I'm leaving nursing. Tonight was the final straw.

[maveric]

We were understaffed again. The administrator and DON werent taking calls. I work in a sub-acute (critical care) unit of a convalescent hospital. The Respiratory techs dont want to work late like they are supposed to, all the patients have trach's and need constant trach care. I had 19 patients tonight and we only had 3 CNA's for 38 total patients. Ventilators were malfunctioning and one man coded(we 911ed him and he's ok now),
Also, my hospital has an arraingement with the Phillipine govt. They send us nurses from PI with financial kick-backs and tax breaks. They pay them $4.00-5.00 an hr more than we do and they DONT KNOW AND CANT DO SHIT! And we have to train them and we are also losing our OT hours! Plus they are calling in sick ALL THE TIME! When they come back the DON and ADM kisss their asses. We complain and they tell us that, thats just the way things are going to be now! FUCK THAT! I'm going back to ship repair. Same money, less bullshit!
The CA Healthcare system is a filthy mess!
Good Riddence!

[HEyHEY]

1. Well hey, enough's enough right?

Sounds like you made a good choice

[Floogeldy]

2. What am I, your SO?

I don't come here for you to dump this load of shit on me.

B-)

[maveric]

3. Bite Me!

[Bluebear]

4. What's this Padres shit?

[Floogeldy]

5. Okay. Okay. I'm sorry.

I took it personally.

[maveric]

10. Sorry but its been a bad fucking week!

Three patients died due to inadequate coverage. They were sent to us to die! I'm tired of death and having to watch people waste away in pain and die because their carriers WONT cover care palns that may save their lives. Family members are angry and take it out on the staff and wedo all we are equipped to do. The ADM wont hire peope due to the bottom fuckin line in profits. The DON just does what the ADM tells her to do and nothing changes.
I'm just sick to hell of daeth and the fucked up healthcare system this country has. Its gonna get worse too!
If ya cant stand the heat get out of the kitchen, I guess. I just cant take this anymore!

[Floogeldy]

11. Holy shit

I didn't know people were dying due to inadequate coverage. This is criminal. I urge you to notify your county district attorney's office on Monday. That is not supposed to be how it works.

[maveric]

15. That wont do anything I'm afraid. I'm in CA! Ah-Nold has it in for nurses

and the healthcare system.
Its very common here. We get terminally ill convicts too. A sheriff has to guard them while they wither and die.
And some of these doctors dont give a shit and undermedicate patients with painful maladies like cancer. They are "afriad of making them addicts", one quck would say. THE FUCKING PATIENTS HAS PROSTATE CANCER THAT HAS METASTASIZED TO HIS SPINE AND HE ONLY PRESCRIBES VICODIN Q-6?
Its a sick system and I hope and pray that I o fast and have to be in a place like this.

[enigmatic]

14. Oh man, that's horrible..

This is disgusting; I'm reallyu sorry to hear this.

[cosmik debris]

6. I'v seen that before

Maybe you should try home healthcare or a small rural hospital. You will not make as much as you do in the big hospitals, but the stress level is MUCH lower.

[Floogeldy]

7. Hey

I heard a band called Cosmic Debris back in the early eighties. Are you them?

[cosmik debris]

13. Nope

I stole the name from a Frank Zappa song. Zombywoof was already taken.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Hi, maveric, boy do I ever hear you! I left the hospital scene in 1991,

never to return. I have to say, though, that your night just ended sounds a whole lot worse than the ones I experienced...and I worked in an acute care hospital, critical care also. I did work also with RN's from the Phillipines, and they were excellent. But that was '91!
It looks like things aren't getting better at all; that's what I heard. I went to work in '92 for the American Red Cross, in apheresis, and I loved it there. Of course there's BS there too, but no-one is a patient unless they have areaction. I just retired from that last week...I hear that the private blood banks are run somewhat better; you might have a look at that...Of course, the money is NOT as good as in a hospital environment.

But the main thing is, you have to take care of yourself first; no-one else will do that. And you already know that...Please take care!



:hi:


:kick:

[silverweb]

9. So sorry to hear it.

I'm afraid it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Some things should never be "for profit" -- and health care is at the top of that list! When the shareholders are more important than the patients and and the caretakers, things are really fucked up. And that's how it is in this country right now.

