Daisy

I think anyone can be trained to pass meds, but do we as RNs really want to? The task can be shown to anyone, but what about the reasons for giving meds, side effects etc. That is a little scary. If we as RNs keep giving our jobs away, they won't need us anymore.

I am curious, how do staff nurses handle angry families who are angry over the care of patient by both the nursing staff and medical staff? How do we as professionals handle the mental abuse that we get when the families are yelling that we don't know what we are doing and that we don't care. Is is right that we just stand there and take it? Are we supported by our administrators?

I am curious, how do staff nurses handle angry families who are angry over the care of patient by both the nursing staff and medical staff. How do as professional handle the mental abuse that we get when the families are yelling that we don't know what we are doing and that we don't care. Do we just stand there and take it? Are we supported by our administrators?

Thanks for bringing back old memories. I have a few. I remember the pillowcases open faced to the window, seams down on the sheets and blankets. How about counting needle hubs? If you were missing one you were written up at the end of the shift. I had an extra one that I kept in my purse for many years as a good luck charm. Recently a new grad looked at me funny when I suggested that we get a manual BP for the patient. She told me she knew how to use them but she was really trained on electronic cuffs. I remember dip sticks for urine testing. How about paper charting? Glass IV bottles? Writing care plans? Better staffing and better ratios? How about working with doctors who treated you better and didn't spend their whole day worrying about being sued? I could go on.Thanks again.

Hello, I hope I am not replying too late for you folks. Even though it says NJ on my profile I have lived in Las Vegas for 3 years. As far as nursing jobs, the sky is the limit.There are jobs everywhere for everyone and the pay is only getting better. There are three large health systems in LV to work for, HCA, The Valley System (Summerlin belongs to that) and St.Rose. St. Rose always has had a good reputation for its work environment and the people. Summerlin Hospital is a busy busy and did I say busy hospital all the time. Its in a beautiful location of the city but if you don't live near there it can be quite a drive for you. St. Rose is opening up a new hospital in the southwest so you might want to check out their website strosecares.com, and see what else is out there. Be careful that some hospitals are unionized if that is not your bag. Nurses in this city move around alot to get the best deal, so there are always jobs and sign on bonuses and raises. The bottom line to working in these big hospitals is that its hard hard work to get good money. Be careful when choosing because some of these places are so desperate to hire that they will tell you stories. Good Luck.

Since the topic is patient ratio, I work in a larger city hospital and when I was hired 6 months ago they told me 6-1 on a day shift with a CNA being shared with another RN. It sounds nice but it never happens. We usually don't have the CNA and now they are slowly squeezing in patient number 7 without officially telling us. When hospitals push their customer service, patients and their families expect four star hotel accomodations. Nurses can't do all that hotel stuff and get nursing work done and be satisfied with what we do. Are we satisfied, do we like our jobs at all? I work with young nurses ( 1 or 2 years in the business) who are already burned out. Who is going to save them and the profession?

The charge nurse that I have on my weekends thinks that working is a big social event. She offers absolutely no help whatsoever.She plays the radio loud and talks and talks all day.She makes alot of personal calls too. (Do you think this bothers me?) You bet is does. I've only been at my job 4 months ( I just moved) and I am appalled at the role of this charge nurse and many others I work with. It seems to be a consensus from the rest of the staff too.They choose to ignore it. I just want out. I am so disappointed in this facility where they claim to be the best hospital in a fairly large city. What are the rest of the places like? Recently it was someone's birthday and she was the initiator of the singing. I have been a nurse a long time and I just want to work with people with brains and some heart for the rest of the staff. not party people.

Coming from a nurse that used to wear white uniforms and a CAP! I consider myself a professional. Whatever you want to call it be uniforms or scrubs we should look professional.We will never return to the old days (thank goodness) but we can look like professionals that we are. Some of the scrubs out there today look awful with those horrible prints. Our hospital has a set of solids that we can wear and it works. As long as the nurse looks neat and not trashy we will continue to display the honor of the profession. Since there is such a shortage of us in this country and we want to get paid well for the work we do,lets look the part!!

We had a charge nurse ( who is clueles ) actually ask us to do a double after a 12 hour shift. She offered us bonus pay of a whopping $100. No one offered so I asked her why she doesn't stay. Are you kidding? I think alot of charge nurses are given these positions because they are a danger to patient care. Someone finally offered to stay 8 extra hours. That made 20 hours on duty. Isn't that nuts?

