staffing issues

[foxc1121]

Hello everyone,

I really need some insight on what to do. Let me start by stating that I work alot of OT. I have been told by staffing that when our census gets low, nurses that are on overtime, pool, agency, etc... get flexed 1st.

Here is my problem. Of course when I sign up to work ot I do not want to get flexed because I would loose those hours, however, I have had several occasions that I have been on the schedule to work ot and have still come in when I was very sick (ie. in pain from a dental procedure), just because I did not want to leave the floor short.

I made my charge nurse aware that I was on OT and if our census dropped and she needed to send someone home, please send me.

Well that never seems to be the case. Another nurse is ALWAYS sent home before me that is not on ot as I am.

Yes, I could be nasty and call off of OT, however, I am a responsible person and feel that if I signed up I should honor my commitment.

I have brought this to the attention of my ANM (my NM is on maternity leave). Yet there is no resolution to my problem. I don't want to not sign up anymore because, quite frankly, I need the money, however, when I am sick and making an effort to be there, I feel that I should be the first to be sent home - because as my husband says - I am on the big clock.

It always seems to be the same nurses that go home. When I was in sooooo much pain another nurse got sent home because she needed to study for a test!!!

Please, please someone give me some feed back on who to contact next because I feel as if I am taken advantage of and don't know who to speak to about this unfair treatment.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

foxc,

It looks like you are every manager's dream nurse - conscientious and patient oriented. However, it also appears that you may a victim of the traditional staffing game of "punish the virtuous". When there is a big job or a yukky job, we always pile it onto someone who we know will 'just do it'. To put it another way -- Managers are like everyone else - they prefer to take the path of least resistance whenever possible. They give work to those who resist the least so it won't cause additional work for themselves.

Since you have already spoken to the ANM, and your NM is out of pocket, you need to go up the chain of command. Make an appointment to talk to the person your NM reports to. If that doesn't work, go to HR and talk to your Employee Relations person.

It does seem odd to me - in this time of very tight labor budgets - that any manager would send home a 'regular' time person rather than someone on OT. Very strange. Doesn't seem like your ANM is very aware basic financial management.

And -- no one can make you a victim without your consent. Just say "NO" to OT - at least until your NM gets back. It is not your responsibility to staff the unit. If the facility that admitted the patients, they are responsible for making sure that they have the staff to take car of them.

[JB2007, ASN, RN]

You are letting your ANM take advantage of you. The next time you are in too much pain to be at work do your pts a favor and call in. If you are in that much pain you can not be safe working. Also, if you told the ANM that you were hurting and on OT to please send you home, you should have been the one sent home. It sounds to me that you are too good of a worker and they do not want to send you home. They would rather send the person not pulling their weight home instead. Either that or you are the one that will complain the least. Make a little noise the next time and see what happens.

[mpccrn, BSN, RN]

ever talk to the person they want to send home and explain that you are in quite a bit of pain? go directly to the source. most times people are human and do the right thing.

[J. Bailey, RN]

In the four months I've been an RN, I've learned a very important lesson; watch out for you and yours. The hospital is in this game for the money, make no mistake. If they could get away with paying you less and making you do more, they would. Patient care is last on managements "to do" list. We are constantly short staffed and none of the scheduling makes a lick of sense.

I work for my wife and son, not the hospital. What is best for my family is what I do, not what is best for the floor or the hospital. Learn that lesson and learn it early.

[booter512]

It's hard to speak for each individual occasion, but in the one you described, where obviously you should have been the one to go home, here's what you should have done: The moment you heard that she was sending someone else home, you should have said, "I'm going to the ER. I can't take this pain any more. Sorry." I'm sure she would have reconsidered quickly at that point--at least if she were half-way intelligent (which may not be the case considering the decision she made in the first place).

[foxc1121]

Thank you everyone for replying,

just to give you an update....my nm (while still on maternity leave) sent an e-mail to everyone questioning how we can improve customer satisfaction. Well...I let her have it (of course in a professional way).

First, we need to not have hallway patients, for goodness sakes where am I going to take a 90 year old lady to pee? She agreed.

I wrote to her about the staffing issue. She did not reply about that, however, I have now noticed that different nurses are now being flexed off - not the same nurse over and over.

I wrote to her about customer satisfaction issues that I have heard of from patients - specifically about one nurse in particular (I did not name names). I told her that I had spoken to the anm about certain problems, and asked her not to ask me to name names because when I did I got "burned" by it and will not do it again.

When I spoke to my anm, I did name names, she assured me that she would not mention my name when she spoke to this particular person - well she did. That particular nurse came up to me and confronted me about my phone call to my anm - so now I have tension between me and this other nurse.

My reasoning for mentioning my getting "burned" was because I knew that she was going to go back to my anm and mention it - I was so angry that I didn't want to speak to my anm anymore. I was so furious and felt betrayed by my anm - when all I kept hearing from her was - if you don't tell me about a situation, I can't repair it. Well I did tell her - nothing was done - except me looking like a fool.

Also, I was nominated for employee of the month - I know it is something stupid - but I was looking forward to having my picture on our board. I also mentioned that to my NM. Well the next day, I got my picture taken and my anm said to another nurse - "take her picture already because she is making such a big deal of this". I got told for some reason patients loved you in August. What???

I would never sign up for ot anymore, if I didn't really need the money. Yes, I am a manager's dream because I work primarily dayshift - but I also work night shift!!

Which really messes me up and I need at least 2 days to recover from it and get back on dayshift track. At least my NM sent me an e-mail telling me that I am a very valuable member of our team. Is it BS in order to cover her own staffing needs? probably so. Since I am working day shift and night shift - some days I feel as if I don't have a life other than nursing. My husband can't understand why I am exhausted half the time. DUH?! Here I am still a newbie (only 1 1/2 years) and I am already feeling burnt out. I can't deal with the politics anymore. From this point forward I am just going to keep my mouth shut, go to work and collect my paycheck. I have come to the conclusion that managment knows what needs to be done already, they are just fishing for someone to spread the "dirt" and when you speak about actual problems - they really don't want to hear it - just so long as they are not over budget, you show up for work and they are not bothered by your problems.

After speaking to other nurses - my place of employment seems like a dream. Does anyone work anywhere where they are happy? I am even considering relocating...:sniff: