It is such an important part of a nurse's job to be a patient advocate. I think I spend about 20% of each day fighting for what I think a patient may need above and beyond what the doctors think. I care about the quality of care I give a patient, and I hope that it shows. In a recent example I had to harass the team of surgeons for 3 DAYS to get the staples removed from the surgical incision that had been in for 30 days. Granted the patient had a lot of other things going on that were of much greater importance, but the last thing she needed was to have another chance of a future complication.
To any other nurses out there, don't give up. Continue fighting the fight to get the patient what they need. We do this job because of them, not because of us. They need us to fight for them, they need us as advocates, be strong.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
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Nursing Home outrage:What do you think - will Harborside Healthcare grow fast? Are they expanding their staff? How does Harborside Healthcare stack up against the competition?(Indeed.com)
Harborside is far from the stack! Currently new LPN's with 1-2 years experience are getting 19.50/hr, and RN’s 22.50/hr. These hourly wages are not even within competitive range. Most places pay RN's 26.50-30.00/hr and that's for a new grad starting out in a nursing home, while most hospitals are starting at 30.00/hr for new graduates. Harborside healthcare, specifically Harborside North Shore, seem to have trouble retaining its staff. Let me elaborate in the past 31'2 months their have been 4 DON's, approximately 7 unit managers, and 1 ADON who didn’t last even 2 months. Training for new LPN's /RN's is all but 1-2 weeks and then you’re on your own, never to take a lunch, always being short staffed, and never having the supplies necessary for: wound care, ADL's; needles for insulin, house stock meds ect..., Further more you can advocate for your patients until your blue in the face and even then you'll never see anything done about your grievances, and you probably will never because they'll find a way to fire you and that's that. On the other hand if you don’t' complain then you'll be able to partake in Thirsty Thursdays with management well that if you work at Harborside North shore, but complain and you'll never be invited to Kowlhoons. Besides all this, you will find, and you will out that working at Harborside your license is at serious risk due to frequent unsafe circumstances. Now I'm not saying that everyone is scum because there are staff that work very hard and are there ultimately for the patients but you won’t get to know them because they quit before you have the chance to know them. Harborside North Shore has a pinch of staff that do stay and try to make the best of it(hands down to them),but I'm sure the ones I left behind are on there way out themselves it's only a matter of weeks if that. .I am free from Harborside I feel the weight some what off my shoulders. But I do still think about the residents who are still being abused and neglected and it hurts me because I feel powerless.
Residents at Harborside North Shore need help! Residents there are not receiving proper care or respect. Resident unable to fend for self are being doubled diapered and faced to sit in their own urine and feces for hours. Many Residents have been told that they can only be toileted every 2 hours. so if a resident went to the bathroom at 1:00pm and then they have to go again 30 minutes later they cant. And if they use the call light to often some CNA's have been known to put the call light out of reach as reported by many residents. Residents are being handled roughly and aggressively their grievances rarely resolved because administration will tell corporate, Oh we investigated and found that the resident was disoriented and confused, while that may be the case for some, its not for all. Many will advocate for residents but then be targeted by the company’s administrators. These are just a few examples of what the residents are faced with. Something needs to be done to correct this abuse and neglect!1
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