Nurses to The People: we did not fail you, you failed us.

[RNingBSNing]

Hey all: here is my humble opinion about the sad state of nursing affairs today and the direction it appears to be heading in the years to come. Feel free to leave your own ideas and opinions on this post.

Dear Boards of Nursing, Nursing Schools, Goverment Regulatory Agencies, Law Enforcement and The General Public,

Nurses have not failed you, you have failed nurses.

Let's start from the beginning; it takes a special person to decide to dedicate their lives to others. Nursing calls a special group of persons to the profession: people who will spend years in school, many late night studying hours, passing exams, meeting requirements and learning about NEXT TO everything with regards to helping and healing. Out of school, new nurses all pass a federally-regulated board exam gauranteeing that they possess the minimum knowledge necessary to carry out nursing duties. At their first job, new nurses pick up extra shifts, obtain certifications, stay late and work themselves to death. Older nurses are forced to work back-breaking jobs late into retirement age because they lost everything in a stock market crash. Throughout the course of a career nurses will work against impossible ratios, the addition of new tasks and requirements for charting, care for even sicker patients but with less autonomy. Nurses will face horizontal and vertical violence, be disrespected by patients and families alike, and can no longer feel safe and protected at work (Utah nurse, Dartmouth-Hitchcock). Many will leave the profession, others will be injured to the extent that they can never work again. Still other nurses may destroy their home lives, turn to addiction or burn-out and give up on safe nursing care. State Boards of Nursing will face a serious nursing shortage lightly, giving nursing schools and nursing educators little incentive to beef up enrollment and (on the flip side) allow employers to mandate unreasonable hours that almost gaurantee nurses will make mistakes-- only to be penalized for them. Nurses themselves will become exhausted, snappy and careless versions of the bright-eyed, loving and gentle souls they once were because we didn't fail you, you failed us.

Thank you for reading.

[pixierose, BSN, RN]

When I was a teacher, drivel such as this circulated the breakroom.

I side eyed it then just as I'm side eying this now.

When I became a nurse 6 short months ago, I did not become a martyr. I rarely stay later than 20 minutes past my shift, I pick up OT when I want to, and definitely make sure I take some form of dinner break. I'm certainly not going to "work myself to death" nor "destroy my home life."

Why? Because it's a dang JOB. I enjoy it most of the time, but it's not my entire life. I'm lucky that I can bounce from being a preK-5 teacher to a nurse; it's not a "calling," I'm not a "special person," just merely employed. A part of my identity? Yes. But a very small one.

[Julius Seizure]

State Boards of Nursing will face a serious nursing shortage lightly, giving nursing schools and nursing educators little incentive to beef up enrollment

I don't think that nursing schools not enrolling enough people is the problem. Some areas have nurses coming out their ears and not enough jobs to go around. I believe that we are graduating plenty of nurses; the short staffing problem lies with the hospitals who don't hire them.

[Julius Seizure]

I started to gag right after ... "it takes a special person...."

1. I am thinking of all the rescue workers aiding all the disaster workers right now. I don't hear them whining.

2. Nurses need to take responsibility for their own personal and professional decisions. Stop playing the victim!

I truly think that this "victim mentality" holds nursing (as a profession) back.

[Julius Seizure]

Well as for me, I'm still the bright eyed gentle loving soul I was 38 years ago.

Wow, I wasn't a bright-eyed, gentle, loving soul even as a nursing student. Guess we balance each other out

[Marisette, BSN, RN]

While the post is a bit of a vent. I do see some truth to what your saying. I don't see myself as a victim. I choose to be a nurse. However, in general, I don't think society values nurses as much as I feel we should. I see many post on allnurses about nurses leaving the bedside due to short staffing and other issues. Healthcare is becoming more business oriented, and business people run the show, leaving many nurses working in challenging situations. Most of us are able to strike a balance, but it's not always easy.

[kakamegamama]

I'm always surprised at the poor writing of people on this site. I really think paragraphs are crucial to presenting concepts in a digestible format.

If you are using speech recognition, you can use the phrase "new paragraph" to make a space between the paragraphs.

Each paragraph should be a small essay in itself regarding one of your sub-topics.

From what I did read I think you are playing the victim role. We are lucky to live in the United States and have good paying jobs. I find nursing interesting, and you need a little creativity to get around all the hogwash within the healthcare industry.

Curiosity question, Emergent----were you once an English teacher, by any chance? No paragraphs, no capitalizations, no commas, etc., drive me a bit nuts. I remember when I'd grade papers that were supposed to be of professional nature and grade down for punctuation, paragraphs, and improper use of the apostrophe. I think I gained gray hairs.

Sometimes, I am reminded of the book "Eats Shoots and Leaves" on this site. (Sorry, I can't find the underline function on my computer, or I would have underlined the title.)

[Emergent, RN]

Curiosity question, Emergent----were you once an English teacher, by any chance? No paragraphs, no capitalizations, no commas, etc., drive me a bit nuts. I remember when I'd grade papers that were supposed to be of professional nature and grade down for punctuation, paragraphs, and improper use of the apostrophe. I think I gained gray hairs.

Sometimes, I am reminded of the book "Eats Shoots and Leaves" on this site. (Sorry, I can't find the underline function on my computer, or I would have underlined the title.)

My mother was an English teacher. She imparted her love of of the English language to me. She also frequently corrected me. :)

[kakamegamama]

My mother was an English teacher. She imparted her love of of the English language to me. She also frequently corrected me. :)

Ahhh.....smart mama :-).

[ProperlySeasoned]

Nursing has given me tremendous knowledge, a six figure income, 16 years of professional growth and development, and infinite possibilities. I use my brain far more than the rest of my body, and I am respected as expert in my specialty field. Nursing gave me exactly what I put into it.

[Wishinonastar, BSN]

I think lots of us are disillusioned in some ways. But we have to be realistic here. The cost of health care is so unbelievably high that we are simply overburdened in every setting. We cannot practice the way we were taught. It is a matter of triage every day. We do the best we can with what we have, and we try to stay patient and kind, because that is part of being a professional.

It is hard work, for a decent paycheck. I say decent, because so many make much less. Pay has eroded thanks to the higher cost of benefits, and benefits have eroded because employers are struggling to keep up with the burdens placed upon them by regulating bodies. This is a costly field.

I have been around for 32 years as a nurse in various settings and in some ways it has improved, in others it has declined. We have always worked hard without breaks, long hours, lots of overtime. We are always overburdened with too many patients who need too much and too little time. But it is nursing, it is what we do, and we cope or move on. We are not the only profession that struggles.

You sound so disillusioned and burned out. Maybe time for a change? Changing areas can help you start fresh. At least we have the ability to do that. Teachers do not. They make more, but they are stuck in their tenure and their specialty for the duration unless they go back to school and then they struggle to find a job. We move about freely so count your blessings.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Sometimes, I am reminded of the book "Eats Shoots and Leaves" on this site. (Sorry, I can't find the underline function on my computer, or I would have underlined the title.)

That was the book that brought me and my husband together, many years ago. That, and our shared love for the Oxford comma.

[Julius Seizure]

That was the book that brought me and my husband together, many years ago. That, and our shared love for the Oxford comma.

This sounds like such a cute story! I want to see the movie version of this!