Am I fighting a losing battle? Should I quit?

[live4today, RN]

Thanks for the warm fuzzies Chttynurs. :kiss

All I have to do is come here and talk to my Allnurses family, and I start feeling stronger, more encouraged, less angry, and begin to allow a peace to enter my heart...a very calming peace.

Thanks siblings! You guys and gals are real troopers indeed! You are alright in my book! :kiss :balloons:

[angel 64]

Hang in there guys! We need US in this profession. Twenty years I have been a nurse and I still love what i do. I think we all do it is the circumstances that we do it under that stink. Your patients need you. Maybe it is time to move on for you. When I can no longer enjoy what I do it is time to move on. I have held only five positions in twenty years. I think I may have found the last one! I still have a multitude of stress and bring alot of work home but I never worry if I left someone worse off than I found them. I work in homecare as a casemanager. I see each patient one at a time and spend whatever time I need with them.Best of Luck!! And i'll have a drink for you!

[live4today, RN]

Angel 64...I use to do homecare. Perhaps I should do it again. I wanted to work as a bedside nurse because I enjoy patient care.

It just blows my mind what has transpired in nursing since I left it six years ago. It's a situation worth crying for.......and lots of prayer on my part.

Moving on is what I must do since I am not appreciated where I am working right now. I will NEVER fit in to a unit that wants opposite of what I stand for....so...nothing else to say on that subject without being repetitive.

[Brownms46]

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

Brownie, if I do something to deserve a whippin'...then I'll be the first to toot my buns up for the whippin'. But when I don't deserve the abusiveness being dealt me.......that angers me greatly, and thus I cried all day. I'm starting to feel like I need to wear a camera to work.

Then it's time to move on to a place that doesn't cause you such pain and anguish. No one should have to kill their soul in order to make a living, or to allow them to serve others.

Remember Cheerful, although every life has some clouds, and some rain, but no one should live there constantly. Even here in Western Washington, home of the rain forever and a day, or so it seems. There can be endless days of sunshine and blue skis. Even we get to come out from under the dark clouds, and walk on dry shores.

Don't give up your dreams, just change your focus. I truley believe, that when you can't see the path, for the trash thown on it, it's time to go another way:cool:

[lisaloulou]

Cheer, in 20 plus years in nursing, have I ever "been there" The fact is that sometimes even hanging in there with all your might doesnt change the overall picture. It sounds like it is time for a change of unit. As for leaving nursing, Ive said that a few times myself, but really what I needed was to alternate my pressure areas in a manner of speaking. For example, would working in an area that limits patient contact be a relief? I have moved between areas that have constant patient interaction (like an ICU) to areas where I care for a patient for a short time-say during a procedure. That has helped me remain a fairly sane nurse for this long. If I can let the doors close behind me and work stays at work when I leave, Im much more balanced in my life as a whole. If I drag worries,cares and concerns about work with me as I head home, Im generally miserable.

I dont know about you, but trying to achieve that balance has been a looooooong project for me.

*gives the nurse a big old hug*

[live4today, RN]

That's excellent and very heartfelt advice Brownie, and I love ya for taking the time to share it with me. I'll take it to heart, and work on moving on. I'm hoping to finish out my three months on another unit, but if I can't then I guess I'll have to cut my $$$ losses, pay back what I didn't use, and get the heck out of dodge.

Hubby and I are planning to retire in another state anyway next year after his year overseas is over next summer, and all I wanted was one solid year of full time employment back in nursing to refresh my nursing skills so I could sign up for higher education. I started that job with such high hopes, and in nine months time, I've hit rock bottom.

Little did I know the changes in nursing would hit me this hard. It's more backstabbing and cut-throat than ever. Why does it have to be that way?

[live4today, RN]

You all give such excellent advice. Thanks Allnurses! :kiss

My benadryl is kicking in...pray I can sleep tonight. I've had too many sleepless nights since starting that job. I am sooooo tired. Time to see my doc and get some help too. Nighty night siblings. :kiss

[Paleobug]

Cheerful, I am not a nurse yet and I have never worked in the medical field before. However, I've been working in the casino industry and it sounds so much like what you described in your first thread, and that's why I want to change careers. You have so many options as a nurse. In the casino industry, if your job turns to crap, you can't get hired elsewhere if you are past a certain age. Believe me, the grass is not greener in other industries, it can be the same mentalilty in other types of businesses.

