I cant take nursing anymore

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 9, 2009

wow, now im really nervous and unsure what to do. I'm a nursing student- I lurk on this forum a lot and i can't help it but to really see how bad nursing is from reading all these posts. I really wish I knew this before I started putting so much time and money into trying to do this. I'm almost half way done nursing school and I'm really thinking about just throwing in the towel now and finding something else to major in.

I would tell you not to be discouraged, but to always have another plan just in case. Complete your program and see what life brings you afterwards. Not everyone's experience has to be so bad. I have received many thank yous from patients and collagues alike, but after a time, it does not always inspire me to remain in a situation where there are more insults, backstabbing and manipulation leaving me tense. I can get the same inspiration, I am sure from a calmer atmosphere.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 9, 2009

I can't help myself. Just have to put my two cents in.
I love what it is I'm supposed to be doing. That is, helping people get better or easing their transition "home". I, like so many of you, am on the verge of hating the pharmacy and lab fights, totally unsupportive mgmt, hateful pts, hateful docs, etc.
If I had known what I'm supposed to be doing and what I'm actually doing would be this far apart, I'm really not sure I would've gone to nursing school and made the plan I have, to go on to NP. I quit a $70k/year job as an electrician so I could go to nursing school. I troubleshot and fixed machines for 7 years. Even in the worst times, when I had the plant mgr standing over my shoulder asking me when will I get it running and the whole plant shut down because of me, NEVER have I been this stressed or worked this hard.
Now I make $15/hr to spend all day pleasing those who will never be pleased.
What have I gotten myself into?

That is the thing; we love the idea but not the reality about what we are doing. Again, I remember speaking to my friend and one of the things we discussed are the fact that when I became a nurse, I remained in the same department I did as an aide...in a clinic setting and STILL...I am more tired, tense, irritable and uptight than I was a few years ago! Same surroundings, different title, more headaches.

I would like to still have more faith in nursing and if I do decide to pursue this other degree, I still plan to retain my nursing license, but if there is a way that I can do nursing as a hobby rather than my main source of income, I would be better off.

diane227, LPN, RN · Mar 9, 2009

We have good staffing standards on our med surg floor with very complicated patients, just like all of you have. Patients are so much sicker in the hospital now. I have patients on the floor that when I started nursing 31 years ago would have been in the ICU. I am the charge nurse on my floor and I have to say that I am very aggressive about making sure that they staff has what they need to take care of patients. I sort of have a rep with some departments of being a B---- but I don't really care as long as our needs get met. I am currently having trouble getting the right information from people so that I can get the admits into the correct bed type. Our floor is 34 beds and certain things have to go into certain beds. I can't put the MRSA patients in the back with the fresh ortho post ops. I have to put dialysis patients in the rooms that have the plumbing for that need. Since they don't give me correct information, starting next week I will be going to the place that wants the bed to evaluate the patient myself before they get a bed assignment. They will all be mad but I don't care. This is getting to be such a problem that I had to take some time off because I was so angry that I knew I was going to say or do something to get myself fired.

marmsgirl · Mar 9, 2009

Hang in there.. i found myself last week in the supply closet throwing isolation carts around.someone opened the door , still dont know who, i screamed "i am having a temper tantrum give me a minute" and the door closed quickly. couple minutes later i emerged better and ready to face the hell that was my night.

when top management nurses says that she couldnt see any reason for restraints chemical or physical Are you kidding me? Funny how next day when granny swung and almost hit dr in face we got an order for haldol now and prn in 0.2 seconds!

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 9, 2009

Hang in there.. i found myself last week in the supply closet throwing isolation carts around.someone opened the door , still dont know who, i screamed "i am having a temper tantrum give me a minute" and the door closed quickly. couple minutes later i emerged better and ready to face the hell that was my night.
when top management nurses says that she couldnt see any reason for restraints chemical or physical Are you kidding me? Funny how next day when granny swung and almost hit dr in face we got an order for haldol now and prn in 0.2 seconds!

Well, of course...when the 'god' doctors get attacked, it is okay, but for us lowly nurses...nothing. These are the reasons why nurses are so burned out. EVERYTHING is dumped on nursing. And no one seems to care when we are constantly insulted, infringed upon or abused.

chevyv, BSN, RN · Mar 9, 2009

You are all so right! I'm just about done with a 2yr program that lets you get your lpn and continue on. My first night as a brand new lpn in ltc was the worst I've ever had as a cna! At least I'm not looking through those rose colored glasses any longer....but the view was so much better! I can hardly wait to take my Boards and dive into med surg! I keep telling myself that at least I won't have 28 pts screaming at me, but now I have to include family members and who knows how many going down the tubes! I'm looking into Correctional nursing!

