staffing tried to trick/bully me in today!

debRN0417 · May 9, 2005

Sounds like we could all do a commercial for our local phone companies showing another good reason for caller ID. :chuckle
I have been off the last week and have been called 6 out of 7 days to come in and work. Most of those days I was actually not home but on a couple I saw my caller ID and didn't answer.

:rotfl: I can relate. Once I was gone on vacation for two weeks and when I came home there were 12 calls for me to come to work....they KNEW I was out of state...but called anyway...duhhhhhhhhh

barefootlady, ADN, RN · May 9, 2005

I can remember a time when working the float pool was a good job. The nurses who worked this pool were trained on 2 possibily 3 units. They had a set schedule, they were known on the unit and by the doctors. They worked one of these units as needed, pay was a little more, but there was no real dumping. The supervisors made rounds at least twice a day, they asked all of the nurses, but especially the floats, if there were any problems they needed help with. Admits were rotated through staff, lunches were covered, nurses even got breaks. I know, I worked the float pool for 2 years and really liked it. I agree with MattsMom, instead of the present theory of put a warm body there, it should go back to a good orientation, a little more pay, a feeling of appreciation for the nurse who can do peds today, med/surg tomorrow, ortho the next day, and maybe even a little tramatic brain, or peritoneal dialysis when asked nicely and a bonus given. Like I said, this was years ago and the facility that did this the best appreciated the nurses and the nurses did a good job for the facility. All of that changed when a new CEO came in with the "healthcare is a business" attitude. Float pool was abolished, all staff had to be assigned to floors, but funny thing happen, some days there were not enough nurses to cover and there was no one to call. Seems like when the float pool was abolished, some of the nurses decided to travel, quit, or go to the one unit but really cut their hours. I miss the old days and some of the old ways. All of it was not bad.

P_RN, ADN, RN · May 9, 2005

Two good things we had.

1. the Boss would email a spreadsheet of the schedule to everyone who needed it. She'd also photocopy it for the ones who didn't have internet access. The permanent one was behind a glass case...no slips of the pen unless by her. Any changes were given the nurse in writing. And no...they hardly ever guilted me to come in..We did self staffing so no floating and no borrowing a float.

The 2nd thing is when I had dial-up I got a second line. It's $11/mo. The ONLY group who had that number was work. If that phone rand it was either a wrong number or WORK. So turn the bell down really low.

I did go in for a train wreck, and a fire...both handled splendidly before I arrived. Got paid a whole shift.

mattsmom81 · May 9, 2005

I can remember a time when working the float pool was a good job. The nurses who worked this pool were trained on 2 possibily 3 units. They had a set schedule, they were known on the unit and by the doctors. They worked one of these units as needed, pay was a little more, but there was no real dumping. The supervisors made rounds at least twice a day, they asked all of the nurses, but especially the floats, if there were any problems they needed help with. Admits were rotated through staff, lunches were covered, nurses even got breaks. I know, I worked the float pool for 2 years and really liked it. I agree with MattsMom, instead of the present theory of put a warm body there, it should go back to a good orientation, a little more pay, a feeling of appreciation for the nurse who can do peds today, med/surg tomorrow, ortho the next day, and maybe even a little tramatic brain, or peritoneal dialysis when asked nicely and a bonus given. Like I said, this was years ago and the facility that did this the best appreciated the nurses and the nurses did a good job for the facility. All of that changed when a new CEO came in with the "healthcare is a business" attitude. Float pool was abolished, all staff had to be assigned to floors, but funny thing happen, some days there were not enough nurses to cover and there was no one to call. Seems like when the float pool was abolished, some of the nurses decided to travel, quit, or go to the one unit but really cut their hours. I miss the old days and some of the old ways. All of it was not bad.

I believe this was part of their plan...a way to begin their 'business' of short staffing us. But the poor treatment and working conditions they create has backfired on them...they have caused their own 'shortage' of nurses.

