askater

First job I stayed 2 years. Left because I didn't like staffing. Didn't feel "supported" by administrator's. I actually stayed there longer than I should've. Present job I've been at for 4 years. Though I'm actively looking for a new job. I stayed at my current job so long because of flexibility, excellent peers/afternoon supervisor. Now I'm looking b/c I'm a little bored and not happy with the change of matrix over the year's.

I've dealt with falls. My first facility did not have patient sitter's. The staffing was minimal. There were many fall incident's. Second institution had sitter's. A lot less fall incident's noted. Staffing comparable.

What do you mean by "demoralized"?

I have found tymphanic on adults very unreliable. I've heard other nurses say that too. Has anyone had better luck with tymphanic than me???

I work a cardiac step-down. And yes each nurse gets a cell-phone. They started that a few months ago. I must say I love using cell phones b/c when a patients in distress you never have to leave their b.s. And on weekends we don't have a secretary....so it's helping us tons. Now regarding the interference....I'm not sure. I know when I was an O.B. patient...there were signs...and dh got in trouble for using a cellular.

I've had to deal with this. My prior job the Mn. nurses were horrible. They were constantly going to supervisor's saying we give bad report's. (we included too much info.) I basically ignored them...as did the supervisor. Than my next job the same thing. I worked MN. and come 7 A.M. day shift were asking 100 questions....why didn't you do this and that. The last day I worked MN. one of the R.N's made me set up a patient for defibrillation, even though the patient was in NSR. I said," he's been out of atrial fibrillation all night." She said the Dr. will be up at 7 A.M. it's your responsibilty. UGH!!! I was naive and didn't put up a fight. I stayed on the unit got everything set. The Dr. came to the unit 15 minutes later and said he's in NSR....just monitor him. The day nurse had to put everything away. Now I'm on afternoon's day's give me report. I'll tell you the nurse's that complained about my report....they are the lazy one's. (for the most part....they didn't do 1/2 the stuff they should've)

I worked at a local hospital 5 minutes away. I disliked that job for many reason's. Lack administration support. Poor staffing. Unable to give safe care due to staffing. It was a step-down unit/med. surgical. We had 6 patients per R.N. We had many patient's fall out of bed. Pull out foley's etc. Than I went to a larger hospital. 35 minutes away. I thought it was great. They had sitter's. If I had a confused patient I'd call the Dr. and get a sitter order. (renew every 25 prn) The shift that started to notice the confusion usually didn't get a sitter, but used one of the nurses aides to watch the patients. I don't know how the funds work. Now they changed it. They totally gear away from restraints (4 side railings up to posey's) What we are to do is call family. Request a family member to stay with the patient. If they are unable the family has to pay for the sitter. Which is a charge of $20 an hour (or something like that) Prior when sitter's were accesible I noticed A LOT less need of incident report's. And obviously a lot less injured patient's secondary to fall or pulling on lines etc. Now our hospital changed the rules.

How would you feel? I've been a R.N. for 6 years. My nursing background is step-down nursing. (med/surg and cardiac) I've never dealt with ventilated patients. My supervisor E-mailed us. She informed us when pulled to our "sister" unit CICU we cannot refuse vent patients. I've been pulled twice to CICU. Neither time was I assigned a vent patient. I do not feel comfortable with vent and balloon pump patients. A lot of unit nurses say caring for a vent patient is nothing. But I don't feel comfortable. I've had no education. And when the machine beeps, which they seem to do a lot I don't know what to do. My supervisor says there's an R.T. up on the unit...he'll take care of it. Sure there was a R.T. up there but not continuously. I'm going to ask for info. on ventilator's. And read up on it. But working contigent it's hard enough for me to keep up with changes on my unit....let alone learning about vent patients in case the time should come. Am I worrying about nothing????

Hi!! I've only done floor/step down units. But I wanted to say, I asked this question under MICU. I got a few good responses....and thought you might like to check out the thread. It's under Was anyone a floor nurse??

I work at a large, teaching hospital. The I.V. team starts all I.V's. Except for our unit (stepdown) and the I.C.U's. When we have a hard I.V. start and a couple nurses try. We can call the I.V. nurses. It usually takes them 2-3 hours to get to our unit. And they're very great at I.V. insertion. I wish I was that good. When I get pulled. I call the I.V. nurse. And poof there she/he is. The last hospital I worked at, we had no I.V. team. There was a MUCH larger use of central lines. Dr.'s were inserting them left and right.

Oh...my I miss our house supervisors. At our hospital they got rid of nursing house supervisors. Our house supervior would do rounds...if time allowed...and see how each unit was doing. If we had a code...or concern regarding forms, hospital policies they'd be there. And they were so helpful. If you were very busy...with a code or declining patient...they'd talk to family and make sure everything was running well. If we had conflicts with patients/families...they'd help talk with family and patients. I don't know about price scale or meetings... All I know is what an important asset we're missing...on the off shifts. You especially notice the loss on weekends...

Here's my opinion. I've worked afternoons 3-11:30 FT...and I've worked nights 12 hours. I'm happy there's the flexibility. And that nurses have the choices. If I'm going to work fulltime. My preference is 12 hours. That way I have to work less days a week. And it also decreases the driving time. Going to work 4 days....instead of 5 days a week. Working 8 hours F.T. on afternoons...didn't work well socially for me. My dh at the time was working days (6-7 days a week) So we weren't seeing much of each other. I know some nurses prefer 8 over 12 hour days. It's a preference choice. I'm happy nurses have the choice.

I'm the opposite. The overwork bothers me more than how we're paid. I've been in nursing 4 years. I had a couple positions prior where I was overworked. And NO EVEN IF I WAS COMPENSATED better I would not stay in nursing. Since then I've found a R.N. position that I'm satisfied with. And I work with a great group of nurses. There are changes going on my unit that makes me nervous. Cuts. But so far I'm very happy with my position. Anyways, I went into nursing to give good, nurturing care to my patients. Prior positions I was not able to give adequate care. I would leave work everyday exhausted and disgusted that I was unable to give good care. Yes nurses do pick up a lot ancillary work. When they cut the housekeeping. Yes I'm picking up garbage off the floor. When the P.C.T's are unable to draw blood. Yes I'm in the room drawing the blood. (sometimes often) When pharmacy doesn't carry a medication the doctor ordered. Yes pharmacy has the nurses call the dr. And etc. etc. etc. My main concern is the overworked nurses. And inadequate care because one day it may be my loved one in the hospital.