Unionized Nurses and Location to Train

[vicinihil]

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I've learned from my away rotations in one particular city that the nurses I worked with in this particular clinic are...how do you put it nicely...lazy. They don't clean the patient rooms, don't set up procedure trays, don't even bring the patients back to the rooms. What do they do? Sit behind a desk and chat and complain. Now I understand they perhaps have other functions that I don't yet know...but I have NEVER worked with nurses THAT terrible. I've rotated in 3 others states as well and the nurses there were FABULOUS. They will do everything for you to assist with patient care and work flow. At this place, you have to make pigs fly.

My friend who is an OB resident in the same city echoes the same sentiments. They can't even get a nurse to prep for an emergency C-section.

My question is how does this impact training? Especially in specialties where nursing assistance is crucial for PATIENT CARE such as Emergency Medicine, OB, Surgical Subspecialties, etc.

 

[Buzz Me]

Hmmm...my experience in the various clinics at the hospitals here varies quite a bit. At one hospital, the nurses will bring patients back into the rooms, have supplies well-stocked, etc. (the techs tend to clean the rooms afterwards). And then at another hospital, the patients just sit in the waiting room and after each visit we clean the rooms, then bring the next patient back. That's just how it is.

 

[rachmoninov3]

I've learned from my away rotations in one particular city that the nurses I worked with in this particular clinic are...how do you put it nicely...lazy. They don't clean the patient rooms, don't set up procedure trays, don't even bring the patients back to the rooms. What do they do? Sit behind a desk and chat and complain. Now I understand they perhaps have other functions that I don't yet know...but I have NEVER worked with nurses THAT terrible. I've rotated in 3 others states as well and the nurses there were FABULOUS. They will do everything for you to assist with patient care and work flow. At this place, you have to make pigs fly.

My friend who is an OB resident in the same city echoes the same sentiments. They can't even get a nurse to prep for an emergency C-section.

My question is how does this impact training? Especially in specialties where nursing assistance is crucial for PATIENT CARE such as Emergency Medicine, OB, Surgical Subspecialties, etc.

May I warn you not to generalize about union versus non unionized nurses. Having been one in a former life, the union is supposed to fix things like staffing ratios, wages, time and a half for being short-staffed, due process before termination, etc. Being union does not make you lazy. My former union was weak, and couldn't bargin for any of the above so it was a collasal waste of $.

Getting the nursing staff to help you will take you far in residency. It could be the person you are with is a total jerk and no one wants to help him/her. I'm sure if you spend time and talk with the nurses that they'd be happier to help.

Finally, remember that you are looking to work for the same company. Just because you have MD by your name and not RN won't save you from a malignant company. If the MBAs treat RNs like crap, they probably don't care that much for MDs either.

 

[Groove]

There's bad nurses and good nurses and you'll have a mix of both wherever you go. In residency, it's usually wise to play nice with them, especially during your intern year. They can make your rotations easy or hellish.

During my intern ICU rotations, I bought 2-3 of those small bags of chocolate candy bar assortment thingies. Laid one down at each nursing station about a week after starting each month. INSTA-star. They'd all let me get a few hours sleep and line up all their questions so they could give me as few calls as possible during the night. I'd go out to eat with them every now and then after shift. Don't be a social grouch or try to be a know it all, especially as an intern. You can learn a lot from the nurses and they can help keep your ass out of trouble.

 

[shopsteward]

Every workplace developes its own culture, which is why it is important to work out where you will be able to fit in before you make a commitment to it. Is the place you are thinking of going a good fit with your own priorities?

Trades unions have to work with the culture of the workplace. They can mitigate some of the effects of bad management. But if management is really terrible the culture gets out of balance, whether a union is there or not. The union is rarely the sole cause of problems: if you think there is a problem with a union in a particular workplace, there is probably a bigger problem with management that you just haven't seen yet.

One point about going to a place which does have trades unions for nurses is that it may also have better workplace support for residents than a place which doesn't. At the level of representing professional-level workers, having union advice and representation to hand can be a career-saver.

 

[eforest]

If you're concerned about unionized ancillary staff and nurses, stay out of New York City. The problem there is pretty pervasive. I understand that unions have their place, but I was so amazed after moving out of the city. Nurses carry out their orders (as long as they are reasonable- they would not, for instance, go along with the MRI order for the guy with the pacemaker, other things like that)! The transporters.... transport patients! The unit clerks... answer the phones. Everyone does his or her job.

 

[deleted109597]

May I warn you not to generalize about union versus non unionized nurses. Having been one in a former life, the union is supposed to fix things like staffing ratios, wages, time and a half for being short-staffed, due process before termination, etc. Being union does not make you lazy. My former union was weak, and couldn't bargin for any of the above so it was a collasal waste of $.

Having also been union, and had multiple union family members, I will tell you that this may have been true in the era before government intervention. But now, the sole purpose of the union is to get as much money as possible, even at the expense of the company. Unions force companies to pay employees even when they aren't working. They force draconian breaks that don't take into account what is going on at the time. And yes, they do make people lazy, because once in a job, you can't get fired unless you're doing something really bad (illegal).

 

[mlw03]

Thank you all for my weekly reminder that it's awesome to be a pathologist.

 

[HondoCrouch]

Just make sure you go to a right-to-work state to avoid the union nonsense.

Beyond that, as a general rule the support staff are going to be more helpful in a private organization versus public institution.