Bugaloo · Mar 9, 2009

Someone mentioned "families", which is a whole 'nuther thread right there! What about the family members who stand at the door of the patient's room, watching everything you do. You know they want something, but that is what a call light is for. It makes me nervous and agitated to see them standing there. I want to say to them, "FYI, Just because you are standing in the door staring at me does not make me want to get to your mom's room any faster. In fact, it makes me want to put her at the bottom of my priority list. So unless she is having unbearable pain, has fallen and can't get up, or is bleeding like a stuck hog, go back into the room and SIT DOWN!". :banghead:

mama_d, BSN, RN · Mar 9, 2009

I have to give props to all you med-surg nurses...

I recently got pulled to our general med-surg floor to work a shift. When the department manager came in the following morning and asked my how my night went (she's new, otherwise she wouldn't care), I told her "It sucks up here, no wonder why you can't keep your own staff."

(I am not the kind of person you ask those kinds of questions of unless you want an honest answer. Someone should have warned her.)

She was aghast. Was it the staff?

I told her nope, not the staff...it's the RIDICULOUS grid you all use for staffing. How in the heck do you expect to deliver timely, safe patient care with a 8:1 ratio as your standard?

Her response..."that's what our budget allows."

My response..."yeah, but that budget's gonna be all shot to s**t when the lawsuits from wrongful death suits start rolling around."

She just said quietly "Yeah, WE know that."

Gotta love it.

It's bad all around the hospital, but that floor really takes the cake.

Bugaloo · Mar 9, 2009

I have to give props to all you med-surg nurses...
I recently got pulled to our general med-surg floor to work a shift. When the department manager came in the following morning and asked my how my night went (she's new, otherwise she wouldn't care), I told her "It sucks up here, no wonder why you can't keep your own staff."
(I am not the kind of person you ask those kinds of questions of unless you want an honest answer. Someone should have warned her.)
She was aghast. Was it the staff?
I told her nope, not the staff...it's the RIDICULOUS grid you all use for staffing. How in the heck do you expect to deliver timely, safe patient care with a 8:1 ratio as your standard?
Her response..."that's what our budget allows."
My response..."yeah, but that budget's gonna be all shot to s**t when the lawsuits from wrongful death suits start rolling around."
She just said quietly "Yeah, WE know that."
Gotta love it.
It's bad all around the hospital, but that floor really takes the cake.

So, so true!

pagandeva2000, LPN · Mar 9, 2009

My response..."yeah, but that budget's gonna be all shot to s**t when the lawsuits from wrongful death suits start rolling around."
She just said quietly "Yeah, WE know that."
Gotta love it.
It's bad all around the hospital, but that floor really takes the cake.

SEE WHAT I MEAN??? When they say "I know..." and have no answers is enough to make any sane person run for the hills. My friend has been off of the floor for over a year as an admission nurse. One day, they were short and the nursing supervisor told her when she went in to go to telemetry to sit at the monitors, even though she doesn't know the first thing about interpeting an EKG past v-tach and v-fib. That was putting her license and the lives of the patients in jeopardy. But, did they care? Nope! Neither the nurses or the patients are considered. This is why people RUN! Especially the younger ones, who really did not receive the proper training; not in their programs or in real life. They leave while they have a shot at life, while their parents are still alive to support them, and they try a new career while there is youth and choices in their bodies. Can't say I blame them!

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Mar 9, 2009

Hey, but as long as they get their milkshake, it's all good.

chenoaspirit, ASN, RN · Mar 9, 2009

As to the comment about supporting newbies I say, in nursing school they teach you how it should be....should be done, should be said...should be whatever. I say here in this forum, we should be able to state how it is. I think it's time school taught newbies exactly what they're in for in order for them to decide realisitically, if they're up for the challenge. I wish I'd been dealt a dose of reality prior to getting into down this 21 years. I'd have done it anyway, but I'd have felt a lot stronger just out of school. A tip of the hat, again, to all of you hospital RN's.

Utopia vs. Reality is what they call it here. I feel so let down. My Utopia was NOTHING compared to my today's Reality! I would love to switch to another unit, but the entire hospital is the same no matter where I would go. The other day I had a fresh post-op TURP with a CBI and we were OUT OF CBI FLUID. Pharmacy was called multiple times and was told the urgency of more bags and by the end of my shift, guess what....still no CBI bag delivery from pharmacy. We were out of chux and out of colostomy supplies. I had NOTHING to work with and literally couldnt do my job. If things were run smoothly and the floor was well-stocked, I may not feel the same way I do now. Im off work for the next 3 days and instead of enjoying these days off....Im dreading going back to work. My job is now controlling my entire life whether Im there or not. Im thinking of going into home health, but Im not sure.

Thanks everyone for all your support and kind words/advice. I appreciate it. Its nice to know that Im not alone and I have you guys to vent to. My husband is supportive of any decision I make, but he doesnt understand what I go through. At least here at AN, I can talk with people who actually KNOW how I feel and what I go through.