Question about hospital nurses versus non-hospital nurses?

mattsmom81 · Mar 21, 2002

Oh, Lynne, I definitely can 'feel your pain', LOL!

Hospital work is tough on our bodies for sure--'specially after 20 years or so of repetitive , heavy workloads under stressful conditions.

I tried home health once and, like others, had some real bad experiences ( dangerous neighborhoods, bugs, filth, abusive crazy behavior, social worker/nurse expectations, etc) I didn't like the long driving trips or the endless phone messages "Can you call me back (again for the third time today) I forgot to ask you.....". Don't even mention all the paperwork we did on our own time..... I felt like a teacher coming home every night with papers to correct!

Guess I felt safer and more secure in my own little ICU----even though some pretty wild and crazy stuff happens there too, it's more of a 'controlled' chaos.

As I get older, I may not mind taking a few select home cases now and then (NOT fulltime) IF I can pick and choose. Wonder if that's possible? I did enjoy the one on one contact and met some very sweet LOL's that I still visit socially to this day. :)

betts · Mar 21, 2002

LTC/SNF...Geriatrics; why?

There's no greater place to obtain wisdom than at the feet of the elderly. Such as:

1. I started with nothing. I still have most of it.

2. When did my wild oats turn to prunes and all bran?

3. I finally got my head together, now my body is falling apart.

4. Funny, I don't remember being absent minded.

5. All reports are in. Life is now officially unfair.

6. If all is not lost, where is it?

7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.

8. If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.

9. The first rule of holes: if you are in one, stop digging.

10. I tried to get a life once, but they told me they were out of stock.

11. I went to school to become a wit, only got halfway though.

12. It was so different before everything changed.

13. Some day's you're the dog, and some day's you're the hydrant.

14. Nostalgia isn't what it use to be.

15. Old programmers never die. They just terminate and stay resident.

16. A day without sunshine is like night.

17. I wish the buck stopped here! I could use a few.

18. Kids in the back seat cause accidents; accidents in the back seat cause kids.

19. It's not the pace of life that concerns me, it's the sudden stop at the end.

20. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.

21. Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a trip around the sun.

22. The only time the world beats a path to your door is if your in the bathroom.

23. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.

24. Never knock on death's door, ring the bell and run (he hates that).

25. Lead me not into temptation (I can find the way myself).

26.When you are finally holding all the cards, why does everyone else decide to play chess.

27. If you are living on the edge, make sure your wearing your seatbelt.

28. There are two kinds of pedestrians. The quick and the dead.

29. An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys.

30. A closed mouth gathers no feet.

31. Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

32. Its not hard to meet expenses; they are everywhere.

33. Jury: Twelve people who determine which client has the better attorney.

34. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.

micro, RN · Mar 21, 2002

Betts.......you are always there......providing encouragement.........

love some day you are the dog and some days you are the hydrant...............

Brandy.............GREAT THREAD AND QUESTION

I have worked as a nurse in hospital setting, medical units, burn unit, and now pulmonary unit.........

I have also worked in longterm care where as majority of you know out there is becoming more and more acute every day,except for higher number of patients/residents and ltc is a whole 'nother ballpark.........

even worked as RN consultant for a shelter home and parttime shortterm in home health care.........

gee time for micro to come home and settle down.......variety is good, though.......but you never find a home.........

My ideal nursing job.........clinical educator with also time of floor doing patient care hands on.......but even micro has been around for awhile.......she would have to become a very very very serious student again.............and she is taking that one step at a time..........

as there is more to life than nursing and work and being serious all the time...........

micro likes the time off micro also.........

but i stray from subject......

sorry brandy.....

lol, micro

aimeee, BSN, RN · Mar 21, 2002

For me, Brandy, it boils down to gut feelings. In LTC's, in homes, I feel basically much more relaxed and in control. Its a smaller set of variables and I feel I can get my head around the situation better. And although even in LTC's the time with each resident is short, there is still that continuity from day to day, and the relationships built up over time. I feel more able to give, more able to access my strong suits, less like a cog than in the hospital.

mattsmom81 · Mar 21, 2002

Love all those sayings, Betts! Thanks for posting 'em for us!

Oh and just as an aside as we talk about learning from the 'elderly', I have a funny story: A first year student nurse came up to me timidly on a very hectic shift and asked me if I would be her mentor. I did not know the young lady so, pleased but a bit surprised, I asked why me (with a smile..I don't eat my young).

She replied "My assignment for this week was to find myself a 'gray mentor". I guess I qualified...hehehe.

babs_rn · Mar 22, 2002

Well, if anything else paid the bills besides hospital nursing, I'd be doing it. State jobs pay very little, school nursing is even less, and home health is NOT an option with the new Medicare standards and staffing levels there too. Last HH job I had, the RNs were quitting and it was for me and one other RN to rotate weekends covering for 5 - count 'em - FIVE offices...and still have all our admissions and assessments faxed in by 5pm the same day. Yeah, right!

I have been blessed to have been offered a dialysis position that, with my 14 years experience, pays $22.70/hr. I will continue to work with my agency in the ICU I'm working in now one-2 days a week (that's STILL a total of 48-60 hrs a week, but I pay child support) but I will NOT do weekends so MAYBE I can have something of a life for a change...AND I'll have uninterrupted visitation weekends with my kids. That much is a plus.

You know, even Lifetime made a true-story TV movie about a CA nurse who lost custody of her son because of the demands of her job. It's a growing trend. Another reason to think twice about it.

Babs

grouchy · Mar 23, 2002

Holy #$%! Babs! Do you remember the name of the movie in case they rerun it?

lever5 · Mar 23, 2002

You know this is happening more and more, women (nurses)are not getting custody of their children and having to pay men child support. This is all due to the schedule and working conditions of hospital nursing.

babs_rn · Mar 23, 2002

I looked around on the lifetime website but it's not playing right now and I can't find it. But it's something to keep an eye out for. She was an OR nurse, I believe, subject to call, and had to take the child in with her and put him in an empty patient room when she was called in. Husband was remarried and had a stay-at-home wife and won custody of the child based on that. I have had to take my kids with me when I've had to work nights on the weekends I have visitation. It's a less-than-ideal situation but it's just an example of how hospital nursing dominates a family's life.

babs

Huganurse · Mar 23, 2002

,,,