As nurses, we all need a bit of "power" or energy, per se, to get through our shifts. This includes both physical and mental power.
Lately, I've been finding that my mental power has significantly decreased. I still want to do well for my patients, but honestly, the more they complain, yell, and demand, the less I want to do for them. I'm worried this is dangerous thinking and want it to stop so I can make sure everyone's needs are met.
Really, my brain is so overwhelmed by all of the requests I get on a daily basis. Whenever I get asked to do something else, I'm not motivated to complete it right away. Instead, I put it off for a bit because it just makes me want to shut down, not help.
I'm sure things haven't actually changed or worsened lately. I just don't have as much tolerance for it anymore. I actually come into work later and leave earlier now just to get away from it all for as long as possible. The increase in sleep hasn't helped, though--my body is greedy and always wants more.
Any tips to get through work shifts when your brain is in pain? I just want to make sure I'm able to care for everyone and want to move away from my brain wanting to shut down every time someone needs something
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
1 hour ago, Davey Do said:
Our food came from Wrongway's cafeteria which was named "Spice of Life".
One nurse commented that the cafe should have been named "Source of Death".
Oh I have worked in several places that had horrible cafeterias. And a couple where they were actually awesome. Where I am now, we just get food brought in and the managers expense it I am sure.
WOW where I work they get Olive Garden, Outback, Chipotle, etc. I consider myself pretty lucky and attend unless I am on the floor.
We had a couple staff Christmas outings, but it was pay as you go, not provided by the hospital or manager. I do believe they have a budget for stuff like that. I did work with a nice supervisor who bought pizzas for us one night as we'd had some rough shifts, that was appreciated.
brandy, I regularly read your posts and enjoy your perspectives and insights, so I feel free to take an opposing viewpoint in this subject of "Promoting Mental Power..."
I've pretty much closed the book on "the toxic hospital" that I left, Wrongway Regional Medical Center and am comfortable with the decision. Wrongway was a big part of my life for over 17 years, so I continue to reference experiences in my art and posts. However, I do not wish for it to be an ongoing saga in my current life as a retired nurse.
I, too, feel some empathy for the staff and patients, but that empathy does not me "feel bad". Having no regular current connections with anyone from Wrongway has aided me in my separation, and my feelings, toward Wrongway.
Part of me would like to know Wrongway is only getting "worse" in order to reinforce my decision for cutting ties with it, but not enough to be proactive.
My decision stems partially from who I am, but somehow I intuitively realise know that this is best for my mental health and well-being.
What do you think, brandy?
I'm sure you are right. I should just detach and let it go. I still get updates on facebook and when I see the few nurses left at the occasional group luncheon. I'm skipping the staff reunion get together planned for this Summer, but I'm sure I will hear about it. Yes you're right, hearing things are worse only reaffirms that I made the right decision to quit. I don't really know how the rest can stay there and keep working under the unsafe, subpar conditions. I admit I get a little frustrated with some of them not making any effort to leave and don't understand why they would choose to stay. Several are in their 60's, old enough for medicare and should certainly be able to retire. I just shake my head.
I just wish I could do something to expose Wrongway, but since I no longer work there I can't go to the media. I was strongly tempted to do so, but after the corporate compliance complaint was met with the Corona excuse, I felt it would just be disregarded by everyone. I hate that everything is just getting swept under the rug. I want the truth to be exposed and for heads to roll, but that's unlikely to happen. In the meantime, I do my little part by warning family and friends to avoid Wrongway at all costs.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
7 hours ago, brandy1017 said:
I'm sure you are right. I should just detach and let it go.
I just wish I could do something to expose Wrongway, but since I no longer work there I can't go to the media.
I'm not sure if it's a right or a wrong thing, brandy, because sometimes we require an uncomfortable emotion to motivate us to be proactive with issues.
Lynyrd Skynyrd sang, "There are things going on that you don't know", relating to problem situations that we overlook or do not take into account. I like that line because it can mean just the opposite: There are forces in play, just as well, that we are unaware of that are TCB.
Case in point: Shortly after being Fired & Retired from Wrongway, I had a meeting with a certain official. I was surprised at this official's knowledge of Wrongway's history and actions taken against it. This official supported my concerns, informed me of far worse situations at Wrongway, some ramifications thereof, and gave me a lot of other illuminating information.
I left that meeting feeling good that there were things going on that I didn't know and someone(s) were TCB.
In the end of times, everything will come out in the wash.
I'm sure you are right. I should just detach and let it go. I still get updates on facebook and when I see the few nurses left at the occasional group luncheon. I'm skipping the staff reunion get together planned for this Summer, but I'm sure I will hear about it. Yes you're right, hearing things are worse only reaffirms that I made the right decision to quit. I don't really know how the rest can stay there and keep working under the unsafe, subpar conditions. I admit I get a little frustrated with some of them not making any effort to leave and don't understand why they would choose to stay. Several are in their 60's, old enough for medicare and should certainly be able to retire. I just shake my head.
I just wish I could do something to expose Wrongway, but since I no longer work there I can't go to the media. I was strongly tempted to do so, but after the corporate compliance complaint was met with the Corona excuse, I felt it would just be disregarded by everyone. I hate that everything is just getting swept under the rug. I want the truth to be exposed and for heads to roll, but that's unlikely to happen. In the meantime, I do my little part by warning family and friends to avoid Wrongway at all costs.
