My Hospital is Merging...Now What?

Working at a hospital that is in the process of a merger can be frightening. As the economy worsens and government funding diminishes, more small hospitals are merging with larger facilities. If your hospital is going through a merger, there are ways to successfully navigate the changes and keep upbeat about the situation!

Stay in touch. Keep yourself in the loop by checking your email and reading all posts and newsletters. Talk to others about the changes and ask your supervisors for information. Attend meetings concerning the merger.

Do the paperwork. Fill out all forms required by your new employer. This may include a new job application resume, 401(k) rollovers, life and health insurance applications, and retirement benefits.

Take the test(s). Required testing may include drug testing and PPD, along with required facility education, safety and CPR.

Focus on the positives. You have a job and you don’t have to leave your friends and coworkers. You can maintain your present position without the hassle of learning a new routine and working with new faces.

Stay optimistic. It’s difficult to stay optimistic when the workplace around you seems like it’s crumbling, but keeping a positive outlook will eventually pay off. It’s hard to work with people who are negative, and being positive will make the transition easier for everyone involved!

Find a safe place to vent. Find someone outside your current facility to talk to. It’s not always a good idea to vent to coworkers since what you say can and will be used against you. Merging is hard on everyone, including the patients—just keep your complaints buried until you leave work.

Merging can bring many positives to a facility that’s having financial difficulties. Maintain your composure and smile. Merging with another facility will be bumpy at first, but in the few short months after the merger is finalized, doors may open for you that you never expected.

Source:  ScrubsMag.com

Friday Funny

A little humor for your end of week celebration!

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“Oh, my aching back!”

You’ve heard it. You’ve probably said it. But the all-too-frequent lament by nurses can be avoided!

Yes, given the nature of your work, you’re especially vulnerable to the “occupational hazard” of lower back pain. Even seasoned nurses can get in a hurry and fail to safeguard their backs when moving a patient. So follow the simple guidelines below, put together by renowned physical therapy expert Vinod Somareddy, DPT.

Bend your knees, and keep your back straight when lifting and moving patients. Bending your knees puts the workload on the stronger muscles in the legs and eliminates some of the pressure on the weaker muscles of the back.

Take time to prepare, estimate and determine the effort needed to move someone.

Speak to the patient first to get her to work with you, so the patient is assisting rather than giving you more work. When moving the patient up in bed, for example, ask your patient to bend their knees and dig their heels in to assist with the move if they are able to do so. Be sure to convey exactly what you are going to do and what you expect out of them and allow them plenty of time to move in small movements if they have to.

Never let your center of gravity fall forward or to one side.

Avoid locking your knees; keep your knees flexed a bit to prepare against a fall.

Make use of siding boards, chair rails and other devices to assist you. Drawsheets under the patient are also great resources for moving patient side-to-side and up in bed.  Also, having a gait belt handy is always a good idea.

If it’s too difficult to transfer a patient, never be afraid to ask for help from coworkers! It is safer for you and the patient and you can return the favor next time they have a patient they need assistance with.

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Top 5 Regrets of The Dying

Susie Steiner, The Guardian, Feb 1, 2012

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called “Inspiration and Chai”, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. “When we questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently,” she says “common themes surfaced again and again.”

Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

“This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called “comfort” of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

“Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitteness and resentment they carried as a result.”

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

“This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

“This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.”

What would your biggest regret be if this was the last day of your life?

Or better yet, what is your greatest regret so far, and what will you set out to achieve or change before you die?