What is it like to work in a good hospital?

[Green Tea, RN]

One day I was doing chitchat with my co-worker. She said she wanted to work at another hospital located a few hours away, but she mentioned it was very hard to get hired into the hospital because no nurses leave unless they retire. It made me wonder what it is like to work in a good hospital like thst. I have worked on medsurg and in OR at a hospital, and definitely the experiences were unpleasant. High turnover, low pay, intentional short staffing, punishment on use of PTO, poor benefits, the list goes on. If you think you work for a good hospital, could you share what you like about the place?

[saraleigh, ASN, RN]

I continued to work in SNF after getting my RN so that I could be "picky" about my next place of employment, i.e. relatively better benefits/pay and day shift schedule. It took about 18 months and hundreds of applications to achieve this, but I made it. It is not my preferred unit, but the supportive unit culture makes up for it. Also I am in CA, so that helps too.

[Forest2]

I honestly think a good hospital is a myth these days. I used to work at one when I first got out of school though, but I do not believe they exist anymore. This is truly sad. It just seems as if all the progress( EMR's, hospitalists, acuity levels, multidepartments,shortened stays, etc.) has deteriorated the level of care and staff satisfaction that used to be.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I feel I work for a VERY good hospital. Is there a glow around it at the end of the day, like a halo gift-from-God? Of course not. Are there problems? Hoo-boy. Girl, yes. Here's the thing.

We are humans taking care of humans. We've all been impacted by varying degrees of trauma, ambition, varying motivations, convoluted combinations of what constitutes right and wrong. Here in the US, we exist in a for-profit medical economy. Therefore those who are not-for-profit still have to turn a profit to stay in business. So even that isn't going to get you away from the uglier side of medicine in the US.

BUT.

There ARE voices out there advocating for change and there ARE changes happening in our system. There ARE systems that support and grow their nurses, who struggle to nurture and have good transition-to-practice for new nurses and who strive to give seasoned nurses a strong voice. However, those things are not yet happening on broad brush strokes type of levels and to some people that means they aren't working and don't actually exist. I respectfully disagree. I see it every day and I do believe the day will come when reform of our healthcare system will have no choice but to happen. That will be a time of great chaos; in fact, I think we are already in it.

Management of expectations is 99% of happiness. If someone is looking for outstanding pay, outstanding benefits, only kind and supportive management and coworkers, in a culture that looks for their opinion about every decision that gets made and with a work load that is not only manageable but enjoyable - they are living in Nopeville. As in NOPE...that doesn't exist and won't ever exist. It doesn't exist in far cushier jobs than ours and you should not expect it unless you want to be sad pretty much all the time.

Decide what is most important to you and job shop accordingly. For me, I want great pay, acceptable benefits and a good culture. I have that here. I also have upward mobility, which is also important to me. Benefits could be better, but I believe in the leadership and I see where I can achieve some of my loftier goals and we serve a patient population that makes me feel good about what I do. Not everyone is happy and not everyone agrees with me. Ask some of my coworkers and they may tell you all the reasons why it sucks here. There are a lot of lenses out there through which to filter the world.

Any time you have human beings involved you are going to have challenges, conflicts and opportunities. Find the people you can bear working through those things with and you will find yourself in a good situation. Best of luck.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

3 hours ago, Hoosier_RN said:

Sadly, all it takes is a greedy bean counter or board of directors, or a bad manager to make it go south very quick

Sad but true. This affects LTC as well. I've been in the same facility for long enough to have been employed by 4 different entities and each owner change has eroded some benefits while rarely enhancing others. Some management changes have been horrific, some have definitely improved working conditions. I've suffered through the bad ones knowing it's likely I'd outlast the crappy management teams if I hung tight and stuck it out. The grass is greener syndrome never affected me as I am fully aware every job in this field sucks to some degree, at least staying where I am I know what the suckage is!

[NurseBlaq]

This question depends on what one's definition of 'good' is because not everyone has the same needs.

Having said that, I agree with the others who have said even the best facility, in our opinion whatever that may be, has problems. Sadly, most facilities are so caught up on Magnet status and all the other hoopla that they failed to remember the two most important factors: staff and patient satisfaction. Without those, it's all bad.

[LibraSunCNM, BSN, MSN, CNM]

4 hours ago, not.done.yet said:

I feel I work for a VERY good hospital. Is there a glow around it at the end of the day, like a halo gift-from-God? Of course not. Are there problems? Hoo-boy. Girl, yes. Here's the thing.

We are humans taking care of humans. We've all been impacted by varying degrees of trauma, ambition, varying motivations, convoluted combinations of what constitutes right and wrong. Here in the US, we exist in a for-profit medical economy. Therefore those who are not-for-profit still have to turn a profit to stay in business. So even that isn't going to get you away from the uglier side of medicine in the US.

BUT.

There ARE voices out there advocating for change and there ARE changes happening in our system. There ARE systems that support and grow their nurses, who struggle to nurture and have good transition-to-practice for new nurses and who strive to give seasoned nurses a strong voice. However, those things are not yet happening on broad brush strokes type of levels and to some people that means they aren't working and don't actually exist. I respectfully disagree. I see it every day and I do believe the day will come when reform of our healthcare system will have no choice but to happen. That will be a time of great chaos; in fact, I think we are already in it.

Management of expectations is 99% of happiness. If someone is looking for outstanding pay, outstanding benefits, only kind and supportive management and coworkers, in a culture that looks for their opinion about every decision that gets made and with a work load that is not only manageable but enjoyable - they are living in Nopeville. As in NOPE...that doesn't exist and won't ever exist. It doesn't exist in far cushier jobs than ours and you should not expect it unless you want to be sad pretty much all the time.

Decide what is most important to you and job shop accordingly. For me, I want great pay, acceptable benefits and a good culture. I have that here. I also have upward mobility, which is also important to me. Benefits could be better, but I believe in the leadership and I see where I can achieve some of my loftier goals and we serve a patient population that makes me feel good about what I do. Not everyone is happy and not everyone agrees with me. Ask some of my coworkers and they may tell you all the reasons why it sucks here. There are a lot of lenses out there through which to filter the world.

Any time you have human beings involved you are going to have challenges, conflicts and opportunities. Find the people you can bear working through those things with and you will find yourself in a good situation. Best of luck.

PREACH! I also don't get why people *don't* get that the more worker-friendly areas will have more worker-friendly jobs. Like people who complain about the piss-poor pay and working culture in the Deep South but also make fun of progressive policies in, say, California. It isn't rocket science and it didn't happen through fairy dust. Are there bad jobs in blue states and good jobs in red states? Sure, but looking at it super generally---who you vote into office and their views on workers' rights actually matter.

(I do understand that not everyone can up and move to another area of the country due to various life circumstances, before anyone jumps on me about that)

[Davey Do]

On 7/13/2019 at 10:46 PM, Green Tea, RN said:

If you think you work for a good hospital, could you share what you like about the place?

I believe I worked at a good hospital in the 80's. Odd, too, because of the four local hospitals, it had the worst reputation.

Weed Rover Township Hospital (WRTH) was a clean, small 165 bed hospital where I remember things running well and feeling like I was part of a stable family. I got my EMT-B, NREMT-A LPN, and RN as a result of being involved with WRTH. I worked there as a nurse from 1984 to 1990; nearly 7 years.

I've worked at Wrongway Regional Medical Center (WRMC) for over 16 years now. And even though I feel like part of a family, it's not nearly as stable as WRTH. As Johnny June, psych tech said, "I don't even try to get to know another staff member until they've been here at least six months". It's a real staff member revolving door facility.

My wife B worked at WRMC on med-surg for 12 years when she took another position on IMCU at Anomaly Memorial Hospital (AMH) a few years ago, which is part of a well-known and respected conglomerate. B says AMH isn't much different than WRMC, save for AMH is cleaner and better supplied than WRMC.

I don't know-maybe time has sweetened my memories of WRTH, or maybe things have truly changed. But for this I know: The way things are for the field right now, I'm glad I'm near to retirement!

[Davey Do]

On 7/16/2019 at 10:19 AM, myoglobin said:

I always tell them "just imagine that you are in a third world country, after a military coup during a natural disaster and that is us on a good day".

13 hours ago, NurseBlaq said:

? ??

Paging @Davey Do Gett'r done!

[NurseBlaq]

7 hours ago, Davey Do said:

You never let me down. ?

[jazzjune, BSN]

On 7/17/2019 at 1:10 PM, not.done.yet said:

I feel I work for a VERY good hospital. Is there a glow around it at the end of the day, like a halo gift-from-God? Of course not. Are there problems? Hoo-boy. Girl, yes. Here's the thing.

We are humans taking care of humans. We've all been impacted by varying degrees of trauma, ambition, varying motivations, convoluted combinations of what constitutes right and wrong. Here in the US, we exist in a for-profit medical economy. Therefore those who are not-for-profit still have to turn a profit to stay in business. So even that isn't going to get you away from the uglier side of medicine in the US.

BUT.

There ARE voices out there advocating for change and there ARE changes happening in our system. There ARE systems that support and grow their nurses, who struggle to nurture and have good transition-to-practice for new nurses and who strive to give seasoned nurses a strong voice. However, those things are not yet happening on broad brush strokes type of levels and to some people that means they aren't working and don't actually exist. I respectfully disagree. I see it every day and I do believe the day will come when reform of our healthcare system will have no choice but to happen. That will be a time of great chaos; in fact, I think we are already in it.

Management of expectations is 99% of happiness. If someone is looking for outstanding pay, outstanding benefits, only kind and supportive management and coworkers, in a culture that looks for their opinion about every decision that gets made and with a work load that is not only manageable but enjoyable - they are living in Nopeville. As in NOPE...that doesn't exist and won't ever exist. It doesn't exist in far cushier jobs than ours and you should not expect it unless you want to be sad pretty much all the time.

Decide what is most important to you and job shop accordingly. For me, I want great pay, acceptable benefits and a good culture. I have that here. I also have upward mobility, which is also important to me. Benefits could be better, but I believe in the leadership and I see where I can achieve some of my loftier goals and we serve a patient population that makes me feel good about what I do. Not everyone is happy and not everyone agrees with me. Ask some of my coworkers and they may tell you all the reasons why it sucks here. There are a lot of lenses out there through which to filter the world.

Any time you have human beings involved you are going to have challenges, conflicts and opportunities. Find the people you can bear working through those things with and you will find yourself in a good situation. Best of luck.

not.done.yet -- your words are so inspiring (to the point that I've printed off what you wrote and put it on the wall in my office). THANK YOU!

[Daisy4RN]

What is it like to work in a good hospital?

I will tell you when I find one!!

[Forest2]

27 minutes ago, Daisy4RN said:

What is it like to work in a good hospital?

I will tell you when I find one!!

That's cute.?