Doomed
Gene Farr, Emporia
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
First of all, let me say that I have no personal connection to Newman hospital, other than being a patient there from time to time. I, too, think the all-RN model that is being enforced at Newman Hospital is not a good plan.
I have worked with all kinds of nursing staff — RNs, LPNs, CNAs as well as various ancillary staff. I can tell you there are LPNs that I would much rather work with than some RNs.
It is true that it matters not what kind of initials you have after your name, it only matters that you are dedicated to quality patient care. What was not mentioned in the recent article is that LPNs (when allowed to practice at the full scope of their license) can relieve a tremendous amount of pressure off of the RNs they are working with. This time can be used for things that, under the nurse practice act, LPNs are not allowed to do. In the end, patient safety and satisfaction only gets better with LPN’s on the nursing team.
On the magnet status note, the magnet assessors do not look at name badges to see “what the employee was” before they ask questions of the employee. They do talk to all staff, not just nursing staff, about the jobs that they do every day. To have a successful magnet application, your employees have to like their jobs, and feel like they are part of a team that provides good quality patient care, to everyone who walks through those doors or uses the services provided by the organization.
If you “throw away” some of your best employees, because you are not happy with the credentials after their last name, you are going to doom your organization to an almost certain failure.
Gene Farr, Emporia
gooseylucy (anonymous) says...
Gene, Thank you for your comments supporting the LPN's. What you say is accurate. IF, the hospital admin. would allow the LPN's to work to their full scope of practice, it would free up the RN's more. This would make the LPN's an even more cost-effective member of the health care team. With the hospital's financial woes, it just makes good business sense.
You are also very correct in your comments about magnet status. A hospital that achieves magnet status, does not even have to advertise vacant positions. They usually have people clammering to get hired on. I don't see this happening at NRH. They can't even fill the open RN positions that have been posted for several months. The mood at the hospital is palpable. You can feel it. And it's not good. Sad.
December 8, 2009 at 2:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
booker5m (anonymous) says...
Sounds like some new guy coming in trying to make his mark and Doesnt care who he hurts.
December 8, 2009 at 4:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
karmadog (anonymous) says...
In the Gazette tonight is a front page Q & A with the hospital CEO, Mr. Driewer. In the first answer he gives the rationale for cutting the LPNs as, "...designed to improve the quality and reduce errors to improve patient quality." I would translate that answer to mean insurance companies have dictated this situation. In other words, if a hospital buys into using only RNs then the liability insurance will be less than if not. I could be completely off base, it just sounded like a decision driven by money and obviously the cost savings is somewhere if it isn't found in salaries, since RNs will make a higher salary than LPNs.
That said, I found the answer to the third question to be down right embarrassing for Mr. Driewer. He could not articulate the difference in training or duties between and RN and an LPN. I would think with such a publicly unpopular decision that is being made here, he would at least take the time to be educated about his staff and their responsiblities. He might as well have said, "gosh, folks, I really don't know but some one told me it was a good idea and I'd save money."
Finally, I'm wondering where Mr. Driewer will find all of his new RNs. The students from ESU do not stay in Emporia. The students from FHTC on the other hand have a good track record of staying in their community. I doubt that the RN salary in Emporia, Kansas is high enough to lure graduates from programs in larger cities with more amenities. I could be wrong. I hope so. If not, Mr. Driewer will have a shortage of RNs which would lead to an increase in errors and poor patient care and safety. Ironic, no?
