There are so many unemployed new grads out there that pretty soon we are going to be willing to work for minimum wage if things don't change soon. I bet hospitals would be willing to hire lots and lots of us at that price. That might even translate to loss of jobs and decreased wages for those experienced nurses already employed.
You might want to encourage your hospital to give new grads a chance instead of requiring experience for every job posting they have. Maybe be a little more enthusiastic about helping to train them.
for the record - i'm a cna/second degree nursing student
oh, wait, i'm more educated than most of our nurses
a healthy, educted nurse will stand by and watch
sorry, but i can't help but by cynical.
there are a FEW (and i mean FEW) nurses who will help turn their patients
because the CNA gets paid so well? i got paid better 10 years ago at a fast food joint, for the record.
you're so educated you don't know what ASSISTANT means?
I'm cynical because I'm more educated than most nurses
just saying.
I just took you off ignore in time to see this post. I see you have the same angry and arrogant attitude that convinced me to put you on ignore originally. It's not what you say, it's how you say it and how you look at/think about things. I hope you find peace one day... for your future coworkers' sakes. Until then, you are backatignore!
But when they cannot physically do the labor that is being asked of them, i think thats when it's time to start thinking of something they are capable of doing.
, Im just saying im sick of doing their work for them because "They have a bad back" or "need to rest"
Our patients get turned every 2 hours, and its the job of the RN and the CNA to do their own patients TOGETHER. So every 2 hours we get together with our RN and turn our patients that need to be turned or can't do it themselves.
but when im paired with these nurses (Im still a CNA-transitioning into RN role), i get REALLY frustrated because i have to wait until the other nurses or the other CNA's are done with their patient's so i can get mine turned because the nurse i'm with can't do it, because of her "bad back"
i just had physical eval they do for a job, and it was a requirment that i could lift "50 lbs" Hey...no problem for me!! I'm 22 years old. I can lift 50 lbs. But these nurses im talking about couldnt lift 10 lbs! So what makes it ok for them to not be able to lift 50 lbs.??
50 pounds? I can lift 50 pounds with no problem and I am older than 50.
The problem is, I have never had a pt that weighed 50 pounds. 500 pounds is
more like it. When you have 500 pounds of intubated, sedated weight talk to me
about lifting a mere 50 pounds. I ripped cartilage from my rib cage lifting a 500
pounder with one person's help, and it WILL NEVER happen again.
There's nothing wrong with asking for EXTRA lifting help for dead weight > 300
lbs and I don't care how old you are.
Thats great you can do that though!! But yes, I'm like 95% sure these nurses im talking about couldnt lift the required 50lbs. What about these 500-600 lbs patients we get?? It's not like i can turn them myself.. given NOBODY i know can turn a 500 lb patient themself, but they can atleast be apart of the "team" that does. So i understand that, im not going to ask anyone to turn a 500 lb patient with just the two of us, but atleast be apart of the people that do. Don't just sit back and watch it happen and direct what we do.! its really annoying.
I appologize if i offended anyone, it's just something that has really bothered me because it puts alot of extra workload on me or the other PCT's when we are assigned with them.
while i agree that one ought to be able to do the job for which one is hired, i fail to see what having grandchilddren in nursing school, being old or being overweight has to do with anything. i have a bad back but still manage to do my work.
i've yet to see a unit where the young do the work of the older nurses . . . usually it's the other way around! the new grads i work with seem to spend an awful lot of time sitting down staring at their smartphones while those of us "old nurses" who are too out of it to see the point of facebook answer their call lights.
ok i never said having grandchildren has anything to do with it. but she is 76 years old...and not a healthy 76 year old nurse...
this isnt about you and what you are able to do. that's great you can still do the work, but there are people out there that are not able to do the work anymore. and personally...i think you too are being a little judgmental towards us "young nurses" by stating we bring our smart phones and check facebook alot at work. given i do have a smart phone, but i never bring it on the floor. i'll check my phone on my break or if i have a few minutes down time, but never ever do i just sit there texting/playing on my smart phone.
i don't know anyone on our floor that does...so i don't know what kind of place you work in, but if majority of your young nurses are doing this then maybe its time for a meeting with the manager about this. not professional!
The problem is that there are so many people lining up to be nurses who have absolutely NO business being in the nursing field in the first place. We have "diploma mills" cranking out thousands of incompetent nurses each year. The only ones who are going to get the job are the ones who have shown that they are adequate in their line of work. New grads haven't proven themselves to be competent, but yet they aren't given a chance. It is a viscous cycle.
