MissFlashRN

Thank you for answering my question. As I suspected, YOU ARE NOT A NURSE! You told me not to go there about pay not being great for CNAs, and I'm telling YOU not to go there about what nurses make and if it is a "good" wage (which is your OPINION). I'm not wrong about foodstamps. You simply went into more detail about it. That doesn't make what I said (that a lot of people don't qualify) wrong. How you think you going into detail makes my prior statement wrong, well...whatever. I can't argue with logic here because you aren't using any. You have the same replies to everyone here who has posted in reference to your presumptions about other people's finances. Nothing seems to be sinking in for you, so I'll just let you float around and backpeddle like you're now doing. (Sigh...this is like talking to a brick wall and is my last reply to you).

what on earth did i say that was annoying or offensive?? if i had offended the op, i would have gotten an infraction. i didn't. an infraction for your opinion? um... that doesn't happen if you post something someone takes offense to....i wasn't the only one who was offended or annoyed enough to reply to your comment regarding money. never said your comment was "infraction"-worthy there. what did you say that was annoying and offensive? well, the comments that people quoted you on and replied to, that's what. what i said was perfectly correct, true, and not offensive. i have been a hiring manager and guess what hon? we dont care what your excuses are for not being able to buy what you need for a job. newsflash- there's about a hundred other willing workers who can and will buy a new cell phone, uniform whatever. news flash to you: calling me "hon" is annoying to me. "not offensive" is an opinion, not a fact. some people obviously were offended or at least felt the need to reply in disagreement to your opinion. we are all voicing opinions here, and "not offensive" is a subjective opinion, your opinion, which you are entitled to. i am entitled to mine, and in my opinion, your comments have been offensive. i've been a hiring manager, too....so what? that makes neither of us "right". we have different opinions. i do not agree that people always have money to fix something, and you stated she gets paid enough to fix a phone not knowing her financial situation. newsflash- there's about a hundred other willing workers who can and will buy a new cell phone, uniform whatever. newsflash-duh! why do you think she's worried?! we dont care what your excuses are for not being able to buy what you need for a job well, i certainly never said the employer gives a rat's patootie about it. i was saying things happen and people's finances are their own business, not the employer's. it seems the original poster is going with a less expensive phone option because 200-300 was not feasible. and why wouldn't you want to save your job first and foremost? i don't buy any bs about "putting food on your table or in the mouths of your children" because that's what food stamps and free lunches are for, if you're really that hard up. if you lose the job you lose the money. it's not rocket science. should be real easy to figure out: oh, lord. she never said she didn't want to save her job. she knows "if you lose the job you lose the money". so...foodstamps? you have no idea how foodstamps work, do you? a person has to qualify financially, which most full-time workers of most job fields do not qualify. at least not here in florida. not having a spare few hundred dollars does not mean someone qualifies for foodstamps. that's not rocket science and "should be real easy to figure out". and nurses do get paid good money. wanna know one of the reasons why? because they are expected to be responsible. if she doesn't want to fool wityh fixing the problem, then she shouldn't expect to make as much as they do. goes with the territory. a few of your posts containing your opinions regarding people's finances and statements like "she gets paid enough, you can't tell me otherwise" and your general assumption that because someone has a paycheck they automatically have 200-300 dollars at any given time to fix something is what got me going (and i wasn't the only one). she never said she didn't "want to fool with fixing the problem". she said she didn't have a certain amount. you can't tell her otherwise! she knows what her finances and obligations are, not you. yes, paying for your equipment, scrubs, phone is part of the territory. who hasn't had to wait another paycheck or two to buy new scrubs and wear older ones that are so thinned out at the buttcrack they could burst any day? i've been there. and nurses do get paid good money. wanna know one of the reasons why? because they are expected to be responsible. if she doesn't want to fool wityh fixing the problem, then she shouldn't expect to make as much as they do. goes with the territory. quoting you again on the last bit because i want to ask you flat out, are you an rn? first of all, "good money" is an opinion and it is certainly up for debate if we nurses get paid nearly enough! the reason why we get paid? for services rendered! for being highly skilled, highly trained, highly valuable resources (gonna cut the list here because i could go all day and you should be able to as well!). saying someone shouldn't be expected to make "as much as they do" also makes me wonder if you are even a nurse because most nurses don't go on about how much they make and how great the pay is! responsible? heck, yes. we're responsible for almost everything about our patients and then some. we're responsible for people's lives. you don't think we should be paid a decent wage for all that? well, guess what? a paycheck for services rendered "goes with the territory".

