panurse9999

My best guess is that you have a preceptor (s) who do not have the first clue of how to share knowledge, teach, and keep a new person motivated. Or they simply just do not want to teach/ orient, but they are forced to, because no one else has enough experience. I've experienced both. This is an industry wide problem, and why there are so many nurses that never even transition from orientation to staff. When I was a brand new nurse I had my confidence ruined by a truly miserable person whose only real talent was employment sabotage. In other jobs, my "orientation" was 30 minutes of supervised medication administration on a LTC unit. Other places, I was handed the keys to the cart, with no orientation. My best advice is to stick it out for as long as you can, and hopefully it gets better and less stressful.

Almost all of my interviews have been a cross section of somewhat tolerable to off the charts obnoxious, with me gathering my things and hitting the road without even saying thanks. One moron even opened up a thick file of resumes and read them while I sat in front of her ugly face during the interview.

There is no shortage

they are laying the groundwork for your demise. If you can afford to walk, walk now.

So has the job market gotten any better, since we were last talking about this "lack of work" problem in PA? Anyone?

Finding work is a major problem, I can promise you that much, at least here in PA. Does anyone know of any decent travel companies?

There is a mega-magnet hospital in my digs that has had a hiring freeze for 2 years, ( and its well known) yet they gobble up broadband space on indeed.com and others spamming the job boards with fake ads, that they have no intention of filling. What is this called? Fishing. Let's see how many people are applying, so we can then , in turn , fire, and re-hire cheap (when we unfreeze the hiring freeze)

yes, yes, and yes.

yes. At the $25,000 conference room table. Don't forget, the deck is stacked against the nurse. The new nurse will be $2.00 less per hour. At 2,080 annual hours, they made back the $25.00 background check fee, and the $100 physical. With $$$ in the bank. I mean their pockets. SO yes...do the math, and see for yourself how much they love it. Trust me on this. It is happening, especially here in PA.

Normally, I would agree, but because corporations are neither bears or bulls, but rather big pigs, it has become one fast race to the bottom. The saturation of the job market in healthcare allows them to keep offloading their staff to hire cheaper workers. The process of onboarding and offloading in a non stop cycle actual keeps their costs down, because they are constantly in a state of no benefits for all. At less money per hour. Each time they offload. Think of it like burger king and mcDonalds. Coming and going at minimum wage and no benes for anyone , because everyone leaves. No raises, no medical, no PTO, no FMLA. No workers comp.

Per diem nursing is a staffing by vending machine model. Tap a button, and a nurse appears. These are "on call" nurses who collect no benefits of any kind. If they actually had to play by the rules and hire full time staff, the costs would rise. Nothing is going to move healthcare in the right direction while corporations own the entire system. Take corporations out of healthcare, and you will see positive change. Staffing to acuity is what we need. When doctors are forced to stop ordering worthless meds, treatments, tests and services, things will change for the better.

Yes true. They "audition" new people. Training is something different. If training actually took place, nurses would not be leaving the bedside in droves. It costs nothing to "audition" new hires. Training is where the $$ is. And training is rare. Onboarding deaprtments, on the other hand, have a vested interest in seeing people fail . That was the point of the article , that Klone missed.

Great advice. I may be vocal in here, but in nursing, I spoke with my feet in the direction of the door. Like I said, the only industry that has sustained itself with constant employee turnover is fast food. Stay tuned for my next topic.

I remember how confident I was as a new grad, with an ADN and degrees from other careers under my belt, as a second career RN. I had a whole lot of life experience before I was a nurse. This only hurt me in nursing. My confidence got under the skin of the hospital groupies who liked to gossip and discuss, and deep six all new nurses, and since I was confident , I became like fresh meat for a pack of flying vultures, circling the newest road kill. It has been my experience that those in positions of authority actually prefer the nurses who have no confidence, zero self esteem, and who routinely break down and cry on the job due to being overwhelmed, battered, broken down, and abused. I cried too...usually in my car, or in my house. I'm out of nursing, it was 20 years of hell, but not out of AN. I'll be looking forward to seeing your topics, as you begin in Western PA.

