If, in your "healthcare job" you never touch anything but paper, or smell anything but coffee, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If your job description DOESN'T have an annual requirement to be on your knees, geting freaky with Resusci® Annie, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If your hospital department is closed on Christmas Day, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If the "alphabet soup" after your name on your employee badge is LONGER than your actual name, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If you have an assigned parking spot for your 9-5 job, while the 24/7 clinical staff walks from their assigned parking 1/2 mile away, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If, from your primary work area, you couldn't see an actual patient with binoculars, but earn twice as much as those who do, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If there is an "RN" after your name, and you NEVER, EVER wear anything but business clothes to work, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If "every other weekend" is NOT in your job description, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If you've ever written a memo that had the words "mandatory in-service", "self-education module" and "during employee's spare time" and distributed it via company-wide email, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If the trunk of your car is full of pens, post-it pads, pen holders (and other trinkets with a brand name drug on them) that you hand out by the thousands so you can bribe your way into spending 5 minutes shmoozing a physician, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If you have NO IDEA why the blue thermometer tastes better than the red one, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH HEALTHCARE TODAY!
If you can be on CNN and justify telling me that a 1l bag of IV 0.9% Nacl and an iv line is worth $250.00 in the USA but less than $10.00 every where else in the world. YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
(Dr Satjay Gupta explained away the high cost of medical equipement and accessories in the USA to patents and development costs. he also stated that hospitals collect less than half of monies owed to them, so make them pay dont kill those who are willing to pay.)
in their rush to defend themselves, the business casual folks do send the message that they believe bedside nurses are a bunch of ignorant children to be treated like such.
prior to entering nursing, i worked as a paramedic.
i rose to the level of director of operations of a regional office for a large ambulance service.
part of my job description was i had to be a licensed paramedic with appropriate acls, pals, etc.
to maintain "medical command" priveleges, i had to have so many hours on the bus, as well as successful iv starts, intubations, etc.
therefore, i spent time directly "walking the walk" and performing the same job duties of the staff i supervised.
that gave me much more insight into how policies i enforced actually affected the staff's daily workflow, and helped avoid the "do it my way, or else" mentality so common in nursing.
job satisfaction was high where i worked, even before i rose to the top. it remained so, despite challenges to the system that increased workload and operations procedures.
nursing, on the other hand, is almost the exact opposite:
the very minute someone gets promoted out of "the pool", they take off their scrubs and never want to get within arm's length of a patient again. then they have a bunch of "great ideas" that hinder my workload, often for no good purpose.
ems has a much flatter hierarchy, and this creates more "street cred" for the managers when laying down the law or changing procedures. (ems is also more gender-balanced -- which may be another problem in nursing.)
"chicken dropping" rules like "no drinks at the desk", wearing tracking tags, press-gainey surveys that measure little but the "waitress" side of nursing, or adding 5 more pages to a 20 page admission packet for "research purposes" all come from middle managers who have forgotten what it's like. (i resent it. greatly. i know featherbedding when i see it, versus proactive management they keep claiming.)
the fact the so many of them have posted here during times that indicate "work day" surfing of the internet, speaks for itself.
Specializes in med/surg; LTC.....LPN, RN, DON; TCU.
I came from EMS and moved over to nursing after 22 years and I agree with many comments made. It is amazing that in EMS/Fire Depart. admin types are still required to spend time in the field but in nursing once out of the trenches memories fade! As a floor nurse I have seen forms and paperwork moved over to nursing because of 8-5 positions need for time to deal with their family issues and it STAYS in the floor nurses job because it improved data gathering. How about the cost of triple charting the same data/pt info in different areas so that 8-5 staff can stay in their 40 hr work week and floor nurses take the heat for less time with the pt?? The LTC facility where I work I spent about 3 hours of paper work for 1 hour of resident care dependent on skill level.
