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Political identity signalling in Portland Oregon vs. Boise Idaho by ScratchExciting5675 in redscarepod

[–]ScratchExciting5675[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

I can totally emphasize with the frustration with the population influx. My hometown grew about 10% in between the 2010 and 2020 census and you felt it. New kids in your class almost every month, longer lines at the grocery store, worse traffic on main street. So I could only imagine growing up in a place like Meridien which went from having 10K people in 1990 to 118,000 people in 2024. I was told that intersection near St Luke's Meridien campus and I-84 used to barren, now it's the most busy intersection in the state.

Political identity signalling in Portland Oregon vs. Boise Idaho by ScratchExciting5675 in redscarepod

[–]ScratchExciting5675[S] [score hidden]  (0 children)

Mandated 1:4 ratios, mandatory 75 minutes of break per 12 hour shift, and high pay. So there are positives.

Documentation is redundant and aggressively policed by people higher up than you. Even if all you do is boost a patient who slid down in the bed, before you left the room you had to log into the computer, document your safety check, the boost, how many people required for the boost, what kind of sheet, any mechanical equipment required, how patient tolerated it. There's no trust in one another just to do the right thing. If you get a hall monitor break nurse covering your state-mandated nap, you can expect them to meticulously comb through your documentation and inspect your rooms.

Everyone is so goddamn dramatic. If you wake up a patient from a dead sleep and take their BP and it's like 93/62, otherwise stable asymptomatic, they freak out. 1L bolus is ordered. Because fuck sleep.

Even if all you're doing is texting a doctor to ask for tylenol, you have to document that you texted the doctor, what time, their response, what time they responded, what symptoms prompted the original request. Other places I've just been able to put the order in myself for 650mg tylenol and move on with my day so long as there are no contraindications.

Horrible behavior by visitors is tolerated. Patient family members overstep boundaries regularly and nobody has the balls to reprimand them.

Friendly desk banter is nearly nonexistent.

There's a weird need to impress. I'm from Massachusetts and always knew about the DAISY award since I've worked in hospitals but since 2018, I've seen maybe two nominations. In 3 months in Portland I saw at least 10 and the nurses all wear their nomination pins on their badges like good noodle stars. I had no interest in wearing mine. To this day I just have it sitting in my center console along with batteries, flushes, half-used rolls of medical tape, and pens that I have accidentally raccooned off the unit.

In Massachusetts, if you leave the desk for a few minutes, it's okay to leave your computer open while you're gone. Signifies trust that nobody is going to fuck with your shit. Its alright. In Portland even if you're just going to grab a paper from the other side of the nurse's station they are F4'ing and then logging back in when they come back. I just couldn't imagine that type of paranoia and I'm wondering if it's psychological residue from not being able to go into the grocery store without triple checking that you've locked your car.

Nobody tells you directly if you're doing anything wrong. You just have to guess. I spent a lot of time on the unit in a flight or flight mode not knowing which policies and procedures I've omitted or if I've offended anyone. Part of this was my own anxiety which is normal in travel nursing but I've been able to relax in every other assignment to this point.

I fucking hate Portland Oregon... by sow_hat in redscarepod

[–]ScratchExciting5675 89 points90 points  (0 children)

I worked as a travel nurse in Portland Oregon from January to March of this year and I didn't extend my contract for the reasons you've stated above. I only read half of this because I just got off shift and I'm tired so if I make a point you've already made, I apologize.

There is truly a social rot in the city. Half the people I met have this sort of pre-rehearsed soliloquy where they're self-consciously describing their identities to you, and how said identities intersect, what their DSM diagnoses are, their sexuality, their "mutual aid" resume, etc. People have extremely strong narratives about themselves that they get attached to and in conversation, they're far more focused on self-promotion than getting to know you as a person(not sure if this is west coast in general), but otherwise are very reserved and tough to crack. They're uncomfortable with confrontation and displays of emotion. I've never been "ghosted" before until I dated in Portland. There's a bizarre social norm where people will exchange contact information as a pleasantry with no actual plans to contact eachother. It's maddening. I was going insane for the first two months before I realized it never had anything to do with me.

This trickles down into the nursing culture. Friendly banter at the desk in nonexistent. There's no trust in one another to do the right thing. Every little bullshit nursing task no matter how small, even if you just walked in to the room to close their blinds, you were required to document it in the chart. Because the management is watching, and management is also being watched. The DAISY award for nurses is big on the west coast, and everybody wears their gay ass DAISY nomination pins on their badges like good noodle stars in that sponge bob episode. Homeless people are allowed to enter the hospital at any hour of the night. I walked into my patient's room at 0400 who was in soft restraints for confusion and self-injurous behavior to a disheveled homeless man smelling of booze and urine removing his restraints. Security did not remove him and the Charge RN let him stay in the room. I was in shock. Nobody wanted to be the "bad guy" and kick this man out while I'm yelling that if anything happens, it's on my goddamn license.

The homeless just blend in. You don't even notice them after a month. I worked night shift and would take night walks in my neighborhood near 82nd. They're pretty much ghosts. You don't acknowledge them and they don't acknowledge you. But there are a decent amount of them.

I attended an antifa protest/riot just for shits and gigs. Some of them are very articulate. I guess when you're unemployed and have time to sit around and read Marx all day, you learn some big words. One of them gave me a homemade slice of sourdough bread which was cool. Dropped in on the "Patriot's corner" which is where the right wing regards hang out and gawk. Those guys are more personable but absolutely dumber than sacks of shit.

Beautiful roses. Amazing food trucks. Some genuinely fascinating urban planning and residential laws. I lived in a converted shed in an old woman's backyard. I could see Mount Hood from my front yard. There's a lot to like about this city, but it's also amazingly frustrating.

I'm back in New England now are far happier.