birdwhisperer

You also might want to check out what the ANA has to say . I am going by the nurses that I have worked with in 44 years and their ages and what I hear and see from the younger nurses. Search nursing workforce-ANA

Well well well..... disbelievers eh? I am already seeing it. people in management, not so much , long as the numbers crunch who cares what you have? just wait.......... And where are all these new grads going? ....Not to the hospitals to be used abused ... they are going back to school to get advanced degrees. The five NEW nurses I just worked with are ALL leaving and going back to school. There are more than just a few us boomers and retirement accounts or not we still have social sec. and are tired of putting up with the hospital crap. Our whole floor was pretty much boomers. The worse hospitals treat their nurses(which also means patients will not get as good of care) the more of a shortage you will see.. There are lots of jobs here where I am and most have been available or are filled for a short time due to the way nurses are treated. Wait for it.........

When you have a CEO who is now earning million dollar bonuses for keeping the hospital above water, who NEVER will let nursing staff DIVERT patients to other hospitals when the hospital is busting at the seams despite the fact there are day long waits for beds, no ER staff and other patients in beds in the halls, exceedingly high patient to nurse ratios, very high nurse turnovers high nursing assistant ratios, brand new nurses working intensive units with little to no experience and management too afraid for fear of their own jobs despite the ethics and danger. to say anything .... you are screwed who does one turn to who does one get help from ? and from all I can understand this is a national issue...

One of the best articles I have ever read about what is REALLY going on with nurses and I have been in it to win it 40 years hope I can hang in there for 2 more years until I retire..... Thank you for this post it reaffirms. :)

I have done a little bit of all kinds of nursing in 40 years from high risk L&D to Pacu to Icu, neuro icu,Sicu, ER, but never Dialysis. I am currently in an acute care area with very little staffing for the nursing we must provide and am possible seeking a role in a busy dialysis unit but want to know is it satisfying. I know that in ICU the diaysis patients that would visit us were a lot of times very non compliant (as are quite a few other type patients in my neck of the woods ) I pretty much have enjoyed all the nursing I have done throughout the years with the majority of my dissatisfaction being about administrations inability to understand that patient satisfaction starts with contented nurses and throughout the years they have demonstrated that the only thing they care about is the bottom line $$$$....(can I get an AMEN? ) anyway I digress. Do you in dialysis love your jobs, love what you do? Does it get monotonous?. Any feedback would be appreciated.

I did leave...BUt who can you report things such as that to..State Board? Jacho?

I would also leave. I have left a few places in the past few years because of unsafe working conditions. Places that are understaffed with high patient acuity either in an ICU, Home care, and the last being a Skilled rehab long term care center. In the rehab center at night was one nurse, either an LPN or an RN. There were one or two CNA's for 34-40 patients. Acuities were high, pain meds and meds were outrageously many, treatments, fall risks (at least 4 per week) IV antibiotics and PICCS, and you never even had half the supplies you needed to work with... What is going on in health Care? Who does one call to ask about acceptable levels for staffing? Where can one go to complain or advocate for the patients? It seems so unsafe in many hospital environments due to over crowding and understaffing. This just doesn't seem to be a problem that will go away on it's own.

I would so love to be positive and I could have maybe 20 years ago...... WE are set up to fail with nurse patient ratios. The "grid" does not take into account acuity...what so-evah.....try being in an ICU ratios 1 nurse to 2 or 3 patients no secretary, no patient care tech .....and worse no teamwork as the charge also takes patients...there are no "light assignments" you do not get lunch most days , beg someone to really no I mean" really listen" out for vent alarms or drip alarms or watch the alcoholic patient in Dt's as well as your vents so you can go peee. Your patients families are upset with you as you are not at THEIR family members bedside and they report you... . you hang your 10 am antibiotic at 11 or later. You miss the md orders that were written at 07am because 4 other mds had the chart and no one told you they wrote for stat orders of potassium or Lasix ....not to mention the phone ringing off the hook since you have been in the unit ...the other nurses say If they don't care we don't have a secretary neither do I, and they wont answer the phone so guess who does...when you can..... Some won't even answer their own patients lights and because you have some pang of good conscious ,even though you are so behind , you answer it ...only to get yelled at by the patient because they have been ringing for 15 minutes and they have to go to the bathroom. You explain that you are sorry but you are not their assigned nurse but that you will help them turns into...."I am not your nurse" later when they voice complains.....and guess who they complain about...not their nurse ...you...... and of course....the patient is always right..... and it's their perception of you...right? When you were trying to help trying to be nice .....Do you see how things happen..How one thing relates to another and most days you can't even remember what you did and to who it's so busy........but you don't manage your time well....if you don't chart before 7pm at night....All hospitals aren't like this but will probably be similar when O-care shifts into high gear and the hospitals are not getting reimbursements. The grids will get worse.... and then a nurse interim manager writes you up because that patient complained to her.... and you know the rest....

How many times do people have to complain about you before you ask...is it me? or is it a sign of the times? Is it them not liking what you say and getting reported that you were rude. and because someone complained before...you MUST be a problem person( but you are a great nurse)The patient is always right and when they complain no one asks your side of the story...because no matter WHAT you said the patient or family "PERCEIVED" you to be a certain way... I have been complained about for 1. asking an HIV+ patient to please not spit bloody sputum on sheets while I was there and to please use a tissue or a basin, complained about because I asked a family to please not sit on extra preop bed in the room as they needed to stay clean for next OR patient, complained about for asking family not to touch ventilator alarms ,because I told a patient I needed to ask his nurse if he could get out of bed before I got him up(that turned into she told me I am not your nurse),I was hugged by family members when they left , only to come back the next day to find out something I said or did made them complain....I have been a nurse for 39 years. How in the world did I ever make it this far? I am beside myself.I have been fired I am 58 years old. A paper trail was started and was not long after I was fired. Cannot receive unemployment as it has to be fired thru no fault of your own. Who will hire me now? What do I say on an application as to why I left?I have many Icu and pacu years experience but what will be said in a job reference?I traveled a lot and have had many jobs. These past few years have been trying to say the least . I feel hopeless, lost, trying not to cry, have endless nights when I think about what did I do(like tonight). I am not in a hurry to work and my husband is a retired military who makes a good retirement...and he is supportive as he was also in healthcare..but I want to work.... I was proud to be a nurse , felt very confident in my skills, but I loved taking care of and helping people and hoped somehow somewhere that a good nurse would do the same for my family. I feel betrayed and yes , like I have been kicked in the gut. I have been applying for jobs for 2 months.....interviewed but no job. I am going to work in Volunteers in Medicene until something turns up but my confidence level is gone.