[maveric]

12. Just look at the shit thats going on with Andy! That should NOT

happen in whats supposed to be the "Greatest Country on the Planet".
50 grand up front to save a good mans life? Thats an abomination!

[silverweb]

16. I couldn't agree with you more!

The whole situation is unconscionable!

[shesemsmom]

17. I've been in nursing 30 years and this is the worst I've ever seen it. The

patients are not only the sickest they have ever been but rude and demanding and don't want to follow medical advice. Whats more administration is a pain in the ass!!! They want you to work like 2+ people and what ever you do do sit down or go to pee.To think I have 15 more years of this.......GADS Good luck

[xmas74]

18. I worked as a CMT in a nursing home once

as a part-time job. I know exactly what you are talking about in ref to shortages. We would have one CNA on for every three halls on the night shift. There was one nurse on duty for coverage. I had facility-wide meds plus 3 halls to cover as an aide. The money really sucked too.
I know that if push comes to shove I could go back to that work. I hope that I never have too.

[maveric]

19. And Ah-Nold raised the patient to nurse ratio from 5:1 to 6:1.

I hope he ends up in a place like this someday.

[xmas74]

20. You still have a better ratio than Missouri has.

And the ratio doesn't really matter around here anyway. They used to fudge it by counting the on-call physician, the janitor, the morning cooks who came in at 3:30 am, even the laundry person. They would count them in their coverage just to look good to the state licensing boards. (BTW-I did make an anonymous hotline call about a week after I quit).
Never again.

[Wapsie B]

21. I hear you.

I've worked in healthcare over 2 and a half decades and your situation is exactly why I never went into nursing. I was a CNA for several years contemplating going to nursing school like so many others. Even with the limited career mobility of my field I still don't regret the choice.

I just have to wonder, how does the European system work?

[miss_kitty]

22. i am sorry to hear of your trouble, maveric

Nurses, IMHO are the most knowledgeable and hardest working members of the hospital staff. Not only do they do everything they do, they have to accurately record everything they do.
They have to find subtle and tactful ways to tell you "The doctor is full of shit. Your dad will not recover. In fact, he'll be dead tomorrow." Can't tell you like that.
They have to deal with puke and piss and shit and still manage to smile when they get to the next patient.
I was in the hospital myself for 5 weeks, and if it weren't for Lois, the night nurse who made me pull myself up the first night after surgery, and all the others who took care of me I don't know what I'dve done.

Hate to see a nurse go away mad. People don't get it.

[all.of.me]

23. i am sorry

i can feel the struggle you're going through! what frustration. and sadness.

yes, health care reform needs to be high on the agenda of the next elections. things are VERY wrong when the patient is not the most important part of the medical profession.

what about working in a hospice?

but ship repair sounds very interesting, too.

hang in there, maveric

[maveric]

24. I did ship repair for 25 years and am a master journeyman.

The money is about a dollar an hr more with better benefits. I left it because of the bullshit factor but I'm now encountering a greater BS factor in nursing.

[all.of.me]

29. i wish you good luck in your transition!

i am self-employed, and there is a lot of bullshit involved with that, too. i guess it's part of life. unfortunately, it's out of proportion!

[WI_DEM]

25. It's criminal the way health care workers are treated in this country

poor wages, poor benefits and no overtime. They have to also put up with BS from doctors, administrators, some patients, and patient families. Yet look it all that we depend on them for.

[maveric]

26. Its criminal the way that patients are treatedin this country.

Increasing ratios and decreasing staff HURTS patients!
Ah-Nold just doesnt fucking get it!

[WI_DEM]

28. of course it is

and I agree with you. But healthcare workers deserve better as well for all they do. In the end that will help everybody.

[joeybee12]

27. Good Lord! That's terrible!

I don't blame you!:grouphug:

[maveric]

30. Theres a special place in Hell for Shwartzenegger and Frist.

And the neocon culture of death followers.

[NC_Nurse]

31. Wow. That job totally sucks.

I don't blame you one bit for leaving. I wouldn't do that, no way!

