fedup

Naomi, it is my feeling we are not allowed to be effective because nurses are expendable at any level. My personal experience in management has been as Director of Nurses in a long term care skilled rehab facility (quite successful). It is as Daisy says, it is driven by the bottom line. Quality of Life and Quality of Care are secondary except when state surveyors are in and everyone knows how to "act." Along the same lines we have administrators and owners who are clueless about healthcare. A quote from an owner on an occasion when he thought we were spending too much money on gloves,"Wear them, wash them and wear them again!" Sad, but true. Some administrators are also very young, fresh out of college, (my latest one and the one that made me rethink my position), are intimitated by your knowledge and instead of growing and learning, fight you every inch of the way. I just want to go to work, take great care of my patients, go home feeling good about what I've done. Yes, there is always stress in every job, personality issues will always crop their ugly heads, but as a floor nurse you don't have to solve this problem and a million others at the same time. I am not sure if I really answered you question. I rambled on a lot, but hope it helped a little.

I am currently leaving management/consulting also but since I have been in a management/consulting position, I am having a hard time finding a hospital nursing position. I do not have 1 year RECENT hands-om nursing experience. I do have 7 years experience as a critical care RN from 1987 to 1994. What can I say in the interview or on a cover page to let them know this is what I want and my skills and knowledge aren't dead..just a little rusty. I have continued to keep up with my critical care journals and the new procedures by reading, but this is not enough. I would really like some suggestions. Thanks and Good Luck.