It's a Stressed Out Job

Let me make one thing clear: This is not a post about how nursing is incredible and how this is a job about working yourself to the bone. It's about how a nurse suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder – a quite heavy word to digest, right? If we talk about the most stressful jobs of the decade, you cannot help to mention about nursing among the top ten. This is a story to which, being a nurse, you'll relate to the hilt. Nurses General Nursing Article

It's a Stressed Out Job

If you ask me how it feels like to be a Registered Nurse at the emergency department for these four and a half years, here you go:

Think of a place where phones are going off, you hear voices all around and every room is stuffed with people. Once you're done with reading this particular paragraph, close your eyes and imagine that when you turn around, you are seeing all the hallways are full of patients, mostly on stretchers. Can you see those 15 people on the board signing in? Oh! The moment you will be ready to get one of your ICU patients upstairs, there will be another one waiting for you.

Moreover, there's no chance that I get time to eat or drink. Barely, I get a chance to go to the restroom- during my 12-hour shift. Am I the only one?

When I asked the fellow registered nurses working at the emergency departments (I am a part of various communities with internet-based websites), I came to know that I am not the only one who's going through this - post-traumatic stress disorder - as they name it. Yes, it sounds like quite a heavy word, for that matter.

Digging around the web (I was curious), I found a study which says that in the year 2007, there were 24% of ICU nurses and more or less 14 percent general nurses who were diagnosed positive for the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Immediately, the first thought that came to my mind after reading this fact was, "Big deal! Even the quote goes like - 'Nursing - the hardest job you'll ever love.' Ah, yes. Nursing." Don't get this wrong in anyway. I am certainly in love with being a nurse. But it is now more than ever evident that nursing has long been considered as one of the most stressful professions (no wonder!).

Do you know why? Whenever researched, and I felt it myself too that if it's the stress, it has to come down to the organizational problems in the hospitals across the globe. In addition, the reasons may include the cuts in the staffing - low staffing and low wages, that's what nurses are mostly stuck with.

My personal experience, however, screams aloud that hiring more nurses won't really fix things back to normal. There has to be another solution. It may also include reconstructing the hospitals, for this way (I am sure), the administrators will pay more attention to what nurses have to say about the workflow and the patient care. I know no nurse (thankfully!) who'll not concord with a training program, which aims to help him/her to relieve stress and deal with the ethical dilemmas that occur every now and then.

If you ask me, what it's like to be a nurse - often at times I am stretched to the limit. I've seen a clinical nurse when driving, vomiting on the way to work - all because of the unimaginable level of stress.

My friend once asked me, "Isn't there any place where you can go, sit and just be alone, in a quiet room, for a couple of minutes?" To which, all I could reply is, "I could have a patient on the death bed, or I could have a patient die and I get no break. Can you beat that?"

And when that's not enough, in case there is any addition of new forms of documentation, and even addition of the electronic health records, the extra work is assigned to a nurse. No person other than a nurse can understand how the workload gets larger than ever when such things happen. It should not be this way, certainly.

As compared to the general population, I find myself much more prone to have stress, anxiety and depression, and many fellow registered nurses feel the same too.

All I can see and I am worried about is that in this time and era, hospitals think of a nurse as a cost to be cut. Shouldn't it be considered as a revenue stream on the other hand? Who set the mindset that a nurse is an easily replaceable resource?

The administrators will keep on complaining about nurse's burnout, but they won't ever link it to the moral distress that nurses go through. I've seen a good number of cases where a nurse knows what exactly they are meant to do, but hardly are able to act on it, thereby turning the clinical situation critical.

The solution could be a series of in-person workshops where a nurse is trained to deal with moral distress and the ones that involve simulations to practice how to make ethical interests heard at the workplace.

It's high time for the administration to set a goal to help the nurses communicate in a better way with the team members and the staff members as a whole. It's high time they think of a nurse not as a cost to be cut but as a scarce resource that calls for to be invested in, respected and supported. It's time to wipe out the deafening sounds of stress.

A Registered Nurse at an emergency department for four years and a half. In spare time, I love to write articles and stories about nursing and share industry know-how with fellow learners and international nursing students. Currently, I am associated with INSCOL.

2 Articles   12 Posts

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Specializes in ER.

You know as an ER nurse, and just as a nurse, you know what I hate the most about this job? It's not really about doing the work that makes it stressful, but the general nature of "helping someone" is not there anymore in today's healthcare. You will know that over 90% of patients in ER has absolutely no need being there, most of them are recurrent patients for recurrent things for recurrent non-urgent issues that we recurrently discharge with specialists whom they never call because they do not want to spend the money.

General cp, abdominal pain, dizziness, vag bleed, etc workups after workups over and over for the same thing every week, and they get d/c with referral and they never go, come right back for more blood work, more sono, more ct, more xray, more PAIN MEDICINE! I am sick of this, and I point the blame all to current administrators, lawmakers, government that enable this kind of terrible misuse of resources and enabling defensive medicine; generally speaking, American healthcare behavior is nowhere found on the face of this earth at this scale, and numbers completely prove this (i.e just see how much we spend). I am so amazed that people in this country can use the "healthcare is not a privilege, it's a right!" NO IT IS NOT A RIGHT! Your choice to make good or poor choice over your health is your right. The privilege to receive the care, however, is not a right, but dependent on my and your tax money. Some form of social welfare for the indigent is necessary, yes, but there has to be much more tight constraints on resources in this current situation, and if that means costing these non-compliant, non-self-caring people's lives, then that has to be so. It's called accountability, and all sensible people has it. I can't recount how many times I saw people with insurance refuse treatments because they did not want to be billed while so many abusers circle through revolving door. I can't recount how many times people on lung, liver, kidney or heart transplant lists come through smoking, drinking, doing drugs, etc. I can't recount how many times I see diabetics, druggies, drunkards, copders, hypertensives, CHFers, make same poor, irresponsible choices over and over and over and over again, and I am sick of it.

Soon I will leave this bedside patient care and corner myself in an office where I will never see a patient again, but by God's grace this healthcare needs to change.

jk2185, BSN, RN

1 Article; 34 Posts

Specializes in CCRN.

I'm right there with you. You should read my article,"My Burnout Story." You're right, there's a huge system problem. I remember one instance where my patient died suddenly and unexpectedly. It shook me badly bc I thought I had a hand in his decline, so I went to my Manager for help. He told me to that "you're going to see some terrible things, it's part of the job"--AND THATS ALL THE SUPPORT I GOT!! Another time, I had a fresh code ice patient who was in a huge car accident (dump truck on semi)...this guy was BUSY to say the least. Admin walked by my room and pulled me out so they could tell me my 3rd sick callout for the entire year required a formal sit-down that needed to occur right then and there. Wow!!!! Are they aliens? Do they not see what I'm dealing with?? There definitely wasn't any "how's your day going, I see you have the sickest patient on the unit?" Nope...none of that.

ITS A HARD ENOUGH JOB....BUT WAY HARDER WITHOUT SUPPORT and within a SINK OR SWIM culture. Good luck to you. CBT is helping me.

janemulligan

2 Articles; 12 Posts

Specializes in ICU, ER.

I really hope and wish that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helped you with this type of stress. I must say, where there is an administration with indifferent people, there are other places too, where you'll get sensitive as well as sensible enough people around you. I agree – nursing is the hardest job you'll ever love.

Do not let yourself sink. Swim through it. It might mean leaving that place. Switching the place. And also, you can raise this issue to the administration. But do not sink. Always remember, for an individual as compassionate as you, love and care are the only things that you deserve.

janemulligan

2 Articles; 12 Posts

Specializes in ICU, ER.