December 8, 2009 at 8:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
concernedtaxpayer (anonymous) says...
its pretty clear that the lpn issue is stemed from a past history from the ceo and dnr . it rather amazes me that lpns are good enough to work in the most advanced federal hospitals yet not good enough to perform dutys in the local hospital ? how come this has become a issue only on the arriving of the new CEO and his counter part DRN / it also amazes me that regardless of doctors objections of this policy it has fell on deaf ears. i believe its time for the hospital board to look up and see the light / removing a valueable assets from your work force to be replace to higher payed less experienced staff is nothing more then pure ludicrous/ not only has the ceo and dnr begun a program replacing the long time decated staff with new hires / but also have created positions of assistants / the hospital is more top heavy now then it has ever been / the goal is to make money / i think maybe possilbity the 2 top officals at newmans are over qualifed for the hospital there running and should seek out employment more to there style of management
December 8, 2009 at 8:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gooseylucy (anonymous) says...
I for one am not surprised the CEO doesn't know the difference between an LPN and an RN. Perhaps if the CEO and the DON would come out of their "mahagony hall" and see exactly what was going on out on the floors, they would be able to make more informed decisions!!
December 9, 2009 at 8:25 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
If this decision was based on insurance considerations as karmadog suggest it wouldn't be the first time. Although I am unable to prove it in court of law way I am drop dead certain I lost a job a few years ago because the insurance company was having a fit about my age and growing health care cost. I am now working in a job without health insurance.....Thank goodness for Medicare.
We for the most part have little idea how much our lives are controlled by the dictates of insurance providers......oh but wait......the republicans tell me they are the only real friends I have in health care.......so never mind......
December 9, 2009 at 8:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
msw2003 (anonymous) says...
The comment below was in another article on this topic.
"If Newman hospital goes to an all-RN based staff, the LPN program at vo-tech school will be impacted,” Peggy Price said.
I disagree with the above statement. Students can still attend the vo-tech for the first year and bridge to the LPN-RN program at Butler Community College in Eldorado. Butler has one of the best RN programs in the nation and is the best in the state of Ks.
Didn't the hospital say they would cover the cost of tuition to go from the LPN-RN? The time committment is one year or two semesters so really 9 months. So you get FREE additional education and an increase in wages. Why is this not a win-win situation for all involved?
December 9, 2009 at 12:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheymobo (anonymous) says...
msw2003
Before you open your mouth and talk about how everything is a win-win situation maybe you should further look into detail before you give your useful insights......
I am currently an LPN at NRH who is PREPARING to enter into the RN program at Butler! First and foremost; it takes a little more then 9 months...you have to 1) take all the pre-requisites 2) take the bridging course (which is a role transition course, but with all your knowledge of this I am sure you already know that) 3) take 2 semesters of nursing classes, while taking further general education classes to get you associates. So you figure about 32 credit hours later or approximately 12 hours per semester, which is full time and a semester of part time,, you will then be prepared to enter the nursing program. So, we so far have about 12 months wrapped up in this. Then we will add our bridge course that is about 6 weeks, (that is during a semester, so we cannot take any other classes...we wait) so we say a month and half. Then 2 more semesters of nursing courses......I guess my math is different but I am getting a total of about a 19 months.....I will even take away a month and say 18 for all the breaks.
As for the comment on the vo-tech....where do you purpose they do their clinicals? Just wondering if you had any insight for us? They are actually trying to get a bridge program here....but with ESU fighting them every step of the way, we will see how that goes.
I am very grateful for NRH paying for my schooling, and I truly appreciate it. I, however am young. There are women up there that are less then 5 years from retirement...if they go back to school, who is that going to benefit? I will answer that one....NOBODY! NRH will just put out more money for them to be there maybe 2 years, and it will probably be so much stress on those ladies.
December 9, 2009 at 5:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
msw2003 (anonymous) says...
Perhaps if there is a large # of LPN's from Emporia enrolled in the Butler program, clinicals could be completed in Emporia. Perhaps the hospital should approach Butler with this idea. You are correct about all the prereq's and Butler is a VERY competitive program to get into. I believe, in the traditional RN program at Butler, they typically have 400-500 applicants per semester and accept around 60. Its a top notch program. Emporia State does offer a BSN completion program for LPN's. A local option some may want to consider.
December 11, 2009 at 11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )