Moving on....


Turkeygirl

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Alot of stuff been happening at work...not what nursing should be about...God seems to be giving me a persistent nudge to leave my current position. If you think of it, say a prayer, I'm sending out applications, time to leave this small hospital and go somewhere else. My patient's come first, I'm here to do a job, and apparently management and even my fellow nurses do not appreciate it and there's alot of crap going on that is detracting from my job duties, not too mention 2 years now, no pay raise but more job responsibilities and pressure.

Thanks for listening

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Nursing is truly a noble profession, but is very bizarre when it comes to the management side. How many professions can you think of that have the same pay rate for a worker with an associate degree vs a doctorate? That's right, in the summers when I'm not teaching I'll do a little work in some of the local hospitals where my PRN (no benefits) pay rate is the same as every other nurse working PRN regardless of education or experience!

I know students that graduated, got a nursing job working with someone I knew that had been a nurse for years. My friend helped precept the new nurse and was making a couple dollars more per hour. After a year the new nurse left and got another job and was able to get a higher pay rate. After another year she left that job and got another higher pay rate. A year later went BACK to the hospital my friend was at and was making 5 dollars more per hour than my friend (my friend had stayed loyal the entire time and was rewarded with a lousy 3% annual raise). It is almost always finacially a better option to job hop in nursing. A totally backward managerial approach.

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Moving on....

I can completely relate and empathize with your situation turkey girl. Hospital work environments are all to often extremely toxic. And if you have any sort of work ethic as a clinician, you get dumped on ruthlessly. I'm the director of Cardiopulmonary services at a small hospital in NH. The level of dis-function, institution wide, is astounding. It starts at the top and continues throughout every employee, I've inherited multiple employees with extensive disciplinary records, one of which admitted to falsifying the MAR for 5 years. The fundamental lack of accountability has ripple effects that will continue to have a negative impact for years to come. This leads to tremendous disparity between people and departments, couple that with the fiscal crisis most hospitals face and the responsibilities clinical employees have...... results in the most stressful and draining work environment imaginable. The good news is you have some valuable letters after you name, and with some flexibility and perseverance there are good jobs to be had out there. Good luck.

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Sorry to hear that Ruth! Life is too short to not be able to enjoy your job. You spend more time at work than you do with your family in most careers. I was feeling that way a couple months ago, used to love getting up and going to work but one person was causing the whole service department to be on edge, there was lots of screaming and yelling etc because he was money hungry. (we get paid by the job in the automotive field). He ended up leaving a month or so ago and now it feels like when I first started. I now enjoy getting up and going to work again. Love my co-workers like family and have a blast at work.

Hope you can find something soon where you feel the same as I do about work. Keep your head up! :)

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Thanks for the encouragement everyone. I filledo ut an application and got it ready for the mail today...I feel like taking this step is a step in God's direction. I can't work for a place that doesn't support it's staff and even worse doesn't support patient rights and advocacy. It'll be their loss, not mine. I will say I've worked with some great staff, but when it comes down to it all, the management is directing the patient care and that is what is going to shut them down in the end.

I'll let you guys know what happens, hope to get an interview sometime in the next couple weeks. Applying for a position at a little bit bigger, not huge, hospital...would be a 45 minute drive BUT there are some good state land hunting/fishing spots on the way, lol.

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Hope you get the job Ruth! In almost 20 years of nursing I can tell you the best hospitals are more often than not the larger ones (especially if they have a partnership with a medical school. Once you realize the level of care possible, it's so much harder to go to a smaller place that doesn't deliver that same level of care.

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Ever think about being a flight nurse or running on an ALS ambulance? I guarantee you that the patient's you encounter will be very appreciative of your care. As far as the politics, you will find that everywhere. Being on the Emergency end of nursing can be more challenging and diverse because every day is different. Just my $.02

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Moving on....

Hear anything yet TG?

I applied to Dartmouth-Hitchcock and am eagerly waiting! It's a huge place, the largest tertiary care center in Northern New England. They also have a surface & air transport team, but I applied for the NICU. I'm 6'1" 225lbs, the thought of cramming into a chopper with 2 other people and a Pt, does not excite me!

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I'm on pins and needles, lol.

Called Monday and left a message, did not get a reply back. another nurser I work with has an interveiw the same place tomorrow. Going to try calling tomorrow and follow-up yet again...Seems like I'm hearing of alot getting interviews but i'm not...God has a plan, maybe I'm not suppose to be at this other place...I dunno. Just trying to have faith and pray about it.

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I'm on pins and needles, lol.

Called Monday and left a message, did not get a reply back. another nurser I work with has an interveiw the same place tomorrow. Going to try calling tomorrow and follow-up yet again...Seems like I'm hearing of alot getting interviews but i'm not...God has a plan, maybe I'm not suppose to be at this other place...I dunno. Just trying to have faith and pray about it.

Did you apply online? I know that HR is not as invested in filling a position as department personnel are. I always make a point to fill out an on-line app, then send a hard copy of my cover letter, resume, and a character reference letter to the Department Manager and to HR as well. As a manager myself, I always appreciated when an applicant took it upon themselves to contact me directly. I'm sure you'll hear soon...good luck.

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