We're in the "RED"

Published

I'm so tired of hearing this from our hospital... We are a non-profit hospital that basically takes anyone, so obviously we end up eating alot of the cost for treatments... Well the suits that work upstairs have decided that since we are in the red, that the floors need to take patients if they need beds regardless of staff.... The surgical floor had 18pts and was staffed with 1RN 1LPN and 2 PCAs... That is too me unsafe, I would not have taken responsibility for 18pts, and the RN is a new grad out of school maybe 8months...

I work in PACU, and now they have taken away one of our shifts b/c productivity is low... We had 30 surgical cases yesterday and had only 3 RNs... How is this safe... We are "suppose" to have no more than two patients.. One if its intubated, one if its a peds patient... But does it work out that way.. NO... I had a pt who came in for a simple lap choley.. no complications, except she has a seizure disorder, but her last seizure was a week ago...Well she decided it was time to have a seizure every 30mins... So I basically could NOT turn my back on her... ANesthesia comes in with a big belly case that is still intubated and wants me to come take report and take it.. I told him no and the circulator could stay with it until I got my patient to ICU or another nurse was free.... I am not putting my license on the line b/c the hospital is having money issues.. Because I guarantee when I do something and have to go in front of the board of nursing, is this hospital going to stand behind me.. Heck no... So it is CYA... And if the docs and anesthesia don't like it then they can complain...

Sorry this is so long... I have just about had my mental limit... I LOVE working in recovery, I left 3yrs of Orthopedics to do pacu in January... and I actually for once feel like I am where I belong... But this political crap makes me hate my job... Tell me there are good places out there that actually value the patients and the employees????

Also we dont really have anywhere to voice our concerns too... IF we do it in person, then we are placed on the list of people to find a reason to get rid of them.. UGH.. its just so frustrating..:angryfire

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Corrections, Cardiac, Hospice.

This is going on all over the country. You have people sitting in their nice cushy offices making decisions based on what a computor programmer says is exceptible. Then complain when you can't do the job safely or appropriately. It makes me SICK, but I don't know how to change it. Maybe the nurses from California can give us some advice on sticking together.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
I'm so tired of hearing this from our hospital... We are a non-profit hospital that basically takes anyone, so obviously we end up eating alot of the cost for treatments... Well the suits that work upstairs have decided that since we are in the red, that the floors need to take patients if they need beds regardless of staff.... The surgical floor had 18pts and was staffed with 1RN 1LPN and 2 PCAs... That is too me unsafe, I would not have taken responsibility for 18pts, and the RN is a new grad out of school maybe 8months...

I work in PACU, and now they have taken away one of our shifts b/c productivity is low... We had 30 surgical cases yesterday and had only 3 RNs... How is this safe... We are "suppose" to have no more than two patients.. One if its intubated, one if its a peds patient... But does it work out that way.. NO... I had a pt who came in for a simple lap choley.. no complications, except she has a seizure disorder, but her last seizure was a week ago...Well she decided it was time to have a seizure every 30mins... So I basically could NOT turn my back on her... ANesthesia comes in with a big belly case that is still intubated and wants me to come take report and take it.. I told him no and the circulator could stay with it until I got my patient to ICU or another nurse was free.... I am not putting my license on the line b/c the hospital is having money issues.. Because I guarantee when I do something and have to go in front of the board of nursing, is this hospital going to stand behind me.. Heck no... So it is CYA... And if the docs and anesthesia don't like it then they can complain...

Sorry this is so long... I have just about had my mental limit... I LOVE working in recovery, I left 3yrs of Orthopedics to do pacu in January... and I actually for once feel like I am where I belong... But this political crap makes me hate my job... Tell me there are good places out there that actually value the patients and the employees????

Also we dont really have anywhere to voice our concerns too... IF we do it in person, then we are placed on the list of people to find a reason to get rid of them.. UGH.. its just so frustrating..:angryfire

I think we could definitely take an example from the nurses in California. We are having almost the exact same thing happen in our hospital, but instead of being professional and bringing concerns forward, most of our staff has taken the stress and converted it into increased backbiting and pettiness. Probably because they are afraid to be added to that list of troublemakers. (Which I am probably already on...) I love my job, and I used to feel like the hospital cared about me, as corny as that sounds... Now I dread going in and hearing about the newest policy change or staffing cuts. Power in numbers has no meaning if we can't work together with a degree of professionalism, which is a problem where I work. I truly wish nursing had a stronger voice.

Life is too short to go to a job that makes you miserable. The sad part is that its not the actual nursing that is making you miserable. There are just too many other jobs/options out there in nursing to put yourself through it. I'm sure there's a job out there you would love, it just takes a bit of looking. Which is what I'm starting to do. I send you hope and good thoughts ;)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion