Starting to find some aspects degrading

[QuarterLife88]

I've been a nurse for almost a year, and I think burnout has hit me hard. I'm also finding certain aspects of the job degrading. I don't mean wiping up poop or vomit or blood, or turning a little old lady who can't move herself. I mean the extreme doormat part of the job. The fact that we have to let patients and their families/friends walk all over us lest they complain to management and our butt comes under fire. A lot of times it's complaints from the patient you did EVERYTHING under the sun for and spent the most time with who says your care is inadequate to their liking.

It doesn't matter that you are ONE person stretched five and six different ways and that everyone needs something RIGHT NOW; that we are constantly understaffed and no one gives a damn, you are a bad person for not teleporting yourself instantaneously.

The customer is always right.

I find it demoralizing.

I'm trying to get in two years at the bedside and then do something else that does not involve the general public. They are awful and I've had it. I'm practically a hermit on my days off because I cannot stand people any longer.

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

The feeling of wanting to go home, close the blinds, turn off the phone, and lock yourself in the closet with a can of tuna is nothing new in nursing.

Agreed. The problem is, half the time, my cat's already in the closet with the can of tuna--and he's not so easily parted with it!

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

It isn't nursing, it is your place of employment.

THIS.

There's a true art to dealing with the business, even if it means moving to another place of employment that fits your philosophy.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I've developed more of an ability to assure respect for myself from family members by explaining things to them. Sometimes the answer is "no" and/or referring them to the manager. There are times when it's appropriate to refer someone to the manager. As long as I am doing my job, keeping my patients safe and providing high quality care, the family cannot get me in trouble. I have no issue referring patients to discuss issues with the manager or the charge nurse. When I'm working on the floor, I don't have that much time for drama because I'm too busy with pertinent things. I don't think there is any reason a nurse should be expected to be a doormat.

THIS...all day (and career) LONG.

[nataliethenurse, BSN, RN]

The feeling of wanting to go home, close the blinds, turn off the phone, and lock yourself in the closet with a can of tuna is nothing new in nursing.

Ah, but some nights call for a different kind of can...

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

If you are internalizing to the point of feeling demoralized and degraded, then you may need to change your tactic. This is not a personal thing, it is work. There is not too many places of employment that do not deal with difficult people. Like it or not, the current climate is that they are the consumer, and are paying for a service.

With all of that being said, because the health care industry is being run by people who have never spent a moment at a bedside, that seemingly put the demands--no matter how far fetched and/or determental to the goal of function--of patients in front of the realistic staff ratios to take care of all of these demands, it is like a hamster on a wheel, sets nurses up to fail, and a near impossible set of cicumstances.

At the end of the day, you best be nice and bend over backwards or THEY do not get paid, and if they do not get paid YOU do not get paid, lose job, start again, do not pass go, do not collect $200.....and on and on it goes. They will pay the most educated nurses the lowest salary they can get away with for the longest amount of time they can take the heat. Then there are hundreds of other highly educated nurses who will gladly take your place, and ones who will take their place. Then there's importing from other countries, then there's ancillary staff who will do pieces parts of the job (

So don't go home and hide. Go home and relax a little, do what you love a little--and reflect on whatever kind of nursing is not this kind of circus--and I have no ideas, but see what you can do to not have to be a hermit on your off time. Life is too short.

[sadiesgirl5]

One problem is that doctors come in and chat with the patient for about five minutes and then leave. Often, the patient is too sick or confused or has just fallen asleep when that happens and is not sure what is going on with their care. The family is told nothing, even when the family is making the decisions about the patient's care. It's true that as nurses there is not enough time in the day to accomplish all the physical tasks for patients.

But, patients are not cars. We cant just walk in the room and do things to them. They are in pain, scared, and may be facing changes in how they now be able to live their lives. The problem is that the nurse is the only one who is on the floor with the patient, who knows what is happening. There needs to be a family liaison rather than the nurse being interrupted with calls.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

The feeling of wanting to go home, close the blinds, turn off the phone, and lock yourself in the closet with a can of tuna is nothing new in nursing.

I'd suggest Ben & Jerry's over the can of tuna. :)

[futureeastcoastNP]

I've often thought that perhaps the reason nursing has become what it is is because it is a female-dominated profession. Sexism is still alive and well, and I think that may be the reason nursing has so many elements of service/cleaning/submissiveness.

I wonder what nursing would look like today if it had started as a male only profession and was still mainly male dominated? I have a hunch there would be a lot more in the way of procedures and patient care, and probably little to no patient cleaning, changing linens, etc.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

Nursing has become a service industry job. Several of my siblings also have those kind of jobs, even though they're not nurses.

They tell the same kind of stories. We could put paper bags on our heads, answer the same questions without disclosing our jobs, and you'd be hard pressed to figure out which of us was the nurse.

It's a shift in culture/society. The loss of civility and respect.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I've often thought that perhaps the reason nursing has become what it is is because it is a female-dominated profession. Sexism is still alive and well, and I think that may be the reason nursing has so many elements of service/cleaning/submissiveness.

I wonder what nursing would look like today if it had started as a male only profession and was still mainly male dominated? I have a hunch there would be a lot more in the way of procedures and patient care, and probably little to no patient cleaning, changing linens, etc.

Just food for thought.....

During plagues that swept through Europe, male nurses were primary caregivers. In the 3rd century, men in the Parabolani created a hospital and provided nursing care^. The Codex Theodosiorifice of 416 (xvi, 2, 42) restricted the enrollment on male nurses in Alexandria to 500. Nursing schools for men were common in the United States until the early 1900, more than half of those offering paid nursing services to the ill and injured were men. Remember women were the property of men they were not educated. Foundations of Basic Nursing, textbook by Lois White

I have never felt degraded in my profession. I have always been perfectly happy being the one responsible for everyone else short failings and the one to affect positive outcome for my patient.

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" Eleanor Roosevelt

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

I can make a turkey sandwich with one hand and do chest compressions with the other. I don't know what y'all are whining about.

[futureeastcoastNP]

Just food for thought.....

During plagues that swept through Europe, male nurses were primary caregivers. In the 3rd century, men in the Parabolani created a hospital and provided nursing care^. The Codex Theodosiorifice of 416 (xvi, 2, 42) restricted the enrollment on male nurses in Alexandria to 500. Nursing schools for men were common in the United States until the early 1900, more than half of those offering paid nursing services to the ill and injured were men. Remember women were the property of men they were not educated. Foundations of Basic Nursing, textbook by Lois White

Yes, but today's modern day nursing profession was not built on what happened in the 3rd century. What you're talking about is ancient history, the profession died and was later revived in the 19th century as "modern nursing". Florence Nightingale help lay out the framework in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and countries began overseeing nurses around this time. THAT is the start of modern day nursing, and it was almost entirely women. That is likely the reason such ideas and changing linens and standing when the (male) doctors entered the room were part of the ideas taught. If nursing had been "revived" by men instead, it is likely it would have included more of a "doctor's assistant" vibe and learning would have focused more on assisting physician's during procedures, etc. During that time period, however, sexism was a powerful force and I think that's what shaped nursing into what it is today. The "womanly duties" of keeping up the home (cleaning, cooking, serving food, changing linens) made their way into the profession, and they're still a part of it today.