Is your life worth the BIG BUCKS?
Written: Nov 02 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Still today a caring profession
Cons: It has become a business, double work load.
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| SurgRN911's Full Review: Nursing Profession |
Why are patients and families feeling they are getting less attention, and sometimes less than adequate care in a hospital setting? I wrote an article on nursing, why, when, and how I got involved a few days ago. One of my comments caused me great worry and concern, over why this type of care is being given. Here is the comment that started this brain to ponder the reasons as to WHY?
"What a wonderful job you did of putting into words how it feels to do this kind of work! I just wish you had been there the night of my mastectomy...I almost bled to death, and the night nurse acted like I was a pain in the a**, when she had to come in and clean up the blood! You are right about the fact that some have no business in this profession! Next time, I'm going to insist on having you there with me!"
Now one could say the above comment could have been a little over dramatized. However, I believe it 100%!! The reasons I believe it, will be the essence of this review.
.....Many speak of a "Nursing Shortage" One must wonder how can there be a nursing shortage when nursing schools have full classes, many with waiting lists of up to two years. We are educating more and more nurses then ever before. So it must be asked, where are they? As the field of medicine has broadened so too has its need for nurses. We have nurses working in Home Health settings, Ambulatory facilities, Day Surgery centers, Physicians offices, insurance companies, Nursing Homes, Private duty, schools, factories, and research. More schools of nursing require more instructors, hence less to fill in positions in hospitals.
.....For those of you that remember, years ago on a routine admission to the hospital, nightly a nurse offered each patient in her immediate care a back rub. Well, my friends those days have long been gone, one is lucky now to get the bare essentials. Is this because nurses CARE less? No, it is because they don't have time. Once upon a time a person could be admitted to the hospital for a week of test and rest. I had often heard of it as a week of a "mini vacation" Then it was typical the average floor nurse had four patients. Patients that, for the most part were ambulatory and able to meet their own basic needs. The real sick patients were on the Critical Care units, where the ratio was no more than one nurse to two patients. Once again this ratio allowed a nurse on an eight hour shift, plenty of time to administer to these two patients and their families.
Lets fast forward to how it is today. Here we are in a new millennium. Our medical technology is mind boggling. We are able to save lives that just 10 years ago, would have been lost to diseases and trauma. We have the equipment, knowledge, cures, and know how to prolong lives that would, not have survived in years past.
We are smarter, and more educated then ever before. So why would someone have to endure the type of treatment as mentioned above? The answer my friends is pure and simple.....MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!
Hospitals once fostered patient care. Now it is a BUSINESS. Just like any other corporate venue. They are in it for the revenue. With a typical business way of thinking. "More for less" Well, in this case the consumer is risking their life, or that of a loved one, to make sure the "business" makes money. Several years ago hospital personnel were directed to call patients clients, hmmm see a theme here?
I do believe those under the care of medical people like to be called patients vs clients. How informal that sounds to me, my patients are still just that patients.
The (more for less) mentality has directly affected nurses, and the care they give. Nurses on the whole do not care less today then they ever did. Yet, with our increased technology, life expectancies rise. More people live longer, therefore medical conditions requiring hospitalization increases. The average floor nurse now has eight patients, she is responsible for. The acuity level (the amount of care and time) of the patients has dramatically increased. Paper work has tripled, many of the normal eight hour shifts have been increased to twelve hours. Now you do the math here. Double the amount of patients, much sicker patients, triple the amount of paper work, and increased hours, and you tell me why patients feel their care is less than adequate?
So the business (hospitals) make money. They are getting twice the work from their staff, then ever before. Who losses in this business venture, us the consumer/patient of this product, the one we sometimes cannot live without.
I do not believe there is a nursing shortage. We are out here and scattered to the winds. As more off site medical facilities become available, with better hours, less stress, more recognition, and less responsibility, I see less nurses entering the work force of a hospital. We will see more of us old timers, or newly graduated nurses, seeking experience in the hospital settings.
Don't lose sight of the fact that most nurses are caring, giving individuals. They do the best with the resources they have. Their biggest enemy is the Almighty Dollar, not the ones they hope to earn, but the ones the "Business" hopes to save. Let it also be known the majority of hospital CEO's make more than the President of the United States. Also are given automobiles, city club memberships, and various other "perks" all at the expense of us the "client".
I am not advocating you mistrust care you are given during hospitalizations, I am merely trying to explain why you the patient may feel neglected.
Recommended:
Yes
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SurgRN911
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Member: Di
Location: Gastonia NC
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