Keeping people alive for pennies to the dollar…
I nearly blew a gasket two weeks ago while I was sitting at the desk chatting with my super awesome boss.
This incredibleboss of mine said directly to me that she thought we were paid well!!!
I almost fell out of my chair.
I said, “YOU GET PAID PENNIES TO THE DOLLAR!!!”
Literally, as a ‘leader’ you put in 60+ hours and are salary…
Calculate your hourly rate… I double dog dare you!!!
I turned bright red, sweaty and had to walk away…
She was like… I didn’t mean to make you mad…
I said, I just am flabbergasted you believe that WE MAKE ENOUGH MONEY…
But the truth is…
She left her job as a leader because she too had her Soul sucked dry.
You can only give for so long…
Money isn’t the solution but it would sure be a great buffer.
Did you know the average Nurse in the Mid-West makes 55K… IF YOU HAVE 5+ years experience…??
If you are brand new you make… 36K!!
Did you know the average Teacher makes 41K…??
To save and mold lives… BARELY scrap by to pay your bills and have fun every once and a while.
The shipped sailed years ago when being a Nurse was profitable…
I felt super bad losing my marbles when my amazingly awesome boss thought we got paid enough…
She has been the biggest cheerleader and blessing for me in the last few months.
I actually changed jobs because the moment I met her I knew she was amazing.
But I was friggin’ SHOCKED…paid enough… PSSSSSSSSSSAHHHHHHHH!
Here’s a few more reasons why I lost my marbles…
First, most Nurses in the hospital have a normal day of barely peeing and having lunch…
Second, we actually save lives. CPR, multi-task infusions, critically think because unlike what most people think… the doctor is not always around!!
Third, we endure long hours of ungrateful peoplewith the rare bird of kindess…
Forth, Nursing is turning into BLACK & WHITE algorithms… with no gray… this medication wasn’t scanned at exactly 30 minutes and 30 seconds… the patient will now die and it is your fault…. instead of saying… Hey, is there a reason why the meds weren’t given within a reasonable timeframe??
Fifth, we are human beings that have emotions and care about people… how can we care if we have PRODUCTIVITY breathing down our back…(productivity is the hospitals way of saying… more money, less staff and increased patient load)
AND THE LIST CAN GO ON AND ON….
OH CRAP!!! I FORGOT ABOUT THE NOISE!!!
I forgot this part which for me is a major BRAIN DRAIN…
Do you ever drive home or hear the different alarms or beeps in your head as if they are actually real…?
We have tones for:
Pumps: Channel Disconnect the sound of doom, not infusing for whatever reason-sound, 30 minute battery warning-sound
SCD occlusion sound
Monitor: high/low/out of range for whatever reason-sound
EMS phone
Regular phone
Your handheld phone
Call lights: Nurse, Tech or emergency
Code button alarm
Oh and don’t forget the overhead warnings of: violent patient, Code, Storm approaching, Danger, Psych escaping or baby being stolen…
I mean really… do “normal” desk jobs have this…?
I get every job has stress BUT
When you signed up for the job you weren’t told how traumatic it was going to beand the worst part…how you we not gonna be paid for the job that you do
…not paid what you are worth…
Needless to say… I walked away from my conversation about being insulted on our hourly rate because I probably would have had a Jerry Maguire moment… and FLIP OUT…
I am the first person to be an advocate saying that we deserve more…
We give so much to our community, our hospital system and co-workers…
We at least deserve a decent wage…AND environment…
We can’t even go pee without a sign in the bathroom about things we need to learn or participate in…
Everything is CONSTANTLY shoved down our throat…
We all get that the middle class is going to soon be lower class…
This once notable PROFESSION is now becoming a blue collar job…
As a normal human… NON-medical person… the average patient and family takes healthcare for granted…
All the bells a whistles created within the hospital system that keep people alive: humans, equipment, medications and occasional miracles…
Those are FIRST WORLD LUXURIES but are treated like it’s the expectation to treat yourself like shit and constantly be tuned-up and if we can’t it’s OUR fault… not the person committing the neglect.
WE, meaning the pharmaceutical world and government (all ran be the same people, right?!) have created a beast…
Which is why I’ve created a way for myself and follow Nurses to decompress, debrief and truly get back to the real you…
Learn to be the Nurse you signed up to be…
Learn to be grateful for what you have…
Learn to get WHY people are the way they are and ACCEPT it…
NOW, THIS DOESN’T MEAN I AGREE WITH WHAT WE GET PAID AND HOW WE ARE TREATED…
What it means is that I am trying to help other Nurses in a different way…
Create a MOVEMENT…
Create a WAVE of momentum…
Create some GOOD NOISE…
There are approximately 29 MILLION Nurses in the World!!!
I know that when like energy bands together… MASSIVE results occur…
It’s like what I teach…
Unconventional ways to decompress, debrief and release the hospital emotional baggage…
When I walked away from my former boss…
I cleared my energy, reset my head and came back in completley balanced: head and heart.
You might say that total BULLSHIT… but it’s not.
Real-Time Transformative Response is something I created and empower Nurses with…
It’s real. And it works. It’s fast and has long term results.
So much so that we are doing a clinical research project on it.
My dream and actions are coming to fruition…
In the room, when you are oriented, you are giving ACTUAL tools that you will use to decompress and debrief…
…So you don’t have to take the emotional baggage home with you.
You don’t live with uncontrollable anxiety, overwhelm, stress and PTSD…
The hospital system acknowledges that you are a human being and are treated with respect…
Respect enough to be given tools to deal with tramatic events…
Be PROACTIVE instead of REACTIVE…
WE ARE NURSE. WE DESERVE TO BE TREATED TOO…
Ashleigh Boyd R.N.
Thanks for reading!
Feel free to check out some of my similar reads below and subscribeto my tribe for more content AND most importantly access to the anxiety diffusing tools.
- Hospital-Induced Anxiety
- A Nurses Perspective On Lack Of Hospital Support
- The Only Reveral Agent I Use
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