I have 12 days a year vacation time allowed to me, this includes my sick time, sick child days in fact days off for any reason you can give.
12 whole days and I only earn these 12 days if I work 36 hours a week every week of the year. So if I am sick or have a day off I dont earn 12 days.
So can anybody tell me why we get burnt out, we cant be sick unless it is on our days off. we work week in and week out with heavy workloads petrified in case we catch something because then we wont have any hours left. God forbid you get cancelled or you family has a crisis because you wont get paid for being off if you use those 12 days which again you can only have if you have worked 36 hours every week of the year.
So now tell me why nurses get burnt out, maybe we should rally for better working conditions, which include good quality time off not vacation and sick clumped together.
i am aways amazes at the attitude of american nurses who state that we are better off than others who are employed. as if that means we shouldnt better ourselves by wanting to be treated well and appreciated. just because our benfits are good and we have short term disability and can earn days off if we constantly work, doesnt mean that there is no better way to get adavncement in these conditions. i was sick for 12 weeks and didnt earn any time, as the word means you have to earn it.
why can we not look at other countries where they give you 8 weeks paid vacation a year, and thats without earning it, 6 month's paid sick time, and not fear every day in case you make a minor mistake and they will sack you, or if you pick up a bug from the floor, or a cold, you still come to work, and spread the illness, because you dont want to use your paid time off, as it leaves you with no time for any vacations. the ward that comes to mind when i think of the terms of my employment are "archaic", and i have an employer who supposedly is one of the best.
Gotta agree with Cariad..Other people get better benefits, more vacation time from their employers. We don't even get benefits when we retire. It frightens me to grow old in this country sometimes. It frightens me to have a baby in this country also since most employers get away with treating their pregnant employees as a buirden and a disease. My cousin was forced to go back to work despite taking the time allotted from FMLA and her vacation time. They would call her at home and ask her to start doing new projects for work while she was on maternity leave. Then they told her, she would lose her position if she didn't go back. Well, she's got a baby to feed so of course she had to go back.
I think nurses get burned out because of a lack of nursing leadership. While the patient load, lack of enough registered nurses, lack of support services, and dwindling reimbursements (hospitals actually lose money on med/surg floors) have negatively impacted the nursing experience, the nursing leadership has not kept up with these changes. Take for instance that the nursing process is still the cornerstone of most nursing management techniques. There is no time for the nursing process in today's world. What is needed instead are good retention policies that reward nurses for their work. These can come in the form of job sharing, i.e. floor nurse development of work schedules that allow for greater flexibility in scheduling that is developed with new HR policies, systems that support nurse errors with constructive vs. punitive outcomes, and development of professional tracks so that nurses are encouraged to become financial experts at budgets and labor productivity that matches the patient census by time of the month, day of the week, and time of day (getting real metrics and working with them with finance, IT and HR) when nurses want to become managers/directors. Another trend that is positively impacting nursing care is the development of innovative case management teams made up of RNs, coders, and physicians. This all takes great nursing leadership at the top. And last but not least is a CNO who effectively makes the business case to other executives on the value of nursing care to outcomes. When it can be shown that the hospital actually lost money due to hospital acquired infections or care for avoidable medical mistakes, it prompts hospital officials to consider adding nurses. They can do this by downsizing other nonproductive areas (too many associate VPs who do not add value, too many nursing projects that take up valuable time that could be spent with patients, and asking nurses to be responsible for coming up with ways to deliver more effective care by changing inefficient processes. The bottom line is that when nursing departments do nothing to innovate, nursing as a whole is seen as nothing short of a labor center, costing the hospital too much with nothing to show for what nurses really can do every day. We have settled too many times into the discomfort of being an oppressed group with no voice. Talk to your nurse managers about process changes. Get these process changes in writing to your managers. Ask that the managers create a process to review these with Nursing Directors. Get the directors to show the CNO these process improvements, and document negative outcomes as a result of sticking with old, outdated care delivery. While working as a nursing systems finance manager, I presented data from the SCUs on back injuries/time off from work because those rooms did not have patient lifts. We calculated the cost of time off from work (bringing in premium per diems, for example), and patient outcomes as a result of not being turned (development of decubiti.) The CNO took this data to her weekly VP meeting and within a month, every single SCU room had a patient lift. The CNO had NO IDEA what was happening on those units because of not having lifts. So get out there with your ideas and turn nursing into a department that other managers can benefit from by using some of the same measurement techniques - evidence is the key. Use real patient scenarios. It works! And once you realize you have a voice, it begins to transform nursing culture. You won't win every time, but you can't stop, either. But as I said, it takes strong leadership to support new initiatives like this. Without it, burn out is very likely to occur. Start the fires in good ways!
