So what hospitals/systems are making what cuts?

[mama_d, BSN, RN]

I work for SSM, and as they continue to "tighten their belt" by taking away benefits/incentives, I was wondering what employees of other systems especially in the St. Louis area are dealing with. So far, we've had a torrent of memos and rumors about what is going on. Verified in print are that there is no more tuition reimbursement, no more loan reimbursement, no more 403(b) matching, no raises for upper upper management this year, no funds available for non-company inservices. Supposedly it's for 2009 but there's nothing stating definitively when they'll re-evaluate the situation. We also just found out that there is no more bonus pay for extra shifts and no more sign-on bonuses. Personally I think they're shooting themselves in the foot at this point, but who cares what I think? I'm just a floor nurse. We're also dealing with an environment where what would have hardly been noticed before as far as employees speaking out is resulting in e-mails that basically say "toe the line or find somewhere else to work".

So what are the rest of you dealing with? Anyone else out there find that suddenly the atmosphere of their facility has turned into one where the best thing to do is keep your head down and your mouth shut? Anyone have any ideas as far as programs to implement to help deal with the situation? (Example...as a cost saving measure, we just went through and cleaned out all of the extra supplies that we don't normally use to send back to SPD so that they can be distributed where they will get use.)

[expo4u]

Up until about a month ago I was working at barnes as a tech. I now have my rn license and have yet to find a job. It is a real scary time for the patients as a lot of nurses are soo overworked that they are doing assessments without even looking at their patients. The moral and willingness to help patients has fallen as well. I know of several nurses that will sit as far away from their patients as possible to avoid answering their pleas for help. Many nurses take extra breaks and expect the techs to do their job for them. The lack of proper staffing that is patient to nurse ratio is poor. This is the way barnes wants it they want to sqeeze their nurses and staff until they walk out the door and then they pull in more unsafe nurses at a lesser pay. For instance they have nurses that graduated 6 months ago acting as charge nurses...does this sound safe. Why are they doing this ...simply..MONEY.

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

up until about a month ago i was working at barnes as a tech. i now have my rn license and have yet to find a job.

this is the way barnes wants it they want to sqeeze their nurses and staff until they walk out the door and then they pull in more unsafe nurses at a lesser pay. for instance they have nurses that graduated 6 months ago acting as charge nurses...does this sound safe. why are they doing this ...simply..money.

hate to say it, but this sound a bit like sour grapes. i don't know why they're not hiring you, but if they're hiring "unsafe" nurses at lesser pay, then it seems they would be gobbling up those who are complaining on these boards about not getting hired there.

i think there's very few, if any, industries not being affected by this economy. i don't know that employers are using it as an excuse to take advantage of employees, but one only has to read the headlines and related stories to see that more than 10% of folks are unemployed -- period; more in some areas of the country. try to be grateful you have a job and deal with it as best you can. if you think you can't stand it, look elsewhere. you may decide you don't have it so bad when the direct deposits keep you in milk and eggs while others are not sure how they're going to pay their mortgage. i just don't see this is going to get better before it gets worse for many.

[expo4u]

it is obvious that you are one of the new nurses at ba whom thinks they are above their discriminating ways. Well you will find out just give it time. However this post was not about ba it is about hospitals making cut backs. Ba is cutting back the number of nurses it is using making for an unsafe environment. If you would look at what the patient needs insted of what the hospital administrators want than maybe you would be able to figure it out. Simply ba and most other hospitals want that bottom line money. Cut backs mostly do nothing but hurt the patients. For a direct example...using supplies that are in an isolation room for a patient that is not on isolation. The management is aware of this and stated that this is common practice. Perhaps that is why mrsa is on the rise. All because someone wants money. And dont think that you manager dosnt get bonuses for keeping their department under budget.

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

it is obvious that you are one of the new nurses at ba whom thinks they are above their discriminating ways. Well you will find out just give it time. However this post was not about ba it is about hospitals making cut backs. Ba is cutting back the number of nurses it is using making for an unsafe environment. If you would look at what the patient needs insted of what the hospital administrators want than maybe you would be able to figure it out. Simply ba and most other hospitals want that bottom line money. Cut backs mostly do nothing but hurt the patients. For a direct example...using supplies that are in an isolation room for a patient that is not on isolation. The management is aware of this and stated that this is common practice. Perhaps that is why mrsa is on the rise. All because someone wants money. And dont think that you manager dosnt get bonuses for keeping their department under budget.

Seriously, go somewhere that people want to read your negative posts. And if you're directing the statement:

it is obvious that you are one of the new nurses at ba whom thinks they are above their discriminating ways.