[kimmicoobug]

Cheerful,

I have been a nurse for just shy of two months. I thought that I had learned so much and would see nursing for what it was. Boy, was I disillusioned. I like the people I work with. The nurses have been so helpful in my transition. On nights, I have had between 6-7 patients and the nurses have been extremely knowledgeable and helpful. For the most part, a great bunch. Now, don't get me wrong, there were a few witchy nurses that I have come home and cried about because of constant criticism, but thankfully I have only worked with those for just a few days. What I have found that has fueled my anger is administration and the director who was originally my boss. She decided that I wasn't needed on that unit (which I knew was a possiblity in OB) took me off the schedule and didn't even have the nerve to tell me until my last day there. With a big smile on her face she took me to another director who scrounged some shifts up for me. I went a week without work...and this is during orientation. Several nurses jobs were eliminated, hours were cut. My best friend's job was eliminated,,, but she wasn't laid off? Just asked to transfer to another unit. There are no other openings that she is qualified for. So, the crew is great. I am learning tons, but just the administration and the directors that make it hard so far.

Honestly, I just can't even imagine what you are going through. I have to add to the voice that says don't leave nursing yet...but leave the job. You sound like an excellent nurse. I think we can be our own worst enemies, but also our greatest support system. Your situation sounds terrible and I think I would feel the same way you do. BTW, reason why I just haven't quit my job is because I transferred out of the unit and landed a position in med-surg on nights.

Good luck Cheerful!!!

[Su360]

Been a nurse for 32 years...on the positive side you know yourself well. A good nurse spends her time and energies well. A good nurse must be aware of everyone and everything she is working with including the emotional climate. There have been jobs I had that I quit after 10 mos. or so because

the "climate" was wrong for me. Look into your heart. See in your heart what kind of Nursing "feels right"...for instance if you are on a fast paced Med- Surg floor maybee you should consider a slower paced unit like Mom/Baby or Psych..or Home Care....Nursing isn't for everyone but for me it is still a dream come true after 32 years....

Still love it..... Wish you the best in your discovery!

Susan

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

I'm about ready to kiss nursing goodbye for good. No one today seems to appreciate a strong assertive nurse like myself. I won't be a wimpy nurse! I won't take crap! I refuse to be abused and walked on! I won't stop fighting for my rights as a human being at work! I am NOT a robot! I am flesh and blood! I bleed and hurt and cry and misunderstand and get angry and upset just like every other human being. Perfect I am NOT!!! Never have been...never will be!

Should I quit nursing and go work for Wal-Marts? Perhaps I can get a job at Barnes and Nobles. I love being surrounded by books and the smell of books, so maybe I should do that?

HELP!!! I'm tired of crying on my days off about the ill-treatment I undergo on my job. They don't want a good nurse. What they want is a warm body who is "task and servant oriented" who doesn't talk or speak for herself/himself. They want a person without a bladder, without a need to deficate while on duty, without a need for nourishment while on duty. They want doormats and handmaidens. Nurses are not needed anymore in today's realm of nursing from what I see as a nurse now.

Five patients.......one me...........they all want NOW....I can only attend to one at a time.....it takes time to care for one patient.......perhaps longer than the other family members or patients want to wait for.......why not give us nurses a room with five beds in it where we can treat all five within sight of the others and their loved ones so they can see what goes on in nursing. They can't see through walls that Mr. so and so needs this or that, or that I am trying to save a life, or that I'm feeding the old man who can't use either of his hands because the PCTs are overworked and there's no one else to feed him, and........

There's not enough room to voice the drama we live with in nursing today, yet we get written up, gossiped about, talked down to like toddlers or like dogs who've just peed the new carpet.

I need a drink! Anyone got one?

:roll

[CseMgr1, ASN, RN]

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

HELP!!! I'm tired of crying on my days off about the ill-treatment I undergo on my job. They don't want a good nurse. What they want is a warm body who is "task and servant oriented" who doesn't talk or speak for herself/himself. They want a person without a bladder, without a need to deficate while on duty, without a need for nourishment while on duty. They want doormats and handmaidens. Nurses are not needed anymore in today's realm of nursing from what I see as a nurse now.

(((Hugs))) We feel your pain. Don't know what it is going to take, to make these corporate jokers realize that they can't keep treating us like s---, and expect to keep their doors open.

[Brownms46]

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer

That's excellent and very heartfelt advice Brownie, and I love ya for taking the time to share it with me. I'll take it to heart, and work on moving on. I'm hoping to finish out my three months on another unit, but if I can't then I guess I'll have to cut my $$$ losses, pay back what I didn't use, and get the heck out of dodge.

Hubby and I are planning to retire in another state anyway next year after his year overseas is over next summer, and all I wanted was one solid year of full time employment back in nursing to refresh my nursing skills so I could sign up for higher education. I started that job with such high hopes, and in nine months time, I've hit rock bottom.

Little did I know the changes in nursing would hit me this hard. It's more backstabbing and cut-throat than ever. Why does it have to be that way?

Cheerful it doesn't! Good nite and sleep well:cool:!