work due to lack of sleep. I have to ask, why didn't your husband stay home and take care of the kids? When my children were young, my wife and I split the duties. I would stay home one day and she would stay home the next. I tell the staff who work in the nursing department that they need to find back up babysitters (yes, I know, not always easy), but ultimately, their attendance is their responsibility. Viking woman holds her DON "partially responsible for her poor scheduling abilities and burning all of our nurses out at this facility!" Did she ever stop to ask why the nurses were being burned out? Is it possible that the call ins are to blame? Has she ever sat down with her DON and worked out a schedule? When I hire people, I tell them that I have only 3 expectations of them: They come to work, they be there on time and they do their job when they get there. You can be the best nurse, the best nursing assistant, the best at what you do, but if you are not coming to work, you are useless. As the DON, I have to balance the needs of the staff with the needs of the residents. I do understand that emergencies happen. Kids get sick, cars break down, life happens. I would like to know, however, why these "happens" always seem to happen to the same staff people. I can accept the occasional call in. I cannot accept those who call in for the least little thing.

I have since gone from being the Assistant DON to the DON at a 140 bed facility. I have always hated the holiday schedules. For a good number of staff, its no big deal. They accept that SOMEONE has to work the holidays. But, as soon as the schedule is posted, the line outside of my office starts. There is always the one who wants EVERY holiday off, and the one who wants every Christmas or every New Year off. I am a strong believer that staff should rotate their holidays, REGARDLESS of seniority. If you worked Christmas last year, you have the first choice of being off this year. Now, if staff wants to trade after the schedule is posted, I have no problems with that, as long as the shifts are covered. Now, all that said. I have a lot of admiration for my staff who volunteered to come and work on the holidays. I don't know what I would do without those people!!

I have to agree with this... as a male, I would look pretty stupid in my schools nursing cap.

This sums up your entire post.. you sound like a frustrated LPN who doesnt feel she gets the "respect" she deserves. You have to give it to get it. "Phones? Man I wish I could just phone the nurses rather than having them blow me off face to face. I'd rather be a fascist tech than an old battle ax nurse."

Ok.. I spend some time reading this and for the most part people agree that this is demeaning. I have a question or two? What is the nosocomial infection rate for your facility? How many of your patients have C. diff? We have a very large hospital here in Rochester and it seems that just about every resident I get from them has C. Diff. "Nosocomial outbreaks of C. difficile are common and are directly related to poor handwashing by caregivers." (http://www.rnweb.com/rnweb/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=114135) I would call the infection control nurse and ask her what these rates are.. If they are within normal ranges, "then *****, moan and groan" TO ADMNISTRATION about the pins. If they are high, then people are probably NOT washing their hands. As far as the no bitching pin? Are people bitching to the patients/residents about care, supplies, staffing?? if so, thats grossly unprofessional and it needs to stop. ***** to the right people.

What where you before?? a female RN???? Sorry, just had to say that... Im not a "male" RN... Im a RN, period!

Simple... I like white shoes.....

it stops when hospital administrators say that enough is enough... jacho is a voluntary program. there are many other ways to be evaluated and certified "a good hospital" problem is, no one wants to be the first to tell them to jump in a lake.

I know in the scheme of things its nothing, but for somereason, it just drives me crazy....

Ok, I know this is stupid, but it drives me crazy. In my facility, we have a lot of nursing students. I love students, I love teaching and helping them learn... BUT... Every school around here uses the term "Student Nurse" I really hate that term... these are Nursing Students - students of nursing studies.. not Student Nurses - a nurse who is also a student.. You dont call Medical students "student doctors" :angryfire Like it said, stupid, but it is my pet peeve of the day!

EXCELLENT... This was exactly the though I had when I read the orginal post. It may be that this unit will always be a transitional unit. Use that to bring in the staff you need. Take your most senior, best trained staff and encourage them to work with you on this concept. Talk to your administrators, tell them your ideas and get their support and help in accomplishing this.

Matt, thank you for your thoughs. There are ways to correct this. I use a number of agency staff where I work. I consider them a valuable adjunct to the permanent staff. I have contacted a number of agency staff to discuss thier experiences on the floor. By learning which floors treat agency staff poorly has allowed the facility to focus more attention where it is needed, correcting the inappropriate behavior. My whole arguement is not that people complain, but WHO they complain to.

Cold?? I don't think so. One of the biggest problems I see with this profession are those that want to complain without doing anything to fix the problems. There are ways to deal with issues, problems and even poor management. The professional thing to do is to take your concerns to the people who can fix it. Complaining to a co-worker about how bad things are is NOT the way to solve problems, all it does is create desention. Hope that is something for you to think about.

You're welcome..

Im glad to see that you admit that you have some fault here. If a temp came into my business and complained about how it was running - not to management, mind you, but another staff person - I would have fired you to.. I would have done it to your face though. What you did was unprofessional at best.

Thank you!!!! Education is NEVER wasted. It has to do with what you want out of life. If you goal is an MSN go for it!!

For a long time men were not accepted as nurses (even though nursing at one time was only a male profession). Being a male in the nursing profession today does present challenges. I see the need for a forum on "Issues for men in nurisng" but not "The Male Nursing Forum"

Truthfully, I'm not offended by either of these two issues. What does offend me is this: I am NOT a male nurse... I'm a NURSE. Plain, simple and to the point. We don't talk about women as "that female nurse", why am I called a male nurse?

Reading through these messages has to make me smile because I too once fell for the "acute is the only way to go for new nurses" routine.. A little bit about me so you know where Im coming from. Im a 48 year old nurse, currently an assistant director of nursing for a 566 bed Long Term Care facility in upstate New York. We care for all ages, from 6 months to 102. We have 2 respiratory floors, a pediatric floor, a specialized alzheimers unit, a wandering unit, an acute care rehab unit, and 8 Long Term Care units. My background is not long term care, but public health, ambulatory care with some ED/ICU thrown in for good measure. Long term care (the perferred term) is much more than just "old people" any more. The acuity level in some long term care facilites comes very close to what you will find in any acute facility. We deal with neurological, cardiac, respiratory, GI, GU, Musculoskelatal and all in between. We are not the dumping ground for "nurses who cant make it." I won't hire burned out nurses becuase they want "an easier time." Long term care is a career path in itself. I hire new grads, both RNs and LPNs and watch them grow into excellent nures.. Nurses whom I would be more than happy to take care of me or my family. We have nurses here who have worked in the facility for 30 years. Are there bad LTC nurses... of course there are, just like there are bad acute care nurses. I am reminded of the nurse in a large acute care hospital here in town... this is susposed to be the "premier" care facility here... the end all of medical care. When one of my residents came back to me after a long course of anitbiotic therapy with a stage IV decub, I asked the floor nurse what happend. The response...."that's a long term care issue, we don't deal with that here." It makes me wonder what nursing school she went too. Choose a career path that makes you happy. Geriatrics was not my first choice either, but I cannot imagine myself doing anything else but this. You should at least try long term care. You might be surprised how much you will learn, both as a nurse and as a person..