Nursing is pathetic...

Nurses Career Support

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It's to bad you feel this way I work in the E.R.and am constantly exposed to hiv, hepatitis,and a host of other diseases you can protect yourself. Why did you really go into nursing ws it for the money? If it was for that then you missed the whole point of what a nurse is. It was never meant to be anything more than the giving care to those in needof your services if you allow yourself to feel all these negative feeling it's time for a vacation from nursing and try something else for a while or have you considered trying a new area that may have sparked some interest. It might be something to think about?

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Wow!!! Lots of strong opinions. I try to live by one rule that I feel can help you keep on an even keel. EITHER ACCEPT IT OR CHANGE IT. By accept it, that means no bitching, work with it and get on with your life. If you can't do that, then you have to change it, be it change jobs or get in there and try to do something about it. Just sitting around bitching about it doesn't do any good.

Would I recommend nursing as a career? No. Don't get me wrong, I love nursing and I am good at it. Our hospital isn't too bad, at least in our ICU. Sometimes you work your butt off, but I still feel we give good care and sometimes do have the time to talk to the patients, teaching, consoling, etc. The things most of us envisioned. And I don't think our pay is too bad. I went to school for 2 years, and if I worked full time would make $40-45,000. That isn't that bad. Been a nurse for 15 years.

But.....I have already told my daughter I don't want her to be a nurse. I want her to have a regular life. No night shifts or evenings. No holidays or weekends. No getting yelled at frequently because the doctor had a bad night. No skipping lunch almost every day and one pee break a day. No concern about getting a disease from work.

No bad backs from moving 500# people in bed. No getting thrown up on and hit by drunks. These are some of the reasons I wouldn't recommend nursing as a career.

But as I said, I love what I do, but at times I hate it!! I don't mind some of the above, I can accept it because I know I can't change it. I have more important things to worry about in my life. And I feel good when a patient or family hugs me and tells me thank you. When I can help bring a life into this world and also help them pass to the next, or keep them from passing into the next world.. So for all of you who don't like nursing, it is OK. But don't call what I do pathetic. It is pretty great sometimes. Except the barf on the shoes!!!!! (well, on the docs shoes, "it is a good thing" biggrin.gif

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nurseyperson

[This message has been edited by nurseyperson (edited April 25, 2000).]

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Hi all. I am also new to this so here goes! Would I encourage anyone to be a nurse? Not without first giving long thought to it! I have only been a nurse for 5 years and many a time I have thought "Why did I do this to myself?" Rewarding? Most the time not but still we all have the one or two patients that we have touched the way that only a nurse can touch them. I too am swallowed each shift by the moutain of paper work that consumes us and our time, but I have adopted the theory that patient CARE must always come first! When backed in to the corner by managers and the such Patient care is something they can not agrue against! Right now the push at the Hospital I work at is Press Ganey scores and believe me without nurses giving nursing care those scores would fall. To recommend nursing as a career the person must understand the thank yous are not what its about most of what we do is just the little "human" things.

Nursing can be and is what you make of it! I love my job but know that is not for everyone.

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I have been a BSN for 3 years. I have been through periods of burnout and stress just like every other nurse out there. I think whether or not I would recommend nursing would depend on what the person asking me was looking for. If someone is looking for steady work, something that is challenging and will keep you thinking, nursing is the career. If someone is looking for a lot of money, this is definitely not the job!

As for all the burned out nurses out there, it sounds like you need to get control over your nursing practice. No matter what arena you are employed, this is your own individual nursing practice.This is health care, teaching, nursing care as you decide. You have the power to educate, enlighten in whatever arena you are employed.

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NurseDude-

When I first read your posting (a long time ago)I thought exactly what everyone else was saying..."why did you go into nursing?". But your more recent postings clarify the issue, and seem to reflect my own thoughts. I am a recent grad, about to finish my first month on a medical floor. All I say now is "Oh my God". I was so disillusioned in school...it almost seems like a trap...they give you 1 or 2 patients while a student, take you away from the floor for an hr for "lunch and conference", keep you away from all the politics involved, and woo you into the field! Reality is, you have 10 pts (or more), tons of paperwork, maybe a bathroom and lunch break if you're lucky, and many times have to stay after your shift ends to finish up "loose ends". I haven't even worked a full month and I'm already thinking about other avenues to follow.

I agree with you about the mentality of this mostly women's field. For some reason, the consensus is that we have to put up with this treatment. Men are more demanding, women historically and comparitively are not. We don't have a Martin Luther King, Jr. to stand up for us and shout unfair treatment. At work, the nurses complain, complain, complain...and yet they stay. I don't see anyone doing anything about it. People may ask, "why are you staying then?" Unfortunately, I invested more than 2 yrs to get this degree...I don't have training in anything else, and I know that once I "pay my dues", I can investigate other options (like you did, NurseDude). I don't have a problem working hard...as with most respected professions, you have to put in your time. But considering that there are several states with nurses on strike for unsafe staffing ratios, and laws being passed for minimal staffing, I don't think it's unreasonable to be saying that things have got to change in this profession.

