KSjo88

I think you are right. In the past two years my hospital eliminated shift differentials while at the same time requiring all new hires and nurses with less than so many years of experience to rotate. They also “updated” their staffing grid- so now just one aide on nights and 1:5 patient ratio on a PCU. I rarely am able to take a break. I also continue to make less the past two years... we will see how this year turns out. All I ever hear is the budget or profit margin- makes me cringe. The longer I stay in nursing the more and more I want to become a hippie, run away and live on a little plot of land. Once my student loans are paid off I’ll be hangin up the stethoscope. Rather make a little less money doing work that doesn’t require as much responsibility. Hospitals across the country are being bought out by big corporations looking to make a profit.... the hospital I’m at implemented a new lower pay scale when they were bought out.... the nurses who have been there 20 years are making more than what our new PayScale max. Our starting rate is also $1 higher than the starting rating in 1995. The average RN hourly pay in my area is $26/hour — the average home price in $250,000... you literally can’t find anything that isn’t falling apart and needs 50+ thousand $$$ of work for less than $180-$190

I agree, I was working for a hospital as an Lpn while I finished my BSN. While I was waiting to take the NCLEX Rn the hospital eliminated shift differentials and required everyone with less then so many years to rotate... since this was the major hospital system in the area the other hospitals began doing this as well. They also like to rotate calling people off regularly so you don’t get your full 36 hours a week. I’m making $26/hr -36 hours a week to work the night shift which comes out to a little over $49,000 a year. Not a whole lot of overtime because they have us take more than recommended patient load. Currently 5:1 on PCU... one night I had dka with accuchecks every 15 min to one hour on an insulin drip, another patient on dobutamine, bumex and bipap, another receiving heparin with boluses and frequent titrates, another on sepsis protocol and then I got a second dka admit. I’ve applied to other hospitals in the area and they offer me the same wage or less. Might just be my area but this is awful. If I didn’t have these student loans Im like 95% certain I wouldn’t be working as a nurse. All I ever hear about is the profit margin and the budget but when you take hours away from employees who have agreed to a specific number of hours per week that’s profiting off the back of your employees.

How do we start a topic on allnurses now? I’m so lost....

I graduated from Presentation College with my BSN. Classes were normal I suppose. Make sure you study. Clinicals sites are in Sioux Falls area, and Fargo area. I completed at both. Good thing is clinicals are typically set up 3 12's and depending on class would do 2-4 rotations.

I was looking at Aspen's MSN Nurse Leadership Program....and wanted some feedback too! Aspen looks super affordable, but is not regionally accredited but is CCNE approved. So does that matter? I mean I already have my BSN,RN.

My mom or grandma is in the area. But this is somewhat a setback to me...both jobs are offering nearly the same hourly rate. Not sure how much overtime there is in IR... med/surg is wide open and I usually pick up an additional shift or two a pay period and still have days off. I don't know if intermediate will be similar. With IR Monday-Friday I feel will get to be really long... getting my daughter up and ready for school pick her up and get home adds additional time to my day...

Med/surg, but I have worked inpatient mental health and post acute rehab. The bulk of my career has been med/surg. Goals...pick up more skills so I can be more marketable. 1-2 year goal prn or per diem this way I can still make the bills and as a single mom all my daughters events... Both appeal to me....a regular normal people schedule almost scares me though. I haven't done that since I was in the military- 7 years!

I've gone on a few interviews and now I have a dilemma.... interventional radiology with cross train to cath lab which is mon-fri and call rotation. The other is cardiac intermediate with eventual cross train to ICU. This is three 12's rotating day/night and every third weekend. I can't decide! Anyone work in IR??? Do you love it? Do you like your schedule?

I wanna know where you have been working? I've been nursing for 6 years.... worked in crap holes all the way to 5 star facilities to trauma center and have never received more then a 50 cent raise.... couple with a slash to the night differential or some crazy thing that pretty much evens you out to what you were making before. Hell I've even worked in places that took money out of your check for "health insurance" only to find out when you go to use it the company didn't actually have insurance for their employees! Straight up fraud!

I could just cry.... I feel so defeated. I work a lot 36-72 hours a week and my low...well, decreased due to slashes in differential I'm struggling financially. Pretty bad. Mostly due to my student loans. I wonder what the heck I got myself into. Why did I spend so much money to go into a career where I can hardly afford to pay my bills and at the same time get treated like cattle. Ugh. I hope it gets better

Yeah, I'm not happy. But seems like everywhere I have been is all about cutting or decreasing benefits as much as possible. Why is this a thing in nursing.

I'm working at a nursing home that's struggling with staffing issues, low morale, and what have you. I think in part to our administrator who makes all the decisions from my understanding. One of those decisions is to leave an entire unit unstaffed at night besides 1-2 cna's. Our old don was fed up and left and now the new don is a 2 year rn with like 2 years of experience in the nursing home... one of them as a nurse manager which was filled by a new grad Rn! How does this happen? These are positions that should require a minimum set of years of experience! It's like having a baby drive a car! Anyways, apparently the question was asked what can be done to boost morale and fix staffing without costing money and I can't think of anything! Literally every reasonable idea would cost some sort of money. Nursing seems to have taken a very odd turn in the past two years. Looking to kind of fall back into my old career as a public affairs specialist. Becoming frustrated with nurse staffing, budget constraints, low morale, low or decreasing compensation. Unrealistic expectations. Now I know why My clinical instructor for my bsn worked fulltime as a bartender and taught clinicals on the side lol.

Morale is low where I'm at too. Thank goodness I'm prn and have laid off of picking up as much as I used to.... now down to minimum required. How about high patient turn over coupled with high nurse to patient ratios doesn't lead to good outcomes...complaints and what have you. Cutting of the differentials or any incentive compensation coupled with already below average compensation. Add in the new way of cost saving by always reducing or putting staff "on call" add in the fact that you love an hour away and if called in you have to be on the unit within 30 minutes.... so essentially have to still pay for daycare and gas to drive to the city and putz around until they decide to call you in or reduce you. Just in my area alone the nursing homes, home health, hospice, virtually anywhere but the hospital pays nearly $10 more per hour and have a more regular schedule well you get the idea. So it's no wonder hospitals can't keep staff...unless of course you are single with no kids or life and like to live your life around the hospital.

This is correct. To be exact it is a $9.95 cent difference to work same exact hours at the nursing home. Starting pay at the hospital is $26/hr with average 50 cent raises per year.... first year was 3% second year was 1% third year was 2%.....they are same across the board for the department. It's the shift differentials that make the biggest difference. $5 for nights at nursing home and $1.25/hr at hospital. Base pay at the nursing home is 4.62 more.

In the same time I have worked my way up from Lpn to RN-BSN....but have worked Med/surg all these years as Lpn and Rn. So "fresh" as Rn. But I don't see a huge difference in patient assignment or meds that can be given via rn.... since the bon for the state I am in allows Lpns to administer if medications as long as we had been checked off by the education department of our facility. The real difference is the closed units. I have applied to several of the closed units within mysame hospital and not getting anywhere....I.e L&D(I did a 200 hour internship in this department at another facility for my BSN) NICU, picu....I just don't want to stay on med/surg... and since the hospital pays far less then the nursing homes in the area(approx. $10) I'd like to build my skills, because I really do enjoy the hospital setting.