elish954

i guess the bottom line is.... thank our government. let's face it. if you are big business, there are more bucks to be made if you can get away from paying the us citizens a decent rage. hire illegal immigrants. no problem. nothing will happen to you. i am so tired of hearing that they cannot find american workers who are willing to do these jobs. well. duh. who can afford to live on the wages paid to these illegals. i know of situations where they have numerous illegals living under one roof like packed sardines. also look at how many jobs are being lost in our country to china, mexico, india etc. guess we can thank our government for this situation as well. i agree with the post that stated concern about there not be any ss available for our generation after all the years of paying into it. oops. could the government have anything to do with this also????? many of our generation will have their retirements taken away also. scary. isn't it. nough said. :angryfire

Oh indeed, a letter was sent, and I know read. One nurse manager on the floor showed it to a colleague of mine. The nurse manager was happy that I put in writing why I terminated and that it was due to severe staffing concerns, and being unable to provide safe nursing care. This institution is well aware of the problem. Every so often, they have a job fair to hopefully recruit those wishing employment. I was one who went to one of these, and during any interviews, allowed them to know that the most important interview question was that of safe staffing and being able to give safe nursing care etc. I was assured each time that it was. Actually it has only gotten worse since I terminated, not better. The workload is frightening, and my heart goes out to those who must stay in this situation due to being the head of household and in need of the benefits afforded them. I hope someday to find a facility where I can give safe care, and hope it will not be too far into my future. We seem to have this problem in this whole part of our state. Many have even relocated with the promise that it would be different, only to terminate for the same reasons. They will tell us what we want to hear, and hope we will stay when we find out differently, but some nurses just cannot ethically, morally, nor emotionally stay under such conditions. We have heard that JACHO will start to do surprise evaluations. Now that would be great. Being a part of a facility when they know JACHO will be coming is unbelievable, to say the least. Shocking is putting it mildly. Some nurses have even been threatened with termination if they so call, open their mouths as to the conditions/concerns with their facility. I for one, never could understand just why a facility was warned prior to an investigation to begin with. Why has this been allowed? Could it be due to the fact, that the facilities could not stay open and would create a real healthcare dilemma in our areas? In response to the initial query as to notification all the way up the ladder about unsafe nursing care, yes, many have done just that, but maybe profit is the bottom line the higher up you go.

I actually, in the recent past, terminated my position at a Magnet hospital, and was recently informed that at least, six more nurses on my unit also did as well. The working conditions were frightening, to say the least. The floor I was on was so bad, doctors requested that none of their patients be put on it. I cannot see any benefit in working at a so-called Magnet hospital over any other. If the bottom line is money for the corporation, and the nurses cannot provide safe nursing care, due to a very high turnover rate, burnout and low staffing, (when there isn't even any nursing shortage in our area), what difference does it really make. :angryfire For the majority of nurses in this facility, the term, "Magnet" is nothing short of a joke. How very sad that other people are sometimes mislead with this title. :rotfl: Another hospital in Ohio is also considered a Magnet, but I hear the working conditions are deplorable there. I did get on a career job site and could not believe how many open nursing positions there were at this very large institution, and talked with some who had been patients there and swear they will never go back to it again. I would give just about anything to be able to work at a facility where nurses could sincerely provide safe nursing care again. Afterall. Isn't nursing a caring profession, and is this not why the majority of us went into it to begin with? I am heartsick over what is being allowed to happen in so many healthcare facilities today. I am sure there are probably some Magnet status facilities out there deserving said title, and if so, I would really appreciate knowing where they are, or any hospitals out there where one can still give good and safe nursing care. :)

please do not think you are too old to start nursing school at the young age of 38. i know a lady who started when she was 54 and did great. actually, i started the bsn program at 39 and graduated when i was 45. i wanted to wait until the children were old enough to stay home alone. please do not be discouraged with comments made by other people. you have the support of your family, and i am sure you will do just fine. if you have been out of school for some time like myself, it might take a little while to get in the so called "groove", but it is a very attainable goal. if in you heart, this is what you really want to do, go for it and good luck to you. best regards. elish

By any chance, did a corporation take over this facility? Seems like things are going from bad to worse with our profession. Corporations are buying up the hospitals and long term care facilities in droves. Lots of $$$$$ to be made here. :angryfire They can blame a lot of the nursing shortage on this. corporate greed. They can keep building outpatient surgical sites, labs, cancer centers, but God forbid, don't put all that profit money toward any salaries to enable safer nursing care. To think they have the gull to blame it ALL on lower reimbursment. Bull. There is no doubt that this is what mainly changed many into leaving this profession, but also prevents many from even considering it, as well. The bottom line is the almighty buck. I could not agree more on making sure every little thing one is promised during an interview/hiring is indeed, in writing. If not, you have no recourse at all. And do not ever sign anything negative in an evaluation that is not true. Note on the form what your version is and sign it after that. This may come back to haunt you if you do not write how it really happened. I really do not mean to sound so darn pessimistic, but I have seen what negative changes have occurred since corporations took over. Our profession is being distroyed, and safe patient care is going down the tubes. I just recently quit another hospital job due to this. My husband has stated for years that nurses are mainly at fault for most of their woes in the profession today. It has been mainly a female profession where so many are far too submissive to demand better treatment. I have witnessed this so many times, even with new grads. Nurses must start standing up for better rights. Patient care must be safe. Afterall. Is this not why many go into this profession? Is it not a caring profession? The corporations are taking that away from us. Good luck to all in situations as this one posted that warranted my reply.[/

thanks for the response efy2178. i am going to get on a newspaper search for debuque to see if i can find the article you mentioned so i can copy/print/forward it to many of the rns in my area who are not unionized. :roll :roll :roll

I was so glad to see this subject matter concerning issues that need to be addressed with our profession. I am so frustrated with my profession that I have found it difficult to stay at numerous facilities due to low staffing, by choice, in our area, and ultimately, unsafe nursing care. Even though we hear about the Not For Profit healthcare facilities, they are indeed making a profit. When we, in our area see how much unneeded remoldeling, new surgical sites(we really do not need any more in our area where there is a glut of them), some have questioned why some of the profit monies are not put toward hiring more staff to enable much safer care for our patients, are told that porfits must be put back into the facility, and not allowed for hiring more staff. Come on now, give me a break. Hospitals are now mainly run/owned by corporations, and many, I am afraid might believe that profit is the bottom line even at the expense of safe care. How many of the CEO's really even understand providing first hand safe care? Do they even have a degree/background in the medical field? Let me also make a comment concerning the nursing shortage. There is none at all in our area of Ohio. In fact, they just keep eliminating more staff to the point that many should fear being a patient admitted in house today or a family member of said patient. I sincerely realize that there may indeed be a shortage in some areas, but not ours. This is not to say that they do not advertise as needing staff, but, I know people who have been interviewed, but we find months later that they never even hired anyone. Is this done for a reason? I don't know, but cannot help but question what is really going on here. It is NOT due to a reduction in clients for sure. Every time I hear a comment made by a patient or their family members as to incompetant care, I inform them that they really need to contact administration, because that is where the real problem arose anyway. The staff can complain all they want up the corporate ladder, but to not avail. Some mention that what it is going to take is for patients and their family members to start questioning just how/why their loved one died, or had some other life-threatening situation occur. High dollar lawsuits for the neglect which may have caused such tramas will hopefully hit these corporations responsible in their pockets and they may finally realize that they have made a grave error at the expense of human lives. I understand fully why so many are leaving this "caring" profession. Who would have thought about getting a degree in this field only to neglect and not nurture due to low and unsafe staffing concerns. I believe this is happening worldwide, and also believe it is mainly a greed factor. Money is indeed the most motivating factor. I am tired of hearing complaints blaming only Medicare reimbursment and the insurance companies. Okay, perhaps to some extent, but what about all the money basically wasted on remoldeling, new surgical sites etc. to spend the aforementioned profits? All I can say is that most nurses out there today want more than anything to be able to provide our clients with the safest care possible. We want so much to nurture, not neglect, and hope we will be around to once again be there for our clients in all the ways necessary to provide safe care. Best regards to all.