A PSA

I haven't gotten to talk to y'all in the longest time. (ahem-Sunny here-but I bet you knew that from proper spelling and grammer....) Mom wanted to talk about hospitals, nurses and staying with loved ones in the hospital.
Mom has worked just about every floor in the hospital.(Not here) ED-better known as ER and ICU were specialties but she also "floated" when needed. (The one she could not take was NICU or OB. She says the highest of highs and lowest of lows are there. She tips her hat to those that can take it. Just an aside and not germaine to this post at all...)
Ok, bear with me-Mom thinks this is really IMPORTANT for folks to know. The point of my filling you in on the above is ,that while Mom loved her job and most do, there are two reasons she stays with a hospitalized loved one. One is nurses, except in very few instances, are overburdened. To cut costs, fewer RNs are on the floor. (I am in no way knocking LPNs) It is just that by most state laws, LPNs are not allowed to do certain things-ie IV meds, etc. Sooo-the one or maybe two RNs on the floor are resposible for more than the patients assigned directly to them for total care. They are ultimately responsible for all the patients their LPNs are assigned to. This makes for not only burn out, but it can be near impossible to get to your patient in a timely manner no matter how hard you try. Some hospitals have gone to different sorts of "techs". Don't get Mom started on that. She loved her good NAs(nurse's aides) that helped. She disagrees with giving more and more over to techs. MED techs (dispense medicine and are becoming abundant) are a sore spot. Oh, and guess where the buck stops again? Yep, the RN. All to save money.
The second is that unfortunately, like any other profession, there are lousy nurses. Some are lousy because they never really had what it takes to be a nurse. Some because of burnout have just given up except on what they absolutely must do to stay employed. (It doesn't help they don't get paid enough. Ask just about any nurse this. Do you have mandatory overtime? If you do not, and even if you do, do you request overtime, volunteer when someone is needed to help your income? She doesn't have national statistics, but where she has worked the answer to both is YES in the majority. They do have a law that you cannot work 2 12's back to back and Mom has seen that broken in one of the hospitals. You want someone that has been up for over 24 hrs?? And they do not get naps like interns. They shut their eyes and they are fired.)
She always says folks don't realize how well RNs are trained. They used to be the doc's handmaidens. Now, that is not the case. More than one doc used to talk to Mom about cases. After all, she spent 12 hours with them. But of course, some did not. The newer docs are better about this.
Good grief, I have heard Mom talk about this so many times she has got me on her soapbox. So she stays to advocate and make sure everything gets done right. She is not frequently very popular!! LOL LOL
By the way, you thought I was longwinded on the above subject, you should see how long MOM can go on....Sorry, (if you read this far), for boring you. I have been listening to Mom go on and on about it lately!
Hugs
Sunny
pee ess Mom said to say that there are LPNs out there who have been nurses a long time and she would trust more than some of the RN's she has seen. Whew. I nearly missed that!