UAB, Baptist nurses...tell me about your CEO!!!

[smartynurse]

Hello out there! I am trying to get the picture on what nursing is like at University of Alabama and Baptist Hospital. These hospitals are run by Nurse CEOs. Nursing organizations, nursing journals and the media are lauding these women as nurse leaders. I know that UAB received Magnet status. But no one asks the bedside nurses what magnet and having these women at the helm has done for their work environment. For instance, one of the more controversial things about Magnet is that it does not set safe nurse-patient ratios. There are many nurses who feel that the magnet recognition is a PR campaign for the hospital administration, and have not seen much difference in working conditions. I am a nurse at the University of Virginia Medical System in Charlottesville, Virginia. WE have been trying (or I should say the nsg admin. has been trying) to get magnet. But many of my colleagues feel that we are no where close, we are constantly short staffed and the moral is low. If they did get it it would be a joke. So please give me your honest appraisal about how your Nurse CEOs run the hospital, and if they really have made a difference for you. Thanks:)

here is the article from the Center for Nurse Advocacy in Baltimore Md,

http://www.nursingadvocacy.org/news/2004jan/25_birmingham.html