Agree. That's a good reply to this post in general. HELlo, healthcare DOES need 9-5 people. I don't terribly want to do patients' insurance crap, or dietary, or employee scheduling, or social services, or any hospital job other than direct health care because I'm a NURSE, not a 9-5er. Different doesn't mean bad. If not for the non-direct health care workers, how much work would we get done? This is not 19th century frontier health care; we serve millions of people, and in that kind of system, you're just going to need more than MD's and nurses.
I think the point that 'some' are making is that you are not truly a nurse (even though you have a license that states that you are...) if you do not work direct care nursing.
There was a suggestion by someone(not going to read through all the posts) that the licenses of people that do not work direct care nursing should signify this and be called something different on their licenses.
I do agree that we should unite and not make it an 'us, them' situation. All different people need to be a part of healthcare-direct patient care and non-direct patient care nurses.
I took a 20 percent pay cut moving from bedside to leadership and stayed the same pay rate moving into management. We make the same as the academic nurse educators at a college or university. Bedside makes the most money. That is why there are no pay cuts, just no raises. Working as a hospital recruiter was very enlightening!
When I went to P.I. my pay stayed the same since it was with the same organization BUT when all the direct care staff got cost of living raises and could participate in the clinical ladder and then got 2 more raises after that (they absolutely deserved it but I worked hard too and got NOTHING....)
If it would have been all about the money I would have gone back to bedside nursing but I believed in what I was supporting and doing on a daily basis.
I still do and now I am in education.
otessa
(Oh and just in case get slammed for posting during normal 9-5 working hours-finished up my 40 hours yesterday and worked from home this AM and now off)
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
Hi brothers and sisters in nursing.
Let me put in a non American view on your issue.
If you can be on CNN and justify telling me that a 1l bag of IV 0.9% Nacl and an iv line is worth $250.00 in the USA but less than $10.00 every where else in the world. YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
(Dr Satjay Gupta explained away the high cost of medical equipement and accessories in the USA to patents and development costs. he also stated that hospitals collect less than half of monies owed to them, so make them pay dont kill those who are willing to pay.)
I know that I will take some heat but...........
i can take it.
Since this thread has nothing to do with the relative cost and/or quality of medical supplies and equipment, you aren't likely to get many responses. I suggest you start a separate thread, so that those who are knowledgeable about such things can reply. Perhaps you, as others have, heard some appalling statistic on CNN or read it in a Washington Post column and assume it must be true.
We recently had a thread titled "just what the hell is going on in the US?". The topic was having reps from medical device (such as ortho) companies in the OR. When the situation was explained, the author of the thread may have felt a little embarassed for "bomb-throwing" before understanding what he or she was talking about.
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
QUOTE=360joules;4201492]. . ."Chicken dropping" rules like "no drinks at the desk", wearing tracking tags, Press-Gainey surveys that measure little but the "waitress" side of nursing, or adding 5 more pages to a 20 page admission packet for "research purposes" all come from middle managers who have forgotten what it's like. (I resent it. Greatly. I know featherbedding when I see it, versus proactive management they keep claiming.)
This is the type of thing I felt your original post was talking about. I am somewhat surprised at the vehemence of some of the responses here! I have been keeping a little tally in my mind of "you are part of the problem" things. (All are real , props to original authors) and the first is as you mentioned,
1)"tracking tags" on nurses.
2)Hand sanitizer dispensers with little hidden cameras to see who, and how often they, use sanitizer.
3)Forbidding nurses to sit and chart at the nurses station during their 12 hour shift because it could present "an appearance problem" to family members that the nurse is a slacker.
4)Forcing nurses to say pre-written kindergarten-level things like, "is there anything you need right now? I have the time"
5)Managers actually hiding outside the doorway to eavesdropping to make sure the nurse says the stupid thing.
6)Mandating nurses wear a badge or button "Ask me if I've washed my hands"
7)Happy face stickers on nurses badge for each positive customer service evaluation, lots of happy faces=good nurse
8)Similarly, cardboard chart in the hallway with gold stars for the same reason, viewable to people passing by. I believe this nurse mentioned also her manager cutting out foamy gingerbread men as nurses tear around working their rears off.
