[Jerryh53]

I know what you mean about benefits. We all need those and sometimes work places we dont want to just for the benfits. But I think more and more private duty compantiesare offering better benefits to get better nurses. I know you have probably checked into this. Might ask Brenda;s care giverers who they plan on using and check them out. Might be beneficial to all concerned. and Lin, I think you have a good grasp on what your doing. I recall you talking about traveling in an earlier post. this seems to a good way for a nurse to break the burnout cycle. I really wish you the best in it, and I know whereever you go, you will be the best they have ever had. Good Luck

Have a Great Day

Jerry

[AllenAyres]

great conversation

The schools around here don't crank out enough nurses, so there's usually a shortage. I can't remember anyone getting laid off... fired maybe but not laid off

[Sunshine]

A couple of things- Yell and yell loud. You need to join together as a unit and go to your bosses every day if needed. Every small and big problem. Get your Doctors involved. Have them call administration when they feel pt care is compromised (this is very effective). When family or a pt shows dissatisfaction or threatens to call administration- tell them please do, give them a comment card.
No one wants to feel like they are neglecting their pt's however do the important things. Other things will wait. No one died of being dirty. I'm definately not saying leave them lie in their own soiling, however triage your day. The more slack that a nurse picks up... overtime to fill in the holes(constantly), answering phones, picking up more pt's than any nurse should, we are all setting a presedence.

Utilize your resources. When you are not receiving help from ADN call your boss. Let them know. Document all problems that you are having from ancillary services. Have your hospital do surveys of all departments. It will help all departmets run smoother.

Request to your boss to call a meeting with the head honchos of your hospital. If they refuse request again. Bring all the documentation of probelms, bring a list of questions.

I came from an extremely busy ER. Staffing was short, aquity very high and quantity of pt's remarkable. We were having to board these pt's in the ER because the house was having just as many pressures. The staff started to inundate our boss with problems,complaints and concerns. The doctors involvement was a huge help. We ended up having a staff meeting w/ the President,VP, DON, human resources, nursing supervisors from different shifts and a couple others. The vp did most of the talking from the group. Placating people and essentailly fluffing off peoples problems. At the time I was in the processes of leaving full time status(still staying casuel) so I didn't have much to lose. I told the VP that I was leaving and exactly why and the concernes that I had. I then told him that all he was doing was "blowing sunshine up my a**". Needless to say that I received more than a few claps and he was called Sunshine for months. However, what I said received quite a bit of attention as a whole ( not just the "sunshine" comment). Overall the meeting was very effective. All our problems waere not fixed, but things definately did change for the better.

Anyway, these were just some of my thoughts. Goodluck to all.

[nursinghumor]

No nursing or nursing assistant layoffs in my area, with the exception of hospitals that are closing down.

All the facilities I know of are hiring as many nurses as quickly as they can.

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.4nursing.com

[capermom]

come to canada we are crying for nurses here
great way of life too

[cassioo]

I wish they would lay off a couple of people in my unit. We have 2 1/2 more nurses then we need. We used to get pulled (not too often) now they've closed our unit and we get manditory call off if nobody volunteers. Usually somebody will volunteer but if they don't and it's your turn you have to take manditory time. You can take it unpaid or use your PDO but if you use your PDO then when it comes time for vacation you dont have any left. I think if we're that overstaffed then send the bottom 2 to the float pool. I like the people that are the bottom 2 but I also work for money for my family and I don't like giving up my time/money because we're overstaffed.

[yeoj]

Hi, this is my first letter to anyone who's got a better idea about my concern. I Recently passed the CA BON RN exam and it's been almost a month since I got interviewed but until now I still haven't received any positive feedback yet. My question is, is this really the normal process for a foregin Nurse who hasn't got any employment history here in the US and no connection to undergo a long time of waiting from the employer's response, though I already got 12+ years exp as a Nurse in my country (PHIL)..or should I say..I need to have a connection first before I could get myself on the right track but the problem is I don't have any...I've been toasted in my past interviews which I think I handled it well but still the waiting goes on. I don't really believe in applying thru the internet bec. most/all of the recruiters don't have time to look for an application in their website.I'm not choosy when it comes to work, I can work anywhere the hospital would offer me but..still the waiting goes on...Thank you for reading my letter and I hope to hear your expert opinion on my case.Thank you guys!

[cassioo]

have you contacted the person who interviewed you and thanked them for the interview and asked if they have made any decision yet? YOu can hint that you have another offer but were wanting that job and see if they take the bait If it doesn't matter where you work have you put in applications all over and near where you live. I had sent in my resume in April to another hospital just for perdiem hours and just had the interview at the end of June and got hired on the spot but it took 2 months for the right person to get the paperwork.

[yeoj]

Hi, thanks a lot for sharing me your thoughts. Actually, I did everything what the applicant should do. In my case, I was only interviewed by the nurse recruiter. I haven't really interviewed by the nurse manager yet, cause no one is available at this time..But probably, i'm just gonna have to wait hoping I would end up getting hired like you had experinced. Thanks again and have a nice day..

[JazzRN]

Originally Posted by Judyd

Addendum: I went to the head Nurse today and talked about all the pressure to cut down on time and get the charting done when the pts are asking for us. I now believe if I keep a log of the small things and BIG things that slow me down, she may be able to use it to find more efficient ways to get a job done. I feel better about it knowing something I can do to get some control over the situation during these trying times. Anyone else got any ideas on quality fast nursing... The problem is documenting all the things that slow ya down, slows ya down...

Time management is the hardest thing in Nursing.. Esp since there isnt a set schedule. You can try to predict your shift but there are always things that happen. Admissions, discharges, Pt's going south, or pulling out their IV's Foleys etc. As for Charting, I try to chart as I go. That way I don't have to try to remember what happened when. If I can't chart right away, I make notes so it's easy to chart later.