Chilled1121

Good point. I sent it as suspicious to IT under the guise that it breaks some of our hospital policies. It's just so odd to me because this place has a huge national reputation. Why would they do anything to tarnish that? So strange to me.

Also just an update. There was letter sent out by an gmail domain email address to all the nurses asking to sign a petition saying you are for the hospital and not for the union and that it could be legally binding. I'm really over the anti union campaign that is being ran. It feels very unprofessional. Part of me feels like reporting it to IT as suspicious. I feel there is so much wrong with this as you have to get permission from a manager and or director to be able to send out an email to the entire nursing staff especially from a non work email. Seems shady to me.

Okay that's good to know. I also didn't know that there are non strike unions. Is that something in the contract that was created or is just that particular union.

So yeah. I have went to a few union interest meeting. I guess one concern I keep hearing is that our hospital is a nurse driven hospital and we are able to creat a lot of our policies or have a hand in them. There seems to be this implication that unions would interfere with our ability to create clinical policies (gtt management and what not). Of course I'm hearing this from people who are very much anti union and I'm wondering if there is any truth to that. That would be a huge turn off for me as I don't think that should be a union role. I do think the hospital in general needs the union for the HR side.

Hey, So I work at a hospital that might have a union vote soon (hint hint probably the most well known hospital in Baltimore, Maryland) It has been written about in our local papers and addressed by management in a variety of ways. It's been pretty divided at work lately so I figured I would ask here I have searched through previous boards but haven't seen anyone recently address their experience with the NNU. My question is: what have people's experiences been with the NNU as a union either good or bad. It's been tough trying to discern truth from fiction as our hospital as a whole has been running an anti union campaign thus far. Thanks.

When the Joint Commission makes an early bird appearance.

Thanks for the responses! It's good to know this just isn't an isolated problem on my unit. I guess I will just let them do their thing and look the other way. However I don't foresee myself changing assignments for social reasons. They can ask the night nurse for those requests!

Unless absolutely necessary, we don't take patients as charge. Some like to do so if it keeps people out of 3 patient assignments (we try to stay 2:1 unless we have a renal replacement and then it is 1:1) but I thankfully haven't had that yet.

It's my first nursing job. I have been there for a year and a half. They can ask to orient after a year of working on the unit per their policy (I think it should be longer which is why I postponed). They had two shifts of orientation to charge then you can be charge from then on. There is a lot to they have to work on when it comes to charge nurses and orientation but unfortunately they have had a significant turn over so there is a higher ratio of new nurses compared to experienced nurses which makes it difficult to have a mixed skill set but it's a problem my organization is trying to work on. A lot of obstacles but possible. Should of clarified that.

As a new nurse I'm happy to give some insight. When I first started I wanted to make sure that I could help my techs as much as possible. I would do some delegated tasks simply because it helped me with assessment or they were busy. I have no problem doing that. Then I realized I can do all of their tasks but it doesn't work the other way around. I can't ask them to do chart assessments, give meds, page doctors, titrate drips, answer all the patients questions, document tediously, and so on. Techs have an immense amount of responsibility. They are asked by a lot of nurses and patients to do a lot all day. They hear their name called by different people barking orders sometimes. However so do nurses. I think you may need to realize how much we are responsible for and just how often we accountable for all that goes on. I noticed they would always leave on time but I will be there an hour later finishing documenting and what not. I hear techs complain about certain nurses and I ask them to tell me if they feel overwhelmed and that I am under performing than to come to be about it. I suggest they say something to the nurse they are complaining about. I also suggest you do the same but quite frankly you should be writing a peofessional and respectful email to your administration for the poor staffing. I hope with some insight as a new nurse.

Quick question. This is my first nursing job and have recently oriented to charge nurse on a critical care floor. I have been charge only one time but I have heard from other nurses that nurses will request to have a new group for a number of reasons. I have personally never done this outside of having a shingles patient (per company policy as I was pregnant). I understand wanting to change assignments due to being burned out by a heavy patient. However some nurses change assignments because they want to be next to a certain nurse or not next to a certain nurse. Sometimes they don't want to get report from a certain person. My first day of charge I had a nurse tell me to not assign them to a patient the next shift before I even had a chance to clock in! Is this normal in other units? Is this okay behavior? Wasn't sure if maybe this is normal and I'll just roll my eyes at it and keep moving like I have been doing.

As a new nurse who went to critical care shortly after graduation. I can tell you a few things that have helped me. Do not be afraid to ask a question because you want to feel like you "got it." If you don't know or are not sure ask or look for a resource. It's a matter of patient safety. Always help. Help your techs. Help your nurses. Help other patients. Help the family. The unit runs best as a team. I call it controlled chaos. If you feel like something is off but you can't put your finger on it let someone know. Ask another nurse. Ask the charge to take a look. Ask one of the critical care floats. There have been many times when I just say hey come take a look at this. Does this make sense for what's going on or do I need to intervene? If if you feel that one patient has taken up a lot of your time to the point where you haven't seen your other patient, that's when you ask for help. You need another hand or another intervention. Patients are critical but if they are heading the right direction it shouldn't be nonstop for most of your shift to the point that your other patient is barely touched. Maybe they are circling the drain and need a different antibiotic or a blood gas or labs redone or different vent settings. It is a continuously learning process and I feel like one day I got it and another day I'm a new nurse all over again. The hard days are really hard. What helps me is to realize I get to clock out at the end of the day (even if it is later than usual) and be with my family. These people don't get the luxury. I hope that all helps and congrats!

As an unexperienced nurse this frightened me. For a second, I thought why haven't I been let go. I have definitely given meds late before. I guess I mirror what what everyone else has said. What is the entire story? Was there significant harm done to the patient or patients? Would long term care be an option? Physicians office?

I think everyone has pretty much covered everything. Personal reasons can sometimes be red flags during the hiring process so I would avoid going into a lot of detail about it when you get an interview. In order for employers to care about personal issues, a rapport must be built. Once that happens, unit managers and supervisors are wiling to work with you but that's further down the road. I think you need to make a list of the things you cannot do without when it comes to taking a new job. Things you cannot absolutely compromise on. However because of you leaving without two weeks notice you may have slim pickings at first. Try to see this as an opportunity to build your resume again. Stick it out for a few years at one place. This way when and if you move on, you have a good rapport with organization and you look like a committed employee. I would not talk about grievances you have with past employers period. It often looks very bad and you end up looking like a trouble maker and not a team player even if that isn't the case. It takes a lot of money to train nurses so they want someone they believe they can retain and is worth the investment. Qualities include getting along well with others, committed to the organization, good attitude and flexibility. I hope that you take what all of these previous posters as solid advice even if you don't agree with the delivery because I think they all have some great advice on what to do next and accountability. Hope everything ends up working out and keep us posted!

I took all of my non nursing courses before I started the program and it seems to be the way to go if you can I have a few classmates that still have to take micro during the program and its been a real time constraint because of scheduling a class with a lab attached to it. It has also been helpful because you can just focus on nursing instead of thinking about another science class. Not that micro is hard, it is just time consuming when you could be studying for your nursing courses. I didn't run into any credit issues but I don't know about the financial aid. I pay out of pocket.