After 20 plus years in the same small hospital I moved away and am now in a larger city hospital. I am getting a real eye opener. What happened to real Leadership? Is it just warm bodies taking positions who really have no clue how to deal with people? All we get is "if you don't do this or that you will be written up" WRITTEN UP!!!!!!. I am not a child. Deal with individuals and problems as professionals instead of threatening us. IT USED TO BE that we were spoken to as individuals now its email at work with messages. I recently complained about an individual's lack of work (its been an ongoing problem that has never been dealt with) suddenly the charge nurse had an idea to say something to her on the day I was working with her and now I am the bad guy. Oh well the truth hurts. Individuals should be dealt with long before they become a real problem Nip it in the bud, don't let the patient care suffer more than it is already.

our hospital pays for national certification, about a $1.50 per hour. Its great but it costs close to $300 to recertify and now the ANCC is requiring 50% of your inservice time must be ANCC approved. That is very costly. I don't think we should be paid for having a specialty. Every department is a specialty now. Can anyone really work everywhere? Probably not, so let the specialists in their own departments do their thing.

To Naomi, thanks for the comments. I am sorry about your manager leaving. I hope all goes well. The real bottom line is the patient. As a staff nurse now I feel that I can really make a difference. It makes me feel good about the profession again. I don't think much will change in the near future for managers.Our interim manager (not a people person at all) is trying to change everything on the nursing units in 2 months time. It's impossible, the morale will only get worse. Administrations need to see the importance of the manager/leader role and take away some of the garbage paper work to really create quality customer oriented patient care units that nurses will enjoy coming to each and every day. Until then the wheels will continue to spin and more and more will leave management positions. Good luck again.

Unfortunately, Naomi and any others that are getting into leadership,there is nothing wrong with the drive to be a good leader. What happens in organizations today is that money is the real driver. Instead of being a leader to the staff and finding what you have done a rewarding experience, you are instead completing projects, payroll, hours of staffing problems, interviewing, tons of paperwork, and preparing for inspections. When there is no one to work staff ( which is very common today in most hospitals) you are now the staff nurse. You have just worked 50 plus hours of a 40 hour paid week and now its Saturday and you don't get overtime. I worked two holidays this past year as a manager. It's also quite a mix of values when it comes to nurses. We still have nurses near retirement who are just biding their time. We also have the new grads who are surprised that they have to work weekends and holidays and only want day shift. If they don't like the work or the pay they move to another hospital. The turnover these days is incredible. I can say that I tried to do the best I could but the desire to do more just left me. I cried for weeks when I was leaving because I wanted it to work. If you have the desire and the spirit go for it but always remember to take care of yourself first.

As the initiater of the discussion, I would like to say to Naomi and any others that I was a Med/Surg Manager in charge of two units. We had to float staff all the time and it seems like no one gets along anymore. I ended up being a referee for fights amongst the nurses. Remember these are adults who claim to be professionals!! Sometimes I felt I needed to get my Masters in Psychology to help these people.Management today is giving total energy to everyone. You are expected to come up with all the answers to everyone's problems. What happens is that over time you don't realize but you are having your own problems. You are being pulled in two directions by the staff and administration. Plus you have to do all that paperwork too. I tried to tell administration that I was having second thoughts about staying in the position and she thought I was just having a bad day.Well when we had a major patient issue, she told me I wasn't doing enough to prevent this kind of problem. That did it. When I resigned she almost died. Now they miss me.I also didn't have a good management team to work with. They all went their separate ways to solve their own unit problems. My former boss, a good person at heart, lives and breathes for the organization and I was expected to do the same. I ran out of steam and re-evaluated my feelings for the profession and re-evaluated my personal life. I needed to feel like I was helping someone. I was not helping those helpless nurses. They need to grow up. I wish anyone all the best of luck in management especially middle management. Nursing can be a rewarding profession. I have been back on the unit as a staff nurse now for a month and I have left my job everyday knowing that I gave excellent patient care. My phone doesn't ring anymore. GOOD LUCK.

I would love to hear from anyone who stepped down from a management position. I just returned to floor nursing after 5 very hard and only getting harder years. I found the work to be very stressful and unrewarding. I decided to try the floors again for some peace, predictability and some appreciation for good work. thanks