Best article ever written on the nursing experience

13 Awhile ago I stumbled across an article written entitled "Why Hospitals Don't Learn From Failures" by Anita L. Tucker, a Harvard Business Professor. I'm not going to link it because I'm computer illiterate (and there's that hot-link thing I don't understand) but if you google the title you'll get numerous hits.

When I first read my thought was - she gets it. She gets what makes our jobs so hard and our lives so miserable and our careers so short.

It's quite long and it took me a couple of reads to really understand it but I'll summerize.

What makes our jobs difficult is not direct patient care. It's the looking for linens that should be there but aren't. It's finding the supplies that are missing. It's the answering of phones because unit clerks are now considered luxuries. It's looking in 12 different patient rooms for a working wheelchair. All the little things that we have no control over yet are completely responsible for.

And if you bring this up to the bosses attention - hey, I spent half an hour looking for the bladder scanner because the third floor borrowed it and didn't bother to bring it back - we are considered mouthy whiners. We are told to shut up and get used to it because it's not going to change.

If you say "boss, my scan rate is low because there's not enough computers to go around and you guys are too cheap to put them in patient rooms and if I wait for a computer then my meds are late and out of the window and then you complain about that" and they will look at you like you are the crazy one. Or "boss, the reason baths don't get done is because there are never enough clean towels and linen services won't bring more until evening and by then it's too late" and they willl tell us to use paper towels from the dispenser.

Anyway, if you get a chance give it a read. It's very long but worth it.
I've always wondered why nurses have no access to tp when patients run out in the evening. And why the "towels" are the size of handtowels.

Is this it?http://www.cows.org/healthcarecharre...20Learning.pdfIm about to read it, thought I would post first. Your summary makes so much sense. Unfortunately!!!

Quote from NervousNelly,RN 2BIs this it?http://www.cows.org/healthcarecharre...20Learning.pdfIm about to read it, thought I would post first. Your summary makes so much sense. Unfortunately!!!

Thanks. What this article says is very much in line with the conclusions of others who have studied nurses' work environments more recently. The Institute of Medicine study, recently concluded, comes to mind immediately as very similar in its conclusions. Too bad it took so long for this information to be disseminated. Perhaps now some meaningful change will take place.

Thanks for the link. I will check that out.

Very good article. I am planning on reading it in detail -- just skimmed it for starters. Posted on Facebook.

Great article, written in 2003. Nope, nobody learned anything.

Quote from fungezYes! thank you, you are a computer genius

Yeah, I put it in my manager's box. Still no clean towels.