Are these really the people that should be required to work so much? Isn’t their job about handling life and death daily? Wouldn’t we want exactly these people to come fully rested to work every single day and be fully staffed?
I don’t know if there are jobs with similar stakes that are so carelessly staffed and disgustingly paid.
When I worked as a nurse in CA, the standard for shifts was 8 hours, we had 3 shifts in 24h. Some travel nurses took 12h shifts, but staff RN had 8s. Not saying we never made mistakes, but it can be done with proper staffing (4 patients to hand off instead of say, 7) and a culture that respects the handoff time. We did it at the bedside in most cases so the patient could hear what was going on. In CA there are strong unions advocating for patient safety, and as a result, minimizing exploitive working conditions. We were still exploited to be sure, but not like if you’d dropped that hospital in any other state without those protections. Pay was outstanding as well.
Strong unions are the answer to this problem, at least for nurses/support staff. Idk about docs and residency but that is a big part of why becoming a doc never seemed attainable to me.
As a patient I really liked bedside handoff. Because I’m supposed to theoretically be in charge of my own care, right? Can’t do that unless you tell me what’s going on.
do the travelling make more than the ones staffed in the hospitals, i heard they do in some areas.
It depends on several factors, the staffing company, specialty, etc. but yeah they probably make a little more, but there is the trade-off of longer shifts, health coverage (mine was 100% covered by the HMO I worked for), and workplace culture. But even staff nurses had opportunities for extra shifts or staying extra to make a little more money. My base pay was good enough the thought of staying one more minute over almost never appealed to me, though.
that make sense, if there is a region that is very understaffed i assume those place would pay alot more too.
Yeah during Covid you should have seen my inbox, recruiters offering like $12000 sign on bonus for 9 week contracts, like $4000 a week in rural New York or Florida. But I had fucked off to Norway by then so, wasn’t for me. And I’ll never work as a nurse anywhere but California anyway (until the other states follow suit and mandate safe staffing by law).
yeah our unit recently started a “quiet hours during handoff” policy. Patients kept coming up to the window to ask for drinks which is both a privacy thing and a more interruptions = more mistakes thing. Patients hate getting told to keep it moving but like. Trying not to kill you here bud.
I’ve never known a thirstier bunch of people until I was a nurse, and I used to wait tables. Like surely you’re not going through this much liquid at home.