Hello out there! This is my first time posting and I will try to be as concise and objective as possible :-)
The Backstory
I work for a corporate hospital in rural Wyoming. In 2014 our hospital merged with its "sister" hospital that is 30 miles away. Many departments have gone to a Market Director approach to management which means that there is one director per department for BOTH hospitals. Inevitably doubling the work load for the director and leaving the department staff short changed when needing immediate unit director intervention- be it with inner staffing issues, floor concerns, etc. I work nights on the Med/Surg floor and strive to be very proactive with direct and objective communication and leadership. My hope for posting this thread is to gain guidance, insight, or words of wisdom about how to continue on with my job when it feels like "all of the rats are leaving the sinking ship".
In the last 90 days...
We have lost our fifth DNO in three years time.
The Med/Surg floor has had eight nurses quit in one month.
The Rehab and PACU/OR unit directors were invited to resign do to poor ethical violations.
On the M/S floor we are required to take up to six patients per nurse and in the evenings it is almost guaranteed that we will NOT have a CNA or assistance to help attend to patient needs- often resulting in a negative patient experience.
Things are feeling pretty dismal.
All of these issues (plus a few personal ones) leave me feeling pretty crappy. I try to tell myself that it gets worse before it gets better... It's always darkest before the light... But it KEEPS getting worse.
If anyone out there has seen their hospital suffer through some growing pains I'm open to recommendations of how to be an effector of change. Or stories to let me know that I am NOT alone.
What I have done...
I have spoken with one of my directors... who may not be my director now... about my goals for employment- wanting to precept and work with the college students. I used to have open communication with one of our directors but I hardly see her anymore because of schedules. I have spoken with seasoned nurses on this floor and they all tell me that I need to keep marching on and ride the tide.
When I first started working on this floor, I knew things were going to be tough. Staffing, pay, nursing ratio, the lack of leadership or teamwork, the threat of an inner circle between nurses and directors. But I was exhilarated to be doing something powerful for my community. Now I just feel blah. I continue to work hard for my patients because that is part of my moral fiber but... damn.
I'll stop here. I know I/we can go on and on about the thankless job we have signed up for but my biggest issue is that it feels like the ship is sinking and there is nowhere else to work.
Thank you for reading and thank you for any advice :-)
