Wow a bag of pretzels, your right admin, this is a good place to work

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so, the hospital i work for was voted one of the top what ever, to work for. don't get me wrong, i think my job is ok. but, it's no different than any other hospital. we got a cute little bag of goodies, a bag with prtetzels, an apple and a granola bar . the bag of pretzels was the very small air line size. the apple was small thick skinned and bitter, the granola bar was high in fat and calories. but any who, we got it because the hospital was voted one of the top. of course the vote must have been done before, the decision to change the health care plan. the co -pays are higher, they cover less, and the rate went up a rediculous amount. i just think it's funny how the admin must think we don't have a brain of our own and believe that we get those stupid little bags and think,, wow, i'm so glad we work for such a good company and go skipping off about our merry way with a big grin on our face.....just to get yelled at in triage by pt's upset about heaven knows what , abused by pres-gainy all while we remember , during our 13 hour day with no break , how good of a place we work for. oh happy day. ;) i wounder what's next, i suppose lay-offs or a cut in staffing. maybe we'll get an orange injected with sugar and a snicker bar for that one. oh, my gosh, i'll catch ya'all soon i have to run to the pot, i have the runs after eating the apple they gave us. :bugeyes::specs:

Specializes in NICU, High-Risk L&D, IBCLC.
My christmas bonus this year was $20:w00t:

Same here - only mine was a $20 gift card to Trader Joe's. I guess someone somewhere felt bad that my grocery bill has skyrocketed this year....

Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.
My christmas bonus this year was $20:w00t:

I'm jealous!!!!!!

Mine was a $10 gift card to blockbuster :rolleyes:

Try to think of the poor middle level manager that got the assignment of "put together a small thank you gift for the nurses-" with a total budget of a couple of hundred dollars. I'm sure they did the best they could. Mahogany Row sets that budget and often thinks of nursing staff as a group of little children that will be thrilled with the toy in the kids meal bag. I can't help but think we as nurses have to take some responsibility for the way upper level management view us, but how to change that is a whole other discussion. My advise- try to be thankful for the effort of the person assigned to putting those bags together and think of the bags as you would a thank you note, not as a gift but just as recognition of you efforts. I used to make fun of the silly "thank you" gifts my hospital sent out until I found out how much effort went into putting it together on a shoestring. It was hurtfull towards the person that did her best with no $ to spend. It's the thought that counts-at least they were thinking of you!

I'll trade them for a day, I'll let them go to triage get yelled at, threatened then , then play wrestlemainia in the ER with some drunk, then do a couple codes , do morque care, you know the typical nursing stuff. I will get paid to put bags together. Or I'll go out shopping for expensive furnature and rugs to put in the halls and loby, while they do my job for a day. I've done their job before, I will gladly put bags together for a day.

Try to think of the poor middle level manager that got the assignment of "put together a small thank you gift for the nurses-" with a total budget of a couple of hundred dollars. I'm sure they did the best they could. Mahogany Row sets that budget and often thinks of nursing staff as a group of little children that will be thrilled with the toy in the kids meal bag. I can't help but think we as nurses have to take some responsibility for the way upper level management view us, but how to change that is a whole other discussion. My advise- try to be thankful for the effort of the person assigned to putting those bags together and think of the bags as you would a thank you note, not as a gift but just as recognition of you efforts. I used to make fun of the silly "thank you" gifts my hospital sent out until I found out how much effort went into putting it together on a shoestring. It was hurtfull towards the person that did her best with no $ to spend. It's the thought that counts-at least they were thinking of you!

Holy Smokes!!! What's the problem here? Free pretzles...an apple, umbrella. Who cares if you don't like apples or it doesn't rain where you live? Somebody thought of you. Why don't you try being grateful that you have a job, a roof over your head and groceries in you fridge and stop complaining that you only got a granola bar as an added bonus? Jeez, silver lining people! Look on the bright side and you will be a much happier person.

The problem is that we work in a health care industry that put new carpet, expensive furnature, lighting , wood floors , high cost trips for exects to istitute such things as Pres-Gainy,(?sp), rules and regs that mean nothing, and then increase the cost of insurance all while decreasing the benifits, ask us to work all kinds of hours (don't have to but it sure looks good on the eval), work while we are sick because staffing is so poor, tell us we have to do even more or else they will cut back on staff . Want us to obtain cirtifications but we have to pay for them.....etc....... Then gloat on the fact that they are one of the top hospitals to work for. Everything looks good on paper, but in the trenches, it's a different story. They can keep the goodie bag for all of the hospital and give us equipment that works. I would be more than garateful for a storage rooom. That is the point ! Yes, I'm happy to have a job, but these big organizations have their prioriteis wrong !

