I have been a nurse for 3 years. In my short three years, my heart and passion to better this profession grew like a wildfire! I’ve never been one to sit back and just let bad things happen. It didn’t take me but a year to realize that healthcare today is much about the business and less about the patient safety and nurses involved (that’s what it feels like)! There are people in professional positions to help “support nurses” and better “quality control” but you never hear from those people unitl “bad” things happen. You only hear about what you did or didn’t do. Very little praise, and lots of run around. It can be extremely draining and discouraging, and I’m tired of watching GOOD nurses leave the bedside and the profession because of it! When you are set up for failure with unsafe nurse-to-patient ratios, the risk for error increases significantly! Nurses can’t take, and shouldn’t have to, that kind of pressure. We’re talking LIVES NOT LATTE’S. No Re-dos!
It All Started With ONE Person
There have always been amazing stories in History of ONE person taking a stand for something they believed in. Martin Luther King Jr. and The Civil Rights Movement. Susan B Anthony and the Women’s Right to Vote. Nelson Mandela and his achievements in unifying Africa. The list goes on! There are many beautiful stories in History like the one’s mentioned above with ONE person leading others to a very necessary and revolutionary victory! We need to see this movement through for nurses! So many people are rising up because we feel the pressure and see the change that is happening in a negative way for our profession! Janie Harvey Garner is ONE nurse who grew this group that stemmed from a comment made about nurses wearing a “doctor’s stethoscope” on a nationally televised talk show. With an 800,000 member following, it’s safe to say that many other nurses out there felt the same (and still do) about protecting this beautiful profession!
I want you to understand and see the power that ONE person has in leading a national movement for something they believed in! The reason I am so passionate about supporting this mission of SAFE STAFFING RATIO’S is because just like those historical movement’s above, we are talking about PEOPLE’S LIVES! And when you talk about lives, you are talking about your mother, your father, your sibling, your child, and anyone else near and dear to your heart. THIS is not something just “watch from afar” and has become a very serious issue in my profession! WE NEED ACTION!
The Ratios Have Gotten Out of Control
I currently work at a hospital where their nurse-to-patient ratios aren’t bad. What scares me about that is that there are some days where I feel like what I have is too much! I can’t imagine what these nurses and techs are going through with the ridiculous ratios out there! I witnessed 7 patients to one nurse and the whole floor of patients to one tech. Ladies and Gentleman, it is not possible to SAFELY take care of that many patients and complete all that the hospital requires of documentation at the same time. Nurses who work 7a-7p are leaving at 9pm, only to be back at 7 am to do it all over again. I’ve been there charting until that time. It’s almost impossible to clearly think and chart accurately after 14 hours of mental exhaustion. The LAST thing a manager needs to tell me is that my time management is an issue.
I will cut you…
This profession is BEAUTIFUL. We have the ability to change and touch lives EVERY DAY. I went into this profession because I WANTED to do the dirty work. I WANTED to be that hand to hold. I WANTED to be that shoulder to cry on. Now it seems like we are needing someone to do that to because we are the sick and tired exhausted ones! Profit is everything to the business of healthcare. We CANNOT spread nurses thin to save money at the expense of PATIENT SAFETY and LIVES! Medical errors are now the 3rd leading cause of death in the US. Do you think our money hungry and quick moving American antics have anything to do with it? Absolutely.
A Retention Specialist You Will Never Have to Hire
Along with the LIVES that would be saved with mandated staffing ratios and appropriate patient acuity placement, nurses would be a lot more satisfied with their careers and wouldn’t be taking off from the bedside, contributing to worse staffing issues. GOOD, EXPERIENCED NURSES are leaving the bedside because they are so tired of the run around.
HERE: I can be the best retention specialist you will NEVER have to hire! Here I go: IMPLEMENT SAFE NURSE TO PATIENT RATIO’S. There you go. All of your staff just stayed. They all just went up 500 happy points! And they will never leave your facility because you are SUPPORTING them and setting them up for success and safe outcomes. THAT is how you retain staff. And THAT is how you acquire safe outcomes and control quality at your hospital.
When YOU fight for your nurses, we will fight for you!
Support your nurses! Love on them! Appreciate them Daily! Stand up for them! Laugh with them! Cry with them! ALL of the ways that these hospitals go out of their way to take care of patients and their satisfaction, THEY NEED to be doing the same with their nurses. Profit over patients will never be the answer. Without nurses, YOU HAVE NO BUSNIESS. YOU HAVE NO REIMBURSEMENT. AND NO ONE WILL HAVE CARE!
SMYS and Safe Staffing Rally: An Open Call To Action!
Below are pictures of the Show Me Your Stethoscope Safe Staffing Rally in Washington, DC that took place on May 12th, 2016 (Florence Nightingale’s birthday)! Myself, along with hundreds of other nurses who traveled from all over the US gathered on the green of the Nation’s Capitol and stood up for this profession and the patients we take care of! Many of these nurses have been in the profession for a while, and many younger nurses like myself gathered as well. This is our career for the next 30-40 years. We will not stand for it to be this way and continue to get worse! Join in this BEAUTIFUL mission to restore the heart of nursing and make it a SAFER environment for both the nurses and patients involved!
Show Me Your Stethoscope Is an amazing group CREATED by Nurses and RUN by Nurses! We are here for your patients and we are here for YOU!
“HEAR ME LOUD AND CLEAR WHEN I SAY THAT SAFE STAFFING SAVES LIVES!”
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