Has this quote illustrating the vicious cycle in the nursing profession:
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Well, it is a mix of so many factors. As one of those licensed but not working RNs, it is a demographic issue as well. A whole raft of us retired a few years ago, as we were at that age. Yes, I have a license and would work per diem, but the lack of moral on my old floor is frightening. And am too busy with other pursuits. But many younger RNs went to travel nursing due to demand and wanting the adventure, and thus the hometown hospital where many would have been happy for careers are staffed now by travelers from other places. Working conditions at my old employer were not bad, but our union fought for many quality of life provisions in the contract, like rotating between two shifts, never three and decreasing mandated overtime.
Heathcare and other shiftwork professions are really hard on family life. Add the overtime described in the article, and wow.
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“A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the number of health care practitioners experiencing workplace harassment, such as threats, bullying or verbal abusefrom patients and coworkers, doubled between 2018 and 2022, leading to more anxiety, depression and burnout.”
This doesn’t help. It’s like people don’t know how to behave and respect people who are just doing their jobs anymore. That is rampant across professions unfortunately. Not sure what to attribute that to.
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One of the (many) last straw(s) that made me leave my former employer was an episode where I arrived to work and my clinic manager informed me she had already scheduled security to drive over from the main building to be there for my 11 am pediatric appointment because based on his behavior over the phone, and based on the reports of his ex-wife, the dad was deemed to be at high risk of violence during the appointment. I was like “Oh no, if this is the case we need to switch this to a video visit. This is not safe.” She said she has already called higher management, and this did not fall under their policy for mandated video visits (only covid did) and the dad had already been offered video and he refused, so we had no choice. And so yes, the guy arrives and shortly into the visit gets totally dysregulated and started screaming and threatening and security couldn’t calm him so my nurse called 911, and the police showed up and said that because of the recent riots they were no longer staying for calls like this, call them back if there was actual violence. So it was just up to me, sweet talking this guy into leaving the building, which he agreed to as long as his ex-wife and his kid had to leave too. (And all this with a doctor in our city who had been murdered and a nurse wounded a month earlier by a disgruntled patient!) And so I reported this to higher management as a “near miss” safety event, and got told that the solution was that “next time” I should terminate the visit at the first sign of the guy getting upset. And I decided there would be no next time.
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It’s also just corporate greed. My job is basically three jobs that have been combined over the last five years. The company offers support but at the end of the day - it’s still too much. I draw hard boundaries with what I will do and how much extra I can work and push back against absurd expectations. They don’t want me to quit. And I am in a good place, knowing that I could walk away if need be. But work is definitely problematic now.
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This is horrendous. No wonder you resigned. Glad to see you had security in the building, which many clinics would not.
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The entire system (hospital + multiple clinics) has a security team, but they mainly stay in the hospital. If you are a clinic, you need to request them and if they are free they will drive over…
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