We've been getting really brutalized at work of late. I think we were on divert/bypass for 3 straight days this past week. Pts. every freaking where - to the point that Saturday morning, I was juggling 6 pts. by myself with three of them sharing the same hall-way bed assignment on the tracking board. It was a four hour wait - "minimum" out in the waiting area (post triage) and it was taking upto 5 hours for some pts. to see a doctor!
One of our CT scanners has been down for over 2 months while they replace it.... not that it matters any different since there is only one CT tech on duty! The wait-time it takes to get a CT is starting to look ludicrous (almost as bad as our infamous one-time record of 93 minutes to return a lab Troponin level ... I always draw an extra tube now so that I can run a bedside Troponin if needed).
If this wasn't bad enough, some of them smart-folks in management decided this was the time to wax/strip our floors. If you thought your ER couldn't smell any worse or get any noisier - think again!! Bad enough you have to work in such an environment - but to be 'assaulted' by these smells and sounds when you're trying to concentrate on an empty stomach and a full bladder is truly trying!
Our computer system is still suffering from "glitches" and it's been over 3 months since we upgraded to the newer, better, more STABLE system. And speaking of "stable systems" - the tube system has been going "down" routinely... almost at the rate of 2-3 times per week. Lab taking forever to get results? Well, you're wait time just got longer - because the computers are down and you're back to using paper slips and the tube system is down which means instead of instantaneously sending samples to lab, some poor fella has to ru 'em up stairs....
We're out of the regular "stock" of Dilaudid and Morphine carpujects (especially the nifty, handy 1 mg Dilaudid and 4 mg Morphine ones). Which means, every time a Doc orders Dilaudid 1 mg (which we hand out like candy round here at Crack City Hospital ER), you have to find another nurse to "waste" or else Pyxis won't vend. And when you run out of the 2 mg ones as well, you have to revert to using the multi-dose vials
Oh and did I mention the fact that JCAHO is coming? Y'all know what that means, right?
Why does it all have to happen during the freaking WINTER??? THEY KNOW it's our BUSIEST freaking time of the year!! Why do they choose to do computer updates, CT scanner updates, floor waxing and all the other crap during the middle of the forsaken winter??!!! Who are the numbskulls who get to make these decisions??!! :banghead:
We're desperately short techs - which means nurses are left holding the bag when it comes to vitals, ekgs, transport to tests and the 1001 other things that our techs do. So it takes 2 hours for someone to get a head CT because there are 35 other people in line and we have only 1 tech to do transport....
Every one and their grandmother seems to be sick.
Every one is stressed out and every one is grouchy and every one is disgusted with the way things are going.
I love winter but seriously, work is messing up the vibes.
Gah!
ticked off,
Roy (who is off to the range to relieve some stress)
:banghead: