After 1-2 Years as a Nurse, What Are You Still Struggling With?

surferbettycrocker · Oct 22, 2008

my issue is this: why do nurses in hospital have to work so hard. i will ALWAYS struggle with this. now when i say this, i do not mean that i think nursing should or would be easy, however what i ask is this:

why have 7 to 8 patients on telemetry? why have up to 'several' different services writing orders for several different patients all having to be handled by ONE nurse. why must you be the nursing assistant, engineer, waitstaff, bedmaker, parent, therapist, furniture mover, and sounding board for negativity? seriously am i wrong for feeling frustrated that i feel like i have to handle it all times too many patients? yes, yes delegation--what about when you are flat out ignored or told no by ancillary? waste more time bringing a formal complaint that falls on deaf ears?

why do you have to race against time while bending over backwards and busting your b**** to get everything done on time if not early on pts who 99% of the time are admitted due to non compliance? i dont mean to sound bitter but 99% of the time i feel i care more about my patients health than they do. is this not a two way street yet you mr. totally uncontrolled diabetic keep candy bars under your pillow? it is frustrating the way this system is set up its not health care its sick care. its like peeing in the wind.

i feel like i am buried every single shift i work. it is relentless. what do other nurses out there think?

i feel like i am part of the problem not the solution. if you work short ALWAYS you will never NOT work short b/c you handle it when its short so that is how the floor will stay.

hospitals do not want to pay for more nurses. THERE is your shortage.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Oct 22, 2008

You've hit a lot of nails right on the head with a single swing of your hammer. We do seem to be punishing ourselves with our efficiency and our perseverance. "Gee, the work got done, the patients were safe, nobody got sick or hurt, you didn't have any ancillary staff and you were short three nurses. Well, I guess we can just cut back on staff, it doesn't seem like you need it!" That sort of mentality is indeed what sends nurses screaming for the simplicity of truck driving school. I don't think that even the most "hospital-savvy" of us ever dreamed that we'd have to wear 10 hats every day of our working lives when we so blithely accepted our first nursing jobs.

As much as I agree with you, unfortunately I'm no closer to a solution to it than you are.

joseash · Oct 23, 2008

Having too many patients and not enough nurses. I'm not sure why people think night shift is easier because "everybody sleeps." Ha, yeah right. I will admit there is much more going on during the day as far as doctors coming in, PT working with patients, patients going to xray/dialysis/endo, meals and Accuchecks, etc. But that doesn't mean we have absolutely nothing to do on nights after 10PM because by golly, lights out kids, it's time for nighty night. Stuff happens all night long.

Sure there are some advantages. We do get to have the nursing station to ourselves and not get kicked off a computer by some arrogant doctor. We do get to hog all the charts to ourselves at our own little workstation and not put them back until morning. We do, if we are lucky, get the occasional patient who actually sleeps all night without asking for pain meds, ice, bedpan, another blanket, "my iv is beeping", none of that. And of course there is the shift differential which is a nice thing. On the other hand, we have no secretary so we take admissions, put together charts, enter our own orders, update the white board, answer the call bells ourselves, call other floors and hunt down whatever we are missing from our floor like Nepro or a 20Fr Foley or popsicles because only nurses work 24 hours a day, not Pharmacy, Supply or Dietary.

I guess all that could be handled by the charge in a pinch but the night charge doesn't have time to really help the nurses. She's too busy taking care of her own patient load! On days our charge nurse doesn't take patients at all. Or if they are desperate, maybe she'll get one or two. On nights, the charge always seems to have as many as the other nurses, usually 5 to 6 for starters before admissions start rolling in. My first night as charge I had 8 patients before the day was done.

I don't mean for this to sound like a total griping post because I actually really like my job. My co-workers are all amazing and wonderful from the nurses to the techs to the manager. I enjoy what I do but it's just the nature of the business, I guess. The 'ol "nursing shortage."