Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Disappointed

That wonderful job eval and raise I had a couple of weeks ago....well, the raise has been frozen. Apparently, everyone in our hospital will not be getting a raise. It's discouraging...for a couple of reasons. While I understand the economy is crashing & I should be thankful I have a job (which I am thankful)......we see our "sister" hospitals handing out raises and bonuses ($900 & up bonuses) to all of their employees. Yet we get nothing but aggravation.

It's not enough that they are freezing our wages, but they are telling us the patients aren't satisfied "enough." As if that is our fault. Nowhere do they acknowledge that better staffing or improved nurse to patient ratios could definitely boost patient satisfaction....instead they want to up us in PCU to having 6 patients each and our ICU staff to have 3 patients....at all times. This is going to improve patient satisfaction????? Either they have never spent a day or even 10 minutes on an actual hospital floor or they really don't care about patient satisfaction. I'm thinking maybe it's a combination of both.

It's aggravating having people that are clueless about actual nursing making decisions that affect us. And on top of all that aggravation...now they want to go to uniforms. They want us all in the same color, all the time. They say that will boost patient satisfaction. Huh??? Not only that...they want US to pay for it. I am getting so tired of being micromanaged. Have I mentioned they have even told us exactly...word for word...how to chart in certain sections. Is this even legal? Seriously. Doesn't it look suspicious if every single chart pulled has the exact same wording in certain places? And they are serious about being compliant....we get written up if even one word is different than "their script."

Ugh, ridiculous. I don't know....perhaps this is a sign to really explore the world of travel nursing. I really like my co-workers & that is pretty much the only thing stopping me. We are hoping this wave of administration disappears even faster than the last 3 sets we've had in 5 years. One can dream, can't they?

On a different note....I am really enjoying watching "Ace of Cakes." Does anyone else watch this show? I just researched to see how much their cakes cost.....it looks like they start at $1,000. Who in their right mind would buy a birthday cake (or any cake) starting at $1,000?????? I guess those of us who are not working in healthcare...lol.

I traded in my patient assignment from Sunday & got a whole new group on Monday. It was much better.....muchhhhhhhhhh better. Now I'm off for 12 days...yay!

3 comments:

Carlene Noggle said...

I am disapointed right along with you about your raise...YOU DESERVED IT!
I think that the whole world is all about money now...sad isn't it?
Why don't hospitals have nurses on a board that oversees and fixes problems with patient/nurse relations and also job problems there??? Nurses are the ones doing all the work! Why take someone from management to decide it?
love ya,
carlene

Pamela said...

That kind of stuff is exactly why I left the hospital setting. They want us to do the impossible...and make sure to keep a smile on our face at ALL times. UGH!
Good luck! I hope you do start travel nursing 'cause I'd love to read about it.

Anonymous said...

Raise freeze - boo hiss. Ace of Cakes - awesome.