Boy, have I been in that situation as a night shifter! Your attitude is great, and it really is the only one that has ever worked for me....one day nurse in particular used to seem to get a real kick out of grilling me (she'd even go through the med cart to arrange it to her liking BEFORE letting me give her report!). Now, I arrange the cart to my standards before I start my med pass, too, but not before I let the offgoing nurse give report because I don't feel someone else should have to wait until the cart is arranged to my preference before they can get on with report! Anyhooo, I halted arguing, defending, or giving away any clue that she was p***ing me off and, lo and behold, it all stopped. Last time I had to give report, she started going through the cart again but I acted so perky with report that she stopped her compulsive sorting and took the notes, thus freeing me and allowing my tired self to get out of there. As far as shifts, heck...I've worked ALL OF THEM. They all have their own unique problems. Nurses fall into the trap of blaming the other shifts and it sucks (not saying anyone has done that in this thread). Just saying as nurses we should be fighting FOR each other, not against (sigh). The truth is, there is always work to do and never enough time to do it all perfectly all of the time on any shift. Unite!

I feel I have to reply to your posts about other people's finances because your presumptions are unbelievable. You DO NOT KNOW what someone else can afford to spend and on what. Yes, you can assume that someone is paid enough to fix something (and you can be wrong) but you CANNOT assume what someone can or can't spend money on. Just because someone technically "makes enough money" to fix something doesn't mean that money can necessarily be spent TO FIX SOMETHING if they have other obligations that must be paid for out of their paycheck! My reply to you has to do with YOUR posts, not this thread, so I apologize if I am not on topic but I really find the need to reply to something like "When a job pays you decent money, they expect you to use that money wisely". Are you SERIOUS? It is not your employer's business what you choose to spend your money on or NEED to spend your money on. We are not obligated to justify our spending to our employers; only to ourselves. It appears the poster has already indicated spending 200-300 hundred is not feasible for her at this time, and there are plenty of people who don't spend money wisely. If we all spent wisely, there would be no credit cards or debt. I'm only posting this because I have already read two of your posts containing rather annoying and offensive comments about money and finances. They are not the same for everyone.

A few questions for nurses and nursing staff in Long-Term Care settings (other fields, please see below): 1. Have you ever been attacked, physically or verbally by a patient or other non-nursing person (visitor, family member) on the job? Please describe the incident if you can. 2. Did your supervisor or DON offer you support or were you reprimanded? 3. What was the outcome? Was the patient given a psych consult? Any new orders written? Patient discharged or taken to ER for observation of increased altered mental status? Do you still take care of this patient? Did you sustain permanent and/or severe injury (and yes, if you suffered some post-traumatic stress, please let us know)? Side note: Ok, I know there was a poll not long ago about nurses and nursing staff being assaulted or attacked at work, but can't find that thread for the life of me. If anyone knows where it is, please reply with a link. I really wanted to show a non-nursing person (which would be EVERYONE I don't work with!) how high that percentage of "yes" was. I believe it was over 90% of us that responded yes to having been assaulted in some manner at work, either by a patient or other party. As you all know, non-nurses have a very hard time understanding or believing exactly what we go through and the terrible things that we often consider "just part of the job". I have a hard time believing it myself. Maybe that shock is what keeps us there? Maybe learning that it happens (too often!) and is highly likely to happen dulls us and we forget how ridiculous it is that we nurses tolerate what would not be tolerated in any other job? Yes, we expect some of what happens, but is there not a line to be drawn stating "No more!" that we can sign? Even though we may expect certain behaviors and try our best to prevent them, it doesn't always work. When it does happen, why are we often blamed for the actions of confused, angry, demented, or under-the-influence patients? (these are musings, not the specific questions I'm asking, but feel free to comment or vent with me). My question is directed in particular to the nurses and nursing staff at long-term care facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and those in direct patient care with confused and angry patients or residents. I am basically trying to get a picture of how high the percentage of attacks are in LTC/SNF (yes, because I work in that field, and yes, because I've been attacked and seen others attacked and have never seen management offer help or support of any kind, unfortunately). Other fields, please feel free to share your horror stories...I know psych and ER have a high percentage rate for getting smacked, spit on, kicked, punched, and so forth.:sstrs:

Awww, don't feel resentment! Just enjoy teasing her with "washing old people" comments. :chuckle

Hi, Kbm. I admit it really irritates me that there is this notion that people should only go into nursing because they "want to help people". This is a naive concept to me. Nursing is a PROFESSION, not a VOLUNTEERING opportunity. We aren't all Florences. We have bills to pay and deserve to be paid for our backbreaking work. If you went into nursing with the main reason being to help others, that's nice, but you can't expect everyone to think that way. Why the heck wouldn't people expect to get paid for services rendered? It is that kind of thinking that keeps nurses down and keeps them underpaid (so I disagree with your "get paid great" statement as well because if this industry were not made up by mainly females, I really think the pay would be MUCH better and much more appropriate for all that we are expected to do! I don't honestly believe most males feel obligated to help "just because" and suffer from martyr complexes. Seems to be a female concept. Part of what can make us great, but part of what hurts us financially, IMO. We nurses are supposed to get paid to do patient care because that's our job ). I do understand you are probably saying that people should have an interest in helping others when choosing this profession, and really....if people can't stand helping others, they aren't going to make it through nursing school where they will be helping others for free (and paying with their own time and money to do it). Do doctors have to want to help people as their primary reason for choosing to go into medicine? Not really. Again, anyone who goes into medicine or nursing who is adverse to helping people won't be happy in a profession that is so people-centered, but what if they want to go into that profession because they enjoy the technical aspect of it? The science of it? Or job stability and the neverending career paths one can take? Why is that not okay? Obviously I help people but to be honest, no, that was not my main reason for going into nursing and so what? I enjoy the technical end of nursing and the different careers and learning experiences it offers. As far as doing it for the money...nursing is not something that pays all that much for all that we do, anyway (esp. if you are in Florida like me! ).

I feel ya. It is sad (and really just criminal) that LTC facilites seem to have this problem in every state. Lack of staffing. Counting the DONs as "on staff" persons. No offense to those DONs and ADONs who do get in the thick of things, but no, the ones I worked under did not get on the floor. Of course, being "in the thick of it" involves being the one to do paperwork (and act as an administrator, not as an RN, LPN, or CNA), but that is why admin should NOT BE INCLUDED in the staff count, because NO, they are not the ones on the floor. Again, if you are a DON/ADON and you do get on the floor, bless you, but please know you are the exception. I'd say get out as soon as you can and THEN tell state. I, too, care about the elderly, but I'm not one to let that put my license at risk, which I felt I was doing every time I went to work. I also felt trying to let the higher-ups know about staffing issues was a moot point. They already know, and I'm sure many of them would love to be able to hire more staff but a lot of the time it isn't up to them. I don't know how it is where you work (though it sounds scary), but at the LTC I was at staff were definitely thrown to the wolves with little training and thrown under the bus when it came to any legal matters (and I don't mean a case of "Yes, that staff member clearly violated a patient's right"), I mean ANYTHING HAPPENED and that staff member was on their own. Excuse my rant, you can tell I had a bad experience with LTC. :icon_roll It still just floors me hearing about this ongoing problem.