I work per diem so I don't get locked into bad situations. If I don't like what's going down in a unit, I don't go back. You might consider doing agency work, they usually pay better and you don't have to work anywhere you don't want to....but if you're just sick of the whole healthcare scene I completely understand. Sometimes I feel that way, but I haven't given up yet.

[leftofthedial]

32. American healthcare is in the toilet

We get the least value BY FAR of any country in the world.

Insurance companies should be run out of the health business.

[davsand]

33. I'm so sorry. Nurses are just getting hammered by this system.

It is a sad commentary that the good ones--the ones who care--are getting out because they can't stomach what is happening with Corporate America running the hospitals.

It isn't that way everywhere, however. My dad just came home from the local hospital after 5 fun filled days and nights in a Step Unit (one step under ICU) as a result of heart attack.

His care was wonderful--every step of the way. The nursing staff was incredible and if he needed anything they were THERE for him. I ordered them a huge fruit basket from the local fruit market as a way to say thanks because they were SO good.

What prompted that fruit basket was one of them making the comment that Dad (and the rest of our family) was easy to like because we made a point of saying thank you to them. THAT blew me away. I can't imagine going to work every day and having nothing but cranky, bitching, stressed out people to deal with. (Remember, I am in the Tax Assessor's office so I know how ugly it can get. You guys are SAINTS!)

If you want to keep on nursing but are over the California BS, come here to Central Illinois! You may find it is a bit better here.


Laura

[margaritamama]

34. Heath care today is something else!

[hue]

35. So sorry to hear about all this!

God I'm so sorry HC is such a frickin' mess! I'm a nurse too and things are getting worse everywhere!
Most of all I feel sorry for the helpless patients who have no idea how bad things are and what's going on!
Its all about money these days! And not money for the nurses!

[libodem]

36. I feel for you

I'm a nurse in a long term care facility. My job used to be able to be done in the 8 hours I was on. Now I have at least an hour of charting after every shift. I have a permanent/partial disability from working short and hurting my back. No place for advancement, 1% raises if they give raises, and the new hires are being paid more, even if they are new grads. I have 24 patients and 2 and 1/2 cna's. That is actually a pretty fair ratio. An LPN, who came from another facility said she had 32 patients. Sometimes, I wish I could just walk, too. I don't blame you for being pissed.

[maveric]

38. I love the patients. Even the difficult ones.

Its a rewarding feeling when you make someone feel better or even CPR them back to life after a code. And I will miss that part.
I just hate to see patients suffer and be neglected. When nurses and CNA's are short, stressed and overworked, sadly, the patients suffer the most. That makes me ill!
I'm giving it one more month and am applying to the several ship repair facilities here in San Diego in the meantime.
Its just too much for me right now. I cant hang anymore.

[blondeatlast]

41. I think I'm a pretty good patient, and the feeling is reciprocated.

I've been hospitalized many times.

Nurses are the BEST--a good nurse makes such a difference.

[coffeenap]

37. Folks on GD are starting a campaign for a march on DC for

uninsured people. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3620380&mesg_id=3620380

[hyphenate]

39. No kidding

I had several run-ins with the California medical system. Despite multiple problems with heart, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, they wouldn't give me medi-cal. They told me I wasn't disabled. Now that I got my letter that the disability has been approved, I think I'll send a copy of the judgement and tell them to shove it up their asses.

Don't forget, though, that working freelance is an option. Many of the temp agencies are desperate for nurses and will pay very well for your services. And around this area of Massachusetts (Central), they advertise for nursing personnel all the time. I know it's not warm and cozy like SD, but if you can't get what you need there, there are definitely needs in other parts of the country.

[blondeatlast]

40. As one who's been on the receiving end of care, let me just say

that you ARE appreciated and I understand your profound frustration.

Good nurses are a godsend, but there are so few people who ever go to the hospital that it makes it easy for someone like Ah-nold to demonize them.

I support nurses personally, politically, and will stand with them any time it's required.

If it weren't for a good OFF_DUTY nurse, I wouldn't be typng this now.

It isn't much, but I hope it helps. I think it's time for California nurses to stage a blue flu, maybe?!