Monday, July 18, 2011

Floating

I'm glad to be off my unit today. Lately, I've had a hard time tolerating the young and, well, just young, attitudes/behaviors of my co-workers. The nurses are, for the most part, friendly but they can be callous and selfish in a way that only reflects their immaturity.

With more experience, most of them will probably develop into compassionate and wonderful caregivers but for now it's frustrating. With the patients, they can be dismissive of pain and fears, only noticing that the patient is inconveniencing them with 'petty stuff'.

Their own lives oscillate between two points: either everything is wonderful or it's awful. Calling in sick because their best friend's grandma had a heart attack, their parents' cat died or there's a power outage in their neighborhood is routine. In the last month, we've only had two shifts proceed without a call-in.

Today, I'm working on a telemetry floor. The staff is older and the shift is virtually tranquil despite the higher acuity. People are doing their jobs without histrionics or (much) complaining.

I can't help but wonder if the hospitalists realize how the differences in unit culture can impact the patient experiences and subsequently the HCAHPS and Press Ganey scores. Because of the future changes in insurance reimbursement policies, it's something that could really impact their livelihood.

*sigh*

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