Specializes in Neuro.
We got a $25 gift card to a local grocery store. Then the amount was reported on our income so that Uncle Sam could tax us on it. :madface:

I used to work there and "fondly" remember the gift cards to that store, which I never ever shopped in except to spend my taxed gift card. I got another one of those after a successful JHACO survey which, fortunately for me, took place while I was in STNA training offsite.

Specializes in OB.
Same here - only mine was a $20 gift card to Trader Joe's. I guess someone somewhere felt bad that my grocery bill has skyrocketed this year....

I think it was to pay for the ibuprofen we all eat like M&Ms....

I used to work for a company that gave out ornaments for Christmas one year that said "Valued Employee" on them. This in a year where the company had record profits, and had just had an IPO of their stock with explosive growth. The ornaments were worth a dollar, tops.

Mistake.

The thing is, the ornaments were identical to the "Chinese Stars" that were popular in the 80s during the martial arts movie craze. They were thin metal and they flew perfectly, and they would stick in wood/drywall if you threw them right.

I'm pretty sure some enterprising gift company snapped up a million of the things sitting in a warehouse somewhere for next to nothing, printed some stuff on them and started selling them as ornaments.

The company was almost exclusively staffed by young men. See where this is going?

You could not walk in the halls during the end of December without one of these things flying past your head. Sometimes they'd fly out of an office door and stick in the wall next to you. Sometimes you'd be coming around a corner and one would barely miss taking your nose off. Occasionally you'd see a well-dressed man suddenly hit the deck, and an ornament/star would fly right through the space he had recently been occupying. They were sticking out of the walls and doors all over the buildings. Some managers, who had their own office, had paper bullseyes on the back of their doors with a dozen of the things sticking out.

Definitely one of the dumbest Christmas gifts I have ever gotten, but the most fun.

Specializes in CVICU-ICU.
Christmas? That must be that day that I work 12 /sleep 8 every year while folks that aren't nurses exchange gifts and visit family and friends...

Hopefully you don't mean EVERY year you work Xmas....most of us get a choice to rotate and at least have every other year Xmas off. Unless you're like me who chooses to work every Xmas in exchange for every NY's off....regardless we all knew when we went into this profession that nursing is 24/7 and all shifts must be covered.

I also agree with whoever posted to be thankful you have a job. Once again I knew what salary nurses made before choosing to go to school. There are alot of people that live on what we pay in taxes and yes I know its difficult to compare because we do have the education that do not but the point is a bonus is a bonus and a gift is a gift and it should not be expected but appreciated so if you feel that the pretzels or the 20$$ gift card isnt worth anything to you then give it to the homeless person who hasnt eaten in awhile and then at least you can feel good about something that you dont feel good about now.

Hopefully you don't mean EVERY year you work Xmas....most of us get a choice to rotate and at least have every other year Xmas off. Unless you're like me who chooses to work every Xmas in exchange for every NY's off....regardless we all knew when we went into this profession that nursing is 24/7 and all shifts must be covered.

I also agree with whoever posted to be thankful you have a job. Once again I knew what salary nurses made before choosing to go to school. There are alot of people that live on what we pay in taxes and yes I know its difficult to compare because we do have the education that do not but the point is a bonus is a bonus and a gift is a gift and it should not be expected but appreciated so if you feel that the pretzels or the 20$$ gift card isnt worth anything to you then give it to the homeless person who hasnt eaten in awhile and then at least you can feel good about something that you dont feel good about now.

Most people in our hospital would have loved for a donation or a gift to be made to the homeless. Once again, the point here wasn't the gift. It was the idea that the admin thinks that we are mindless and believe

anything they say. They think that we are blinded by their wisdom and brilliance. It has nothing to do with the gift it self. We don't even want the gifts. But since you bring it up. Just think how much many of these conglomerates wast on even striving for the top 100 places to work. It's all about numbers. Numbers don't lie but liars make numbers. It's about how the hopital makes enough money to do all of the things it does, that has nothing to do with good care, it's all about how they look on paper.

My christmas bonus this year was $20:w00t:

LOL! Mine was a $15.00 Walmart card! Up from $10 last year! Woo Hoo!

Specializes in Med-Surg.

Hey we got it good. They bring us dinner when we get good scores. A local seafood restraunt. Sometimes subway or pizza hut. They limit the pizza though. Don't get good work out of the nurses when they have the squirts.

And we get a $50 gift card to Walmart for Christmas. Ain't that high class ;)

Well, I'm glad I'm not buying any of you Christmas gifts.

Up here we don't run the hospital to turn a profit and so there are no christmas bonuses for nurses or anything like that. When our manager buys us a bag of chips for night shift its a nice gesture and her way of saying "have a good shift". It is my no means expected or required.

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