i HATE my job. Does anyone else feel the same?

[Jenni811]

I absolutely despise my job. I work as a nurse in a intermediate/telemetry type floor. We are in the process of moving to a new hospital, so we were a telemetry unit and we are splitting into telemetry/intermediate care. We will be split eventually but right now kind of combined...its weird.

Anyway, I HATE HATE HATE HATE my job. I get so worked up on the way to work, up to the point I start getting massive headaches and offset my vertigo issues. I've always struggled with unexplained vertigo that comes with stress/anxiety. I can't stand patients and families who are so demanding and disrespectful.

I do my absolute best to put on my "fake smile" to please them. I'm a person of very short temper so it takes every ounce of energy in me not to slap some of them in the face. I got in trouble one time because a patient's daughter was giving me a really hard time and everything she said that came from her mouth started with "Well I'm a nurse and...." it would have been totally irrelevant to what she had to say. For example: "Well I'm a nurse and I had an egg salad sandwich for lunch."

"Well, I'm a nurse and I have a kitten named Dutchess" (that was actually a real one).

She was SO disrespectful, rolled her eyes every time I talked, very short answers. Finally I had it...I looked at her and said "I don't care if you are a nurse. I'm her nurse now and i will make the decisions on what I think is best for my patient."

Yup...I got in trouble for that one but I explained everything to my manager and she, deep inside, I knew agreed she was being ridiculous and I told her I just couldn't take it anymore. It went on for THREE DAYS, in 12 hour shifts and I was on day 4 with her. I snapped...yup.

Anyway, my point with that story is it wasn't this one time...it is ALL the freaking time. Patient's are so demanding. What on earth makes you think I want to "wipe your butt" when you can do it at home just fine? Ok...you have two broken arms, I will help you but if you are here for I don't know...Chest pain observation and you can feed yourself the 50 trays of food you just ordered and open the soda bottle your family snuck you in, why would you not be able to wipe your own butt?? What makes people feel the need to be so darn needy like this?? Don't put on your call light for me to pour you a glass of water from the water pitcher sitting next to your hand. You are perfectly capable of doing it yourself (I'm talking about people who CAN do it.) You are not a 65 year old baby, you are an adult who has wiped your own butt and poured your own water for I don't know, 63 years now??

I'm sorry I have to vent. Makes me feel better. Does anyone else feel this way about nursing? I feel so stuck in it and I want to get out. What else can I do with my degree that I would enjoy??

Once my fiance and I are married we want to start a family right away. He has agreed for me to quit my job at that point to be stay at home. I'm afraid I will enjoy not being a nurse so much I may never go back. What other career choices do people ENJOY as a nurse? I have my BSN.

[AMAC8487]

AS much as I hate my current role, and probably for the most part, majority of inpatient nursing... I still would not trade my BSN for anything else really.

The comfort I have for knowing that I will ALWAYS have a job.. and I mean ALWAYS (maybe not the floor or unit you want) but will always be able to provide an income, is very rare in todays world.

Its a building block for me. The way I get through each day is telling myself this is not permanent, this is not my life, this is not my future lifelong job.

[naptimeRN]

"Its a building block for me. The way I get through each day is telling myself this is not permanent, this is not my life, this is not my future lifelong job."

That is exactly what I tell myself. It's ironic because I want to feel like I am secure in my job, no matter the economy or situation, but then I am thinking in the back of my head "This isn't permanent. You can get out". Oh, internal struggles! LOL

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

I wish I could say " this isn't permanent" , this is not my lifelong job, but it is. There are no other jobs that pay. I am afraid I am too old that even if I went back to school for something else, no one would hire me. There's nothing around where I live beyond hospital jobs and homecare.

I'm sure the decision will be made for eventually too, as no one wants old nurses anymore either.

Quite depressing

[bradons]

I hate the politics of my job. My boss is blind eyed toward anything that will make the work place better.

Its all about making her look better but thats impossible.

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

Oh, you are so lucky. I wish I had a husband who would allow me to stay home and not have to work as a nurse. I resent women who don't have to work, especially as nurses. Once you do go back to work as a nurse try outpatient surgery, endoscopy, clinics, or telephonic nursing. Avoid acute care like the plague.

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

You are lucky to have a husband who will let you work part time. My first husband made plenty of money but insisted I work as a nurse. And my second husband can't find a job after not working for 15 years, so I am forced to continue full time in this ghastly profession. At least when I'm dead I won't be a nurse.

[Krzysztof]

And my second husband can't find a job after not working for 15 years, so I am forced to continue full time in this ghastly profession. At least when I'm dead I won't be a nurse.

I nearly choked when I read this. Be a comedy writer!

[puppycake]

As a LPN for 13 years I cannot believe the impossible workload,stress,bullying,liars,jealousy,laziness,poor communication and just mean nurses. Delegating and being delegated has become completely abusive and lead me to not count or trust others . Cut backs have resulted in unhappy patients, residents, families, healthcare professionals, and nurses to take stress leaves and anti depressants and other medications. I've been told" I care too much" ,now is that not a good quality in a nurse?? That's sad that it seems to make others resentful. Why is it doing what u r expected ,being kind, fun , and having family ,residents, patients, students and co-workers appreciating you and making u feel like a good nurse? Being a good nurse seems to make others angry . That is what I hate about nursing.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

I am so thankful for allnurses and posts like this. I think these sentiments are really shared by the majority of inpatient nurses. I often suggest to younger nursing or pre-nursing students (with high GPAs) to go into an alternate profession, like pharmacy. I also think the original poster's comments are very specific to tele/step-down floors which are notoriously chaotic and stressful. And I say I'm thankful for these posts it is because reading allnurses over the past couple years, helped me realize my feelings about the profession were not unique, that it was stressful and undesirable. I work ICU currently, but am hoping to soon transition out of the hospital. There are people who do inpatient care as a lie-long career, but most of us know it is not a job to do when we get over 45 or 50. I have noticed that the people MOST satisfied with inpatient nursing are moms. Especially younger moms, because the schedule is so advantageous to family time. And in many places the pay is not commensurate with the difficulty of the job.

I work ICU, and have for thirty years. I still love it. I'm almost 60, and I'm still at the bedside, still able to do the job and still happy to do it. Maybe I'm the rarity in the profession. I've found, though, that most people are just exactly as happy as they make up their minds they're going to be. I'm happy. It's a lot more fun than NOT being happy!

[SNFstaff]

Nursing is a noble profession but a thankless job and it will only get worse with ObamaCare. Unsafe staffing is the norm and will only get worse. The college lobby got their way with ObamaCare. Now nurses will be saddled with student loan debt so they can take non- nursing courses to qualify for an advanced degree in order to keep their jobs. Nurses learn more on the job from their peers than theyll ever learn in a classroom. I say bring back the hospital schools - they turned out the best nurses. Take on student loan debt when I'm already struggling to support my family. No thanks! I'd rather leave the profession than become a debt slave.

[sadnursemg]

I completely understand how you feel. I have been a nurse for 23 years. After the first two years I realized i was unhappy and I though to myself...oh I just need to change specialties... so off i went to the CCU. After 10 years of that I realized i was still unhappy so I tried homecare and then management. I have come to one conclusion. I absolutely hate being a nurse. It does not matter what i am doing. in administration I have to fire people...not fun. I have found that some nurses really get off on micromanaging and belittling others. This is a bad economy and we all need our jobs i found that I had no power to turn things around for employees once upper management had made up their minds. So I left management and am currently back in home care. BTW Whoever designed oasis should be shot! It is the most cumbersome way to document that I have ever seen. Obviously not designed by a nurse but we are sentenced to use it! I HATE homecare physicians. The beauty of homecare is that you get to work alone but these doctors are crazy! Specialists are notorious for giving orders through the paitients! not calling back timely! and if you actually give a damn about your patient and call them back you may end up reported to your boss or threatened because the for profits in homecare will do anything for a referral. i do mean anything. I got into nursing for patient care not this nightmare. I have friends in all areas from NP to floor nursing and it generally sucks everywhere. My friend that's an NP recommended I not move in that direction. when I asked why she said the docs she works with jump all over her if she makes a mistake and of course when they make mistakes its considered no big deal. I have my masters and did not like the education scene at all. whenever there was a dangerous student...i was told to pass them anyway because they can pass the boards. I argued that the student was not safe clinically. I was told that this would come later....REALLLY....REALLY....this was their senior semester so essentially we were dumping students that were not really clinically ready into the system. I believe that the number one contributing factor to this was the fact that there were a lot of older burned out instructors in this program. They simply could not keep up with the students. It was our fault that this was happening. That's not fair to the students at all....so for me it is official. I hate nursing. I am currently in the process of trying to figure out something else. More than anything I'm tire of being bullied by families, physicians and other nurses, not having a lunch break and having patients thrown at me after my official work hours. It's just not worth it anymore.

[prettyboyswag]

Yes I feel the same way. I know what your going through. The reason you feel this way is bc u despise bedside nursing...you need a change....There are other avenues to pursue in nursing. I would like to teach someday. Not every1 is cut out for bedside nursing..take the 1st opportunity you get and move out