.

at me, then you seriously have no clue what you're talking about and it's no wonder you're having difficulties finding a job. I don't work for Barnes and doubt I ever will; I don't know that after almost a year I can be considered a new grad; and I don't think I'm above anybody's "ways". I'm a realist who understands that times are tough -- all over. If you're not finding a job, I'd quit using the "I'm male" excuse and figure out what the REAL reason is you're not being hired. On the floor I WAS on (I'll reiterate in case you missed it the first time -- NOT at Barnes), they hired a male nurse who had been a tech for a year or so. There was never a question. There were several males on that floor; several on another floor I floated to including charge nurses and the clinician. I interned at an ED here locally a couple of years ago and there were quite a few male nurses who worked there; some for many years. I was just there recently and they have added to their male employees in that unit. I just don't see the issues you keep posting on these boards. I DO see people who don't present themselves well, or have bad attitudes, or know-it-all attitudes who are having problems getting -- and keeping -- jobs.

I also think that someone who's truly worried about getting a job locally should maybe quit sounding off on these boards about conditions in patient care that I would find hard to imagine in any decent hospital. I know where I worked it was possible that these things happened, but woe be to the nurse/tech who was caught doing them. Many people and possibly employers are now looking online to see what potential employees are doing; you are not above being further discriminated against if someone believes YOU are the poster.

And your argument about LPNs is laughable. Hospitals are going toward requiring higher-level degree RNs rather than lowering the education requirements.

I would just seriously like to re-suggest that you look inwards for the issues that have kept you from finding employment. With all the fine medical facilities we have in this area, there's bound to be work for hard-working, ethical, and caring RNs -- both experienced and new grads.

Someone posted on these boards in the past year that they were discouraged as they had applied for a Fellowship here in town and hadn't heard anything back. But then she wrote she realized: "you are not the only hospital in town". I'd suggest leaving your vendetta against Barnes in your past and moving on; and soon.

[4jen]

Back to the OP, I am in KCMO and I work for a not for profit. We no longer have the bonus attached to weekend alt. From what I have gathered (I am new) you still get paid for almost 3 days however you get nothing extra. It sounds like the bonus was pretty substantial.

Apparently they also took back a cost of living raise.

Another hospital (private) has laid off 35 nurses.

Many other have hiring freezes.

At this point I am grateful for a job and I love the hospital I work for. I worked for Sprint for 10 years so the stuff is nothing to me.

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

At this point I am grateful for a job and I love the hospital I work for. I worked for Sprint for 10 years so the stuff is nothing to me.

I think that's why this isn't fazing me much. I worked for a company that had 4 layoffs over 7 years, never mind the piddling here and there letting go of people. Cutbacks? That was done in one fell swoop and then there was almost nothing in the way of raises, bonuses or anything else that we received in the years following 9/11.

I think it's scary to hear that RNs are being let go on top of ancillary staff! But overall, it's just nice to be in a fairly stable employment position compared to many other industries/positions who are going to be suffering for some time it sounds like....

[APRN., DNP, RN, APRN, NP]

Nursing has a code of ethics,

http://nursingworld.org/ethics/code/protected_nwcoe813.htm#2.2

and I think it would behoove you to read it before you place much more emphasis upon stressing that keeping your mouth shut and doing what your employers tells you to do is more important than advocating for the best standards of practice for your patients.

[WDWpixieRN, RN]

Nursing has a code of ethics,

http://nursingworld.org/ethics/code/protected_nwcoe813.htm#2.2

and I think it would behoove you to read it before you place much more emphasis upon stressing that keeping your mouth shut and doing what your employers tells you to do is more important than advocating for the best standards of practice for your patients.

Again, the virtual world is sometimes hard to decipher, but if this refers to my post, I wasn't at all inferring that anyone should keep their mouth shut and do anything that involved less-than-stellar patient care. I'm a huge advocate for patient rights and safety and believe that anyone who feels they should do less might want to rethink their chosen vocation.

My point was that the poster has chosen, in several threads, to continually bash this facility which has an excellent reputation in this community and for whom several friends I know work for. Celebrities, sports figures, and lots of regular folks utilize this hospital for their care. And while I'm not naive enough (or plenty old enough) to know that some don't follow good standards of care in their everyday work for whatever reason, I find it hard to believe that the management in this facility is ENCOURAGING or demanding that this be best practice. If that were the case, I would truly expect that among the thousands of employees who work there, many would have blown the whistle long ago, especially before the economy hit this wall. Jobs have been plentiful and the experienced employees from there would have had no trouble moving on to another facility in town. It just appears that this poster has had something that's been more of a personal problem with them or their management and it would behoove him to move on or figure out why that's happening rather than use these forums to trash their reputation after mentioning that he's applied to over 50 positions within their horrible working standards and conditions and can't get hired.

My apologies if my post came across as expecting anything less top-notch nursing care and standards for the patients we come in contact with!

[expo4u]

Think again before you post. I have worked all over the hospital system. There are many good points and for the most part is is excellent however, there is still those that support the cost cutting methods that put patients at risk. Soo. please before you post on this hospital think about the fact that they are a very large facility and yes they have excellent nurses and those that just don't care. I am stating what this tread was started about. Soo I will say again this thread is about the cuts in hospitals in general not about a specific hospital. ALL hospitals are making cuts and whom will suffer THE PATIENT. Please, get you head on straight and stop making this a personal attack on you. It is about the patient.