[Peachie]

Karen83 and Rozzie, as I stated, I had an issue with the idea that patients are demanding. I was sitting with my Mom in ICU where my Dad had been admitted as a stroke patient. We were talking quietly on the left side of the bed and the nurse was hanging a warfarin drip. The RN left the room and in two minutes the alarm on the stand went off and she came running back in. She stared at the bag in shock and asked us, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" We told her we hadn't been out of our chairs and she ran from the room. You should have seen the staff in the room at that point! We were asked to step out of the room and after a 15 minute pause where told the seriousness of the error. My 86 year old mother had knee replacement surgery in April and the hospital staff left the CPM (?) machine on her leg for almost three hours before they realized the error. She did not ring the call button often and the physical RN or Aide response took between 10 and 15 minutes. Pain ratchets up pretty fast in 15 minutes when the dose was due 30 minutes earlier. And patients who are ill and in pain are not always kind and sweet, they tend to be cranky and demanding even though that isn't their normal personality.

I'm sure you are an excellent nurse, Karen, and I applaud your dedication to your calling. But most hospitalized people need a lot of care and attention, that's why they're inpatient. Heaven knows they're kicked out the door as soon as they are able to ambulate and defecate. Bring in the staff to operate these facilities and the complaints will drop accordingly and nurses may recover their sanity after all the stress.

[Karen83]

Peachie,

I totally understand your frustration and am right there with you....there is plenty of frustration on both sides of medicine. Like Rozzie, I would never leave a loved one alone in the hospital and that is a sad statement coming from nurses. I am sorry you've had those bad experiences and won't try to make excuses for them.

Bottom line......we need better staffing. But, that takes money, which begs the question.......where are all of our health care dollars going?? Hint....check out the salaries of the insurance CEO's.

Now, I'm done and will get packing for our move. Like Rozzie, I'm putting my soapbox away.

Karen

[Peachie]

Welcome to The Villages, Karen, and you're right! My frustration is totally with the current administration of medical/hospital services in this nation, it is not with the dedicated staff doing so much with so little help. Safe trip!

[barb1191]

Originally Posted by Peachie

Welcome to The Villages, Karen, and you're right! My frustration is totally with the current administration of medical/hospital services in this nation, it is not with the dedicated staff doing so much with so little help. Safe trip!

Peachie & Karen.... I do so empathize with your frustrations re the medical profession and what's happening with the "top-heavy" powers-that-be robbing the profession blind.

As a patient with a terminal illness and living in TV, I found it imperative that I return to my medical providers here in Boston where I'd been treated for two years and treated as a person and not a number or dollar sign.

In Florida:

One dr said to me to just go home and wait it out and then go to hospice. Wow, I left her office feeling that I had been given a death sentence!!

Another dr told me if I didn't take his injection after chemo that he would not be responsible for my death!

My gp there had totally forgotten that I had a blood clot in my left lung. Told me, why didn't I tell her. I DID TELL HER....she forgot. Then immeidately sent me to a specialist almost a year AFTER my first appt with her.

Then, having spent three days in LRMC, (what a nightmare) I was totally disgusted with the dr's indifference to one's condition.

Upon returning to the Boston medics, I find these highly-professional providers to be pro-active in their profession. What a difference.

Nurses...."angels of mercy" I have much respect for their dedication and empathy for their frustations.

The problem is so obviously poor administration without regard for the well-being of humans, however, the resolution .....who knows???? As in every other scenario, the rich get richer, and richer, and richer....

[Rozzie]

Barb, all I can say is "wow". Stories like yours makes me pause and think--it is a really sad state of health care. I can't imagine the road you have been dealt. I see the apathetic attitude everyday, and it sickens me. Wishing you the very best, and smoother roads ahead for you.

[Peachie]

Barb, thank goodness for your tenacity! I pray you continue to receive the attentive care you deserve. That is an eye-opening experience I hope never to hear repeated.

In medically treating the very elderly, I believe a patient advocate, whether family or friend, is absolutely necessary. If we could turn the patient care levels back to the sixties, sigh....

[chuckinca]

Originally Posted by Karen83

Thanks for asking these questions Russ. I will be arriving in TV on the 1st, will be looking for a RN position and hope to start back to work in January.

I just returned to nursing 4 years ago after raising my family and although the conditions have certainly changed for the worse and in spite of critical attitudes I have experienced in patients who think they are staying at the Hilton, I love nursing! IMHO, the good outweighs the bad. (on most days)

I am concerned about the RN/patient ratios. I interviewed during a visit in January and was told it was 5-6 on a med-surg floor, which leads me to believe it will actually be higher than that, and to me that is unacceptable and no wonder we are hearing much criticism about the hospital.

