No I wouldn't recommend nursing

Jeez! That doesn't sound too good for a student!
Pardon my stupid question, but do RN's have to clean poop everywhere or it depends on the department you work in?

Things have progressed from caring for the patient to caring for the patient and the family. Since when did it become like going on a vacation? I see really sick patients nearly every day I work and they are the ones you rarely hear a complaint out of. Yet, we get these chronic chest-painers who come in looking for their next fix or attention, or whatever, and milk it for all it's worth. We are no longer required to just provide care for the patients. We also have to take care of the families. Sure, it's okay to provide something to drink or give them a leftover tray or a couple of blankets but when they start treating me like a servant in a 5-star motel, that's when I get more than just a little upset.

If you love helping others, there should be no reason to complain.

A good start would be making it clear to the family members to understand they are not there to be catered too. (it should be obvious and no need to do this) but in these days you never can bee too clear.

This is definitely one of the most difficult parts of the job. And when people say things like this ...

I really resent it. It's a hellava lot more complicated than that.

One of the biggest problems you have is these patients with relatively minor conditions who are fully ambulatory, yet they constantly complain and demand constant attention, expecting you to wait on them hand and foot when you have other patients who are much worse off and who really need your help, but the demanding patient and their family takes all your time away from them.

You try to help the other patients who really need it ... but the demanding patients start complaining to the nurses' station, to management, to the doctors and anybody else they can find if you're not waiting on them every single minute so ... even if a poor little old lady who can't walk is crying out for help and in pain ... you end up having to ignore her most of the time because the fully ambulatory, self care patient is insisting that you wipe their butt, wash their hair and deliver a special tray of food.

Now I ask you ... does this mean I don't love helping others ... Or does it mean I feel terrible when that poor little old lady did not get my full attention because the demanding patient who really does not need my help expects the hospital to be a five star hotel? And management forces me to set the wrong priorities because they don't want to deal with the constant demands and complaints?

No ... I don't think so.

I see what you're saying, but just because that's how I see things, that doesn't mean I don't like feeling I've done a good job. I do like to help those who honestly need help. It's just that we get these patients in who do take our time when they are not the priority at that time. We are even expected to treat them that way and somehow do it for everyone and get everything done by the end of shift. I'm tired of management who don't care. They just want what looks good on paper. And if our patient satisfaction scores drop, we're the ones who get reamed for it, even if it isn't our responsibility.....like the temperature of a food tray and how the food tastes, etc., etc. The list just goes on and on and on. Things we have no control over, but yet somehow, they make it out to be the nurses' responsibility. These types of things are actually on our surveys and you wouldn't believe the complaints we get. We bust our asses trying to save lives and give the best care we can and yet we're expected to worry over something as stupid as the temperature of a food tray. Now, I'm not saying I wouldn't go and order another one or heat it up, but that's just one more responsibility added, one more thing to worry about, and one more thing to get a complaint from that we get griped at about. No one out there on this forum knows me but I don't act this way at work. I'm just on here to vent a little and let those who are not in nursing to see what it's like and what we have to put up with. I don't know how other hospitals are but I'm telling you what mine is like. And quite frankly, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of not being appreciated. Things are different now than they were 10 years ago when I started. A lot more responsibilities have been added to us that would have been laughed at 10 years ago. So, that's all I'm going to say about it for now.

Hello All,

I am very stressed out right now. I am going back to complete my final stretch of becoming an LPN. Classes start again on 1/23 and I am seriously considering not going back. My dilema is this, I have been told that there are not a lot of jobs for LPNs out there. Also I hear they are only making around $8-$10 per hour. I can not survive on that I work in customer service and make a lot more than that. I am also looking to go to medical school and I pay my own tuition. 8-10 dollars per hour will put an end to that. I have also looked online and I can not seem to find any jobs for LPNS. I only see positions for RN's. Can this be true, or am I not looking in the right places? Please Help!!!!!!!!