What I have learned to HATE about Nursing

Nurses New Nurse

Published

Specializes in SICU.

**VENT VENT VENT VENT **

5 months into nursing as a RN, not a student.....

1. Dumb Residents. Yes... they do exist with their idiotic order sets.

2. Management saying " Staffing will get better- we are working on it"

3.The PCNA who charts nurse notified re: crazy vitals and they never said a word, so when you check vitals half an hour later, you see a BP of 190/110.

- same PCNA who wont do a manual check.

- same who tells the POD #1 pt " 99.1 temp? oh you have an infection.we have to tell the DR"

4. Family members who come running to the front desk screaming "i need my moms nurse...she was supposed to have gingerale. its been 10 minutes. this is unacceptable"

5. HCAPS!

6.Other departments that won't lift a finger, and spend 5 minutes hunting down the nurse for something idiotic like a blanket...

my, my, my. five months a student nurse and so perceptive already.

would you like some nice cheddar with that whine?

Specializes in SICU.

Not a student actually, Full fledged RN at a top US Hospital!

Maybe I could add ** VENT VENT VENT VENT** at the top of the page so that Holier-than-thou-ers don't bother reading

Ithought you were a student also your name says student Rn so I see where she was coming from kinda like you havent see anything yet.

maybe you could change your handle so it doesn't say ohiostudent'rn.

i agree the vent vent vent vent might be a good idea.

five whole months as a new grad. well, well, well. my error.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

Why is the focus of this thread becoming how long the OP has been a nurse? Is becoming frustrated with things the exclusive domain of the crusty old bat society?Except for the residents thing (my facility doesn't have them), I've been frustrated too with these very same things.Well, well, well.

Specializes in Med Tele, Gen Surgical.

Hey, I hear your frustration, but that stuff in the larger picture is really the easy part. Please consider where to spend that energy, your energy is too precious to spend on that kind of stuff if you want to make it for the longer haul. A blanket, gingerale, strict I/O q 4 on a pt w/out a foley who is confused and incontinent, etc. are all extremely manageable.

Now, the vitals? Ummmmm, our job as RNs is to always check on those pieces of data (and others' work that we supervise) that impact the patient's safety and plan of care. It doesn't matter if the CNA reported that to the RN, although a good competent team playing CNA actually will. Its kind of like saying, "Sorry, I didn't see that the patient's labs indicated acute exacerbation of CHF, the BNP was like fiftymillion, and sorry, the lab didn't say anything." If you know vitals are done at times on the unit, get in the habit of checking. For your patient's safety and your own behind.

I also think part of the responses you have received here stem from the statement "full-fledged." Earning your feathers as an RN takes many, many years. At least longer than 5 months.

Take care, I hope you have a better string of shifts in the coming days and maybe you can do something nice for yourself on your days off.

Welcome to the wonderful world of nursing! Every single one of us has things that drive us crazy. One thing that drives me crazy is how nurses get the blame for *everything*, even if it is totally beyond our control.

When I find myself getting frustrated with one thing or another, I just stop, take a deep breath in and exhale, relax my face and shoulders, clear my mind, and remind myself why I became a nurse. Then, I can calmly face just about anything.

Then I go home and vent to whoever will listen over a glass of wine or a cocktail.

Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.

Ugh, I hear you!! Hang in there... :)

who cares how long the OP has been a nurse? Im only a couple months into my program, but from what I've been reading here for months this is the EXACT same stuff that the 'crusty old bats' complain about. We should be supporting eachother while dealing with similar dificult work situations!

At my previous position, on a cubicle farm, we had the same staffing issue. We were severly understaffed, and mgmt kept telling us, it's going to get better, they have all these great and wonderful plans to make things easier on us. 3 years and nothing changed. I know what the stress of being understaffed can do to a person, so hopefully you can find someplace where it's not as stressful.

Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

yeah, all those things suck. I totally agree. However, I remind myself I can be annoyed while making 43.00 an hour as an RN or working at Walmart and getting treated like dirt, for 9.75/hr :lol2:

Specializes in Orthopedic, LTC, STR, Med-Surg, Tele.
Why is the focus of this thread becoming how long the OP has been a nurse? Is becoming frustrated with things the exclusive domain of the crusty old bat society?Except for the residents thing (my facility doesn't have them), I've been frustrated too with these very same things.Well, well, well.

This. This, this, this.

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