Our hospital is small and feeling the reimbursement crunch. We serve an impoverished area. Our staff has been cut beyond safe staffing. Multiple jobs are being placed on people without any increase in pay. Most days Med/Surg has no aides. Mandatory over-time is common. In the OR, staff came in at 7am and were there till midnight for scheduled cases and then covered call just to come back and do it all again. When we complained that we signed on for a 7-3:30 position they told us we had to do it anyway. There are no laws stating how long you can work a person apparently. My husband works Med/Surg and routinely has 9 patients and no CNA. He can't give baths or feed all his feeders as well as handle their medical needs. He is so drained and upset when he comes home. The nurses who are willing to drive an hour to the nearest hospital have left. The pay is poor. I made what the nurses in the clinic make now as CNA in an ICU 12 years ago. It's so depressing and frustrating because we all feel we have no voice. We are also afraid to say anything because we need our jobs and cannot drive to the city for new jobs due to child care limitations. I'm in school pursuing my FNP. My husband is an ADN. I have a BSN and have been a nurse for 12 years. Things get worse for the nurses here every year and I'm tired of it.
