I hate what's happening to nursing...

Sarah G · Mar 11, 2011

I used to always compare nursing to waiting tables. The facility tries to flip beds asap, with nursing job benefits are better, work atmosphere may be worse, but ultimately seems that its all about quick pt turnover for the exact reasons.

Reenski · Mar 11, 2011

Welcome to America, the center of capitalism. Of course it's about the money! Nothing is free in this world, especially not healthcare! :rolleyes: Would you be a nurse for free? Would you have gone to school for nursing if you knew you'd only get paid minimum wage afterward? Yeah, I didn't think so! You want that paycheck just like anybody else...nothing wrong with that. Hospitals have to run efficiently to pay the bills, and more importantly, to pay you! What's wrong with customer service? I am a pre-nursing student and I currently work in a customer service job for a franchise, and YES, people suck sometimes. They can be mean, irrational, and just plain rude and disrespectful...but if I have learned anything in my field about customer service, it would be the simple fact that if you are nice to a person, they will most likely be nice to you! Not always, but MOSTLY....they want respect just like you do. I would think that if any industry should have good customer service, it should be healthcare! These people NEED a smile! Sometimes, a smile itself can help a person feel well again. Sorry to interrupt the b*tch fest with my counterpoint, and maybe my opinion doesn't count for much b/c I'm not a nurse yet, but some of these posts really got me steamed!

Btw, just curious...what WAS nursing like 25 years ago?

noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP · Mar 11, 2011

Btw, just curious...what WAS nursing like 25 years ago?

Yeah, what was it like? I'm curious too.

Up2nogood RN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

You know it's not always nursing that disgruntles a pt but we get blamed and have to go through such bs, bedside report, rounding with intent, scripting to get press ganey scores up. What a difference it would make if we had control of staffing ratios.

I hate that we can't be nurses first. Technically we are PR reps first than we can be nurses.

mama_d, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

Reenski...I truly hope you're still able to have that same attitude after a few years in the trenches. After you've had years of taking care of people with the best intentions in your heart and mind, and a smile on your face, only to get verbally abused and assaulted, physically assaulted, management blames you, co-workers dump on you, non-compliant pts blame you for their illnesses, etc. You will find that the pts think that the buck stops with you and blame you for everything from cold food to MD not ordering excessive amts of pain meds to delays in tests to lack of linens...the list goes on, and it's all your fault, so they don't care about all your training or your smiling attitude. I'd say on average at least 20-40% of my pts in a given week fall into that category. It's the others who keep me coming back shift after shift...and it helps that my co-workers on nights are awesome.

I told my direct management, when they wanted us to go to scripting, that it was asinine and insulted the intelligence of our pts. And that when we get the staffing levels to "have the time", that's when I'll tell the pts that. There are already so many ridiculous expectations from pts that I'm not going to add to them by lying to their faces. It'd be more truthful to say "I don't have the time, but I wish I did. I will try and meet your incidental needs as well as is humanly possible, but if there's a pt on the floor or deteriorating, your glass of water will have to wait."

Higher acuity + less staff + freaking Press Ganey = unhappy nurses and support staff.

Anyone see the credit card commercial where the guy who owns the restaurant talks about how he spends points on things that make his employees happy? "Because happy workers means happy customers" or something along those lines? If a guy who runs a small business like that gets it, you'd think all those management people at the hospital with their high-falutin' degrees would too.

I've been in this field now for eleven years this month. True, the majority of my pts are not that bad. But there is a SIGNIFICANT minority who exhibit behaviors that I wouldn't tolerate in my 4 year old son.

NightNurseRN · Mar 11, 2011

Oh Reenski...you're cute :rolleyes:

martymoose, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

Welcome to America, the center of capitalism. Of course it's about the money! Nothing is free in this world, especially not healthcare! Would you be a nurse for free? Would you have gone to school for nursing if you knew you'd only get paid minimum wage afterward? Yeah, I didn't think so! You want that paycheck just like anybody else...nothing wrong with that. Hospitals have to run efficiently to pay the bills, and more importantly, to pay you! What's wrong with customer service? I am a pre-nursing student and I currently work in a customer service job for a franchise, and YES, people suck sometimes. They can be mean, irrational, and just plain rude and disrespectful...but if I have learned anything in my field about customer service, it would be the simple fact that if you are nice to a person, they will most likely be nice to you! Not always, but MOSTLY....they want respect just like you do. I would think that if any industry should have good customer service, it should be healthcare! These people NEED a smile! Sometimes, a smile itself can help a person feel well again. Sorry to interrupt the b*tch fest with my counterpoint, and maybe my opinion doesn't count for much b/c I'm not a nurse yet, but some of these posts really got me steamed!
Btw, just curious...what WAS nursing like 25 years ago?

The difference is....... people who do customer service outside of healthcare do not have to worry about losing ntheir Licence that they worked very hard to get. They don't have to worry in the sense of, for example, a waitress screws up an order. yes , the customer is mad, but probably won't be HARMED by that mistake. Us people with licenses have to worry about all these rediculus demands that take us AWAY from the important things- like hopefully not screwing up a medication administration because some feels itss more important you fluff their pillow NOW. They general public is being fed this stuff, so they expect it and then some. As other posters stated, we are not staffed like that. It is impossible to be in all places at the same time. And when you get that pt that is acute enough to take a couple hours of your time, you will be letting the others hang until things are stable. Thing is , we can't explain to them " gee , I'm sorry I was'nt able to see you sooner mrs so and so, ' I was with another pt. Well they've been told that WE HAVE THE TIME. Well obviously we DONT sometimes. So now here comes customer disatisfaction, and bad press gainey. And itr wasn'yt in your control. You will lose your job due to low scores.

sorry so long, but thats how it is. I never ever intend to be rude to a pt- I would love to care for them- its just impossible sometimes.

time4meRN · Mar 11, 2011

Reenski, good luck with that. If you worked in a franchise you were prob dealing with an industry that you could actually make things better for the complaining client. Pt's are sick, there are long waits in er's , the medical bills are high, many times there is bad news, pt's get very little sleep, procedures are painful, the pt is in pain , families are stressed , tiered and many times upset at news of their loved one, sick or waiting for bed pans, physicians and the general every day problems with an industry that is overloaded. So, a smile helps many times, most nurses use touch, smile and are kind , not because of cost service but because they care. Such things come from the heart. However, catch phrases and time spent banging your head against a wall trying to keep everyone happy in impossible situations. Take it from many nurses here, you are going to be so busy trying to get everything done (no breaks, no lunch for 12 hours day after day, night after night, holiday after holiday, families upset, dr's upset, lab upset etc etc etc) that cous service the way the administration wants it done is going to be another straw on the camels back. As a nurse you will find that you deal with almost every department in the hospital . You will most likely feel you are responsible for the entire happiness of the entire facility. I'm glad you have a positive attitude, write back in 5 years when you've experienced it. Good luck, your going to need it.

PMFB-RN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

what professional do you know gets "scripts" to regurgitate at patients? Why is it that we are not trusted to do our job or say the right thing? .

*** They tried this absurd crap at my hospital. When they handed out the cards in our unit meeting I took mine and asked if the surgeons also had script cards. When the answer was no I told our unit manager that I would use scripts AFTER I saw our chest and neurosurgeons using them and walked out the door dropping my card in the trash as I went. Most of the nurses followed me doing the same.

I suggest you simply do NOT tolerate such stupid crap. If all of you refuse they will have no choice but to stop. You bee the example, you be the leader.

prinsessa · Mar 11, 2011

I am getting burned out and I haven't even been working as a nurse for a year. Management and administration really expect the impossible out of us. In LTC we can have 25+ patients to pass meds to. During our med pass we are supposed to answer calls and call lights. And they also want us to sit in the dining room and monitor the patients during meals. Hello! Aren't we supposed to be passing meds at that time? Not all of my patients eat by mouth or get out of bed to eat in the dining room. I'm sick of never getting lunch break while administration all make sure to take theirs and then bark orders at us. Not only is this job affecting my health and peace of mind but it is also affecting our patients. They aren't getting good care because we don't have enough time in the day. The only thing that keeps me doing my job is my patients. When I come to work and see how happy my residents are to see me, I think maybe I could do it for one more day.

pedicurn, LPN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

Welcome to America, the center of capitalism. Of course it's about the money! Nothing is free in this world, especially not healthcare! Would you be a nurse for free? Would you have gone to school for nursing if you knew you'd only get paid minimum wage afterward? Yeah, I didn't think so! You want that paycheck just like anybody else...nothing wrong with that. Hospitals have to run efficiently to pay the bills, and more importantly, to pay you! What's wrong with customer service? I am a pre-nursing student and I currently work in a customer service job for a franchise, and YES, people suck sometimes. They can be mean, irrational, and just plain rude and disrespectful...but if I have learned anything in my field about customer service, it would be the simple fact that if you are nice to a person, they will most likely be nice to you! Not always, but MOSTLY....they want respect just like you do. I would think that if any industry should have good customer service, it should be healthcare! These people NEED a smile! Sometimes, a smile itself can help a person feel well again. Sorry to interrupt the b*tch fest with my counterpoint, and maybe my opinion doesn't count for much b/c I'm not a nurse yet, but some of these posts really got me steamed!
Btw, just curious...what WAS nursing like 25 years ago?

The big difference is .....

In most customer service jobs - that's pretty much all they do. So providing good customer service should be easy.

In nursing - customer service is only a small portion of what nurses do. The other portions are so much more vital and important.

The main core of the job is not customer service.

Often the important parts of the job will overshadow customer service .... this is what happens when the nurse prioritises correctly.

25 yrs ago :

- more respect

- better workload

- more control

- more opportunity and greater flexibility

PMFB-RN, RN · Mar 11, 2011

Welcome to America, the center of capitalism. Of course it's about the money! Nothing is free in this world, especially not healthcare! Would you be a nurse for free? Would you have gone to school for nursing if you knew you'd only get paid minimum wage afterward? Yeah, I didn't think so! You want that paycheck just like anybody else...nothing wrong with that. Hospitals have to run efficiently to pay the bills, and more importantly, to pay you! What's wrong with customer service? I am a pre-nursing student quote]
*** Yes, your first few sentences make the last one obvious.