As for the nursing shortage, right now there are thousands of hospitals freezing their employment and new grad orientation programs. BUT, a nurse with a decent gpa, a [legit] BSN, and volunteer experience can find a nursing job...but it may not be the nursing job they want.
while i agree that one ought to be able to do the job for which one is hired, i fail to see what having grandchilddren in nursing school, being old or being overweight has to do with anything. i have a bad back but still manage to do my work.
i've yet to see a unit where the young do the work of the older nurses . . . usually it's the other way around! the new grads i work with seem to spend an awful lot of time sitting down staring at their smartphones while those of us "old nurses" who are too out of it to see the point of facebook answer their call lights.
i'm actually going have to agree with the other poster. we need nurses who are in good shape and are good models of health, not extremely overweight nurses. that's like having a person with rotten teeth be a dentist or someone who hates learning be a teacher.
i'm not saying nurses have to be young, but they do have to fit and capable of doing their job. as for age limits, i wouldn't hire someone over the age of 60.
I'm actually going have to agree with the other poster. We need nurses who are in good shape and are good models of health, not extremely overweight nurses. That's like having a person with rotten teeth be a dentist or someone who hates learning be a teacher.
I'm not saying nurses have to be young, but they do have to fit and capable of doing their job. As for age limits, I wouldn't hire someone over the age of 60.
Thankyou-finally someone sees my point without jumping all over my back about it!!
i was NOT in anyway trying to be mean or offend anyone, just simply stating they NEED to be able to do the tasks that are being asked of them. They need to be able to physically do the same things that i can do. And they are being babied because of their age. If i went into my physical and couldnt lift 50 lbs, then i wouldnt get the job...So why is it ok for them to not be able to do things?
Thankyou-finally someone sees my point without jumping all over my back about it!!
i was NOT in anyway trying to be mean or offend anyone, just simply stating they NEED to be able to do the tasks that are being asked of them. They need to be able to physically do the same things that i can do. And they are being babied because of their age. If i went into my physical and couldnt lift 50 lbs, then i wouldnt get the job...So why is it ok for them to not be able to do things?
Exactly. Some fields of Nursing include heavy lifting, and it would be extremely unfair to make the fitter Nurses do all the back breaking work while all the other nurses are given a free pass.
But she is 76 years old...and not a healthy 76 year old nurse...
I'm not saying you are wrong... just that there might be a different perspective to justify the situation.
Perhaps management isn't cold hearted enough to throw out a 76 year old nurse who has given 30 or 40 or 50 years to the company. Could you do that if you controlled the pink slip? (If yes, I forsee a future in management for you )
Perhaps it is cheaper to have her work reduced duty than to force her to retire...
I really don't know your situation, I'm just saying there are always multiple perspectives...
I'm not saying you are wrong... just that there might be a different perspective to justify the situation.
Perhaps management isn't cold hearted enough to throw out a 76 year old nurse who has given 30 or 40 or 50 years to the company. Could you do that if you controlled the pink slip? (If yes, I forsee a future in management for you )
Perhaps it is cheaper to have her work reduced duty than to force her to retire...
I really don't know your situation, I'm just saying there are always multiple perspectives...
Nah, you don't "throw out" the 76 year old nurse. You retire her, give her a good package deal and bennies, and call it a day.
It cost about 60,000 train a new grad. And any newgrad willing to work for minimum wage is not going to last long.
Everyone throws out these stats... 60K or 40K or 80K or 30K to train a new grad. Where the heck do these numbers come from? I bet it is the same thing in HR. Someone told someone that it costs $X to hire new grads, the groupthink grew, and nobody really is doing true cost/benefit analysis.
Anyone have any hard numbers with citable reliable sources?
I'm not saying you are wrong... just that there might be a different perspective to justify the situation.
Perhaps management isn't cold hearted enough to throw out a 76 year old nurse who has given 30 or 40 or 50 years to the company. Could you do that if you controlled the pink slip? (If yes, I forsee a future in management for you )
Perhaps it is cheaper to have her work reduced duty than to force her to retire...
I really don't know your situation, I'm just saying there are always multiple perspectives...
Yes, i would ask her to leave. Because..yes i know this is a business so it would be cheaper to keep this nurse. But in this business we put the patients FIRST! their care comes first. And when their care is being compromised because the nurse cannot fulfill the task that is being asked of them, that's when action needs to be taken.
Would i fire her?? No...but i would offer a retirment package, talk with her about her options if she still wishes to continue working. but in this health business, we are forgetting about the patients at the bed who depend on the nurses. you cannot depend on her to fullfill her patient's needs (Being cleaned, turned, put on the commode, taken to the bathroom, wound cares, wrapping a patients legs on patients who cant hold their legs up themselves)
I can lift 50 pounds with no problem and I am older than 50.
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SummitRN, BSN, RN
2 Articles; 1,567 Posts
I just took you off ignore in time to see this post. I see you have the same angry and arrogant attitude that convinced me to put you on ignore originally. It's not what you say, it's how you say it and how you look at/think about things. I hope you find peace one day... for your future coworkers' sakes. Until then, you are backatignore!