staff reduction

Well tell us more, is your facility having financial trouble? Let me tell you I have worked at a place where this was going on. After I worked short staff for a while I envied the people who were let go. Fortunately I was old enough to take my pension and got out of there. We were working 10 and 12 patients to a nurse and it was horrible.

10-20 patients per nurse and it was "horrible". Are you sure you work in LTC, because I would call this heaven!

LOL...the poster had to be Med Surg.

Whats the deal on letting staff go in LTC? Is the facility census low? Are they on an admit ban? This is almost unheard of. Most of us are fighting for staff.

It was because of budget, lower census, and things like that. Now I'm wondering how secure my job is. One who lost her job was my opposite, on day shift in the Special Care (dementia) Unit. She has been replaced with a med aide. What if they decide they don't need any nurses in SCU and replace me with a med aide as well.

How big is your facility and how many patients / empty beds do you have? they have to maintain a certain amount of nursing hours based on whatever the census is..........night shift nurses are a lot harder to replace than day shift nurses.

The only time we've ever reduced staff is when the census is low. Our sub-acute unit usually has 3 nurses and a nurse manager for 41 patients. When the census is low, today I think we'll be at 28, we either ask for a volunteer to take the day off, or just don't fill the invariable call-out.

PS If you want better job security come to Massachusetts....we don't allow med aides!

Our facility is for about 40 or so. We have 9 in SCU. I don't know how many empty beds in the LTCU.

A few people feel it was unfair because the other nurse had seniority, and that they let her go because she got paid more. But I also know that our DON was starting a file collecting complaints and reports about her being inappropriate for dementia residents. The DON was working on gathering info to get rid of her anyway. So many of the CNAs hated working with her. I mean good CNAs.

When layoffs happen it's usually the marginal employees and the problem children that go first.

Send those nurses to Nebraska, we seem to be in great need right now.