WHO Advocates for Nurses?

Does anybody? Really?

Most every NURSE who works, especially in facilities with charge nurses, and directors and such, expects to be able to trust these supposed leaders. Yet, seldom do they truly advocate for the very people they hire and are responsible for. They CLAIM to be advocates; They CLAIM to care. However, that is rarely the case. They follow the bottom line with little regard for the added responsibilities and pressures placed on their staff. Even when they are seriously jeopardizing patient care, they always say just handle it. Or my ever faithful favorite, "Just deal with it or Leave". That really is advocation in motion, caring about patient safety fits right in there too.

This is WRONG, nurses deserve to expect support and caring from their so called leaders and directors. Change processes, protocols and procedures should be decided by those that it affects, at the very least, they should be involved when decisions are being made. But those that make the decisions do not even consider how much stress and added pressures are applied with each new change.

The bottom line does NOT fit in with delivering the kind of patient care that Patients and Families Deserve. Staffing should always fit the levels of patient acuity, and the number of patients that may be treated in a given time.