It all goes back to treat the nurses well and they'll come. :)

I worked pool/prn much of my nursing career and enjoyed staying out of the unit politics. Same thing with agency. But...like other posters have mentioned, its a whole different attitude out there now. Pool, agency and float nurses DO get dumped on terribly today. Too many staff nurses are just so burned out they dump whenever they can...its really sad. I too can remember when I was treated well and appreciated as both an agency nurse and a prn/pool nurse, but the last few years I practiced were rough to say the least. The dog eat dog atmosphere is really hard to take on top of the sheer difficulties of the job.

kadokin, ASN, RN · May 16, 2005

I bet I can top that, how about showing up for your shift as a nurse and being told you are working as a CNA for the shift? :thankya: it happens where I work.

This has happened to me on a few occassions. I have never minded, as I am given RN pay for working as an aid. It is pretty sweet to have a very task oriented 8 hours and let someone else run the show and take the tough responsibilities. And if they need me to perform some RN tasks, I'll help out, as I said, I was being compensated as an RN. This hasn't happened much lately as most of the power-hungry RNs that used to be here have retired. When I am given an extra RN, I always use them as such, though. Sorry, but I feel it is better to get the best value for the dollar out of our staffing and I feel the more RNs we have working, the better off our patients will be. No disrespect to the wonderful LPNs and CNAs I work with, but there are some tasks that only an RN can do, by law or common practice, and if we share the load, our pt's get more focused care. I'm not really sure, but I don't think they can get by w/giving you CNA pay if you are an RN. Anyone out there familiar w/the legality? As for the low down tactics of some staffing personnel out there, don't put up w/it. I am in agreement w/the previous posters who advocate the "no means no" approach. That is YOUR time off. Maybe admin will get the message and look through that pile of resumes on their desk if enough of us claim our personal time as our own instead of sacrificing ourselves on the altar of "duty". There's responsibility and there's masochism, we owe it to ourselves to know the difference!

LPN1974, LPN · May 16, 2005

This has happened to me on a few occassions. I have never minded, as I am given RN pay for working as an aid. It is pretty sweet to have a very task oriented 8 hours and let someone else run the show and take the tough responsibilities. And if they need me to perform some RN tasks, I'll help out, as I said, I was being compensated as an RN. This hasn't happened much lately as most of the power-hungry RNs that used to be here have retired. When I am given an extra RN, I always use them as such, though. Sorry, but I feel it is better to get the best value for the dollar out of our staffing and I feel the more RNs we have working, the better off our patients will be. No disrespect to the wonderful LPNs and CNAs I work with, but there are some tasks that only an RN can do, by law or common practice, and if we share the load, our pt's get more focused care. I'm not really sure, but I don't think they can get by w/giving you CNA pay if you are an RN. Anyone out there familiar w/the legality? As for the low down tactics of some staffing personnel out there, don't put up w/it. I am in agreement w/the previous posters who advocate the "no means no" approach. That is YOUR time off. Maybe admin will get the message and look through that pile of resumes on their desk if enough of us claim our personal time as our own instead of sacrificing ourselves on the altar of "duty". There's responsibility and there's masochism, we owe it to ourselves to know the difference!

If you are performing tasks, as you say, that only an RN can do, and you are in actuality an AIDE, you are practicing nursing without a license.

That's illegal.

I've read your post several times, I hope I'm misreading what you're saying.

PicklesRN, RN · May 16, 2005

LPN...

>>If you are performing tasks, as you say, that only an RN can do, and you are in actuality an AIDE, you are practicing nursing without a license.

That's illegal.

She's an RN working as an Aide on a PRN basis w/RN pay.

