Nurses Get No Respect

Nurses General Nursing

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I have been away from the bedside for three years now. After my first week at my desk job, I realized I hated bedside nursing with a passion. Why? Because it was one of the most stressful jobs in the world, and realized we (along with Rodney Dangerfield) got no respect.

Throw everything in the world at the nurses and then make them feel an inch tall if they could not perform as superwoman!

Take eight or nine patients on stepdown! If anyone complains, tell them how incompetent they are!

Discharge all seven patients you started out with on your shift, and take on eight new ones and how DARE you get confused about who you have and what they need! :confused:

What do you MEAN :eek: you can't work another eight hour shift because your relief didn't show up and the office doesn't want to pay for agency?

You want to take a VACATION??? What if we can't find coverage for your shifts? Well, you'll just come in to work anyway, won't you? :crying2: What do you mean, H3ll no!?? :eek:

This patient's coding, this patient is bleeding out and why can't you get a coke for the patient's family next door to the code?:confused:

I quit my weekend bedside job right after my first week at this job. A job where I was treated with respect, :yeah: asked if things were understood and never treated if I was incompetent if they weren't, a place where even though the job has gotten 200% harder since I started, has never come CLOSE to being as miserable as I was on the floor. :redbeathe

And by on the floor, I mean I have worked hospital, nursing home/rehabs, agency, home health, private duty. Twenty three years of that cr*p, and I had enough. Nursing has to be changed to be sure we are respected, :idea: and by that I mean, given sufficient staff to handle what is going on, nursing management who jumps in and helps out when everything is going straight to h3ll, and nursing staff recognized as being slightly more important than just pooperscoopers and wait staff.

I loved what nursing is supposed to be. I did not love nursing as it is, at the bedside.

Sorry, just reading all these posts from people on the floor suddenly made me have to vent about all this stuff.:twocents:

Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.

I couldn't disagree with the OP more.

Especially when according to the Gallop poll where Nurses were listed as the NUMBER ONE most respected profession every year since 1999, with the exception of 2001.

Every day, a family member thanks me.

Every day, a co-worker thanks me for helping her.

Every day, I have a positive interaction with a physician.

Every time someone asks what I do and I tell them I'm a nurse, their first response is "Wow, that's a tough job, but rewarding."

Yes, there are crappy bosses sometimes, co-workers that are difficult, the occasional bad family member or difficult patient.

I can assure you, every profession has it's "moments"...but the only thing that is making me what to leave the profession is not my manager, or the physicians or the patients or families...it's the other nurses.

We are our own worst enemy in this profession...no question in my mind on that one.

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Specializes in Case Management.

I loved what nursing is supposed to be. I did not love nursing as it is, at the bedside.

Amen, sister!!!

I knew after 1 year of bedside nursing that I wanted an office job. I stuck it out for about 8 or 10 years. I have been working in managed care for 20 years now and never regretted it, not once. You run into someone on a power trip, and get caught up in office politics once in a while, but my worst day at a desk job was better than my best day at the hospital.

I have mad respect for any nurse working at bedside nursing. I just knew it was not for me. I wish everything that is wrong with bedside nursing was easy to change. But I have a feeling things will never change for my sisters in the trenches. :nurse:

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I work for a major insurance company reviewing claims. There are annoying moments in this job as well, but nothing like when I had was on the floor. As a matter of fact, the worst problem I have on a daily basis is getting people to send me faxes in a timely manner.

And the person who stated respect is earned - indeed it should be. But when nursing management treats all nurses as though they are expendable, like kleenex, and burdens them with workloads that are dangerous to both patient and nurse alike, I think there is sufficient evidence that they are not even trying to treat the nurses with respect. And when the nurses say oh wait a minute here, Fred! We are NOT taking NINE patients a piece on step down, you need to get us some more help up here and they act like we are kindergarteners who can't color in the lines, well, that is just not acceptable to me. And its not just me, and its not just the places I have worked. I see it daily on all nurses, as well as from nurses I know in other positions.

Exactly!

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Specializes in Critical Care.
I couldn't disagree with the OP more.

Especially when according to the Gallop poll where Nurses were listed as the NUMBER ONE most respected profession every year since 1999, with the exception of 2001.

Every day, a family member thanks me.

