Hospital finances

When I went to work last Friday after 1 day off it was to be greeted by a very angry group of techs who had had their hours cut and shifts changed with no notice. I am the head of the scheduling committee which is part of what is called shared governance which is supposed to mean nursing has a big say in their practice and issues that affect it. Obviously it is lip service as usual. Upper management was on a kick to not pay overtime so in their wisdom they decided to go after the techs. I spent most of my Friday doing damage control and trying to fix what had been done ie putting techs back on the shifts they were supposed to be doing while cutting hours as I went. I was then informed that one of the staff had been let go which I was aware was coming. I pointed out that had they involved the scheduling committee we could have used the cut tech hours to fill the holes that had been created and no one would have been angry and threatening to quit. My following 2 shifts I had to close to ambulance traffic for 3 hours each morning due to the high volume and the loss of the tech hours they had cut. The tech hours that were cut equaled 84 dollars each day, the 4-6 ambulance runs I turned away daily would have been approx 10-20 thousand each day, a conservative estimate. I may not be an accountant but I can do simple math. This is the daily frustration of my job. All you can do is shake your head in amazement and think dumbass!

Signs of old age

I went to the dermatologist today because of an irregular mole on my back thinking to have it removed but fortunately no malignant melanoma it's simply an old age barnacle. I think the next time I go to Florida I'll float in the gulf and see if the cleaner fish will come nibble it away