Amen.

I know exactly what you mean. I've seen it too. Unfortunately there are people who shouldn't be nurses, Dr.'s, teachers, etc. But they are. Luckily there are LOTS of good nurses for every bad one. This is what I decided to do about it....ANYTIME I see something unacceptable I speak up about it, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't. Also, I see these things as reminders of why I'm in healthcare. To HELP, not HURT. If I ever get to where I don't care then it's time for a career change...pronto!

It would be great if the bad and lazy ones could be weeded out.  They wont go anywhere unless they are reported........and if reported the person doing the reporting needs to have their ducks in a row.  By that I mean, what happened, which patient, what was the location when did it happen..........etc.  You have to be specific and have facts otherwise the bad apples wont go anywhere.   When you do report someone, be professional about it and have stuff written down. 

WOW! thats sad that a patient had to call 911 from a hospital.

iampham92 says ...

Exactly what I mean stuff like this just pisses me off and that just makes me sooo tempted to smack them. But then again you have to be professional right. Behavior like this is inexcusable and it makes me really sad  and depressed that a 16 year old has more sense than a bunch of grown up at that facility ranging from mostly 30-50. I’m mean wow; people like that just make you work harder to become a better nurse. I guess when karma comes around; they’re the ones that would probably be the patients with the crappy nurse, and in my option they deserve ever bit of it.   

use this as motivation to become a better nurse, I know I do/will. And if you see something unexcusable report them, and maybe they will really realize that they are dealing with a person, that they should care about and for this person....there are nurses I know that are just in it for the money, and unfortunatly they dont care. Its sad, but we can change it.

dmazment says ...

I'm going to step in here and make an unpopular comment.  I don't care what profession you choose, one must consider the financial aspects to be able to support yourself.  I do think there should be stringent psychological testing given to each nursing applicant before they are allowed into any nursing program, to aid in determination whether or not said applicant is nursing material.

True.........we have bills to pay; if we dont have gas in the car, how will we get to work?  Nursing is such a great career...........I just dont understand how people can be in the healthcare field if they are lazy, cruel, mean spirited, etc.    Being a nurse ensured my kids had a roof over their head, clothes, and food.  A good living can be made, money is an incentive to get more education.........its also an incentive to do your job, be nice to your patients, and treat them like professionals.   At the facility I work in, we dont refer to our patients as 'frequent flyers, they are our valued clients'.  I just heard that..........thought it was cool.  Without the patients, we wouldnt have a job.

 there are good and bad human beings everywhere and their practice reflects their personal characteristics!  If you are a lazy person you will be a lazy nurse, if you are a dishonest person you will be a dishonest nurse etc..... Try not to let it bother you too much and remember the serenity prayer!   GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS THAT I CANNOT CHANGE, THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS THAT I CAN AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!

iampham92 says ...

yes that is very true, lol i shouldn’t let people like that get to me, it just sad since I got very close to one of my patients and it just makes me mad that I can’t do anything because I’m just an R.O.P student.( I know I’m complaining a lot but this is a venting spot)

Pardon my ignorance, but what is an R.O.P. student?

The persons who are true nurses would not do the thievery, abuse, and all the bad things you mentioned.  But how do we "weed" out the bad ones?  It starts with each and every one of us.  When our finger is pointing at them, we have to remember there are 3 fingers pointing back at us.  It isn't easy to be a "whistle blower", but what does our consious tell us at the end of the day.  I would hate to have known someone was being taken advantage of or abused and not have said anything to the charge nurse, DON, administrator, social services, police, district attorney etc.  You need to go through the proper channels, but if that doesn't work, you go to whoever you have to go to to ensure that resident or patient is given the dignity and the feelings of safety they deserve and that our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Patient Bill of Rights dictates.  I do know how hard it is.  I had to do this while working as a LPN.  I worked for a temp agency and did the 11p-7a; I was charge nurse, the only nurse in the facility with 2 CNA's.  I "caught" one of the CNA's stealing, another one abusing a resident, another one not following the treatment plan after being written up repeatedly by myself and someone else.  I had to go pretty high up before these issues were dealt with and CNA's jobs terminated and faced misdemeanor and felony charges.  These persons will never be allowed to practice in this state ever again.                                                                                                                                    

This paragraph doesn't really fit perfectly with the previous paragraph but we need to be aware of what is happening in our health care system. Health care, nursing in particular, has such shortages, facilities cannot begin to fill all the job openings they have.  The state of Texas brings nurses from Puerto Rico, Phillipines, Egypt and Middle East to fill positions.  So, if you can imagine a nurse taking care of you from another country, are you ok with that, do you wonder what his/her training was like--was it a "cookie cutter" institute or was it an NLN accredited facility which follows the requiremets of the United States?  In no way am I saying I am against bringing these nurses into our country.  Please don't misunderstand me,  the nursing profession needs as many well trained and qualified nurses as we can get. 

Being A nurse is A calling. If you do not have love for others and compassion, willing to help them live life to the fullest,You better stay out of it !!!!.

Hello I am a CNA fresh out of school going back for my BSN in March when I interned I also seen alot of that going on as well, I also think this is going on b/c other people that see it don't speak up enough about it. If enough people just get together and talk about the issue I think it would be less of that type of behavior going on.

kimolin says...

This paragraph doesn't really fit perfectly with the previous paragraph but we need to be aware of what is happening in our health care system. Health care, nursing in particular, has such shortages, facilities cannot begin to fill all the job openings they have.  The state of Texas brings nurses from Puerto Rico, Phillipines, Egypt and Middle East to fill positions.  So, if you can imagine a nurse taking care of you from another country, are you ok with that, do you wonder what his/her training was like--was it a "cookie cutter" institute or was it an NLN accredited facility which follows the requiremets of the United States?  In no way am I saying I am against bringing these nurses into our country.  Please don't misunderstand me,  the nursing profession needs as many well trained and qualified nurses as we can get.

nurses that are recruited abroad like in the Philippines, need to comply with all the requirements needed before they could be sent to US to work as RN, therefore, it only means, when you see a filipino RN at your bedside, you need not to be afraid, because they have passed all the requirements imposed on them to become a RN in the US.

iampham92 says ...

I am a true believer of what goes around, come arounds. This is for your previous two paragraphs. I wanted to comment on the last paragraph. The reason why America hire foreigh nurses in the first place. It is because the state doesn't want to pay nursing instructors the salary they deserve. It doesn't have anything to do about American nurses not wanting to feel these positions, it's because there are huge waiting lists of nursing students here in America who want to be that good nurse, you are talking about, and can't , because their nursing application was denied, and the nurses who are employed in the hospital setting are burned about, because they have to many patients, or working that mandatory over time, because the hospital facilties want hire a American born nurse, because they cost a arm and a leg, compared to someone oversseas. It is all politics. I hope our new elect president can help this nursing shortage, and give those nursing instructor the money they deserve.

it’s kind of sad in a way that our government is that corrupted, I mean I don't understand a whole lot about politics but it seem to me that the whole nursing issue is relatively close to the whole computer programmers issues, well their issues a lot worse than ours. Not so long ago that job was a hot pick for anyone who wanted to make a decent living now all you see are Americans getting laid off  for the same exact reason, foreign workers such as china and India, they are cheaper and smarter than the American here. Like the situation for my best friend’s mother, she came to America with no money what so ever and literally had to beg for a scholarship just so she can get an education and become a computer programmer. And now her lucks just getting worst because of the recession and the economy,  she can’t even find a job and she’s the only provider for her daughter who’s going to college soon.  Shoot I’d be royally freakin pissed if I busted my ass off just to not have a job in the end. My best friend is a really good student too, all A’s and A.P. classes, and she herself can’t find a full ride scholar ship because there are even smarter people out there wanting the same thing. So going back to the topic, this that really why there such a big waiting list in America for nursing, is it because of the foreign workers too. I’m not saying anything bad about the workers , I mean if they do an outstanding job then by all means they should come over, but if they do a crappy job then that’s a another story. Like the Vietnamese workers I saw doing these horrible things to the people, going into a scabies infested room and spreading it to other patients, that’s just poor infection control (and no I am not racist I myself am a full Vietnamese, and if you have been around them as much as I have you tend to start disliking them ,foreign Vietnamese are just so rude and greedy, I can say this because it happened first hand to my family in American from my distant family in Vietnam, also they need to learn how to FREEAKIN DRIVE, I don’t know many car accident Iv almost been through because of my fellow brethrens lol) so sorry going on a tangent there, any who were was I at…..oh yes bad foreign workers, I just think it’s really appalling that hospitals would deny patients good quality care just to save a quick buck, like what cuttie said earlier you don’t know their back ground and you don’t know if their qualified, that’s just a really scary thought in itself.