And come on "ladies" (sorry to the men out there) running in and out of pt's rooms, filling out all their paperwork, not having time to really listen to them and do the nursing that you learned in school...are you all going to tell me that you're HAPPY about this?? Give me a break. I agree with NurseDude there. I think a lot of you are kidding yourselves. No wonder nursing doesn't have a unified voice.

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I would NEVER want my kids to become nurses! You have it right nursedude! The line that I too have used before in these arguments is that if you aren't into getting fair pay for your work, and you think nurses who want this are just greedy, then go and volunteer! I get so sick of these martyr people saying that they are in nursing for the good feelings. We, as a profession let ourselves be totally exploited. Why? I think that it is because we have too many martyrs dictating for the rest of us what constitutes a reasonable and safe workload with the idea that they'll get a bone thrown their way for never complaining.

To the RN in Ontario Canada, I have a question as I am thinking seriously about coming back home to work and I am from there. How often do you go without your scheduled breaks at work? How often do you not get to take your lunch break? I am not being sarcastic, but I am seriously wanting the opinion of someone who is there. I can tell you that if you are looking for full time then by all means come here. But if you are looking for a job that doesn't kill you, then stay put. I work my *** off here, and the conditions are horrendous.

To the student nurses I say, just wait! You'll see. We all started off in your shoes, full of ideas and thinking that our input meant something. We may sound like a bunch of whiners but wait and see what you are in for and how much junk they filled your heads with in nursing school that is unrealistic in the real job you are in. It is sad but quite true.

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Ok, try this for size. I have been an RN in a NICU at Good Samaritan Hosp. in Los Angeles for 11 yrs. Because of poor management and other problems, like money disappearing, the hospital has been in financial difficulties for the last 6 yrs. Well after 3 tries to unionize we finally did with the California Nursing Association in Dec of 1998. After trying to negiotiate a contract for a year the bargaining broke down and the union threatened to strike. The chairman of the board of directors, Charles Munger (worth conservatively 1.6 billion) decided that he didn't want to play anymore and changed the game to hardball. He decided that if the union issued a strike notice the hospital would close the NICU. His reasoning, because they wouldn't be able to find nurses to take care of those little babies in the event of a strike so to avert any problems they would close the NICU permanantly. The Union told them if that was the way it was going to be they would issue a notice exempting the NICU nurses from this strike and any other strikes. The hospital stated that the union could always change its mind and that if the union issued a strike notice they would close anyway. They also said if the union issued a second strike notice, the hospital would close. Now mind you the union was only calling for a one day strike not an open ended strike. The hospital didn't want to bargain anymore so the strike notice was issued and the NICU closed, mind you there was 2 mothers who refused to sign a transport consent so those babies are still there being cared for by nurses who were against unions and were hired by the OB dept. for what they have called a resuscitation team, 3 of the nurses on this team were not certified for transports and 2 hadn't even gone to the delivery room before this. One of the day shift nurses has practically worked the last 3 weeks straight because no one else but her could transport sick babies. All the high risk OB's are taking their business elsewhere and the hospital now has found out how important it is if you want to have a Perinatal Center without an NICU they aren't going to stay in business. In the mean time I am in the position of looking for another job.

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First off, I'd just like to say that I love this bulletin board. I've been an RN for 2 years now, 1+ yr. med/surg telemetry 7p-7:30a with 11 monitored pts. every night (1 aide), and 7 months in the CCU. I transferred off the floor as soon as I could. To say it was a horror is putting it mildly. Never once did I get a lunch break or a break of any kind, and I routinely worked 1/2-1+ hrs over my shift for which I was never paid. That meant that every night I worked it was a 13-14 hour lock-down. Also, as I work at a cardiac-only factory (oops, did I say factory, I meant hospital), my 11 monitored pts. were very, very acute. Alot of class IV CHFers, EFs of 10-15% with dopa/dobutrex drips; post CAGBs 12-18 hours out with chest tubes and pacing wires; post-stents with arterial sheaths in place; post-MIs; everyone with Nitro/heparin gtts hanging; almost all with severe triple-vessel disease, etc. etc. Talk about stress! When I transferred to CCU, I thought the workload would be more manageable. However, in this hospital, the nurse pt. ratio is 1:3 and the acuity is through the roof. We are talking unstable, vented and swanned. 1 aide for 20 beds. I earn $25.12/hr + $2.31 night diff. And, although I do believe nurses are underpaid generally, I would GLADLY take a cut in pay for a more reasonable workload. In my opinion, what's the point of them paying us more if they're expecting us to deal with this kind of workload or worse. I mean, at what other job do people work where they don't have the time to get a bite to eat in 14 hours let alone go to the bathroom, not just occasionally but every time they work. Yes, I'm there for my pts., however, I have needs too, and I'm sick of management making me feel that my having needs equates with being a "bad nurse." I've held my urine for so long I've totally destroyed my bladder and now have urge incontinence. Talk about fun, fun, fun. I believe that it's the workload in nursing, not the salary, that's pathetic.

[This message has been edited by AnonymousRN (edited April 30, 2000).]

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I couldn't agree with you more! Do I recommend nursing to anyone? HA! Absolutely not.

That about sums it up for me... I am a 34 year old guy and live in Pittsburgh Pa. Have been an RN for 10years. I have done the following in nursing: Cardiotharacic ICU, ER,UR, Case Management...

THe problems with nursing I have found:

1) Poor compensation- I have friends that are Registered Plumbers and registered electricians, Certified computer specialists etc. All of them make twice as much $$$ as I do- none of them have a college degree. None of them are exposed to HIV, TB, Hepatitis on a daily basis.

2) You can't really practice nursing on your own even though you are licensed- See above- The plumber, the electrician and the computer guy all work full time jobs and also do business on the side from home and make money... Did you ever practice nursing on the side? its called illegal...

3) Nurses are on the bottom of the food chain...Doctors, PA's, CRNP's, Administrators all look down on nurses- at least here in Pittsburgh they do. Nurses here are just another load on the revenue generated by hospitals...[/b]

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Hey Anonymous RN!

WOW!!!! I shouldn't complain about my workload! Yours sounds insane eek.gif

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Laurie :)

so many patients...

so little time.....

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This is simply amazing. I have been watching this thread for quite some time now. Nobody and I mean NOBODY can deny that a nurse is the most over-worked, underpaid, least respected, and most ignored job in the healthcare industry. However, the nurse is absolutely the most important and vital job when it comes to patient care.

The doc spends about 5 minutes with a patient. The nurse on the other hand spends days with them and their famlies. Teaching them, explaining what the meds are for, tring to ease the pain, and comforting when there is a loss. For the most part it is a thankless job. These are all FACTS!!

Many of the nurses that have posted are venting, and they have every right to do that, but you are venting to the wrong people and at the wrong place. All of us know the real problem is with the insurance companies. All they care about is the bottom line, if it doesn't make a profit, pitch it! The hospitials are responding to insurance companies. If the HMO's and such won't pay for the services, the hospitial has to absorb the cost, because 99% of the time the patient can't or won't pay the bill. So the hospitial cuts staffing to reduce their losses, if any.

It's a vicious cycle and the ones who suffer are the nurses and more importantly...the patients. The people who need to hear this are Congressmen, Senators, Governors, etc. I don't mean once in a while, but daily and constantly. This is not going to happen overnight it will take time and effort on EVERY nurses part. I know, I know... your already taxed on your time. 8+ pts, no breaks, 12 hour shifts, unions that are not listening. Who said change is easy. But to sit back and ***** ...***** ...***** will not help either!

I am not a nurse, but I will be attending this coming quarter. I can already hear the comments...'You have no idea what the f*** your talking about'...'You have know idea what's going on'...'What right do you have to make these staments'....

Maybe I do, maybe I don't. But I haven't seen anybody suggest anything else. Now here's something that will cook your goose. Many people were complaining about their pay..I'm a network engineer and my current salary is just over $87,000. I'm going to take a $25/hour pay cut to do something I love.

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[yes I would go into nursing again, there is nothing I ever wanted to do except be a nurse, sure nursing has changed, but what in this life doesn't change. life is about change, nothing ever stays the same. If we wait there will be a change back to better ways of nursing, but will it ever go back to what it was before, no, but nothing ever returns to what is was before. That's life.

Go back to Brian's posting in this forum: "Yes, there are so many options"

There are quite a number of responses from nurses there, who have a wide range of experience. There are approximately 28 responses to Brian's original post.

Those who would recomend: 10

Those who would not: 17

(One or two people could have gone either way or didn't say.)

Maybe I am not the only one who would not recomend nursing as a career.[/b]

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I have been an RN for 17 years. I began my career in the hospital setting. Back then, you couldn't get off 3rd shift. A few years later, I had an opportunity to go into Occupational Health Nursing. Most of these jobs are first shift, no weekends. The pay in North Carolina is around $18 to $20 per hour, in the area where I live. I love it. The people you see aren't sick enough to go to the hospital. You goal is preventative medicine. You deal with workplace injuries, worker's comp., pre-employment physicals, wellness programs, etc. If you ever need or want a change, this is one area that most nurses, once they get into it, really love.

Anita, RN

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