[Angie O'Plasty, RN]

I miss being able to go in, do my job, and go home to my family.

I'm tired of all the responsibility and all the problems of being a nurse.

Anyone else feel like this or am I just having (another) midlife crisis?

[TazziRN]

Sounds like you're having a crisis of some kind.......do you need a break?


{{{Angie}}}

[Marie_LPN, RN]

I wouldn't necessarily say it's a crisis. Maybe you need a vacation?

I miss the bedbaths, the smell of that SeptiSoap.

The pts. who soaked their sheets with nightsweats and were so grateful for their 9th linen change in 6 hours.

The pts. who used to be farmers who got up at 0400, ready for their bedbath supplies, cup of coffee (especially if it was their first cup since surgery), and newspaper.

Finding creative ways to reposition a bedridden pt. so that you weren't just simply going from one side to the next.

Finding creative ways to help a pt. with a hydrocele lay down comfortably (a folded towel wrapped with a soft pillow case to 'prop' the scrotum seemed to work well most of the time. Plus, a pillow pllaced on the belly, and another pillow on top of the thights created a 'tent' so that sheets or blankets didn't touch the scrotum and add to the pain.)

Middle of the night teaching about 'splinting' an adbdominal incision.

Getting the warm blanket for the pt. who's cold, putting it under their other blankets, then hearing the pt. snore 15 minutes later.

[allantiques4me]

Theres been times Ive missed being an aide.Especially when an emergent or difficult situation arises.I was a very confident N/a.If a serious situation arose,I would get the"nurse"Now I AM the "nurse"and have to be the one making some serious decisions.It can be extremely scary at times.

[imenid37]

When I first got out of school I missed being a nursing assistant and was overwhelmed by the documentation and amount of time I needed to do that. I missed being with the patients. I ended up switching clinical areas and was much happier. 20 years later, I have a new job in education and miss the patients again, although I still get plenty of patient care time too. Documentation takes us away from the patients more than ever. Have a break, do something nice for you, but hang in there. You wouldn't want the salary associated with being an aide. They are more underpaid than the nurses.

[Angie O'Plasty, RN]

I guess it was the thread about the bed baths. I miss having the time to do complete bed baths on patients, lotion, nail care, all that.

Every time I'm passing pills in the hospital and doing my assessments, I'm thinking how awful it is that for our Tele patients, they need a doctor's order to be able to bathe. (Or, ironically, they get 2 showers before an open-heart procedure.)

To me, that's such a basic nursing task--to help the patients feel better by getting them cleaned up.

We hardly have time to reposition patients nowadays, and I think it's sad that we have to be so hard-pressed that we can't do the basics anymore.

[Bluehair]

This thread instantly struck a responsive chord with me. One of the things that drew me to nursing in the first place was that feeling you get from doing something for a patient that makes them feel so much better. It seems sometimes the more responsibility I take on in my career, the further I get from that. That's usually my signal that I am taking on too much and need a break.

[TeleRNer]

I don't miss having a nurse come to me at the end of shift complaining that I didn't do my 8th bedbath, when at the time I was helping out a fellow CNA transfer a patient to bed who weighed a ton!
I don't miss being looked down upon by fellow health care workers for cleaning people's behinds!
I don't miss arrogant nurses who wouldn't greet you in the morning 'cause you weren't part of the "ICU Club."
I don't miss the poor pay for back breaking work.

PS. I take time to help my CNAs, do you?

[Spidey's mom]

Originally Posted by Marie_LPN

I wouldn't necessarily say it's a crisis. Maybe you need a vacation?

I miss the bedbaths, the smell of that SeptiSoap.

The pts. who soaked their sheets with nightsweats and were so grateful for their 9th linen change in 6 hours.

The pts. who used to be farmers who got up at 0400, ready for their bedbath supplies, cup of coffee (especially if it was their first cup since surgery), and newspaper.

Finding creative ways to reposition a bedridden pt. so that you weren't just simply going from one side to the next.

Finding creative ways to help a pt. with a hydrocele lay down comfortably (a folded towel wrapped with a soft pillow case to 'prop' the scrotum seemed to work well most of the time. Plus, a pillow pllaced on the belly, and another pillow on top of the thights created a 'tent' so that sheets or blankets didn't touch the scrotum and add to the pain.)

Middle of the night teaching about 'splinting' an adbdominal incision.

Getting the warm blanket for the pt. who's cold, putting it under their other blankets, then hearing the pt. snore 15 minutes later.

I never was a CNA - and I do these things now.

Whenever someone starts to gripe about our job, I mention my clinical rotation on a busy big city med/surg ward where the nurses never stopped. We are so very lucky to work in a small rural hospital where you still have time to do the basics.

steph

[tryingtomakeit]

Originally Posted by Angie O'Plasty, RN

I miss being able to go in, do my job, and go home to my family.

I'm tired of all the responsibility and all the problems of being a nurse.

Anyone else feel like this or am I just having (another) midlife crisis?

Angie, I know exactly what you mean. I was a CNA for nearly twenty years before becoming a nurse. I miss it terribly sometimes.