Yesterday I read the "letter to Hollywood" about portraying nurses as bimbos, unprofessional, etc. It's within healthcare that we are losing more ground!! None of that stuff happened 25 years ago. Doctors are not expected to adhere to these idiotic policies, either, which makes it even worse.
We have so many threads here about dumb policies enacted by out-of-touch people, "customer service" stuff, very few people disagree with those. I don't know why this one has touched such a nerve.
"I don't know why this one has touched such a nerve. " quote from Post # 103
It touched a nerve, just as your post did mine, as no one sees themselves or wants to be "part of the problem".
The reason it touched my nerves, is that I am horrified by the things you cited as being in the realm if reality! Cameras inserted into hand sanitisers? Tags on nurses, reporting every instant of their activities? Things placed on badges and visible gold charts with stars that rate nurses? Policies forbidding nurses from charting on their shifts? Surely not!!
Where is the justified negative reaction from the nurses in facilities that do that?
Recently we got some new "rules" at my work regarding sexual harassment. Not sure where they stemmed from. We are not allowed to do:
elevator eyes
touch co-workers
make sucking noises
etc
There were a few other funny phrases I had never heard of. I actually had to go to management and ask what most of those things meant because I had no idea. Apparently Elevator eyes is when you look someone up and down?
I understand sexual harassment issues, it was just funny how the "new rules" came across with all this slang terminology that just seemed as inappropriate in a letter.
Everyone has their place in healthcare, but I do believe that management should still have to work the floor once a month to get a feel for what it's like out there. All of our charge nurses and our resource are required to work one shift a month as a floor nurse. Why should it hold different for management?
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
"I don't know why this one has touched such a nerve. " quote from Post # 103
It touched a nerve, just as your post did mine, as no one sees themselves or wants to be "part of the problem".
The reason it touched my nerves, is that I am horrified by the things you cited as being in the realm if reality! Cameras inserted into hand sanitisers? Tags on nurses, reporting every instant of their activities? Things placed on badges and visible gold charts with stars that rate nurses? Policies forbidding nurses from charting on their shifts? Surely not!!
Where is the justified negative reaction from the nurses in facilities that do that?
The nurse who was asked not to sit down to chart quit her job, recently updated her thread saying she is very happy in her new job and has no regrets. It makes me just spittin' mad she had to make such a choice.
The scripting that appears to have no basis in reality, I imagine is ignored or adapted by the nurses. I feel like "is there anything I can do for you? I have the time", which is the most common mandated statement I have seen, is particularly perverse when combined with cutbacks and staffing shortages.
Honestly, I see many people now-a -days defeated and resigned to these things as inevitable. Jobs are scarce right now. Lots of people just can't afford, I mean literally can't afford, to rock the boat. This may also be the reason for the tracking devices being accepted. One nurse here said she had no problem with it because it helped management assign resources effectively. Personally, I have a more cynical view as to why they want nurses to wear the things.
One thing I forgot to add to the list is "hourly rounding". First, as with the others, it assumes the nurse is a wayward, surly child who cannot be trusted to conduct her/himself appropriately without surveillance measures, or decide how often to check her patients, but they actually have nurses initial a sheet of paper like you would if you worked cleaning the restrooms at Target!! Professional? Give me a break!!
360Joules
Professional? Give me a break!!
dhaylecs
3 Posts
Hi brothers and sisters in nursing.
Let me put in a non American view on your issue.
If you can be on CNN and justify telling me that a 1l bag of IV 0.9% Nacl and an iv line is worth $250.00 in the USA but less than $10.00 every where else in the world. YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
(Dr Satjay Gupta explained away the high cost of medical equipement and accessories in the USA to patents and development costs. he also stated that hospitals collect less than half of monies owed to them, so make them pay dont kill those who are willing to pay.)
I know that I will take some heat but...........
i can take it.