I am going to lay it all on you.
I am stressed to the max.
School, school, school. Work, work, work. Neglecting myself and my family. All in the name of becoming a midwife.
Work: we are being worked like dogs on labor and delivery. Almost every day I am asked to work extra, come in on my day off, stay overtime, work a double. Hell to the double "L" NO! I give literally my sweat, blood and tears to that place. Do they (administration) care? NO! We are severely understaffed, especially on evenings and night shifts. Night shifts are the worst. I feel guilty for saying no about working overtime into the nights, due to such a critical low staffing level. How can this hospital justify cutting the staff down to HALF the number of nurses on nights? REALLY!???
At work, we also have a new CEO. Heads are rolling with this guy. Apparently, he's a real ball-buster, and has the reputation for firing people across the board, and creating much fear and dislike in his authoritative leadership style. Cut spending, increase health insurance premiums (yet increase co-pays and deductibles too!), fire nurses, change policies at his whim ---- and the hospital pays this guy top dollar to do this? I'm in the wrong profession, working as the little peon on the totem pole.
School: stress, stress, stress! The readings, forum posts, and tests seem to never slow down or end. I have to keep on top of it all, or I will get behind. Once I get behind, it snowballs........
I am just tired. Tired of thinking, tired of reading/studying/blah blah blah. Tired, tired, tired. I drink coffee like it's going out of style. I should start a PICC line and mainline caffeine to keep on chugging away at my life.
Image found originally at http://www.nataliedee.com/ ~~ however, a google search under "coffee IV" found this image in several other, non-referenced to the original site, blogs.
Well, I finally had an entire shift where I didn't end up in the operating room in some capacity or another. I did, however, have several laboring women (all of whom had epidurals), and was a second RN in a birth.
Meanwhile, the usual grumblings of unhappiness among the nurses pervades. We are just so overworked, and our middle manager doesn't seem to "get it"! She still refuses to come in, when she is the manager on call, and we are up to our ears in patients, and don't have enough nurses on staff. Oh, and that same manager? Keeps f-ing up my schedule (and other nurses too) by changing our schedules around.
We work on a self scheduling type of situation for the unit. We transitioned from a paper form of scheduling, to all computerized. Well, when it was on paper, the scheduling committee (several nurses) would review it, revise it as needed, then put the schedule out as "final". Most people were very happy with their schedules. But since we went to computerized? No one is happy with it. They divide us into four groups, and we rotate which groups go "first" to put their schedule in. Then after all of the groups are done, it's open for a few days, where the per diems can put their schedule in, and we can make last minute changes as needed. Then it goes to the scheduling committee nurses and management for review and finalization. That's where things usually go wrong. They switch people around into crazy schedules............and NO ONE is happy with the results.
Sigh.
When will we ever be happy with our schedules? Probably never. Not if the current middle management people stay employed there. You know - the same middle manager who refuses to come in when she's on call. Nice. If any of us refused to come in when on call - hello! - FIRED.
I will be so happy to be done with this nonsense. In about 2 more years.
Some people wonder how I'm able to juggle everything: working full-time, family life, and midwifery school.
I suppose the fact that I like to be super-organized really helps! I keep two calenders: one on the fridge and a personal sized day planner. I put everything on both calenders - work hours, doctor appointments, family get-togethers, nights out with my girlfriends, scheduled phone conferences for school, due dates for school assignments. You name it, I put it on the calender/day planner. It is the only way that I am able to communicate to my entire family about what everyone is doing each day.
I keep a photocopy of the current work schedule for the entire unit in my day planner, just in case I need to call someone to make a swap of shifts if something comes up at home.
I have all of my bills organized on a chart next to my desk (which is at the center of all activity in the house). I can simply check off each bill as it gets paid, and see if there is anything else due at that moment. I also pay most of my bills online - so much easier!
For school work, I keep a file folder for each class. I have a checklist on the very front of each folder with all of the assignments and the due dates. I create this folder and document at the beginning of each term, so I stay organized and on track for each class. I started keeping a 3 ring binder for each class that has a lot of loose papers/notes that I need to keep organized. I also keep a file folder for each class on my computer, with tons more documents that I have saved for each class. (Just so you don't think I'm killing trees and printing out EVERYTHING!)
Study time is usually in the mornings/early afternoon, before I leave for work. Or I do several hours of studying on my days off of work. I've been known to bring textbooks to bed with me at night to do some more reading. Whenever I can get reading time in for school assignments, I do it! I always bring something to read to work and do that in down time, or over my dinner break. I have also been known to take a textbook with me when I go out to dinner or to a family gathering. Like I said - whenever I can get a free moment to read, my nose is in a book or in a journal article.
One place that is school free is when we go on a vacation. Vacation is just that: a break from the everyday world. No computer, no email, no schoolwork.
Some days I just wing it. Just so you don't think that I'm so totally structured ;-)
I promise you, I have not dropped off the face of the planet. I have been either working or focusing on school work in the past two weeks. It seems like I'm working almost every day -- I know I'm not, but it sure feels that way.
And it has been B-U-S-Y almost every single shift I'm at work. Crazy busy, as I say. Babies left and right. Literally no time to pee or drink some days!
We have a new charge sheet at work. It's driving all of the nurses nuts. We used to have a pretty straight forward global type of charge system, but our nurse manager (and whomever else thought of it........ugh) created a new charge system where we have to account for every single injection, IV push, IV piggyback, every hour of IV fluids run (for each and every fluid), blah blah blah. I understand the basis for it. The unit needs to generate more revenue. To generate more revenue, we have to charge more. Granted, insurance companies may not PAY more for the services, but I can see how the unit has to at least try. "Supposedly" we are not a money maker for the hospital. I don't see how. We are definitely busy enough! It's probably a poor reimbursement thing. However, I don't see how making nurses do even more accounting for every little thing that we do is going to help the situation. As it stands, we have to double and triple chart almost every single thing we do. It's crazy.
We are continuously being told how much in $$$ that we miss as a unit in charges per week/per month. Well, at least it's being caught by someone, right?? Try getting all 60+ nurses on board at the same time for a new charge system........oh what fun. Needless to say, it's not going over well at all.
Moving on...........
I had a first time mom that I wasn't sure was going to be able to dilate her cervix due to prior surgical procedures done on it. Lo and behold, she did, when I came back the next day! I was so happy for her!! Pushing was a very long stage too. Nothing was coming easy for this poor woman. Baby was in a ROP position, then I was able to get baby to rotate as far as an ROT position. Then the little bugger just didn't budge. It was the end of my shift when she was still pushing. I hope she was able to rotate the baby more, or else I am willing to bet that she ended up with a c-section. Bummer. I really tried my best with positioning and supportive measures to get her baby to rotate. It usually works too. But some babies, well, they just won't rotate for *some* reason or other. Sometimes they're truly too big to fit through the pelvis. Sometimes they have a triple nuchal cord that is holding them back. Sometimes, we never know.
School, school, school! Only 2-ish weeks left of this term. I will be so happy to be done with my Theory course. Truly. Those of you who feel my pain, raise your hand.
I like the Decision Making course, but I'm glad it will be done soon too. One last project I'm working on, and that course is DONE.
Next term, which starts July 5th, I'm taking Reproductive Physiology (woohoo!!) and Research (Boo! Hiss!). In the fall, I'm taking Pharmacology (woohoo!) and Community Assessment (hopefully, a no-brainer type of course......pretty please!)
Winter 2011 term I'll be taking Antepartum 1, a huge, 6 credit course - hurray for the meat and potatoes courses!!!!! Bring them on!!!!
Should nurses be allowed to have personal cell phones while working? Should personal cells phones be banned in the hospital for nurses (and other staff)?
I see a LOT of nurses, physicians, and other staff members at the hospital with their personal cell phones while on duty. Some are texting (ok, many are texting), some on Facebook, others....?? who knows what.
Our hospital's official stance is no personal cell phones allowed while in the workplace. Of course, if you are on your break, it's not a problem.
Do different rules apply for different employees? Technically, the physicians are not employees, and tend to use their cell phones for work related phone calls. Nurses are supplied with hospital cell phones for use for hospital only phone calls.
Here is just one thread on allnurses.com about texting while at work.
Thought? Comment?
Image found originally at http://www.nataliedee.com/ ~~ however, a google search under "coffee IV" found this image in several other, non-referenced to the original site, blogs. 
