Being a nurse is hard

Specialties Geriatric

Published

I am frustrated because I recommended a friend who just finished nursing school for a job where I work. She says that it is too hard and she is quitting. I really don't know where a nurse can work that it won't be hard. It makes me even wonder why people go into nursing. I love LTC. I love getting to know my residents and their families. It is a lot of work, and there are bad days, but overall I look forward to going to work every day, and even will go visit on my days off sometimes with my therapy dog. If you don't like hard work, don't go into nursing.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I welcome a challenge and do not mind hard work.

However, other aspects make LTC nursing hard: the nurse/resident ratios, hostile family members, mountains of paperwork, neverending complaints, and the increasing skill set required to succeed in this specialty.

The last nursing home where I was employed took residents who were on PCA (patient controlled analgesia) pumps, TPN, IV gtts, wound vacs, and so forth. Many were only a couple of days postoperative.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Neuroscience, LTC.

Totally agree, nursing is a tough profession. LTC is not for everyone though, for many reasons. I did it for 4 years and thought I would do it forever. I got burnt out by all the paperwork and politics, now I am happy in my nice little med surg world. It is hard work too, just a different kind of hard. On another note, I am always leary of recommending people for a job for the very reason you stated. I did it one time and it was disastrous. I think I apologized 20 times for recommending her, lol.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

Nursing = the hardest work I've ever done.

I'm 50 something, and I've done alot of work in my lifetime.

It's the emotional and mental aspect that I find so exhausting.

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Specializes in LTC and School Health.

Don't be so hard on your friend. I understand your frustration with helping her to get the job and now she's quitting. That is not a good look for her or you. However, maybe LTC is not her niche. Anyone with a LPN or RN license can work in LTC, however it takes a special person with a kind heart and soul to really be a competent and compassionate nurse in LTC.

You seem like a great LTC, I bet those residents are just blessed to have you as their nurse. Most nurses don't want to work scheduled days on their days off but , so for you to visit with your dogs on your spare time is commendable.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

That is so awesome that you have a LTC job that you look forward to going to every day. Not every one can say that. I had the same thing happen to me and the friend quit. But I also recommended a couple of people who stayed and are valuable employees.

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I have a tattoo on my arm of the mad hatter that says "We're all mad here." Whenever anybody asks me about it, I tell them that it is my nursing tattoo. It takes a special kind of crazy to be a nurse. You have to be driven, selfless, and thick-skinned. I work in LTC too, and find that these characteristics have to be magnified in this setting. Im sure your friend is a good person with a warm heart. But sometimes, warm hearts don't come with thick skin. I would try to help her explore our crazy diverse field of nursing to find her "best fit." And pat yourself on the back for thriving in one of the harder areas!

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Did your friend at least give it a fair shot? Lets say she gave it a reasonable 6 months. if so, it shouldn't reflect badly on you at all as far as your employer is concerned. Now if she did not give it a reasonable effort, and wants to quit after like a month or something...yeah, I'd be upset too. I recently had a similar situation with my brother. I was working for a nationwide Air conditioning repair/Plumbing company, and got Mike an interview for which his qualifications were a little short (I explained this to the manager, but ASSURED him that Mike is eager to learn and would soon "fill in the blanks," so to speak). Against his better judgement, the Plumbing mgr offered Mike the job, contingent on a clean drug test (Drug testing is standard practice for this company-nothing against Mike ;)

Long story short, Mike didn't bother taking the test, and told me he wanted to hold out for something better. As you can imagine, that cost me at work. I was only working there for 3 months at that time, and now I was put under a microscope. I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND MIKE FOR ANY JOB AGAIN! Thanks for giving this avenue to vent :)

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I agree being a nurse is hard....I really need to work on my time management though....I am dying on that note.... :(

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Cardiovascular and thoracic,.

I've been a nurse for 36 years and have done a lot of different jobs from hospital nursing to home care, management and the health insurance business. Now I'm back in hospital nursing in a different country and find the job I'm doing is a huge, huge disappointment. It is one thing to work hard and be able to look back on an exhausting day without a single break and feel your patients were well cared for, and quite another to feel you worked your butt off and fell far short of the mark. I believe it's called "job satisfaction". I'll perservere with this job but looking for somewhere else at the same time. I'm good at time management but when you have 3-4 acutely ill patients that are complete care, including needing to be fed, with no one to help out, time management isn't the issue. :no:

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Specializes in LTC/Rehab.

I just started in the rehab unit of a LTC/SNF. It's not the patients or the work that I'm questioning as much as it is the complete lack of organization. A 30 to 1 ratio means I can't possible assess all my patients. Supplies are few and far between. Meds are missing or haven't been ordered (lovenox. Prozac. Etc). Stat orders get lost in a sea of paperwork. Nursing failing to show up for shifts. It's a nightmare. I'm only 1 week into the job and sticking it out because the patients/resdnts are awesome but if my dream job (L&D) comes up I'm not going to feel bad about leaving.

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I just started in the rehab unit of a LTC/SNF. It's not the patients or the work that I'm questioning as much as it is the complete lack of organization. A 30 to 1 ratio means I can't possible assess all my patients. Supplies are few and far between. Meds are missing or haven't been ordered (lovenox. Prozac. Etc). Stat orders get lost in a sea of paperwork. Nursing failing to show up for shifts. It's a nightmare. I'm only 1 week into the job and sticking it out because the patients/resdnts are awesome but if my dream job (L&D) comes up I'm not going to feel bad about leaving.

You might want to seriously think of moving on NOW from a place this disorganized. It can really get you into trouble on a personal level when they blame YOU for the inability to get care done (delay of care) when in actuality, the tools weren't there ( the meds or supplies), Trust me when I say, the nurse will be the scapgoat LONG before the facility will take the hit for the shortcoming.

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