The trend in hospitals these days puts more emphasis on plasma TV's than having a nurse available to answer a patient's call for help! Because of that I am hoping to find something else and the ability to do that is one of the great things about nursing. I would love to be able to drive my golf cart to work, but will drive further away if a better position is available. I plan on working 2 days a week and don't mind driving at all!

I too, would love to hear more from RN's already there.....good and bad!

Thanks Russ and by the way, getting your license transferred to Florida is a bit involved and I hired a company to get me through the process...$125.00 well spent IMO.

Karen

My wife has been a practicing RDH, Registered Dental Hygienist, in California for over 30 years and is licensed for just about all expanded RDH duties including xray, injections, lazer usage, etc.

She wants to practice in Fla when we snowbird in the winter but the Fla Dental Board requires transfers retake the National Board exam which she took 30 years ago to get her license. She said it would require going back and taking the college hygienist training all over again, NOT!

In comparison, paying $125 for an RN license transfer seems like a very small price.


.

[Karen83]

Chuck,

I was greatly relieved to find out I wouldn't have to re-take my boards....that would have been a deal breaker for me too!

Like I said, I consider $125 spent to guide me through the transferring process more than worth it!

Karen

[Avista]

I am an RN and have had 2 surgeries at The Villages hospital this year. I had wonderful care. The first time I was hospitalized 3 days and the second time 5 days. Nurses were wonderful. Doctors were top notch. Food was their weak link--imho

[Russ_Boston]

That's good praise indeed since we know that nurses make the worst patients

As a patient I can live without great food, tough to get through a hospitalization without great care!

[Peggy D]

Originally Posted by Karen83

Peachie,

I totally understand your frustration and am right there with you....there is plenty of frustration on both sides of medicine. Like Rozzie, I would never leave a loved one alone in the hospital and that is a sad statement coming from nurses. I am sorry you've had those bad experiences and won't try to make excuses for them.

Bottom line......we need better staffing. But, that takes money, which begs the question.......where are all of our health care dollars going?? Hint....check out the salaries of the insurance CEO's.

Now, I'm done and will get packing for our move. Like Rozzie, I'm putting my soapbox away.

Karen

Karen,

You hit the nail on the head about the salaries of the insurane companies' CEO. It is down-right wrong what they get paid at the expense of healthcare.

As far as hospital budgets go, the department heads do pretty well with bonuses for keeping under budget by cutting staffing and services.
Also, hospital management feel "pretty" gives the impression they give better service.

Although not a nurse (but my son is) as a respiratory therapist I can relate to trying to give good patient care in todays healthcare system. It is not an easy task.

[whartonjelly]

Thanks for the info. I too love Nursing.

[The Great Fumar]

THERE IS A VERY LARGE ORGANIZATION HERE IN THE VILLAGES AND THEY ARE VERY ACTIVE .....THEY HAVE GUEST LECTURERS ONCE A MONTH....


fumar

[mworthington]

I've been an RN in the Washington/Metropolitan area for 25 years. My husband and I are very interesting in moving to TV in the next couple of years once the kids are in college. What type of opportunities are there in TVRH and what are the salaries in TV area. Very interested in working part time when I arrive. Martha

[Jerseygirl08]

Hello fellow RN's, almost RN's (Russ), friends of all RN's, RT's, Dental Hygienists, etc:

Wow, some amazing thoughts, comments, and stories. I became an RN after raising my kids (was a stay-home mom for 14 yrs. and worked P/T in some capacity in a hospital during most of that time). As an RN, I started in psych for l.5 yrs., then tried med-surg-telemetry for 14 months. I left an hour later than everybody else, mostly b/c I tended to the needs of my patient's - THEN, did my charting on a horribly outdated computer program. I'd crawl up the steps to be greeted by a husband and 3 kids saying, "Hi Mom, what's for dinner?" I'd just fall down somewhere and say, "How 'bout milk and cereal, pb & j, pizza from Dominoes?" Then I'd complain to my husband till I hated hearing my own complaints. (Med-surg nurses should be paid triple what they make, honestly). Well, you guessed it; I QUIT! Went out job hunting with my $200 resume and wound up working psych in a prison! Got the job through a friend, networking (so much for the expensive resume). I LOVE IT!

When I move to TV in April, I will be taking a huge cut in pay and I'm not sure where I will work. One thing I do know, it is imperative that you work in a setting you love. Otherwise, it makes for a very unhappy nurse, and that trickles down to the patients. Luckily, (I'd like to believe) - my patients didn't suffer. My husband and kids - well that's another story for another day. God Bless the health care workers!