justavolunteer

I had jobs in a different field than healthcare. I always figured it was good to go without shooting flame or just walking away. Once, my company was taken over by someone else & I decided pretty quickly to find another job. I gave notice & they were pissed. Some managers even tried to get me to go off at them by saying nasty stuff. Probably so they could shove me out right then. I resisted taking the bait. These days, I have seen plenty of articles about employers putting job candidates through hell. Things like long gaps in communication, then suddenly, be here in 5 minutes for another interview. Surprise, surprise, the prospect gets a job elsewhere. Companies who could treat people badly the last ten years are finding out that doesn't work now.

I would say as 'justavolunteer' that there is a job ranking in the sense that RN's have to get a doctor's order for many things. However, that does NOT mean that a physician is God & the nurse is a doormat. Nurses rightfully raise concerns with the MD's about their patients at times. The term is 'advocate' and a nurse is supposed to be one when necessary. Fortunately, mostly what I see is teamwork. Dr's & RN's work together for the betterment of patients. I have only seen one time when a doctor was totally dismissive of an RN's concerns. In that case, boy did he pick the wrong nurse. She was respectful & still managed to shoot flame at him. Myself, I can't imagine being disrespectful, especially to nurses. They are some of the smartest people I know & I am deeply appreciative of them.

The only time I could see doing such an assignment is for a dementia patient, so the staff person wouldn't get such grief. Otherwise, the choice should be 1.) you get who you get or 2.) we'll be glad to point you to the front door.

This was a phone call I heard as 'justavolunteer' once. To start, one day I showed up to volunteer. Every few minutes, the overhead page was "Dr.X, call 1234", "Dr X, call 7890", lots of different numbers. Finally, a nurse on my unit needed Dr. X. He looked up doc's phone # and called him. He hung up & said "I got Dr X's wife & boy, did she sound pissed". Turned out Dr X had left his cell at home. His wife had to field a million phone calls & explain the situation. Then our unit found out: you want him, have to page him.

How about having enough nurses for the type of unit + enough support staff (CNA's) for the needed help. The good news is that I'm really appreciated as a volunteer. The bad news is that there aren't enough RN's & CNA's on my unit for the work load. I think I would be appreciated anyway; no doubt I am more so because of the staffing situation.

I am 'justavolunteer' on a patient unit. I think a new job in any field has the potential to cause a person to feel overwhelmed at first. This is especially true of nursing because the stress level is so high. Also, unsafe staffing levels, unrealistic demands on nurses time, the fixation on survey scores, etc (all of which = the administration doesn't give a %$#@ about the nurses). Sometimes I wonder why anyone wants to be a nurse. i am surrounded by people who appreciate me and I love being a volunteer where I am. However, if the administration was ever hauled into court and accused of caring about the nurses, the case would be tossed out in a heartbeat for lack of evidence.

I am 'justavolunteer'. I have volunteered more than one place in my life. Practically the first thing I was told each time is to stay away from politics or religion. Two very incendiary subjects.

Obviously not the same when you're 'justavolunteer', but I have walked in to have charge nurse & clerk both say "thank goodness you're here". It will busy for me & probably a day from hell for the staff. Other times I've come in to see a whole crowd in a room, the crash cart looks like it was ransacked (everything open) and the room looks like a bomb went off because of all the debris on the floor. The night shift is going to be late getting to report, the day shift is late getting out of report. That has a snowball effect for a good part of the shift.

I have had outpatient procedures myself & so has my wife. The pre-procedure instructions generally say "responsible person has to come with you, stay during procedure, then drive you home. No person with you = we don't do the procedure".

Entering ANY career field hoping to meet a spouse would be a really bad idea (my opinion). If you do, that's nice. But what if you actually hate your chosen field? Hopes & dreams won't necessarily make up for lots of miserable days or nights.

As a volunteer, occasionally I've volunteered on a day when I'm not usually there. Someone inevitably asks why I'm there. I will say "but I'm always here on Wednesday (when it's actually Thursday). There's usually the deer-in-the-headlights look before they figure out what's going on. I've also used variations of 'you heard this is my last day, right?', usually on April 1st. After a few panicked expressions, I say something like "I figured I should tell you this because it's April 1st'. I get a pretty good reaction after the people realize I'm joking. One time I told the charge nurse I was there instead of work because it was a day off due to Elvis Presley's birthday. She was a few steps past me before it hit her. She hit the breaks, whirled around & said "wait a minute!'

!. I am 'justavolunteer' on a pt. unit. Everyone, where I volunteer, including volunteers, is required to get the vaccine. I have a bigger concern about the flu itself, rather than the vaccine, especially as I get older. The hospital allows exemptions for allergies, but anyone who doesn't get the vaccine has to wear a mask. I don't know what other exemptions exist (never been an issue for me. I have never known anyone to be fired over it. I have thought about the ethics issue. A nurse may have 4-5 pts. & be in & out of those rooms. As a volunteer, I go in any room that isn't isolation (volunteers not allowed) to stock gloves, haul off linen etc. I wouldn't feel good about spreading anything to patients.

Even as 'justavolunteer', I can figure out pretty quickly about pts. who are hitting their call button constantly for every little thing. Those are the people who will have someone in there 'eventually', whether it's me or a staff member. I do sometimes try to be the 'eventual' one, just to give their RN or CNA a break.

I am 'justavolunteer' & once a pt even complained about ME! He had been hollering all morning (on a weekend) about having to wait for his tests. He finally went AMA (said "I have to be elsewhere NOW!). I wheeled him out & half way to the door, he wanted me to take him to the hospital president's office so he could complain. He said then, "I'm an important person, I shouldn't have to wait". I told him the president wasn't there on weekends & took him to the door instead. He filed a complaint against me. I told the volunteer head what happened. She just said that people who scream about how important they are usually aren't. That was the end of that

The last time I got one of those, a lot of the questions were 'did the nurse always do immediately?' or 'did someone always show up immediately when you hit the call light?'. Well of course not! You don't always get immediate service at the grocery checkout, the light doesn't always immediately turn green when you pull up to the intersection & it doesn't always immediately stop raining when you want to go for a walk! People can't be 6 places at once, even if some idiot administrative types seem to think that! On top of it, admins order staff reductions, then howl loud & long when the survey scores go down. Is it written somewhere that an admin job requirement is utter stupidity?