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.
Saturday was a great day because I wore my whites and nurse cap, and the patients LOVED it!
Sunday (today) was a great day because I was FLOATED to another unit the entire twelve hour shift I worked! Great staff, very helpful, and not too stressed out. They couldn't have made my stay with them any better. :kiss
Two nights in a row that I am going to bed with a smile on my face and in my heart. The peaceful feeling is so serene for a change. I now know that I absolutely MUST transfer off my current unit. It breeds depression in me, and I need to look out for my health and mental well-being. I put it all in Almighty God's most capable hands, so HIS Will for me is my will for me. :)
I am very happy to hear that you are excited about transferring to a new unit!! As a new grad, I have come to this forum almost daily over the past few months to read the stories of other nurses and to feel supported. Thank you so much for your posts. I am not sure you realize how much you experienced nurses inspire us newcomers. You sound like a wonderful nurse to me!!
I wonder if you (and perhaps all of us at some time in our careers) are going through a grieving process. We start out in nursing hoping to make a difference, putting our best foot forward to care for patients. When the environment prevents us from delivering good care we mourn the loss of our dream of what being a nurse meant to us. I think it is a loss of this dream that brings about the stages of grief such as anger, denial, sadness, ect.
Raphael,
I think you are right.
What nursing is supposed to be, should be and is meant to be is a wonderful, wonderful thing. But what it has actually turned into just sux.
Hang in there yourself! One day, you'll be able to look back on years gone by of your own nursing career and be able to give encouragement and support to other new grads like yourself.
Many things that we cry over today, we look back in time and laugh about. THINKING isn't as easy to do when one is super stressed, and right now I'm having the problem of being so bummed out of late, I can't THINK straight most times. Gotta change things in my life before my LIFE changes it for me.
We nurses MUST mind our own health....mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. No one else will MIND IT for us the way we can. :)
Private Duty is the place for competent, assertive nurses.
> Flo envisioned for her new profession that we would be doing private duty, using the hospital to provide formal pre-service training for nurses (which at that time had zero training).
>You have more formal education and experience than Flo had.
>Private duty. You can't beat the nurse to patient ratio.
>The patient's and their families are appreciative to see you walk through their door every day.
I've been doing it for 15 years and thank God every day that I had enough sense to leave the abusive environment found inside the walls of most instituions.
I totally agree with you, and would love to return to private duty and home care while I advance my education in nursing. I am also going to go work on a med/surg oncology unit where I can work with cancer patients on a part time basis 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. 16 hours a week. Looking forward to the change. :)
Yes, renerian, I have. My husband suggested I do that since I'm having so many work related problems, and now "feet sickness" with Planter Fasciitis! One more thing to contend with....yikes!
This type of health care might work out good for you. I can tell your a very caring person and this venue might work out good for you cheerful. Let us know what you come up with.
cheerfuldoer......I'm right there with ya......when you have to beg for a bathroom break in a 12 hour shift..it's not good....I can't ever get the chance to eat healthy when I work...we're not given enough time....and you're exactly right...we only get noticed when that one patient complains......all the other compliments and great things we do go without a comment.....I was told by my manager that I was rather candid at times.....as far as I'm concerned...she hasn't seen me candid......I am not ready to give up doing what is best for the patient just so nothing is said or no complaints are made....no doubt in my mind the reason for the nursing shortage....
I worked my way through Nursing school with a boss WORSE than yours:eek: . Believe me, I know how it feels.
They are right. You need a 2-3, maybe 4 week vacation:kiss . You need to be good to yourself first... Then on your 2nd week of vacation, start looking for a new place to work. They are not all like what we've experienced
I now work in a max security forensic unit (psychiatric) I don't have to bend straws, fluff pillows, and when my time of the month comes around:devil: I can tell the inmates "This is NOT the day to mess with this nurse!!!" Even the desperately mentally ill ones get the idea.:chuckle
I remain theraputic with them, I just don't let them run over me.
One more thing to contend with....yikes!
RN~in~CT
160 Posts
Cheerful~
I am so happy to hear of your impending transfer to a new floor!! :balloons: You are an asset to nursing, and you just keep on doing what you do.
Hope your weekend went smoothly!