I am in the ICU as a new graduate. I was THRILLED to be in this line of work, this specialty. I loved the first 5-6 months of working in the ICU. Because they were mostly Covid patients who were placed on ventilators. We actually had CRITICAL patients.
But now that Covid has died down, there are still critical patients but we are staffed appropriately for the unit. We have 14 beds and 2 of those beds are like storage for the extra chairs and computers and such. So adequately, they try to put 7 nurses on the floors but we don’t have enough nurses to continue staffing each day with 7 nurses. We are staffed with 5-6 nurses almost every day.
BUT since we don’t have enough patients for ALL the nurses, the hospital floats our nurses, majority 3 nurses.
And another side not, ICU is in charge of the telemetry monitors on a different floor(we don’t have a technician to just watch the monitors) and we are responsible for the rapid response team and we are also required to go to a code blue situation. That’s THREE extra jobs that we are NOT paid for AND they continue to take our nurses and leave our unit staffed with 3 nurses always.
SO I don’t normally stand up for myself and I’m pretty compliant to everything so I don’t get in trouble. But I have felt so fucking pissed by how the unit supervisors sends us ICU new grad nurses to work on a telemetry and more med surg floors. And it’s almost EVERY shift.
They don’t cancel our nurses or offer the nurses to become a PCT/CNA In the ICU. We don’t have a PCT/CNA at all! All the other floors are adequately staffed but continue to take our nurses to over staff JUST IN CASE something comes up. But then you’re taking away the nurses who have to respond to code blues, to rapid response request and to have less nurses to watch the telemetry patients.
So I stood up for myself and said that I refuse to come in if the ICU does not need me. I don’t want to float to a different floor because NONE of the other floors hire any nurses.
The ICU hires agency nurses because WE are understaffed as well. BUT then they take our agency nurses. And if there aren’t any agency nurses scheduled, that means the new grads go. How Is that teaching us to become ICU nurses and chase after our specialty and dreams.
So I am refusing to come into work if I am to go to a different floor when they are not taking responsibility to hire other nurses.
All the other nurses definitely have a different view of me now because I’m standing up for myself because THOSE nurses are not standing up for their selves.
I called out a doctor and another nurse and ANOTHER doctor and the nurses on my floor all looked at me differently and also just stopped talking to me as much as they did before. It’s like they’re afraid of me. But I really don’t give a shit anymore. I’m so exhausted having living my life letting people push me around. Same with this job. I am planning on going to travel nursing because FUCK these hospital systems that won’t take care of their nurses and continue to pay more money to have these travel nurses. Come and make almost 3-5K a WEEK!
The nurses all have terrible views on travel nurses because they make more money but then WHY ARE YOU LETTING THESE HOSPITALS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU?! WHY ARE YOU SETTLING AND CHEATING THE SYSTEM?!
I am burnt out because this hospital and I am ready to move on already