xrockstheheart · May 16, 2005

This has happened to me on a few occassions. I have never minded, as I am given RN pay for working as an aid. It is pretty sweet to have a very task oriented 8 hours and let someone else run the show and take the tough responsibilities. And if they need me to perform some RN tasks, I'll help out, as I said, I was being compensated as an RN. This hasn't happened much lately as most of the power-hungry RNs that used to be here have retired. When I am given an extra RN, I always use them as such, though. Sorry, but I feel it is better to get the best value for the dollar out of our staffing and I feel the more RNs we have working, the better off our patients will be. No disrespect to the wonderful LPNs and CNAs I work with, but there are some tasks that only an RN can do, by law or common practice, and if we share the load, our pt's get more focused care. I'm not really sure, but I don't think they can get by w/giving you CNA pay if you are an RN. Anyone out there familiar w/the legality? As for the low down tactics of some staffing personnel out there, don't put up w/it. I am in agreement w/the previous posters who advocate the "no means no" approach. That is YOUR time off. Maybe admin will get the message and look through that pile of resumes on their desk if enough of us claim our personal time as our own instead of sacrificing ourselves on the altar of "duty". There's responsibility and there's masochism, we owe it to ourselves to know the difference!

Happy in your work are you. Oh look at me, "I'm a CNA today". Let the other nurses bear the burden. I guess I'll empty the trash. GET a GRIP!

mtymom · May 16, 2005

My, God, how could a code work?
There are too many places where this happens. We have 3 nursing homes in my town, how would you know which one I was talking about, unless I gave you the specific name, which I can't do on this board?
You just have to do your own investigation of any place you apply for a job at.
Go in and ask questions, ask about ratios, talk to other employees already there, look at the patients to see if they look well cared for.
Notice the SMELL, especially in nursing homes. If it smells like urine all the time, there's a BIG problem.
You just have to investigate these places on your own.
I work at a state job, It has some problems, but not nearly what the nursing home had where I worked at. And not nearly the problems stated by others at some places they've been.
I guess I'm pretty blessed to work where I do.

When I interviewed at a hospital I asked about ratios. They assured me that we would have a CNA on our shift all the time. They transfered our CNA to another floor and did not give us a new one! :angryfire . Needless to say there were many problems that came up because of that. It was not easy to have 2 nurses on one floor and pass meds, do patient care, be on the code team, get new patients, etc. :coollook:

(Just a side note: I really appreciate all of you hard working CNA's out there! Keep up the good work!)

xrockstheheart · May 16, 2005

When I interviewed at a hospital I asked about ratios. They assured me that we would have a CNA on our shift all the time. They transfered our CNA to another floor and did not give us a new one! :angryfire . Needless to say there were many problems that came up because of that. It was not easy to have 2 nurses on one floor and pass meds, do patient care, be on the code team, get new patients, etc.
(Just a side note: I really appreciate all of you hard working CNA's out there! Keep up the good work!)

focus, keep your eye on the ball, the patient. Hospital administrators, nurse administrators are liars. What is a CNA anyway, did they get a degree, a certification, 2 wks of OJT. focus you only have 60 min in an hour, if you have 10 patients, they only get 6 min each. because you have to walk to the patients this eats up half your time, you only have 3 min per patient. That's it, focus, do the math.

mtymom · May 16, 2005

focus, keep your eye on the ball, the patient. Hospital administrators, nurse administrators are liars. What is a CNA anyway, did they get a degree, a certification, 2 wks of OJT. focus you only have 60 min in an hour, if you have 10 patients, they only get 6 min each. because you have to walk to the patients this eats up half your time, you only have 3 min per patient. That's it, focus, do the math.

I don't think I like that phrase What is a CNA anyway? I was a CNA before I became an LPN. They may not have a degree or a license or anything like that but they are a huge help. It takes more than 3 minutes to give a patient a bath and change their linens. I am one of those nurses that like to talk with my patients so I know how I can help them. A good CNA can also be our eyes. If you have a patients that you went to and spent your 3 minutes giving them a med. they have never had before, go chart it, spend 3 minutes with other patients, admit a patient, work a code, then get back to that patient; the patient may have already had a reaction to that med. and you didn't get back in there. The CNA could have at least alerted you or the other nurse that something is wrong. I for one appreciate CNA's. I am sorry if others don't feel that way.

LPN1974, LPN · May 16, 2005

LPN...
>>If you are performing tasks, as you say, that only an RN can do, and you are in actuality an AIDE, you are practicing nursing without a license.
That's illegal.
She's an RN working as an Aide on a PRN basis w/RN pay.

Good, then I misread the post.