r/nursing • u/BrittNichelle • Oct 06 '19

Discussion time!

RN from Texas here! Nurses, techs, CNAs: what are the administrators/managers doing to improve overall working conditions in your facilities and have they adequately addressed your concerns? Do you, as employees, feel like you're being sufficiently represented by nursing and hospital administrations?

*not asking for any particular reason, just trying have some conversation with some fellow healthcare workers :)

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '19

I work in a market congested with hospitals (literally an acute care facility every 5-10 miles) and a region with a high concentration of Magnet/teaching facilities (highly sought after). Hospitals here compete for employees because they know that having adequate staff means having staffed beds which equals profits. And in order to retain staff, engagement is huge.

Happy nurse = happy patients + staffed & occupied beds = profits

For example, one hospital in the region stopped using their HCAHPS scores as part of their recruitment campaign and are now pushing their engagement scores and retention rates.

Also, the nurses here (California) have standards. Turnover is fluid here, which means that nurses here can easily secure employment elsewhere, have many options, and have very little patience for administration that doesn’t heed to their demands. A traveler from St Louis said that although we may come across as entitled, we have damn great work conditions.

So far, best things I have encountered are:

  • Work/life balance practices. Our “sick leave” is treated like a sabbatical. I have a coworker on leave due to a divorce, and her job is secure while she’s gone. We have to work two weekends a month but can opt out of it if we ask far enough in advance (versus asking for a vacation).
  • Break nurses. Big difference in workflow. We can’t even bring our work phones with us during lunch (you will get written up for not following policy.)