[Jerryh53]

your right, and I think ther is more people here who could have some really good input into this. We both know your not the only one going thru this. I hope your posts here get read and more people start getting in the thread. Got to be a better way out there. Lets hear from all you nice people.

Jerry

[jude]

<font color="purple"> </font>
I know that they have been cutting back on hiring in area hospitals and can't believe that in LTC facilities they are cutting back too. We were told that because of goverment cuts, they would be putting a freeze on hiring. Not only that, but raises have been reduced and they are now saying that instead of having 3-4 cnas per wing, we can probably get by with 2!!!! You know what that means??? Patient care is going to be drastically affected. How can 2 aides make up for the work of 3-4? We have been told to participate in reducing overhead costs(turning off lights/not wasting paper/avoid copying/etc......). Also, the use of pool will be done only in emergency situations, meaning that they are expecting us all to pitch in and do extra(stay later, take on more pts etc). They want us all to do more yet they reduced the amt of raise one can get. As of yet, benefits haven't been affected but they aren't that great to begin with.
In the meantime, management gets bonuses still, like when overtime is below a certain amt each month. They are not being affected at all. It really makes me angry because it's our patients who are going to be affected by this. How will any of this make it better? <font color="][/color"> <font color="purple"> </font> <font color="purple"> </font> <font color="purple"> </font>

[Jerryh53]

It's like that pretty much everywhere Jude, I wonder what the upper crust would do if you asked to share their bonuses with all of you that are working free, and cutting the overhead so they can get their bonus. Boy I can just hear the whining about how much they do to earn those bonueses,, what a crock


Have a Great day

Jerry

[Aaron C.]

The nurses at a hospital here were asked to donate their paid time off to the construction of a new ER wing that's going on. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! Thanks, but no thanks.

[Jerryh53]

It never ceases to amaze me what the paper pushing admin folks will think of next. Did they evn offer to put a plaqu on th wall saying it was donated by all the Nurses. I doubt it. Being as this is a shared site, I will just that that took a lot of nerve, and they wer probably wondering why no one wanted to do it. LOL Keep em honest.

Have A Great Day

Jerry

[Judyd]

The second day , (I had a dead pt that was a coroners case and an organ donor), at shift onset. The people who used to come get the bodies didn't do it anymore. No one knew who did, where it would go, or even where the morgue was, or if it should go to surgery first or not. It took me forty minutes of needed time to work out all the resolutions to this problem for one dead pt, while I had six living ones I was to busy to care for. I said to the head nurse, "It's not going to affect nursing right??? " She did start helping me. Lord knows what are we coming too.

[Jerryh53]

I dont know where its going Judy, but i sure hope ya'll have it figured out before i get out of school. LOL But head nurse sholuld have taken the responsibility of the dead pt. She ought to know who to get onto to get it taken care of. But you never know anymore

Have a Great Day

Jerry

[Judyd]

They had just laid off staff, but not nursing saying it would not affect pt. care. The people who usually move the dead were having to do more of the work the people who were laid off couldn't do. My point is you can not lay off help without creating more work for someone else to do. It all affects nursing and pt care. If they were not performing a needed job they would not have been their in the first place. Management must cut off its nose to spite its face. But... I can't get to a check out stand in the grocery store. A wait in a line for 40 minutes or more is expected anymore. No one gets in a hurry, and no one calls for more help. There isn't any. Unemployment is higher than it has been in my memory in the cities. But we can not get any help anywhere. No one will hire people, they want to train us to do our own work 15 items at a time only with the scan machines at the store and where ever the shoe fits. It seems to me lately the whole world is afraid of going bankrupt. Except me... Maybe I am much more wealthy than I ever believed. No credit cards. Guess that makes me rich. OK.... I'll Stop Now.... Someone elses turn...

[Jerryh53]

It's very hard to tell where things are going now days. I live in a town with a pop around 100,000, and i have been here 22 years. The last job I had before getting laid off, I made 36,000. But that company and most of the ones who pay any descent money are cutting back. They have laid off approx. 1,500 people in this area in the last 12 months. Which means that the rest of the people hiring dont have to pay much of a wage at all. I have been trying to get into a local hosp as a patient care assoc, CNA ever since i was laid off and decided to get into nursing. They always have anywhere from 8 to 17 openings in that area. But do you think I could do that, NOOOOOO they are leaving most empty expecting others, LPN's and RN's to pick up the slack. And who loses in the end,, the pt. And the sad part is that admin knows that, but the bottom line carries more weight than pt care anymore. Get it fixed Judy, I dont want to have to deal with it 2 1/2 years from now : ))

I'm counting on ya'll to take care of it

Have A Great Day

Jerry

[All41]

Hey, OK if someone new gets in on this conversation? Just kidding.... I have been at this for 26yrs. I have seen highs and lows and every time as it is "currently" happening, it is very scary. My advice to any nurse or anyone at all is to CROSSTRAIN! I somehow knew that I should do this a long time ago and that is why my resume is a small novel, LOL! The hedge against layoffs is to make yourself as marketable as possible. Get ACLS, PALS, NALS, CCRN, AORN and anything else you can. Get a part-time job in another field. For example, I worked in Home Health and infusion therapy in tandem with my OR work which allows me to move out of OR if need be. There will always be a need for OR nurses and ST's as long as you can relocate. It is a great specialty. Looking at the travel sites, ICU seems hot too.I don't think being a new grad will hurt anyone as many hospitals welcome the entry level salary vs. the more experienced nurse. They also like newbies so they can mold you to be "like them" although you are incouraged to think critically which means asking the dreaded Q-"why".