Reason 1 I know God loves me:
There is a night shift
No alarm clock blaring in my ear (3 year old jumping on the bed notwithstanding)
No administrators
Minimal beaurocratic bullsh--
No well-meaning but hair-pulling inducing family members at the bedside
No meetings
What there is: time to take care of my patients
Hey, after all, it is why I became a nurse
Thursday, January 31, 2008
What Money?>
If there is one thing (and actually there are a he-- of a lot more than one) that drives me crazy, it's the assumption that nurses make great money.
Reality check. If the money was that great, why is there a shortage.
Yes, the potential is there--You just have to be willing to give up benefits, security, a life.
I actually knew one guy who worked 5 (12 hour) shifts a week when he could manage it. Yes, he made excellent money but he was also away from his family, did not have any work sponsered benifits, never knew where in the hospital he'd be working. And I have to ask myself, is it worth it??
For me, I like knowing that I'm in the unit, no floating to different floors. I like the stability it offers. I may not be guarenteed my hours in times of low census but at least I know I have PTO to cover those hours. Plus, and this is frightening, the benifits through my hospital are better, for the most part, than my husbands. These pluses equate to making a smaller salary than most of the public realizes.
I hear a lot of people talking about the great sign on bonuses. These are wonderful recruiting tools. Basically for agreeing to, usually, a 2 year commitment, you get x amount of money. New grad's can get help paying off student loans, there is some minimal tuirion reimbursement. But, I'm not a new grad, I don't want ot start all over in a new place every couple of years even though it get really depressing to know that on average, I make only 1-2 dollars more than a new graduate and that is with a decade of experience!!
So please, love your nurse and remember, especially if you have a nurse that's been around for a while, odds are She's not in it for the money, BE NICE!
Reality check. If the money was that great, why is there a shortage.
Yes, the potential is there--You just have to be willing to give up benefits, security, a life.
I actually knew one guy who worked 5 (12 hour) shifts a week when he could manage it. Yes, he made excellent money but he was also away from his family, did not have any work sponsered benifits, never knew where in the hospital he'd be working. And I have to ask myself, is it worth it??
For me, I like knowing that I'm in the unit, no floating to different floors. I like the stability it offers. I may not be guarenteed my hours in times of low census but at least I know I have PTO to cover those hours. Plus, and this is frightening, the benifits through my hospital are better, for the most part, than my husbands. These pluses equate to making a smaller salary than most of the public realizes.
I hear a lot of people talking about the great sign on bonuses. These are wonderful recruiting tools. Basically for agreeing to, usually, a 2 year commitment, you get x amount of money. New grad's can get help paying off student loans, there is some minimal tuirion reimbursement. But, I'm not a new grad, I don't want ot start all over in a new place every couple of years even though it get really depressing to know that on average, I make only 1-2 dollars more than a new graduate and that is with a decade of experience!!
So please, love your nurse and remember, especially if you have a nurse that's been around for a while, odds are She's not in it for the money, BE NICE!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Patient Satisfaction and the ICU
Okay, here's my first (of many, I'm sure) issues
I'm an ICU nurse on the night shift of a community hospital. We see a little bit of everything come through our doors and we work our butts off to do our best for our patients. But it seems that we aren't doing quite a good enough job. How do we know this??? Because according to admi nistration, our custumor satisfaction survey scores aren't high enough.
What does this mean--Well, it seems that the majority of patients discharged from the ICU would only probably recommend our hospital as opposed to definately. Our administration's response--we now have administrators present 24/7 to "handle" customer care issures. What they are actually doing is walking around with clipboards checking everyone off on if they introduce themselves, are they friendly, do they smile and make eye contact.
How sad is it that 1: the higher echelon actually see this as a legitimate response, I mean, is this actually the best they can come up with!!! and 2: As my husband put it--You mean they are judging you not on how good the care you give is but on the patients perception of it.--Doesn't quite seem right to me, but what do I know.
Another important factor in this eqation--These surveys are sent to the patients directly discharged from the ICU. In other words--DKA's --pt's we have to poke their finger every hour at least for a blood sugar and tell, no, sorry, nothing to drink until we get your system back on track with IV fluid (Great for rehydration, not so much for quenching that extreme thirst) and accidental overdoses. Now for some reason, these patients don't quite understand (once they wake up that is), why I can't give them something for pain or a sleep aid. Considering just who we discharge, I'm pretty damn impresses our rating is as high as it is.
Anyway,--I work the ICU for a reason. Hell, I'm a nurse for a reason. I want to help people. Iwant to offer some measure of comfort, peace and healing. There is no greater reward than a patient saying saying thank you or I feel better.
Bottom line though I want people to know
I'm a critical care RN
My job is to save your ass
Not kiss it
I'm an ICU nurse on the night shift of a community hospital. We see a little bit of everything come through our doors and we work our butts off to do our best for our patients. But it seems that we aren't doing quite a good enough job. How do we know this??? Because according to admi nistration, our custumor satisfaction survey scores aren't high enough.
What does this mean--Well, it seems that the majority of patients discharged from the ICU would only probably recommend our hospital as opposed to definately. Our administration's response--we now have administrators present 24/7 to "handle" customer care issures. What they are actually doing is walking around with clipboards checking everyone off on if they introduce themselves, are they friendly, do they smile and make eye contact.
How sad is it that 1: the higher echelon actually see this as a legitimate response, I mean, is this actually the best they can come up with!!! and 2: As my husband put it--You mean they are judging you not on how good the care you give is but on the patients perception of it.--Doesn't quite seem right to me, but what do I know.
Another important factor in this eqation--These surveys are sent to the patients directly discharged from the ICU. In other words--DKA's --pt's we have to poke their finger every hour at least for a blood sugar and tell, no, sorry, nothing to drink until we get your system back on track with IV fluid (Great for rehydration, not so much for quenching that extreme thirst) and accidental overdoses. Now for some reason, these patients don't quite understand (once they wake up that is), why I can't give them something for pain or a sleep aid. Considering just who we discharge, I'm pretty damn impresses our rating is as high as it is.
Anyway,--I work the ICU for a reason. Hell, I'm a nurse for a reason. I want to help people. Iwant to offer some measure of comfort, peace and healing. There is no greater reward than a patient saying saying thank you or I feel better.
Bottom line though I want people to know
I'm a critical care RN
My job is to save your ass
Not kiss it
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