Maybe I'm missing something...........but your best friend's mom 'came to america with no money and had to beg for a scholarship?"  Maybe this is off topic, however, this posting is a tad bit off topic.  Where does it say that  your friends mom has a right to a free ride on a scholarship, has kids, worried because she also has a  kid old enough to go to college <or will soon>?   Those scholarships need to go to Americans, and her daughter needs to look for a job if she cant afford school, and not burden our schools and taxpayers.  If your friends mom gets 'pissed', maybe she should go back to her homeland if she has no luck with finding a job here in the USA, Americans have more of a right to that job than a foreign born person without being a citizen. 

If I see anybody on my unit passing scabies or anything else because they are horrible workers, they will be reported to infection control, admin, and HR.      If I have totally gotten your point wrong, then my apologies. 

Well, I agree that Americans should have the first crack at scholarships and other benenefits, but as far as the comment "Do I want a foreign nurse taking care of me" Here's my answer:

YES, I want a Filipino nurse taking care of me. I have been a nursing manager and administrator, a hospital administrator, and a nursing home administrator for several decades. I probably have more experience hiring, disciplining, and firing nurses than almost anyone here.

It is widely known among health facility Administrators and Directors that Filipinos receive superb training, are extremely competent technically, are caring people, and don't complain about having to work overtime or taking whatever shift is available.

I don't know about other countries, but the Philippines turns out the best nurses I have had the pleasure of working with. Filipinos do not come to our country to live off the welfare system. They come here to work hard, and they speak English and respect our customs, unlike some immigrants.

Of course, I agree Americans should be considered first for employment before importing foreign nurses, but when there is a nursing shortage (which there often is), I know where I hope they import the needed RN's from!

lawyerRN says ...

Well, I agree that Americans should have the first crack at scholarships and other benenefits, but as far as the comment "Do I want a foreign nurse taking care of me" Here's my answer:

YES, I want a Filipino nurse taking care of me. I have been a nursing manager and administrator, a hospital administrator, and a nursing home administrator for several decades. I probably have more experience hiring, disciplining, and firing nurses than almost anyone here.

It is widely known among health facility Administrators and Directors that Filipinos receive superb training, are extremely competent technically, are caring people, and don't complain about having to work overtime or taking whatever shift is available.

I don't know about other countries, but the Philippines turns out the best nurses I have had the pleasure of working with. Filipinos do not come to our country to live off the welfare system. They come here to work hard, and they speak English and respect our customs, unlike some immigrants.

Of course, I agree Americans should be considered first for employment before importing foreign nurses, but when there is a nursing shortage (which there often is), I know where I hope they import the needed RN's from!

 I have been a CNA for almost 10 years, and for the most, it is good and bad nurses in every ethnic group. I do agree with Filipinos nurses being dependable, and hard working, but their wages are cheap. This happened to me last night on my homecare assignment. My homecare agency charges $400 a day for two caregivers. A Filipino homecare agency charges $150 a day, for one  live in person. Now, who will turn that down. I am out of work next week, because I am being replaced. It is not fair. That was a  (4) 12 hour shift, in one week, now that is truly taking the food away from my children mouths. I am with everyone who said grants, scholorships, and loans should be given to the American people first, and jobs. This is not just a RN thing, it is a caregiver thing.