You were framed for misconduct because they found a cheaper new hire and forced you out the door, to keep the profit rolling. Been there done that. Yes they need to be sued. Yes it will cost you a fortune. Then you run the risk of being blackballed even more. And bankrupted even more. These disgusting places knowing that you are batting from the bottom of the bird cage, and they're laughing like hell. I am sorry this happened.

We spoke of this earlier in the discussion. Some agencies continue to grow the beast by catering to it, with an endless parade of nurses, after an endless rejection by same family. I think the best thing for the agency to do here, is to can the client.

One thing a brand new grad would not understand is that we cannot do "this" at our jobs. So we come here. Another thing a brand new grad won't know is that Rome was not built in one day. If we want change, we (nurses) are those responsible for executing change. Was it nice of me to walk off the job after a week? No. Is it nice of the bulk of employers today to fire us seasoned ADNs the second a new grad LPN applies for the job? No. Is it nice of the bulk of employers to treat us like garbage, just because the tables turned and now we are all a dime a dozen? No. That would be like a nurse being a jerk to a patient, because its the only hospital within a 100 mile radius. So, until more nurses are willing to rebel, and exploit THEM the ways they have exploited and abused US for years, we will continue to be subjected to barbaric cruelty and hostility in the workplace, and no one wants that. This the beginning of a revolution that must happen. We need to stand up for ourselves once in awhile. We MUST learn how to say no. We MUST learn how to collectively send a message to the corporate tanks who have made all of us their slaves, and we must get the point across when our feet do the walking. We are at the beginning of a nurse revolution, and there is more on they way. Stay tuned for my next topic, coming soon.

Since you are a brand new grad, and have not started your job as of yet, you are in a prime position to take good notes during your onboarding into the Allegheny hospital that just hired an ADN into the NICU. I'll be looking forward to you writing a topic on how well it went, or didn't go.

Quitting and firing nurses are the best parts of the day for the corporate fat cats at the top of the company. I picture them all sitting at a $25,000 table in a conference room, with gourmet coffee and the best pastry money can buy, in a penthouse style office building in a sky scraper, laughing like hell, that they never actually have to pay benefits because turnover is so fast.

Yes, its going on here as well. They have their pick of the litter, with the scale tipped so far in favor of the employer that the HR Depts that I have dealt with are some cross section of unhelpful and condescending to just plain nasty. One employer even opened up a 4 inch thick file of nurse resumes and began picking through them, while I was sitting in front of her for an interview. We have become such a dime a dozen that my job would be more secure, if I were a CNA or a Secretary. I'm headed out of the profession, and cannot wait until I can do it for good, and never look back.

We have a ridiculous system in PA. I think the hospitals do as they please, but in LTC, there is this dopey "2.7" nursing hours in a 24 hour period, per patient. It blocks together total nursing care hours per patient by combining CNAs , LPNs and RNs on staff in a 24 hour period. . So what happens is that there are more CNAs, and nurses get spread paper thin to maximize the bottom line, while meeting the state law. A daily staffing sheet is required to be posted in the lobby, which shows how this minimum 2.7 number is met. If they fall below this number, someone has to file a complaint with the state. The state will visit, and make a canned recommendation, then the DON writes a sentence on a piece of paper promising compliance. That's it, no fine.

I love the idea of patient/ nurse ratio laws, but I still think the best way to determine right ratios is by acuity. For example, years ago, before LTC turned into virtual hospital level care on all patients, with an aggressive defensive medicine approach, an assignment of 60 patients on night shift was easy because they had few orders to follow. 30 patients on another shift was appropriate based on volume of tasks. Yet today, there are people being admitted to LTC for S/T rehab who are an entire full time job, by themselves, for 2 staff members. (Extreme example) ...and on most units the mix of patients in LTCs' aggressive care model, an assignment of 5-10 is more appropriate. Find me one LTC facility who staffs this way, anywhere....

Due process in all job terminations. Not this whimsical phone call you get 10 minutes before you leave for work. "....DO not report to work....." Mandatory full time hours if full time Mandatory Part time hours if part time Tenure after 3 years

Excellent feedback...and I was parsing. I dont make them up. It was ..."No one could have the time to chart Q shift VS with 30 patients, even if you made them up, because the data entry time is much to onerous"

Yes, I try every day. Its a huge undertaking. Thanks