Every day, a co-worker thanks me for helping her.

Every day, I have a positive interaction with a physician.

Every time someone asks what I do and I tell them I'm a nurse, their first response is "Wow, that's a tough job, but rewarding."

Yes, there are crappy bosses sometimes, co-workers that are difficult, the occasional bad family member or difficult patient.

I can assure you, every profession has it's "moments"...but the only thing that is making me what to leave the profession is not my manager, or the physicians or the patients or families...it's the other nurses.

We are our own worst enemy in this profession...no question in my mind on that one.

Your experience is certainly different than some of the others that have posted here, including the OP. It doesn't make their experience and opinion invalid. Clearly, there are positve characteristics about your work milieu that are lacking in others. Heck for good 'ol anecdotal data, I'll second I've worked in a unit in which all the positives you listed were lacking and the only saving grace were my nursing colleagues.

As far as the Gallup Poll... yes, isn't that nice. However, actions speak louder than words. The unacceptable behaviors that (many, but apparently not all) nurses are subjected to from patients, visitors, management, ancillary staff, physicians and other nurses, paint a different picture. A picture that needs to be addressed.

And what is this bullcrap about "respect is earned." coming from some posts? Actually, I'm of the mind that respect is due to each person. That's how I treat my patients- whether they are appreciative and cooperative or a belligerent criminal. I don't have to like them, but I do owe them respect. And ya know what? I also deserve to be respected. Obviously, in the real world that doesn't always happen, but that doesn't make it right.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.
I couldn't disagree with the OP more.

Especially when according to the Gallop poll where Nurses were listed as the NUMBER ONE most respected profession every year since 1999, with the exception of 2001.

Every day, a family member thanks me.

Every day, a co-worker thanks me for helping her.

Every day, I have a positive interaction with a physician.

Every time someone asks what I do and I tell them I'm a nurse, their first response is "Wow, that's a tough job, but rewarding."

Yes, there are crappy bosses sometimes, co-workers that are difficult, the occasional bad family member or difficult patient.

I can assure you, every profession has it's "moments"...but the only thing that is making me what to leave the profession is not my manager, or the physicians or the patients or families...it's the other nurses.

For every family member that thanks me I have 2 that insult or belittle me or my co-workers.

For every positive physician interaction, I have 3 that are negative or causes me to do something that they could have done themselves in half the time it took to interrupt the care I am delivering to their patient, so that I can fulfill their command.

At least half the time when people ask if I'm a nurse, I hear about how miserable their hospital experience was.

I have a wonderful boss and adore my co-workers, but I get wore down from being the complaint dept. for the entire healthcare system, and being the only job in the hospital that can't shift their responsibility to someone else. Dietary closed? well I'll just whip up a meal for you from my supply of graham crackers and jello. Admitting can't put the direct admit into the computer? Well I'll be happy to gather their demographics and insurance info. Dr. New-in-town can't find lab results in the paper or electronic chart? Well of course that takes an RN to take care of that! Vomit on the floor? Housekeeping won't mop until the nurse has all the "solid matter" cleaned up first. Vascular lab is gone for the day and coming in would require OT? How rude of me to suggest they call the ordering MD to see if it can wait until tomorrow, that is of course the nurse's job.

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I have been away from the bedside for three years now. After my first week at my desk job, I realized I hated bedside nursing with a passion. Why? Because it was one of the most stressful jobs in the world, and realized we (along with Rodney Dangerfield) got no respect.

I couldn't agree more. I just left the hospital/bedside to work as an RN case manager for a TPA for insurance providers and I finally feel like I am respected as a registered nurse. It may not be the most exciting job in the world, but at least I don't wake up in the morning with a feeling of absolute dread. I feel much happier.

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Specializes in long term care Alzheimers Patients.

Hi Karosnow queen

I was wondering if you could tell me how you found out and applied to the insurance company, I would be very interested in this type of work. Also how is the pay

Thanks Deb

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"Respect is earned"... the point the OP was making was that in her experience, management didn't respect the nurses even when they'd more than earned it. The nurses managed to give quality care with reduced resources and still they'd get slammed for some thing or another that they couldn't control.

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Specializes in Surgery/Acute Care/Management/Psych.

Thank you for reminding me why I never want to go back to bedside nursing :)

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