ClassOf2004 BSN

ClassOf2004 has 17 years experience as a BSN and specializes in Postpartum RN.

ClassOf2004's Latest Activity

1. 

   Mandatory Staff Pictures In Patient Rooms

   ClassOf2004 posted a topic in Nursing

   I've been an RN in Illinois since 2004 and have been at my current (non union) employer for almost 10 years. A few weeks ago we were all told that the hospital had a "great" way for us to engage with our patients more. Since we are wearing masks all the time administration thought it would be great for us to have our pictures taken and put on the wall in the patient rooms so they can "see" who is taking care of them. Several staff members on my unit are completely uncomfortable with that. Do we have any recourse? Can we be fired if we refuse? We have our work ID badges with our pictures on them so we're not sure why we need pictures of ourselves in the patient rooms as well. A compromise would be to change our ID badges and make our pictures bigger and easier to see but that idea was rejected. We were told that our pictures being in the patient rooms was "not an option, it is mandatory". Help!
2. 

   Rush Copley, Edward, Silver Cross, Central DuPage

   ClassOf2004 posted a topic in Illinois

   Anyone have any opinions on these facilities? Benefits, staffing, pay, etc. I'm an RN with 10 years of OB experience and I'm considering applying at them and was wondering what I should know first. I thought I heard that Silver Cross was unionized but I could be mistaken. Thanks!
3. 

   Antepartum

   ClassOf2004 posted a topic in Ob/Gyn

   For those of you who take care of antepartum patients (especially those who float there) did you have to receive any certification/special training before you started working/floating there? I'm a mother baby RN and a few of us (7 out of the 25+ RNs on our shift) have to float there and we don't feel comfortable having patients on continuous EFM. We have addressed these concerns with management and HR to no avail and if we refuse we are written up, our jobs threatened, we don't get our yearly bonuses, and our raises are cut in half. I was just wondering what the training was like on your units. Thanks :nuke:
4. 

   Can they force me to do it?

   ClassOf2004 replied to ClassOf2004's topic in Safety

   She said that by me refusing to take care of the patient and calling in sick that I abandoned the patients (who weren't even patients on MY unit). So then with that reasoning aren't we all abandoning our patients when we call in sick?
5. 

   Can they force me to do it?

   ClassOf2004 replied to ClassOf2004's topic in Safety

   It was my night to work but she called me 90 minutes before my shift started to tell me that I was floating to L&D and taking care of 2 patients. One of the patients was on continuous monitoring. After I refused, another coworker of mine was told that she had to float to antepartum to take my place yet her assignment consisted of only 1 patient who was not being monitored continuously At the meeting my unit manager said that what I did constituted abandonment in her eyes because I abandoned the patients. How is it abandonment if I wasn't even at work, didn't swipe in, and didn't get report? I swear this hospital is very highly ranked in my state and gets very high patient satisfaction scores but if the public knew how the nurses were treated they would be shocked. I am so frustrated with my clinical leader, my unit manager, and HR I don't know what to do. I don't want to lose my job I just don't want to be forced to work in an area I haven't been trained to work in. Is that asking too much?
6. 

   Can they force me to do it?

   ClassOf2004 replied to ClassOf2004's topic in Safety

   I'm in IL and I don't know what our Safe Harbor laws are. I was not on call. My clinical leader (who knew how upset I was at work last week Weds and Thurs when I was forced to float to that unit and who I have been telling about my discomfort with the other unit for almost a year) called me 90 minutes before my shift started to tell me that I was going there again on Monday. Funny thing is when they wrote me up there was no mention of why I refused to come in that night. I had to squeeze in my explanation on 2 lines while their explanation of the situation took up 11 lines. No wonder so many nurses leave the profession. I'm on the verge of being a greeter at Wal Mart.
7. 

   Can they force me to do it?

   ClassOf2004 replied to ClassOf2004's topic in Safety

   Forgot to add that I got a final written warning today at the meeting. Not sure why it was a final one because I have never been disciplined before today. Oh well, guess managament really doesn't care about their nurses.
8. 

   Can they force me to do it?

   ClassOf2004 replied to ClassOf2004's topic in Safety

   Met with my manager today and she wrote me up for refusing to go to L&D to take care of a patient I am not properly trained to take care of. She then informed me that I will not get my yearly bonus and my raise will be cut in half. Way to treat your employees ________ Hospital.
9. 

   Can they force me to do it?

   ClassOf2004 replied to ClassOf2004's topic in Safety

   Thank you all for your great responses!! I am meeting with my manager tomorrow (I'm sure I will be written up for refusing to go to L&D the other night even though I was at home when I got the call and refused) and I will definitely bring this up again and I have no problem going over her I was just hoping she would be decent enough to deal with the issue without getting the higher ups involved.
10. 

    Can they force me to do it?

    ClassOf2004 posted a topic in Safety

    I've been a mother baby nurse since graduation. At my current hospital they have 25+ nurses who work on my shift and 7 of us float to L&D to take care of their antepartum patients. I am completely uncomfortable going there and have addressed the issue with my clinical leader and my unit manager. Their response is that I have to go there despite the fact that I fear losing my license because I am not properly trained to go there and I was never asked to take on the task of being an antepartum RN. The other RNs on the unit do not go to antepartum just the 7 of us. I called HR and was told that the hospital can make us float anywhere if the census requires floaters. I have no problem floating to the NICU or even going to L&D and being a baby RN or recovering a postpartum patient but going to antepartum and having to read the continuous fetal monitoring strips scares me to death. 3 of my antepartum floating co workers feel the same way I do but it feels like it's us against the world because management and HR won't back us up. Is there anything we can do other than get new jobs elsewhere?
11. 

    Do you have a union? Should nurses strike?

    ClassOf2004 replied to glenwood's topic in Nursing

    **Totally stupid question here** I live and work in Illinois in a non union hospital. Does anyone know how a hospital can become a union hospital? I e-mailed the Illinois Nurses Association and have yet to receive a response. We are having some major issues on our unit and our unit manager and upper management don't seem to care about the nurses on our unit. I'm going on maternity leave in a few months and if nothing changes I won't have much choice but to leave.
12. 

    Gift for Antepartum unit

    ClassOf2004 replied to DeLySh's topic in Ob/Gyn

    I am TERRIBLY sorry for your loss. I think it is wonderful that in your time of mourning you want to show your appreciation to the nurses who cared for you. As much as I hate to sound greedy or unappreciative I don't think we get the thanks we sometimes deserve. I think a thank you card is perfect. We always love to read thank you cards or letters from patients. I wish you the best!
13. 

    What's The Weirdest Name You've Heard A Patient Name Her Baby?

    ClassOf2004 replied to teresab_2000's topic in Ob/Gyn

    Very good name. It's mine of course
14. 

    What's The Weirdest Name You've Heard A Patient Name Her Baby?

    ClassOf2004 replied to teresab_2000's topic in Ob/Gyn

    What does being a teen have to do with naming your child Margarita? My family is Hispanic and my sister's middle name is Margarita (Margaret in english for the slow ones out there). I am so tired of "teen mom" being thrown in replies when being a teen has nothing to do with the topic. I understand many of you weren't teen moms and you have a major problem with those of us who were/are teen moms but do you really need to project your ignorance in every post you make? If I can sense your ignorance in type written responses I can only imagine how you treat your teen parent patients.
15. 

    Cmv+

    ClassOf2004 replied to ClassOf2004's topic in Ob/Gyn

    She delivered this morning via c-section. She ruptured at 0225, she was contracting, and they took her to L&D where she delivered 2 baby boys. One is doing great, the other has hydrocephalus
16. 

    Cmv+

    ClassOf2004 replied to ClassOf2004's topic in Ob/Gyn

    I am also pregnant and I work night shift whereas the other RN works day shift. Therefore I wouldn't and couldn't have volunteered to take on the patient for her.