Futterwacken

I'm glad short staffing/ work overload in healthcare is beginning to make headlines. I read a few days ago about this young inmate who died from severe food allergies, and an investigation cited that the severely understaffed clinic was a causative factor. The question is then, what are we going to as nurses when these corporations start spouting off the same garbage about 'the nursing shortage' being the reason for the way things are??? http://www.cnn.com/video/standard.html?/video/bestoftv/2013/11/07/pot-arrest-leads-to-death-sambolin-newday.cnn&hpt=hp_c3&from_homepage=yes&video_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F

Op, not to say that they're no rude nurses out there, but come back and read your post after you've worked as a nurse for at least 2 years- hopefully in a teaching hospital...

Absolutely OP! After working rehab for 3+ years, I'm finding it increasingly hard not to feel resentful towards my obese pt's. A lot of it has to do with management's inadequate staffing and lack of proper equipment (a gait belt and slide board for a dead wt patient) - since they're unwilling to shell out any more money and wanna staff based on census rather than acuity or level of skill required, then yes, I can't help feeling the way I do. My feelings are multiplied greatly if they are hospitalized for injury caused by risky or reckless behavior, but let me not elaborate on that. I will say though that my feelings are internalized- I think I do an excellent job of not portraying how I feel and the day I can't do that any longer will be the day I'll need to search for another job.

So I've been working for about three years in various rehab settings. I started out out in an LTC, then to an acute rehab floor in a hospital then to a spinal cord injury unit. I've picked up a decent amount of skills during this time- wound care, IV pumps, Heplocks, PICC lines, tube feedings, trach care and transfusions just to name a few. Out of sheer curiosity (plus I'm feeling adventurous), I'm considering leaving my comfort zone to explore med-surg and hopefully PICU in the future. However, I'm worried that the transition will be hard to make. I have floated to other units occasionally, and the biggest challenge for me has been juggling six brand new patients that I have never set eyes on before, as opposed to rehab where you're somewhat familiar with all your patients. I also need to brush up on my tele skills. Most importantly how will I know what to do if one of my pt codes?? I haven't had that experience (knock on wood), but how much of this will be covered at unit orientation? Lastly, how much do your co-workers expect you to know once you hit the floor? Has any one of run into something you had never done before and how did you handle it? Any advice will be greatly appreciated .

I feel your pain OP. I'm currently enrolled at the local state university's ADN to BSN program. The writing does feel like alot of BS- I have to go over the vague and lengthy instructions at least four times to understand what the instructor is rambling about, but I have learned to fight fire with fire . It gets exponentially worse when your instructor is a stickler for APA.

It happened with the housing market, and I feel healthcare's day of reckoning is coming soon. Things can only go the way they are for so long, and I have no idea what to expect when the dust settles- till then don't let 'em get you too down.

So due to varying circumtances, my floor has lost about 90% of our CNAs in the last couple of months and leadership has been slow to replace them.

Rn/writer, I'm really not exaggerating when I say that this is going to be a life changer for me. I wrote down a few thoughts last night and went through them with a rational mind, and I had a moment. I'll have to careful not to start making excuses for myself when I have areas that truly need improving though. THANK YOU:bow:.

I have talked about for profits till I was blue in the face :spbox:. Recently though, I've noticed how certain individuals will proudly proclaim that the nursing program they attended was very competitive and how only a quarter of their original class graduated :icon_roll. Well dahling, that doesn't necessarily make you smart. It could also mean that your school's admission standards are pretty much a free for all and half the people who sign up aren't serious or competent enough to begin with- classic for profit tactic. Another one is to fail people by a tiny margin, so they're forced to come back for another semester. It's not like these 'failures' can transfer their credits to another school and since they only failed by half a point, they'll just need to work harder next time and pay up another 10k worth of tuition. Chile please!!

I can honestly say that I applied for a job there this summer- I guess a new grad RN isn't good enough for LMC, but an unsafe pt ratio is. Oh well...

I'm curious to see if his school school lets him graduate- freedom of speech and all...and yes, I do think he's disturbed on some level.

I give up. Thanks for the kudos though.

OP... :anbd::anbd::anbd:

Channel- happy for you, but this is (imo) is TMI. There's plenty of threads on here about people losing their jobs for online postings. Why would you risk it??

Friday my manager called me on the phone and asked me about the situation. She said, "Deana (name changed) says you won't change patients or empty colostomies because it makes you vomit." Admittedly poop is my weakness. I'm concern about here accusation and feel I must do something. So what's the problem here?? Yes, it makes you queasy (as it does alot of people), but that doesn't keep you from doing it as evidenced by the last couple of shifts when you emptied the colostomy.