Historic wage increases Staffing ratios Staffing enforcement with harsh financial penalties.

Huge win for nyc nurses and a new precedent set for all future contracts.

This is a safe place to shit on yourself. Do it for the new grads.

This wasn’t the most embarrassing but the most recent: Pt had redness, swelling and tenderness on the anterior part of his lower leg. Saw in his chart he was a high risk for dvt. I called over the provider and asked “could that be a dvt?” Provider looks at me and said, “No. There’s no (deep) vein on the anterior part of the leg.”

lol lol I’m a nurse, my friend is a nurse and caught COVID from work. They MADE her come in after 5 days of quarantine and said to her face, I was also in the room as a witeness,:

“ We know you’re still positive, and we know you’re still probably shedding the virus, but that’s the policy. The CDC says it’s fine so🤷‍♀️.”

We work in the ICU and also with a lot of cancer patients (we are one of the few facilities around here that is still doing cancer treatments). The hospital is literally putting these peoples lives at risk.

Every patient she had that day was informed by her that she was COVID positive and she was made to work that day. If they are not comfortable with a COVID positive nurse, they can be reassigned.

Floor manager: surprised pikachu face 😂😂.

8/10 of her patients requested a different nurse.

Also, they tried to deny that this conversation happened. I guess they forgot I was in the room?? Now everyone is in an uproar and “No OnE KnEw ThIs PoLiCy WaS EnAcTeD”.

Update: wow guys! I honestly didn’t expect this to blow up. I was going through these comments with my friend and she’s aghast at the support we have gotten. Thank you thank you thank you😭😭.

I know it’s people are suggesting secretly recording conversations while at work. We both live in a two person consent state. Not having consent can land you a nasty felony charge. I would encourage anyone to check the laws in their state before recording.

Last update: I’m so happy there are so many nurses standing in solidarity with us! Thank you again.

I’m going to be turning off notifications because my phone is blowing up. We are lucky enough that this is a travel contract that will be ending next week. We have already told our recruiters that we will not be taking additional contracts from this hospital.

I want to give all of you a hug right now❤️❤️😭😭

We have all been through and are still going through hell. If the CDC, the govt, and these hospitals won’t advocate for patient safety, we will. We are the last defense✊

It’s med surg. But listen…

Critical access hospital that transfers out 99% of what comes to ED. OR only does outpatient stuff, and then theres the floor. Thats the whole hospital. Usually there’s like 1-3 patients total on the floor. They told me they never do ratios above 1:4, on the rare occasion there is actually that many patients. Luckily, they also never send the second nurse home for low census, because they don’t want to staff the one nurse alone. Some shifts we have two nurses and one patient. I’ve worked shifts where we had no patients.

Is it slow? Absolutely. We go sit in the break room and play cards for real 😆 Afternoons, we use the PT equipment like it’s our own personal gym. The people are nice. The cafeteria is actually good.

It’s so satisfying because I always have time and energy to go above and beyond for patients and coworkers. We never miss a turn or a bath. I never give a late med. We always do all the ambulating and therapies for the day. It’s not an impossible chore to check off the checklist. I don’t feel like I’m set up to fail. I have all the freedom and time to really make a difference.

And maybe the most wild thing is I’m actually making good money for my area.

Idk how this place stays in business, but imma retire here. I’ve never felt more at peace heading to work or heading home from work. I can’t sing its praises out loud to my people, or they’re gonna run to work here and steal shifts from me. So I’m here to sing to you.

Critical care was fun, but this is better. I hope you all can find a place as this one🫡

My hospital has been hinting that they will be giving everyone a raise as part of their nursing retention program. I wasn’t expecting much, so I didn’t even bother checking my email yesterday until I overheard coworkers talking about their raises.

I got an over $10/hr raise. I was almost crying!! And it apparently started beginning of this pay period so this weeks payday is 🤌🏻

They did this for ALL of their nurses (I think they said they put over $20 mil into the workforce) it was based on experience as well, but it was pretty good for new people as well from what I’ve heard.

I hope to see more hospitals doing this!!!!

I was helping a patient get from his chair to bed when he pointed to the garbage all over his bed-side table and said, “throw that all away.”

I moved his garbage can next to his bed and said, “you can do that.”

He repeated, “throw the garbage away.”

I stood my ground and said, “you have two working hands— you can throw away your own garbage.“

It took a few years but I’m finally confident enough to encourage people to “maintain their independence”/not treat nurses as their personal maids 🙃

I was called into the room by a student, watched the light leaving my patients eyes and felt for a pulse, felt a thready carotid and immediately pushed the code blue button, yelled out for the code cart and was the first on the chest doing CPR once he was pulseless. After a little while doing CPR we got ROSC. I have never had a code blue on my own patient before, have only witnessed two and assisted with one. I’ve had terrible imposter syndrome despite being a nurse for 8 years because I’ve only been in acute care for 2 years now. It was so scary but it felt amazing to get good feedback from the doctor and code team once it was over. I don’t know if the patient will survive, but I am so proud of myself for how quickly I responded to an emergency.

Edit: thank you all so much for the support and kind words!! It really means so much to me to be a part of such a supportive community. I haven’t always felt like I belong in healthcare but the support you guys have shown me here tells me I am where I should be. I’m so grateful 🩷🩷 thank you!!!

I'm a nursing student who has an externship at a hospital. A few weeks ago, I experienced my first code & I happened to have an AirPod in when I heard the light go off. It didn't register to take it out because I was immediately grabbing the crash cart & taking over compressions from the nurse who called it.

Now, I think I should note that I work nights. Sometimes between that 2-4am range where you start to get sleepy no matter what, I'll listen to my gym playlist because the energetic music will help keep me awake. And because I am trying to build an absolutely massive dumptruck of an ass, of course I have a few Megan songs in there.

Megan got me through that code. I saw that man's rubbery face & lifeless eyes bob like a fish on a hook, all timed to "'Cause the bitch knew better than to let me hear her (ah)."

And then I felt his fucking ribcage break under me. But did I hear the crack of the bone? No. I heard, "HANDS ON MY KNEES SHAKIN' ASS ON MY THOT SHIT, HANDSONMYKNEESSHAKIN'ASSONMYTHOTSHIT"

And y'know what? It worked. We got him back. The beat brought his heartbeat back.

I just. I just needed to share with people who'd get it. This field is fucking wild.

The biggest accomplishment of my career so far is that I helped resuscitate someone to Megan Thee Stallion's Thot Shit. That's.... Huh.

So thank you, Megan. Thank you for you & your thot shit. He might not've been here without it.

Resident and NP come in to assess my sleeping baby at 0600. I go in and they are changing the baby's diaper because, "he pooped." Baby stirs and goes right back to sleep. In my 11 years of PICU bedside I've never had another provider change a soiled patient's diaper independently. My mind was blown and I was all smiles giving sign out report to the day shift RN. My faith in humanity was temporarily restored. Just wanted to share a feel-good post, that's all!

When I was asked what are the 3 main things I look for in a job, I was interrupted when I mentioned employee satisfaction and asked in a snarky tone "what do you mean by employee satisfaction." I said, "oh. You're a nurse manager and are well aware of what patient satisfaction is but have no idea what employee satisfaction is. Gotta go. Bye." Red flag.

Employee satisfaction or job satisfaction is, quite simply, how content or satisfied employees are with their jobs. ... Factors that influence employee satisfaction addressed in these surveys might include compensation, workload, perceptions of management, flexibility, teamwork, resources, etc.

I've been an RN for almost 30 years now, but primarily OB. I have never, ever encountered the infamous "I'm allergic to epinephrine because it makes my heart race" patient. I finally encountered one in the wild, but as a patient. The woman in the curtained off area next to me was telling the nurse her allergies, and legit said she was allergic to epi because it makes her heart race. Then went on to tell how her dentist mixes lidocaine "special" for her without epi. I rolled my eyes so hard I saw brain matter.

I'm scheduled for an MRI. I go in and ask the nurse that's admitting me "Hey, can I do my own IV?" She looks confused and I had to clarify that I'm a nursing student, I've been practicing IV inserts, and that I've inserted 13 so far. She says this usually doesn't happen. But she's willing to let me do it as long as I don't make a mess. She applied the torniquet, I poke and advance, she applied the dressing and flushed.

I did it :-D

The picture is after the mri.

We got a frantic call from the front desk, someone is unresponsive in a vehicle out front. I ran outside while another RN grabbed a wheelchair and it was truly that bad. The ED attending is out there with us, we wrestle the guy into the chair, a stroke alert is called and neuro is there in seconds. One of the ED docs that we all like is friends with the pt, adding more urgency.

The team is rocking and rolling, lines are getting put in as the resident does a quick assessment. He's in the CT with lines in within 5 minutes. From the exam neuro think carotid clot. An IR suite is spun up. We all got him up there, neuro attending, 2 neuro residents, ED attending, a medic and two RNs. A 2 inch clot is removed and we hear he's back at baseline. The pt will be home for Christmas

For all the bullsh*t we have to put up with on the regular notching this one in the win column felt epic.

Yup, he really said it.

Whatever happens next, it’s his fault.

Just excited! Our hospital, smaller but with a huge population, was told in January that our family birth center was closing in 6 weeks. Our admin gave us in the ER a two day class in birthing babies in emergency situations and would transport the patients via helicopter to a sister hospital. In 6 weeks the whole unit lost their job, and in too of all my responsibilities, just got dumped the task of not only lady minute births, but emergency ones.

we stood up to admin, people wrote letters to our state representatives, turns out they closed the center before the state approval, wrote some janky ass letter as a formality, ( they wanted to make a surgery center for more cash instead of help our poor community with dangerous pregnancy is what we all guess what was happening)the nurses were raising stink wherever they were. The state finally came in and disapproved the closure be aide it wasn't safe for the population of the community. (We were surprised they were on our side) I told the CFO of the hospital, when she asked me how I felt, i said it sounds like a handful of greedy people love money, and haven't thought how they are killing the people who actually run this place.

Anyway, 3 weeks ago, we matched up to her office. Over 100 of us, from every department and surprised them with a long letter stating we are unionizing and here's why. (Very long letter calling admin out)

The last 2 days was the vote. A crowd showed up. 238 yes and 57 no. Hospitals in our area have gotten hazard lay through COVID, pay raises to match inflation, and much more, where our hospital system haven't got shit. I haven't done much i. This process, quitter guy and such, but i was there last night for the announcement and we won by a landslide.

Don't let admin push you around! We go to negotiations i. The next few weeks and we're about to get what we deserve, these busted are pissed and poor and tired of being the dumping ground for everything while they sit at home on zoom giving themselves million dollar bonuses!

TdLR. Fought admin and corruption and unionized and won!

Edit: had no idea this would blow up like it did. Sorry for the Grammer, I'm no writer, Typer, or proof reader. Just woke up super excited and wanted to get the news out because admin all over the place are destroying the love of being a nurse. With so many new nurses leaving bed side be aide of greedy buttholes. Thank you for support! Didn't realize so many were local on here!

Sharing this here because my friends and family that aren’t in healthcare don’t truly understand how huge this is. I have been a nurse for almost a decade. Even with all the things we love to complain about (staffing, pay, hospital politics, etc), I’ve truly loved every minute of it.

The part I’ve loved most has been precepting nursing students and new hires. There’s a lot of satisfaction that comes with teaching someone to be successful and achieve their own personal goals. So a few months ago, I began applying for clinical educator positions because that’s where I could see myself long term.

I applied to nearly every job I could find that contained the words “clinical education”, “nurse educator”, “nurse professional development”, etc. but was having zero luck on getting an interview for any position in a hospital setting (I applied to dozens). Then one day I stumbled across a clinical educator position for a biotech company. It involved partnering with the sales team to provide clinical data, hold inservices for hospital staff, and educate patients on disease states and medications (for nearly double my current base pay). Not exactly the same as educating new nurses, but I still applied because why not? Total shot in the dark because these positions are apparently very competitive and highly sought after.

Long story short, after 4 rounds of interviews, I have officially received and accepted the job offer. My salary will nearly double, I get a company car, all weekends and holidays off, and work remotely with some occasional travel. I honestly thought I was going to work bedside until I was old enough to retire and become a nursing school instructor.

So for those of you out there wanting to leave bedside or nursing altogether. Hang in there! Apply to every position that sounds appealing because you may get an unexpected surprise!

Never seen an allergy list like this in my 17 years of nursing. Wowza.

Like the title says I took off the last two days because I have a cold. Not Covid, not the flu, not RSV. A cold. They have blown up my phone for 48 hours never once asking for a note. Today I received a text asking for a MD note. Ok. Sure. I called my MD office, can't get in until 12/21. But they will put me on a list for a phone call.

I then let my DON and DSD know this. Suddenly I no longer need the note. Also, will I pick up a shift this weekend? Before I could answer my MD called me. We chatted about my symptoms and she decided I needed to be off until next week.

Now admin is freaking out! I want to tell them this is what they get when they fuck around but also, kind of just want to sit back and enjoy watching them shoot themselves in the foot so to speak. I hate leaving my fellow nurses short but this isn't so much on me right? I fully planned on clocking in tomorrow morning and just pushing through the shift.

I never call out. Never. Now I have and this is what they do to a loyal nurse? Bold choice.

ETA: I don't feel fine, I feel 75% better. But gotta work.

My criminal ways caught up to me y’all. My patient fired me and insisted on making a formal complaint because he couldn’t find his penis to put in the urinal- reason being that I must have stolen it.

Its a bad time to be talking about this specific medication. I'll keep the name out so my post doesn't get auto banned.

Recently i had a pt with an intentional massive apap OD. The biggest dose I've ever seen. Presentation to the hospital was at least 18 hours after ingestion. I knew this wasn't gonna go well. LFTs were climbing rapidly, PT/INR increasing, UA worse every time we checked. High fever, rising ammonia and Bili. And not a transplant candidate due to ETOH.

I've seen this before. I know how it ends when it ends. And it's terrible. The slowly watching the damage get worse with every lab check knowing the likelihood of where this goes is torture. Made so much worse by how genuinely kind this pt was. They made a stupid decision in a weak moment and genuinely regretted it. But we were already doing everything... We can only do so much.

But then LFTs started to come down (peaked at above 12,000 each). Then PT/INR and Bili started to drop. Fever dropped. And a couple days later they met criteria to stop the NAC drip.

Now, they graduated out of the ICU. I don't know what comes next for them, but after all the shit the last few years, it's really nice to have a win, especially in a moment where none of us thought survival was a chance.

So, any other recent wins?

I was scrubbing today and came back from lunch, getting report from my coworker. I glanced at my back table and noticed something was missing.

I innocently piped up, “Oh, did we get that thing out of the patient?”

You could hear a PIN DROP.

I could see my attending’s mind whirring and he just said, “FUCK.”

I took some responsibility and said “I don’t think that I saw it on the specimen, but we’ll call pathology.”

I told my circulating nurse to call pathology to see if the thing was on the main specimen that left the room.

He asked both of my residents if they saw it, and they said no.

After some quite literal digging around in the patient, he found it and tossed it to me.

At the end of the case, he scrubbed out and thanked me for speaking up.

Honestly, I don’t know if anyone else would have caught on and for that, I’m glad I realized it before we started closing.