Saturday, January 25, 2014

And It Begins.....

The first wave of the predicted mass exodus of nurses has begun. Four nurses have given notice and we are in our last two weeks of having a full complement. One of the nurses said that she knows that another clump of resignations will happen soon, but she didn't want to give any names.
I heard the next wave of lay offs are going to be implemented soon. I was told that CNAs, techs and unit secretaries will be next. I don't know if there's truth in any of it, but if that happens, then I guess I'll have no choice, but to give my notice and move on to less hazardous pastures.
I hope this is just a nasty rumor although I thought the same thing with the rumors about security and housekeeping. I asked our big honcho ER doc if they were planning on closing our hospital and he said 'no'. He said that if we see him jumping ship, then we should do the same.
All eyes are watching him closely.....

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges!!

Some recent developments at my hospital has everyone in an uproar. The CEO decided that my hospital no longer needed security. The whole department was laid off. Now I know the CEO did not realize (or care) that security is mentioned throughout our ED SOPs or that we normally require their presence in the ER for violent or unruly patients. Basically, we were told that we were on our own - wait, no......the clinical staff was not told anything, we found out by one of the guards who had the heart to finish his last shift.

Some of the staff, doctors and nurses alike, started scouring our state's laws regarding carrying weapons in a hospital. Some decided that they were going to carry a piece of medical equipment that could double as a weapon. One called the police department and asked how to handle a future threatening situation and was told police would only come if we were already assaulted and would not respond to the threat of assault. Others (mainly nurses) are looking for other jobs. If things don't change, I'm quite sure that the CEO is not prepared for a mass exodus of nurses. No nurses means no one to care for patients which means the revenue that the CEO thought he was saving by firing security will be moot.

The other gem is the cut back on housekeeping. Last year, the hospital fired the housekeeping department and replaced them with contract employees. Now, the CEO cut back on the working hours of the contractors and told the nurses to clean the rooms. Now, working in the ER, we (sometimes) have a quick turnover of patients. The nurse or tech will perform a wipe down of the bed and areas touched by the patient and change the linens. This is typical in the ERs in my area. Now they want us to sweep, mop, take out the garbage, etc. We just had to shake our heads and sigh. Yeah, right....we have all the time in the world to do this. We rarely get to eat a lunch due to dealing with the amount of patients we have, when do they propose we do this? Will the CEO come down to the ER and clean rooms? Will the administrative staff come help us with watching a suicidal patient? Come help us deal with a drugged out violent meth patient?

There will be some bad mojo on the horizon for my wonderful, dysfunctional little ER family. Although I have vented and complained about my job, the one shining star has been the awesome people I work with on a daily basis. I guess we'll see what happens from here.......