My employer is not handling the shortage well.  They are having the existing staff keep up the heavy work load which is causing some pretty hard feeelings all around.  Nurses are leaving for better jobs (ie.. higher pay , sign on bonuses)  The nurses left behind are getting even heavier workloads then before.   They tell us that we are doing our accuity survey wrong and that our 4's are really 3's.  It is nothing to have 3-4s and 2-3s out on the regular med-surg floor.  We even have been known to have 5s on the floor along with our 4 and 3.  Unless the pt is going home tomarrow they are really never a 2.  Our accuity scale says that 5 should only be icu level with a 2 to 1 ratio yet we have them on the flor with a 5 to 1 ratio.  We sometimes are having to go over our ratio so that pt' have care.  The pts' keep coming and yet we do not close our doors>   Scary if you are a pt that needs help but what about the pts already here who are not getting help they requiure because there are not enough bodies to care for them properly.   What is even scarier is the fact that my facility is building a new wing and we are thinking - Who are they going to staff the new wing when they can not even keep the staff they currently have?

Our employer handles it with lots of overtime for everyone. Not Good. The bosses are mad at the nurses because we all got together and are saying "NO". There really isn't a shortage. They just won't hire people.

Yah... WHAT is up with that??????  Why is there "no shortage" and yet we do not have enough staff at times.  Does anyone know what the amount of the fine is when the hospital is out of compliance?  I just do not understand the whole concept of paying overtime/registry pay to tired nurses who have the potential to make mistakes thus causing more expense legally in court fees.   I know that a new nurse costs money to train but keeping us happy is the key to keeping us there for the long run and thus getting a more competent staff who can handle the pts and keep them safe......