One step forward, two steps back...

This seems to be the story of the unit I work with. Our upper Manglement wants to beat the Hotel into submission, then not be responsible for the consequences.

Here are a few shining examples:

1. Demanding staff be rushed through orientation because "they are not new nurses." 

Hello folks! Rehab nurses with a clue are not born, they are made by training and learning on the job. Notice: TRAINING comes first.

If we don't train our people properly while they are in orientation, we suffer the consequences.

One of my coworkers told me of a situation that nearly had me in tears. One of our patients with a newer trach went home without supplies for it, without any apparent instruction AND without an obturator!

This was just one complaint regarding this patient's stay. There were others. If I worked there, I'd fear for my license.

2. Don't do care coordination

Somebody should be doing it, everybody knows about it and nobody seems to be doing it in our neck of the woods.

My personal favorite: we now have "RN case managers" who say it's not their job.

3. Have a fit because our patients stay a long time at the Hotel.

Case in point: Guy gets discharged after lengthy hospital stay through no fault of his own (got sick with not one but several nasty bugs). Lived to tell about it, then our department gets yelled at because the patient didn't leave fast enough.

He/she was there  so long that he/she was discharged earlier than should have been expected (needed to do transfers independently).

Lo and behold, we get a call less than two weeks later. Guess what Patient X wants to do? Come back for rehab.

There went that readmission rate. Oh well!

Can you tell I'm glad it's Friday? I knew you could. Happy weekend to all!

A week to remember

It's been a different sort of life working in the SU and in a way, I'm grateful. For the most part, it's quiet and reasonably paced. This past week, however, has been crazy.

The ineptitude of our unit secretary is coming out in the form of the MD's schedule. I've found errors and have been working to correct them, but not much has been done, since the replacement isn't much better. They just do not comprehend how to take care of patients and keep a day moving. It is a whole lot of non-nursing work, done by nursing staff. So when I complain to my boss, the answer is to talk to the administrative head, who manages the  secretaries assigned to each unit.  Fun.

Finally, to top it all off, the nurse manager told us she's leaving next month for another unit in the complex. She's been in our area for her entire career. It will certainly be a change. The troops at the Hotel were stunned today. "Who will lead us?" they cried. Not a single volunteer from the old timers, either. It will be an interesting time. Thank goodness no one's asking me. I would need to have that last MegaMillions salary to take a nurse management job at the Hotel with our motley crew!

May have to get my walking boots on once this assignment in the SU is complete. I see bedlam coming...more so than usual.

Stay tuned...exciting times are coming up around the bend.