As the famous quote goes – It never gets easier, you just just get stronger. Of course, there are nursing career beyond the bedside. You can opt for the following –

•Legal nurse consultant

•Nursing Informatics

•Case Manager

•Healthcare risk manager

•Cruise ship nurse

•Certified diabetes educator

You can follow your passion and have the privilege to serve those with the greatest needs. You can serve your passion to cure and treat beyond the bedside. All the very best! :)

chorr

9 Posts

CBT? Did you not hear there's no time to pee, eat or anything else? You can't have 3 crisis going on, people yelling your name, and a mgr. saying" What did you expect? They all came here to die anyway!" in a Christian LTC. Even wkg noc, no time to go!

nutella, MSN, RN

1 Article; 1,509 Posts

I have come to the realization that the way nurses are being treated and burned out is driven by financial interests in organizations who do not care that nurses are human beings. In addition, nurses tend to put up with everything and as a collective do not speak up or fight for their rights. Nurses also do not like to unionize - I have worked in places where nurses tried to organize but failed to get the majority on board because people do not want to pay the dues and don't think that the union will really change something.

Personally, I think that nursing management and healthcare structure has turned the wrong corner at some point. It is clear that organization can not keep spending money and reimbursement towards value-based care has changed the financial landscape. But too many organizations use the economy as a lame excuse to not hire nurses, not replace the ones who leave, add more tasks to the nurses, or do not hire enough CNAs. It is not the nurses that waste money in healthcare. Nurses drive change, nurses keep the ship floating, nurses advocate, nurses implement and direct the daily chaos of healthcare.

I have left prestigious places because my life is important, I do not want to be stressed out 100% of my work time - nobody should. Yes - money was good in some places BUT when I spoke up about work conditions that were obviously not ok I was told "don't we pay you a lot" meaning that they "buy" you. There is nothing wrong with making a lot of money as a nurse but I do want to speak up when things are not ok without the fear of getting targeted.

Work conditions for nurses are rough for a lot of nurses. Constant stress and anxiety about the many tasks, the responsibility, multitasking, peer pressure to work "extra", and so on and forth - it is a job that can burn you out. Look at the busy floors - there are not many older nurses in the busy hospitals. The ones who can move to specialties with better staffing ratio or go to nights.

I was able to get a great job in a great hospital in which nurses are supported and valued. It makes a difference!

NurseNeLz

71 Posts

Yup. Getting anxiety the night before and cant sleep because you dont know what **** show you are going to walk into tomorrow!

Workzalot

6 Posts

Hi...nice article, but please, 4 1/2 yrs!!!!! Try 20+ years & then talk stress......

cubby777

80 Posts

" I point the blame all to current administrators, lawmakers, government that enable this kind of terrible misuse of resources and enabling defensive medicine; generally speaking, American healthcare behavior is nowhere found on the face of this earth at this scale, and numbers completely prove this (i.e just see how much we spend)". - posted by Rearviewmirror

I totally agree with the mismanaged way that patients are admitted with bogus admitting diagnoses - either they don't adequately describe what's happening with them or they are way overblown. Plus, we have SO many alcoholics and drug addicts who are just wanting to come in and get their drugs...not sounding judgmental, it's the truth...you can tell because as soon as they get their "fix", they will be so much nicer and talkative...the amount of dosage of narcotics and benzos that they get would knock a horse down, and they're sitting there talking to you! I always like to say, "but for the grace of God, there we go too", because we never know the circumstances that are leading up to a person who is hooked on drugs and alcohol...plus, the follow up care is probably absent or abysmally lacking since these people generally don't have a whole lot of money and in order to get the real help that they need, it takes some money to pay for the rehab...we really do need a better system, not just a revolving door.

cubby777

80 Posts

Unions aren't really helpful either. My experience has been that although I was paying more than $700 a year to belong to a nursing union, when I needed their help they were absolutely useless. When I wanted to cancel my membership, I had to send a certified copy of my request to them! I think the attraction is in the psychological aspect that you think that you have someone there who will come to your side if you need their help, but not true! Meanwhile, you are forking out the $$......

Specializes in PICU, Pediatrics, Trauma.
Unions aren't really helpful either. My experience has been that although I was paying more than $700 a year to belong to a nursing union, when I needed their help they were absolutely useless. When I wanted to cancel my membership, I had to send a certified copy of my request to them! I think the attraction is in the psychological aspect that you think that you have someone there who will come to your side if you need their help, but not true! Meanwhile, you are forking out the $$......

It depends upon the union. Just as some hospitals are better to work for than others...the same for unions.