Your hospital is displaying symptoms of the early stages of being closed down. Is it part of a group that would like to dump the expense of managing it?
Your hospital is displaying symptoms of the early stages of being closed down. Is it part of a group that would like to dump the expense of managing it?
Yes it is a small community hospital in a poor section of the city with a large immigrant population. We actually used to make a small profit, but now almost all their hospitals are losing money. They already tried to close down the other inner city hospital, that was losing 20-30 million a year since they took over, partly due to moving profitable surgeries and procedures to other hospitals. Surprisingly they backed down after community push back which is very unusual for this system. They routinely buy up hospitals across the country and then close and sell to boost their profits. Ironically their competitors have been making profits, even during Corona! I read the Business Journal to keep an eye on how all the healthcare/hospital systems are doing.
There are still plans for building new micro hospitals for all the systems in my area. At the same time Wrongway dumped a bunch of rural hospitals this past year. They will have to change their marketing strategy since they are no longer a state wide hospital system! Hopefully those hospitals and staff will be better off with the regional non profit that acquired them.
They are still claiming they want to improve the status of the hospital and are supposedly investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in badly needed equipment, as evidence by lack of tele monitors and oxygen flow meters for every room this past year. They hired a consultant to help hire and retain employees, but chose not to give raises out system wide due to Corona, even though they received a billion dollars from the government! I don't know how they are going to keep new nurses, when they have no plans to fix the staffing ratios and lack of support staff. Even new grads quit six months in declining a bonus to stay!
..... They are still claiming they want to improve the status of the hospital and are supposedly investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in badly needed equipment, as evidence by lack of tele monitors and oxygen flow meters for every room this past year. They hired a consultant to help hire and retain employees, but chose not to give raises out system wide due to Corona, even though they received a billion dollars from the government! I don't know how they are going to keep new nurses, when they have no plans to fix the staffing ratios and lack of support staff. Even new grads quit six months in declining a bonus to stay!
Providing raises & bonuses while plumping up staffing DOES NOT address that your facility still needed major expenditures for equip like those tele monitors & flow meters.
If they paid out more $$ for staffing as a short term 'quick fix', the lack of equip would still be a problem that staff would continue to bemoan as a source of their discontent.
Providing raises & bonuses while plumping up staffing DOES NOT address that your facility still needed major expenditures for equip like those tele monitors & flow meters.
If they paid out more $$ for staffing as a short term 'quick fix', the lack of equip would still be a problem that staff would continue to bemoan as a source of their discontent.
Like which way do they go?!?
The reality was that they had a stable workforce and enough nurses until they cut support staff to the bone and raised patient ratios which lead to a mass exodus. Their greed and stupidity cost them 2.5 million dollars for 50-60 travelers for less than a year.
Equipment is a given and they should have been cited by the state for their unsafe choice to not have enough essential equipment like heart monitors and oxygen flow meters. They actually admitted patients for heart monitoring to the floor knowing they didn't have a heart monitor for them. When informed of the lack of essential equipment heart monitors and oxygen flow meters management refused to order more. This basic essential equipment is the price of doing business and doesn't cost more than a few thousand. Their response to the corporate compliance complaint was equipment got lost due to Corona and we have enough tele monitors for average daily census! There were no plans to order more equipment at all in the response to the complaint. This was not one time, this was a chronic persistent pattern for basically the last year I worked there! When a tele monitor couldn't be found we would be told to call doctors and get another patient off tele, but the new admit was already on the floor without monitoring for an hour or more. Seriously, I wonder what Medicare would have to say about this.
But adding more equipment will not help them hire and retain staff. Unless and until they fix the staffing issues they may as well hang out a banner this hospital is run by travelers. When you need surgery we will have travel nurses to care for you. But they won't tell the public they can't keep staff. I'm not against travelers, but they are meant to fill in the gap, not run the hospital. I'm sure patients would avoid having surgery done there if they knew there were no regular nurses.
The destruction of this hospital didn't happen overnight. It took a couple years and was very deliberate by the CNO and other management. They saw they had lost over half the staff and more were leaving and they made no real efforts to fix the problem. On top of no raises, they refused to give hazard pay which their competitors were doing so that created another incentive to leave.
For me personally, I didn't quit over money. The lack of raises and hazard pay were simply another sign of their disrespect for nurses. I quit over the unsafe working conditions, the blatant disrespect and frankly being ashamed to work for such a horrible company!
I just think the public has a right to know if a hospital can't keep it's own staff and is being run with travelers and then they can make their own informed choice of where to seek care. They have a right to know that a heart monitor or oxygen flow meter might not be available, I sure hope this has since been fixed! Also they may need to be transferred to another hospital because they don't have staff to do a CT scan or surgery which obviously causes a delay in care which is vital for a stroke or emergency surgery!
Honestly, I think if this is the way they are doing business they should just shut the hospital down for the patients' sake!
SmilingBluEyes
20,964 Posts
WOW where I work they get Olive Garden, Outback, Chipotle, etc. I consider myself pretty lucky and attend unless I am on the floor.