I think nurses get burned out because of a lack of nursing leadership. While the patient load, lack of enough registered nurses, lack of support services, and dwindling reimbursements (hospitals actually lose money on med/surg floors) have negatively impacted the nursing experience, the nursing leadership has not kept up with these changes. Take for instance that the nursing process is still the cornerstone of most nursing management techniques. There is no time for the nursing process in today's world. What is needed instead are good retention policies that reward nurses for their work. These can come in the form of job sharing, i.e. floor nurse development of work schedules that allow for greater flexibility in scheduling that is developed with new HR policies, systems that support nurse errors with constructive vs. punitive outcomes, and development of professional tracks so that nurses are encouraged to become financial experts at budgets and labor productivity that matches the patient census by time of the month, day of the week, and time of day (getting real metrics and working with them with finance, IT and HR) when nurses want to become managers/directors. Another trend that is positively impacting nursing care is the development of innovative case management teams made up of RNs, coders, and physicians. This all takes great nursing leadership at the top. And last but not least is a CNO who effectively makes the business case to other executives on the value of nursing care to outcomes. When it can be shown that the hospital actually lost money due to hospital acquired infections or care for avoidable medical mistakes, it prompts hospital officials to consider adding nurses. They can do this by downsizing other nonproductive areas (too many associate VPs who do not add value, too many nursing projects that take up valuable time that could be spent with patients, and asking nurses to be responsible for coming up with ways to deliver more effective care by changing inefficient processes. The bottom line is that when nursing departments do nothing to innovate, nursing as a whole is seen as nothing short of a labor center, costing the hospital too much with nothing to show for what nurses really can do every day. We have settled too many times into the discomfort of being an oppressed group with no voice. Talk to your nurse managers about process changes. Get these process changes in writing to your managers. Ask that the managers create a process to review these with Nursing Directors. Get the directors to show the CNO these process improvements, and document negative outcomes as a result of sticking with old, outdated care delivery. While working as a nursing systems finance manager, I presented data from the SCUs on back injuries/time off from work because those rooms did not have patient lifts. We calculated the cost of time off from work (bringing in premium per diems, for example), and patient outcomes as a result of not being turned (development of decubiti.) The CNO took this data to her weekly VP meeting and within a month, every single SCU room had a patient lift. The CNO had NO IDEA what was happening on those units because of not having lifts. So get out there with your ideas and turn nursing into a department that other managers can benefit from by using some of the same measurement techniques - evidence is the key. Use real patient scenarios. It works! And once you realize you have a voice, it begins to transform nursing culture. You won't win every time, but you can't stop, either. But as I said, it takes strong leadership to support new initiatives like this. Without it, burn out is very likely to occur. Start the fires in good ways!
Northwestwind,
I really want to read what you have to say. Paragraphs would really help me read your thoughts better.
I apologize, just saw the flag next to your info and assumed it was current. Guess that is what I get for assuming. Well knowing you work here in the US than I am not surprised at all. This is the country that feels new moms only deserve 6 weeks off but that is a whole other debate lol
I know it is confusing I guess I still fly the flag:D
The 'new mum' getting no time off amazes me I was a midwife in the uK once long ago and sometimes we didnt sign off on our women until 6 weeks post natal. I cannot imagine expecting these women to go back to wrok, I know in the UK they got 26 weeks paid and then 26 weeks unpaid. I believe in european countries they get 1 yr paid time off.
Go Everybody how do we support changes, has anybody out there in the US had good positive changes?
272 hours if you are working 12 hours shift equals 22.6 days off per year. Yes that is good if you also had separate sick time off. I bet just as where I work that those 22.6 days off also have to be used for any sick time off for youself or children or spouse if they need. Also with the recent cuts to budgets if you want to attend an educational seminar and it happens to fall on your day to work you will use your pto for that also. If you are called off due to low census you will most likely use your pto..
Given that some of us try and save PTO just in case we ever get really sick such as needing surgery. Tends to place us in the position of not taking more than 2 weeks off as we are afraid to use our PTO time for anything.
But I agree the amount of hours stated are better than nothing .
I just wanted to add as an example that my husband works for a major telephone company. He did not go to college. He is a high school graduate. He learned on the job and has been with the company for 10 years. However my husband not only has fully paid medical and dental; his base pay is $33.00/hour. I feel blessed that he has this job but...where is the equality?? If his job is worth $33/hr and full benefits; ours is worth $66/hour...
I have been a R.N. for 20 years. My hourly wage is LESS than his and our hospitals benefits are mediocre at best and we have to contribute to them. He makes MORE per hour and has better benefits!! Why?? He is in a union and it is a male dominated field...that is my opinion anyway...
I feel that all R.N.'s are sadly underpaid and underperked in the benefits department unless they are fortunate to work for the VA (government) where the benefits and pay are a bit better.
However, overall I feel we are very much overworked, underappreciated and underpaid which makes me very angry! I am certain that there have to be other seasoned nurses out there that agree with me.
A bit off-topic but it caught my attention and I wanted to respond...
I think that salary inequalities between men and women are in some part due to an unspoken assumption that most men have a family to support...Which is kind of crazy since statistically, 1 out of 3 children do not share residence with their biological fathers.
He makes MORE per hour and has better benefits!! Why?? He is in a union and it is a male dominated field...that is my opinion anyway...
cariad
628 Posts
i am aways amazes at the attitude of american nurses who state that we are better off than others who are employed. as if that means we shouldnt better ourselves by wanting to be treated well and appreciated. just because our benfits are good and we have short term disability and can earn days off if we constantly work, doesnt mean that there is no better way to get adavncement in these conditions. i was sick for 12 weeks and didnt earn any time, as the word means you have to earn it.
why can we not look at other countries where they give you 8 weeks paid vacation a year, and thats without earning it, 6 month's paid sick time, and not fear every day in case you make a minor mistake and they will sack you, or if you pick up a bug from the floor, or a cold, you still come to work, and spread the illness, because you dont want to use your paid time off, as it leaves you with no time for any vacations. the ward that comes to mind when i think of the terms of my employment are "archaic", and i have an employer who supposedly is one of the best.