No More Bedside Nursing, I Quit!

hi everyone-

I recently began working as a new nurse on a Tele floor, 2 1/2 months ago. I have no clue what I am doing half the time. Thank God for my preceptor because I learning a lot from her, but I have no clue what I'm going to do when I'm on my own next month. I feel like I'm working as a servant instead of a nurse. some of these patient's think their in a hotel, which is absurd. A lot of theses patient's are self sufficient, but refuse to be a part od their rehabilitation. I know their is a lot responsibility in nursing, but school did not prepare me for this stuff. I hate bedside nursing I just wanted my med/surg exp. for a year. I will probably stay part-time after a year, but my first love is in psych which is what I have a degree in and I want to explore other avenues. I going to hang in there for this 1st year, but does anybody have other suggestions on what I can do?

redred

It kind of bothers me when people rec. home health as some sort of "easier" option. Home health is very stressful, in a different way. You're out driving around, sometimes in terrible weather. Pts. don't always live in nice, neat homes. I've been in many places that were out and out disgusting.

Expect to put a lot of wear and tear on your car, and not get compensated adequately for it. HH agencies are notorious for paying as little for mileage and wear and tear as they can get away with. Your car becomes your office. Trunk space? Prepare to have it filled to the brim with supplies (God love you if you ever get a flat and have to get the spare out!)

Pts. come home very sick, and you'd be surprised what you're expected to deal with in a home. And there's not another nurse "just down the hall" to ask for a second opinion...you need to do a lot of problem solving on your own.

The paperwork...think it's bad in a hospital? It's a thousand times worse in home care.

Plus you usually have to take on call, so you could have put in a difficult 8-10h day, then have to get up at 0200 and go see a pt.

No cakewalk, that's for sure.

As a veteran of 30 years of Nursing on both the bedside and administrative level, I can tell you that you must never lose sight of the fact that you are the advocate for the patient. There is a shortage because no one wants to work so hard anymore. A degree is not an entitlement to "smooth sailing" unless you are just looking for short cuts. In this day and age, whether you have a union or not, you as a nurse can advocate for the benefit of patient safety , make management aware that the staffing level is dangerous. But do not abandon your role. When I started nursing we had 2 nurses for 35 patients. All charts and flow sheets had to be filled out and medications were given on time under penalty of suspension in between strict guidelines of patient care. There were no computers and certain technologies which exist now did not exist then. But we stuck it out, without breaks sometimes, without meals sometimes, but seeing the outcome and the patient satisfaction was a great reward, That is why I am who I am. You do not need to suffer inappropriate working conditions, but strive to change them for the benefit of those who follow your footsteps and your patients. Don't run away. If you run every time things do not work as you anticipated in healthcare, you will never stop running.