So...you've had a bad day? - Page 3

Register Today!
  1. Sep 22, '12 by
    Quote from wooh
    Yes, much better for them to think their nurse is just too lazy and incompetent to care for them properly rather than they know the truth.
    LOL I know, I feel awful when I haven't been back to someone in what feels like a long time to me...you KNOW it's been a long time to them! And you can't explain anything you've been doing with another patient, or say you're short or that you had to cover lunch, or that you're in charge and had to deal with another nurse's patient issue etc.
    turnforthenurseRN and anotherone like this.
  2. Sep 22, '12 by
    Quote from OnlybyHisgraceRN
    Its' not about us or the patients, its' all about MONEY. Lets get more staff, more equipment, breaks (longer than 15-30min) and it can be more about the PATIENT. Don't give me three critical patients in ICU and expect perfect hourly rounding, with no aide and two out of the three patients are isolation and 1/3 patient is morbidly obese.
    Often, I leave work physically, emotionally, and spiritually wounded because I give my all. If it was all about me I would not have become a nurse. The money is not worth it.
    3 critical patients in the ICU?! That is insane!
    Always_Learning and anotherone like this.
  3. Sep 22, '12 by
    I've always thought the reason we weren't supposed to say we were short staffed is because the hospital would rather the nurses look bad by looking lazy or slow instead of the hospital looking bad because they can't/won't hire more staff.
    turnforthenurseRN, abbaking, Always_Learning, and 5 others like this.
  4. Sep 22, '12 by
    Quote from hiddencatRN
    My bad days aren't the days packed with back to back sick patients, they're almost always the days packed with entitled, healthy patients with vomiting times 1 eating McDonald's and oh I need a cab voucher how do you expect me to get home. Days I run my butt off with super sick and busy patients are days I leave with a sense of accomplishment and feeling of purpose.

    But either way, it's OK for me to have needs regarding the experience of my day, and to vent about them somewhere separate from work.


    YES YES YES!!! The "entitled" patients are the ones! Also each time I got a drug seeker--I thought to myself--I did not go into nursing for this!! I want to help the sick and needy!!
  5. Sep 22, '12 by
    Regarding the OP, I work at a level 1 trauma facility that also serves as a safety net for the community. We do have some busy days. However, I am there because I love the facility and my coworkers and I also like earning a paycheck. My patients are there because they got burned, hit by a car, smashed in a MVC, shot, stabbed, developed an infection or broke something. They are definitely having a worse day than me.

    It's good to keep things in perspective. I'm on call tonight so I hope they play nice in the hood. I would like a full night's sleep and whoever is out tonight would probably benefit from not being shot or stabbed.
    anotherone likes this.
  6. Sep 23, '12 by
    to the OP-it is NOT all about the patient in MOST healthcare institutions. It would seem that the private sector these days is more about the MONEY. The system appears broken from that regard...
  7. Sep 24, '12 by
    Quote from dirtyhippiegirl
    Eh, and I learned that my mother had died while I was working.

    That was definitely a bad day.
    We are soul sisters in that case hippie. I was at work, got the call my mother was dead.
    Totally unexpected death. I know how that feels.
    However, that has nothing to do with how we deal with patients and family health care nightmares.
  8. Sep 24, '12 by
    Again.. most of these responses are all about the needs of the nurse.
    I was attempting to make it about the PATIENT.

    Yes, this is a site to vent about the issues that "ALL NURSES" share. I get that!
    I sincerely wished that my post will give us some food for thought.

    We get to leave the hospital at the end of our shift. The patient remains... to fight their battle with a life changing event.
    We need to remember that, and keep it foremost in our efforts to provide a holistic effort towards patient care.
  9. Sep 24, '12 by
    Quote from Been there,done that
    We get to leave the hospital at the end of our shift. The patient remains... to fight their battle with a life changing event.
    And the patient is discharged, and we keep showing back up.

    We need to remember that, and keep it foremost in our efforts to provide a holistic effort towards patient care.
    I would argue that the majority of us don't need to be reminded of our duty to be selfless martyrs, giving our all to every patient that crosses our path, no matter how obnoxious they may be.
    We've got hospital administration reminding us. (Though they seem to forget it's about the patient when it comes time to pay for appropriate staffing.)
    We have visitors reminding us. (Though they seem to forget it's about the patient when they're asking for coffee for themselves while you're in the middle of caring for the patient.)
    We have the patients reminding us. (Though they seem to forget they aren't the only patient that it's about, there's generally an entire hospital full of them, most being sicker than whomever is complaining the most.)
    And now we've even got staffing people reminding us to ignore our immune system, because calling in is unacceptable, even if your immune system is shot to hades by the stress before you spend 8-12+ hours around a bunch of sick people.

    I'd venture to say that most of us get that "it's about the patients." Heck, what's our most common complaint? Nurse patient ratios are not safe FOR THE PATIENTS.
    Aeterna, rubato, Aurora77, and 2 others like this.