longforseaair

kafene, thanks so much for the up words, I've been needing them, feeling low. jingle2bells, which cities have the demand you speak of? In case of....ha!

I have felt for some time that there has been no nursing shortage in our area. Recently, one of the bigger hospitals laid off a number of nurses and replaced them with new grads. Another hospital has a hiring freeze and it is a rumor that my hospital has a hiring freeze. And the existing staff nurses feel tremendous pressure and competition and one-up-man-ship. Directors have been laid off and areas combined. The word is that after two rounds of ancillary staff lay offs, they are trying their best to prevent nursing lay offs. But we have a nurse tech who sleeps a couple of hours each night???? And a nurse who takes hour breaks??? Those of us who try to remain professional are quite puzzled by seeming favoritism. Some are forced to work every weekend and others say they'll quit if they don't get their desired schedule. The new grads who earn less seem to have a lot of clout over scheduling, etc. Some staff were scheduled to work ALL the holidays and others didn't have to work one holiday. All previous staffing policies are gone and we do what is required to staff the floor. Even seniority seems to have dissolved. And if we ask why things are out of balance with the schedule or perks, we get silence or are told that our director must staff the floor the best they see fit. And I love our director and have always had a good working relationship with them in the past, but things are becoming very confusing and blurred. We even have one nurse who verbally, sexually harasses patients and I am afraid to report it for my job's sake. I figure that if the patient's wish to complain I hope they do. I will pretend I don't hear it so I don't get fired. :confused:

Well, maybe it is because our places of work don't care a thing about us as people, only as warm bodies? We watch our hospitals lay off fifty employees who were about to retire or have poured their heart and soul into their jobs, greatly neglecting their families and personal lives. And were laid off for no apparent reason save they were paid more than someone else or about to retire. We show up to work and regularly hear the phrase, I know you are all by yourself but we called everyone and couldn't get anybody to come in. When the pressure is on, you can count on your co-worker to announce to everyone and your boss that you failed to complete a task or failed to inform them about a task and that is what caused them to screw up, even if it is a totally false accusation and you never had a chance to defend yourself. And that same person is notorious for giving lousy report and sits there saying, It was so busy and I'm so exhausted, I can't remember if it is on the left or the right. But as soon as you turn your back, they blame you for being so lousy. And maybe it is because no matter how much your back or head hurts, or bladder, you have to answer that light and explain to that patient or family why you are an abject failure and they haven't been treated perfectly and immediately and like royalty because they are paying an extremely high price for you to do so. And you will receive an email from your supervisor that everyone must work harder, faster and more perfectly because the hospital hasn't met expenses that month. I tell myself that it is like this in other fields too. Is it?

Do the doctors at your hospital enter their own orders into the computer? We are soon to be using a new system where this is supposed to occur. We nurses wonder how it will work and how will we know when a new order has been entered. Especially a stat order??? :trout::trout::behindpc::behindpc:

It's really true that some have the chest pain thing figured out. They get admitted and an overnight stay with morphine. And the first thing they ask for on the floor after morphine is food. Some of them truly have cardiac disease, often from drug abuse, and get lots of morphine and turn a gorgeous shade of red-violent as they throw things and make demands to go and smoke or special requests from the kitchen overnight. And some do their best to drive you to making a mistake or "mistreat" them so they might have a lawsuit. It tears you apart wanting to ignore them in the ER and then walk over them as you care for truly deserving people who have a CVA or MI and badly need your time that is being stolen by the very selfish ones who have ruined themselves and God help them.

I'm asking this because I was recently told by an RT that a certain patient was refused steroids he requested because they are not given to pt with pneumonia. I don't understand, since I see prednisone or solumedrol given so much. It made me question my knowledge base and sent me to you fine people for help.

Do you see steroids given for pneumonia? Why or why not?

My doctor does not know what this rash is covering my face and neck. It is rough and red and has very small clear vesicles. It is even in my ears and nares. It is itchy and burns a little bit. The last time I had this, I had put Tea Tree Oil and then nail polish on some little bumps that looked liked bug bites on my neck because there was a scabies scare at my hospital where I am a nurse. Then it became inflamed and covered everything above my shirt and even in my cleavage area. My doctor gave me a steroid shot and Zpack, which healed it fifty-percent, then it eventually went away. She said it wasn't scabies but she didn't know what it was. Well, now, months later something similar has returned. Benadryl doesn't affect it, neither does Cortisone cream. An ointment I bought OTC for athlete's foot does seem to help a little. I have a big place on my cheek under my eye that looks like Rosacea which I've never had. I am allergic to many grasses and trees and supposedly to soybeans and chocolate. Can anybody tell me what to do?

