rnprincess

I have to disagree with this comment. I am motivated to become a better nurse each day because that is the type of person I am. Most nurses I know are like this. They are professionals who take pride in what they do and want to do the best they can. I worked in a hospital for several years that the union was trying to get into. I worked next to nurses who were pro union, nurses who were anti union, and those who were undecided. We never got to vote because the union pulled out???? Regardless, the nurses I knew who were pro union were some of the best nurses, the nurses I knew who were anti union were great nurses also. These nurses would be motivated to do everything they need to be the best they can be. I think for many nurses what we do is an extension of ourselves and we work hard and educate ourselves because of that, no matter how poorly we are treated by administrators and other nurses. I am sorry, I may have taken things wrong that you posted. I guess I just found your post to be judgemental and insulting. And I'm not even pro union. Maybe I just misunderstood what you were trying to say??? But, I will stand by the fact that there is no outside management, or any other person that makes me strive to be the best nurse I can be. I do it because I am proud of what I do. And if I worked in a union state there would be no less motivation for me to work as hard as I do. Maybe things should be "better for everyone" because as a whole most of us really do take pride in what we do and we do work VERY hard. Maybe we deserve things to be better.

I have not been a nurse in TX very long. Only one month. But I have to say, I have been shocked by how passive nurses are here. I feel like I may never fit in here as a nurse. Because if I think something is wrong I never have been able to sit silently and just "allow" it. I was shocked and disgusted by this group one. To me it seems nothing more then a "gossip ring" for employers of nurses. I do not know enough of other professions but I wonder if teachers or even doctors have so many different people watching every thing they do and documenting it. Nurses are accountable to the board of nursing they are licenced under. The board looks at things that other professions never have to worry about, things in your personal life. I have been finger printed, had an FBI investigation??? The board knows every where I have worked and if I have had any complaints against me. This is enough!!!! If I do something that is harmful it goes on my nursing record. Why does there need to be a group one. The board protects the public. Group one as I see it, exists only to make nurses fearful of advocating for NURSES. I have to say, even though I am fairly outspoken about MY RIGHTS as a human. I am afraid in TX to speak up. I do not want to make the wrong person angry and end up unable to become employed. After my experience of moving to TX and finding out what it is like to be treated so unfairly and unjustly I have decided to go back to school and find something else to do. I am only using my current position to pay for my bills and my tuition until I can find another career where I will be treated as a person with rights, and as a professional, not a small child who needs to be controlled and punished. It made me sad to come to this decision. I love what I do. I love being a nurse. I love my patients. I love training new grads and seeing thier excitement. But I just cannot allow myself to feel so degraded just so I can do what I love for a living. I have always told my family and friends that I could never imagine doing anything but BEDSIDE NURSING. And I have only been a nurse for 9 years now. But I have finally come to the point where no matter how much I enjoy it, I cannot continue to work in such a hostile environment. I am hoping that maybe if enough nurses would decide to stand up and put a stop to.... FIRST the abuse from NURSE to NURSE, and second the abuse from employer to nurse, that maybe before I retire I may see a change. I have done everything I can think of with my small bit of power to make changes. I have trained MANY new grads. And I always lecture and harp on how nurses should treat each other, and how we need to advocate for ourselves if we ever want to truly be respected. Unfortunately right now I do not know of anything else one person can do to make a difference. But if enough of us with a similar belief, could get together and make a mission statement to work by. Maybe..... Just maybe we could become as powerful as Group One. Maybe we could take back our dignity as nurses. I am sorry, I guess I have wrote a LOT. I really wish though that we could find a way to make things better. I really love what I do. I always wanted to retire a NURSE. If there are enough people who feel this way, there would have to be enough of us to come up with an answer. The answer may not be in legal recourse. I dont know what the answer is, but there is an answer. And if enough nurses with different backgrounds, experience, and education come together and put our minds together we could make things better. Group one is only PART of the problem we face.

Although I was never full time staff there I did work agency shifts there occasionally and it is a very nice facility. They use computer charting. They have nice equipment and things are organized and easy to get to. The staff and nursing supervisors were always very nice, helpful and easy to work with. It would definately be a nice place to go back to after being out of nursing for a while. Good luck to you. I hope you find someplace you enjoy working.

I am not from dfw so I really do not know what hospitals I wanted to work at anyway. I figure when I get out there I would learn. And I have. I just thought I would share my experience. MSN has been so difficult. The person who called me to schedule an interview keeps sending me email to tell me all of the hours they are available to interview me. (Apparently he is confused, I am interviewing them. ehem..... anyway.) So I call during those hours and each time get his voice mail. He then takes two to three days to return my call. I finally left a message and told him it was too much of a hassle to get through the first step and progress to being interviewed at the local level . I told him I was no longer interested. Maxim waited three weeks after I submitted my online app. to call me. Once again, if they are too busy to process an application I do not think they will have enough time to find me work. And I guess I just figure if it takes them that long to contact you they probably are not very dependable???? The local intellistaff person was VERY nice. But it was going to take a week or more for her to process everything etc.... I am not a patient person. I have a full time job I just started at a hospital here. So I do not have a lot of time or energy to mess with an agency who is unorganized or just simply a pain in my neck. Here are the two agencies I found that have made things simple, convenient, they can find me a shift easily and best of all when I call them I get to talk to a person who is friendly. Texas American Medical Staffing and MedStaffing INC. So if anyone is looking for a good agency I would recommend these. Both offer next day pay and they are very easy to work for. They are both in Dallas. I wish I had found someplace in Fort Worth. But, since it is a part time occasional thing for me to work agency it does not matter that much. And they are so easy to deal with I have done almost everything by computer, fax, phone and mail. I have only had to go to the actual office once. Just thought I would share my experience in case anyone is looking for a good agency. Have a great day

Hello, I have been trying to find a good agency to work for in the DFW area. I am going on Monday to talk to Medical staffing network (MSN). Does anyone here have any experience with this agency? I would love to hear some feedback. I am currently doing shifts for PRN and I think they may be new. They are very nice but seem limited on shift availability. I am also considering intellistaff? If anyone knows anything about them. Especially the DFW office? Thank you in advance for all of your help.

I agree with you 100%! I have worked agency and used several different agencies. It makes a big difference to job satisfaction to be working for an agency that is on top of things. I also believe that agency has no right to demand any more commitment from a nurse then they are willing to offer. If they are able to cancel with no remorse, then so is the nurse. That is one of the perks of agency. Yes, if you do it all the time they will not make such an effort to get you work. But if they cancel me left and right you can bet I will find somewhere else to work as well. This is all a two way street and we need to remember that and not allow ourselves to be bullied or manipulated. That includes by other nurses who say it is a pain to have someone cancel on you(earlier in this thread) Well, sorry, I am sure it doesn't bother her when her facility cancels the agency nurse when they don't need them, I bet she never thinks twice about how that nurse will pay her electric bill. Why is it people are so one sided??? I loved working agency when I was working for a great company. Right now, I just started at a new agency in a new state and I am already looking for somewhere new. If I had never worked anywhere else and thought this is what agency was all about I would never do it again. I firmly believe the company has issues though. I hope it is just not the whole state! Anyway, you should not have to explain yourself when you self cancel. That is the bottom line. I think it was nice of you not to tell them where to go weeks ago. Congratulations on your new job. I hope the reduced stress helps you get feeling better!

Hmmm. I don't know about PA? But in AZ you would be practicing medicine without a liscence! Have you checked your board of nursing scope of practice guidelines. It is probably searchable info you can get online? I do not know though. Good luck earning points with the boss.