callisgang

How many jobs do you know of that when you arrive to work someone tells you "You are going to work short today, you will be doing the work of 2 or maybe 3 people, you will get no help and no extra money for this and if the next shift is short you may have to stay BUT you had better do a good job because the patient satisfaction survey is due out soon and everyone better be happy!!" No one actually verbalizes this but it is the silent message we each receive when we get there...and should you go to the director with concerns that you are perhaps working unsafely she tells you about all the other units that are understaffed and overfull too! What happened to support for your employees? Susan

After working the past 2 PM shifts I would say without hesitation, YES we are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated! We are in the midst of an Influenza A crisis in our area and we are inundated with it. And because I am on a Peds/Medical floor we also have babies with RSV...so we have differing types of isolation all over the place...and when one pt gets discharged we have another waiting for the room within minutes. We are so busy we sometimes don't have time to properly gown, glove etc. and are then dragging the bugs from room to room and exposing ourselves also. I am completely exhausted from just 2 nights in a row and am supposed to be 'on call' tonight. I don't feel like the administration is supportive of us and aren't giving any consideration to how hard we are working and how unsafe we could potentially be because of that. When we report how overwhelmed we are the response is usually "everyone is" and we know that but how long can we work under this stress? I love my job but feel like all I am doing at this time is playing med nurse, dropping off meds in one room and then on to the next. The parents of my peds pts could use some emotional support but I don't have time available for much support,,,and isn't that what we nurses need too??? Sorry so long but very tired and frustrated nurse here. Susan