Yes, tried doppler and also dynamap.

This pt. is a frequent flier and usually exacerbation of CHF.

Does anyone know any other ways to assess a BP when it can't be heard anywhere or palpated? This pt BP has been done in the thigh for a while now. Now, it can't be heard or palpated. It disappears by doppler at around 60 mmhg as the cuff is inflated. We've tried all pulses and with a machine. The pt is oriented and has pedal pulses. Any ideas?????? :imbar

I would love to take fewer patients but we are not allowed to do that. And supposedly, all charge means in our unit is making bed assignments, but it always eats a lot or time because the staff expects us to do all the problem solving, helping the newbies, and orienting the agency nurses. If I took fewer patients, they would call the house supervisor or write me up and I would be in trouble. And, since they were already mad because they felt like I was being unfair, I imagine it would make things worse. But, I agree with you, I feel that the charge nurse should have a smaller patient load. At some of the other area hospitals, the charge nurse takes no patients. And we are a busy heart floor. It's very tiring to get no respect, esp. at a chore that I don't want anyway.

I feel bad now, but I shouldn't. How could I have better responded to my LPN's the other night. I assigned a patient to one of them and she immediately yelled at me asking why she was getting the patient. I said to her, "Because it is your group's turn and we each have six patients." It wasn't good enough for her. The other LPN made a snide remark about a float nurse passing my meds. It was earlier in the shift and we each had eight or nine patients and were one nurse short. The float nurse was told they didn't have to take a group by supervisor and told me they would pass meds and do admits. He just happened to start with my meds since they were the first rooms. I just blew that remark off. Later, the same LPN told me she was leaving the floor to get a bite to eat and that she had paged a doc 30 minutes prior. I was running, running and asked her to give a quick report to one of us who wasn't so busy because I didn't have time to talk to her doc if he called. Or, I said, take your phone. She about lost her temper and walked away and didn't go eat after all. She's pregnant, but that's not my fault, is it? I hate being charge!!! It seems like I can't ever do anything right and work myself to death and few of the others are ever happy. The times that I have taken on extra to appease their fussing, they were later sitting around all caught up and I continued to run crazy! I'm ready to quit my hospital, but I know it won't be better anywhere else. I'm ready to quit nursing, simply because I'm so sick of the co-workers crap!

These are great to read these everybody! And thanks everybody for the great words! I laughed and laughed about the slug salt and the snail death! Maybe that is what I needed- a good laugh! I know that is how I usually get through a shift, by laughing a lot. Sometimes it can be depressing to swap all the negative stories, but tonight it has been great fun to read all these. I just worked my three twelves, had an invite to a party tonight but was too tired to go, Have to work another three starting tomorrow night. Got a good raise after my first year of nursing, but is the money worth the feeling of great weariness, I'd like to have more time with my family, and more energy to do things with them and my friends. I am so tired, my bones ache, and my left eye won't quit twitching. I am a runner, swimmer, bicyclist, weightlifter, and do Tae-Bo, but I can barely get off of the couch some days. That's not how I want to live. I'm barely into my mid-life era. I hope everyone has a great Labor Day! And I am sending you all some pizza and bbq chicken, cole slaw, Pringles, seven layer salad with lettuce, cheese, and sweet peas, carrot cake, watermelon, cookie dough ice cream, hot fresh coffee, Southern sweet tea, and reeeeeal Coke in a frosted glass! Smiles to you real laborers!

These are great to read these everybody! And thanks everybody for the great words! I laughed and laughed about the slug salt and the snail death! Maybe that is what I needed- a good laugh! I know that is how I usually get through a shift, by laughing a lot. Sometimes it can be depressing to swap all the negative stories, but tonight it has been great fun to read all these. I just worked my three twelves, had an invite to a party tonight but was too tired to go, Have to work another three starting tomorrow night. Got a good raise after my first year of nursing, but is the money worth the feeling of great weariness, I'd like to have more time with my family, and more energy to do things with them and my friends. I am so tired, my bones ache, and my left eye won't quit twitching. I am a runner, swimmer, bicyclist, weightlifter, and do Tae-Bo, but I can barely get off of the couch some days. That's not how I want to live. I'm barely into my mid-life era. I hope everyone has a great Labor Day! And I am sending you all some pizza and bbq chicken, cole slaw, Pringles, seven layer salad with lettuce, cheese, and sweet peas, carrot cake, watermelon, cookie dough ice cream, hot fresh coffee, Southern sweet tea, and reeeeeal Coke in a frosted glass! Smiles to you real laborers!