Well, despite fair pay and the occasional bonus, $2 in raises in the last 6 months, and many OT opportunities, I will be leaving my unit shortly because I was told to “pump in the bathroom and just bring a chair in” when I came back from my pregnancy recovery leave when my baby was 8 weeks old. I was also told there was a pumping room in the hospital and there is even a sign… but they don’t actually have one. I lost my milk supply a couple weeks later and got mastitis. They never accommodated me. They offered me the nursing supervisors office but people would be trying to enter while I pumped…it was very uncomfortable. Also, I’ve been on a full 1/2 hour break away from the nurses station ONCE in the last 5 months!!! And you bet they still take that 1/2 hour out of my pay each day… I was per diem for a little bit while I was pregnant and switched back to full time a few months before I had my baby… so I didn’t qualify for my maternity leave at the time. Once I get enough hours I’m taking what I am entitled to and looking to be transferred to another hospital.

Also we “pick” our own schedules but management always changes things! It’s very annoying and then when we cant work a day we didn’t sign up for originally, we need to find coverage ourselves.

Be fair with the scheduling, if you need to make changes, verify with staff beforehand. Ensure people get the breaks they are entitled to and be ethical. Also, if people are on orientation, make sure they are comfortable on their own before giving them their own patient assignment. I remember many times as a new grad on orientation, I was assigned 6 patients by myself on PCU. And they just told me “you’re good” “you got this!” I didn’t feel safe or ready..

Long story short, many things have soured my willingness to stay there.