My fellow hospital Nurses... (and anyone who cares to read)

Taytee · January 2012

Got any pros and cons of working for S eton or S &W? I work at St. D avid s and things are just not going in the direction I want where I work and I'm seriously considering applying at other facilities or doing agency. I hestitate to work in the Seton ER because I have issues with their policies on Plan B birth control but I think I could work around that for my own mental well being.

I have 5 years ER experience as a BSN RN (2 in Trauma). Although it's not about the money, I've only gotten 2% raises annually even though I'm consistently ranked a high performer. As you know, you hear about how much money new grads are making and in each case, they're all making as much or more than me. Pretty sad. I'm not good at that whole "give me a raise or I'll leave" thing so it's not an option. It's discouraging expecially considering everything else that is going on.

There have been some rather ridiculous "rules" set in place recently that I have openly diagreed with and now I've been asked to come in before the staff meeting to meet with the director and supervisors. I can't imagine it's good.

What it comes down to is that the nursing staff is constantly criticized for anything that doesn't get done. Everything is ultimately our responsibility from registration, to the labs getting entered correctly, stocking, making EMS happy etc. Now they've said we will get written up if there is a dirty bedside commode found in our rooms, ie. the techs don't have to do it. What.The.Hell. Here I thought techs were part of our staff and are there to support the nurses. Apparently they've decided their "primary" job is EKG's and Transports. OK. So what do they do with the other 8 hours of their shift??? Last night a patient used a BSC, I asked the tech to take her up to the floor when she was done and then went to my new assignment in triage (it was 3am). Then at 3:20, the charge nurse told me I didn't empty my BSC. WTH!? He said it looked "old". I told him to feel it and tell me if it was still warm. No answer.

I respect our techs. I used to say I loved them. They worked hard for not a lot of money. But they do get paid to work in a hospital and I don't see why more and more of things they can do are being placed in our already overflowing list of things to do. They can't do half of what I do, so why should they top off linens while I get a new EMS patient and have to do all my own vitals, change the patient into a gown and get an EKG all before I even get to do a triage so the doctor an actually see the patient!? Time is patient satisfaction and if they're going to beat us over the heads about the scores, they need to change things.

But things aren't going to change. Managment has made it very apparent that we're the end of the line for EVERYTHING. And I don't think a business can be successfully run that way. You don't hold the cooks making the scrambled eggs accountable for sweeping up crumbs in the dining room. And likewise, don't yell at the hostess if you got a diet coke instead of a coke. Give people their responsibities and then hold them accountable. I can't be accountable for everything and everyone and still provide safe and efficient patient care.

I know every place has it's downsides. But like I used to say about changing departments at D ell computer. I know everyone has their crap. I need new crap.

flymansWife · January 2012

no real advice but i really hope you find a solution that makes you happy soon! I know how much you love being a nurse. ((( hugs )))

Mrs.Talala · January 2012

I'm not a nurse but am a se t on healthcare provider. I can speak to raises. We get a cost of living raise pretty much every year. So my salary has slowly crept up. We typically get a modest bonus as well based on the number of years you have worked. I have had one true raise in almost 6 years and that is only because the doc I work with went to bat for me. In talking with management this year I learned that the best way to get raises is to apply for a more senior position, so like move from a nurse 1 to a nurse 2 (probably not the right lingo but hopefully that make sense.) apparently positions are set up with salary mins and maxs. So if you are hired on at the max salary for a certain position you need a promotion to a higher position to make more. I don't have any direct experience with that since my position doesn't work like that (they created the position for me, there is no advancement) but this what I have learned in helping to hire staff for our dept. I do find it uncomfortable working in an institution that have values that conflict my own (birth control/abortion). I will say that I am able to discuss such options with my patients but have to refer out for actual care. I can see how in the ER that would be much more difficult! I will say that the benefits are good. I think we have pretty good PTO and our health insurance is great too. My whole pregnancy/delivery cost me $500. Only thing they won't cover that I've run into is birth control.

agran · January 2012

I'm not a nurse but worked in the Set on marketing department for a few years and thought it was a fantastic company to work for. Great benefits, pto is very good, and I just loved the vibe. While I may disagree with some of the Catholic policies I did like that we were a non profit and I felt like there was a lot of community giving. Of course I saw all of that because we marketed it. Big Smile

I will always be a Seton fan... we had our daughter there and had fantastic care in a very bad situation. Although it was labor and delivery the nursing staff was especially wonderful.

PMBridetobe · January 2012

Stacey - I will email you offline with some info that may be helpful when deciding what to do and which location to do it at Wink

brideonjuly8 · January 2012

You should work at NAMC. Cause that's where I would go to the ER if I had to. I had a very good (somewhat slow) experience there after my d&c. I loved my nurse there, she was very accommodating and sympathetic towards my situation.

I would be frustrated also. I can totally see why you would be looking at someplace else. I always hear that nurses are in high demand, so I'm sure with your experience you could get another, better job at another hospital. ((hugs))

rssnlvr · January 2012

I know how frustrating a position that is to be in. We haven't gotten raises in five years at our company (not even cost of living raises). We've had round after round of layoffs, and though I'm thankful for making it through them, it all amounts to the same (or more) work with fewer people to do it. The other departments have all slowly started accepting less responsibility, and by default it falls to editorial to pick up the pieces. So we're supposed to do everything we used to do, plus more and more of what we used to have help with. It's incredibly frustrating and discouraging.

No advice on where to move, just commiseration that it's a tough spot to find yourself in.

texasbeachbride · January 2012

I worked at St.D for several years and was always pretty happy there. I haven't worked there in about 3 years though and I know a lot of mgmt/corporate changes have been made since then. I don't personally know anyone that works at Seton or SW since all my friends are still at St.D but I hear from a lot of people that Seton is really good to work for. I would suspect the issue you might run into if you went that route would be where would you work? Isn't the farthest north facility Seton NW, I think its a pretty small hospital, right. Probably not an exciting ER as Main. I really don't know this for sure though, just speculating .

Anyways, not really a lot of advice here. Just good luck figuring out what you want to do, I know where you are coming from.

august8080 · January 2012

I don't have any advice or feedback on specific hospitals or jobs but I really hope you're able to find something you like soon. Not liking your job is the pits and not feeling valued just really sucks. Sounds like you have valid complaints and it's unfortunate that they will lose good employees over this.

m_and_m · January 2012

As we know, I am quite self-centered. I hope the entire situation improves because the three closest ER's to us are RRMC, NAMC, and Seton NW. I would have a fuckuva hard time going back to Seton NW, but you're the best damn ER nurse I've ever had.

Taytee · January 2012

texasbeachbride:
where would you work? Isn't the farthest north facility Seton NW, I think its a pretty small hospital, right. Probably not an exciting ER as Main. I really don't know this for sure though, just speculating .

Seton Wilco is about 3 miles past the Ikea. They're the other Level II Trauma center besides us so it's about the same patients

Taytee · January 2012

texasbeachbride:
where would you work? Isn't the farthest north facility Seton NW, I think its a pretty small hospital, right. Probably not an exciting ER as Main. I really don't know this for sure though, just speculating .

Seton Wilco is about 3 miles past the Ikea. They're the other Level II Trauma center besides us so it's about the same patients

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My fellow hospital Nurses... (and anyone who cares to read)

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