I need to ask other nurses if they are as dissatisfied with nursing or is it just not for me? I've been a nurse for 2 years and I hate it. (I am going back to school for something else, I will not be a nurse that hates her job and does it for anyother 20 years.) I am an RN and have worked in the hospital (tele & med/surg) and LTC. While there are differences, it seems that they all have the same issues that upset me.
#1 I feel abused from every angle. I feel like a servant to my pts, family can be so demanding and rude, some doctors can be more condisending that family (but even one it too much, a Ph.D. doesn't give anyone the right to belittle others.) Management is, well management. Short staffing the floor and aloof to issues. It seems these issues (which I've seen on many boards, are "just a part of nursing". There's always that nasty doc no one likes talking to, or that crazy family member that makes our day nearly imposible. Is it over sensitive of me to not want to deal with this anymore?
#2 I feel like the general public is moving towards a "anti-healthcare" attitude. People sue for everything. It seems that people don't feel we are entitled to break (as we've discussed in another post), I've seen first hand many times that the public wouldn't care if you were 9 months pregnant, they expect you to lift mom single-handedly out of the chair and into bed, and NOW! because they "don't want to wait" for you to get help. The nurse doesn't even need to be pregnant, she could be 110lbs and "mom" could be 400lbs and her 25 family members (8 of which are young strapping men) will demand you get mom up to the commode NOW!, and all 25 will stand there and watch and god forbid the guy across the hall is coding!!! Even another human being dieing is not important enough for you to derail from getting their 400lb mom another package of gramcrackers..and so an and so on. And all the while they think the nurse is LAZY!!! I hear this very often. (This actually happened to me at a diner) the couple behind me and my husband were having a bash fest on how lazy and stupid nurses are. They never considered that maybe a nurse was in earshot! My husband lit into them, and they apologized but said that the nurses at a local hospital "killed" their grandpa. I asked about grandpa who was 89 y/o had a "failing heart and kidneys" but "was doing well untiL he went into the hospital". I want to DUMP MY SOUP ON THEIR HEADS!! This seems to me to be very common that people blame nurses(or docs) for inevidable deaths.
#3 Short staffing that's only getting shorter...need I say more.
#4 Missing time with family. I will admit I knew about this before I got into nursing so I can't complain. But since I've had my son, I no longer want to miss holidays. I'm sorry, but my pts are not worth the times I will miss with my family on holidays. I want to be home christmas mornings with my son and 10 year from now I won't remember the pts I had on xmas but I will remember that I missed his first xmas (or second or what ever).
#5 Liability. I knew this too, so I can't complain, but people make mistakes Cashiers ring you up for the wrong amount, cooks make and waitress serve the wrong food, I'm sure plumber or contruction workers have been called it to fix something but after wards it still leeks or whatever and they have to be called back to do it again. I'm not saying that nurses are the only profession that our mistakes can be very dangerous, I'm saying that even the smallest mistakes, one that would never hurt anyone, gets everyone up in arms about it. And pts and there family expect nothing short of God caring for them or their family. A nurse on the floor I used to work on went to take a blood sugar on the wrong pt. The family was there, it never even got done. They stopped her, but the pt was confused and wouldn't have been able to tell the nurse she was a BGM. The family had a melt down and reported her and she got in a lot of trouble! Its not like she was about to give morpine to this lady. I know a mistake is a mistake, but there's no forgiveness in nursing, not matter how tiny the mistake. We can not make mistakes, as per the general public. Well, I'm careful, but I'm not perfect.
Sorry to sound so negitive. Am I just looking at this all wrong? Does anyone else feel this way, but it doesn't bother them?
I am a brand new nurse in a tele floor (more med/surg than cardiac) and I HATE IT. In fact, I just emailed my nurse recruiter to help me find a summer internship to ANY other specialized field. I've only been a nurse for 3 months, but I've had enough. I can't deal with patients' families thinking that nurses are their personal chefs/cleaning person/room service, etc. That's not the way things work. I admire the floor nurses I have met and I admire them even more how they handle these situations. I don't think I'm cut out for it, though.
Have you ever thought of nurse paralegal, I worked with one once, way back in my other life, pre nursing school, she was an rn who was burnt by just the info you spelled out, she worked in our office reading charts for liability claims for workman comp claims, 5 day a week, weekends holidays off and she made great money, no patients, no hassles from management, the lawyers treated her like gold, an equal, not like the rest of us the great unwashed, who worked there, She claimed she was the happiest work wise she had ever been
Stop right there! Over time, guess who gets your pay for working over time? The government! I used to think if I didn't work 5 days a week I was not getting in enough time. Then one day I looked at my paystub. $100. was deducted from my pay for working 5 days plus over time. So after that I cut it down to only 4 days a week. Uncel Sam was getting that 5th day all on me!
Doesn't make the working class feel very good when you are punished for working! So pay attention to your stub you might just be working for nothing on all of those holidays you so desparately want. I changed my mind too. I wanted nothing more than to change the nursing world. It doens't work that way.
You sound just the way I used to! You will see.
I'll still take nursing OT over the OT I get now - which is exactly NOTHING ALL THE TIME. Even if the boss asks me stay. Try throwing some cash into an IRA at the end of the year to help get some of your money back.
Honey, I agree totally. My daughter is now 8 years old and Ive missed most of her milestones. She has cried and begged me to stay home with her many times. I hate it and I hate my job. I just dont know what else to do with my life. Ive invested so much money, effort, and time into nursing I dont know what else to do. Good luck to you and do what your heart tells you. Your child is only young once and I wish I had it all to do over. I certainly would have done it differently.
Stop right there! Over time, guess who gets your pay for working over time? The government! I used to think if I didn't work 5 days a week I was not getting in enough time. Then one day I looked at my paystub. $100. was deducted from my pay for working 5 days plus over time. So after that I cut it down to only 4 days a week. Uncel Sam was getting that 5th day all on me!
Don't confuse what your employer decides to withhold for taxes from your paychecks with what you will actually owe in taxes at the end of the year. I'm no financial expert, but I'm guessing if you continued working more and having that money withheld, you would have a nice, fat tax refund waiting for you at the end of the year.
while nurses went home at shift change i stayed with the patient until their labor was done. and did i even get paid for this? no
doulas don't get paid??
i thought it was a paid profession, not volunteer. am i mis-informed?
otessa
in my neck of the woods, doula's are paid by the case. so they put in the hours required by the patient to earn a set fee. they are paid to hold the hand, fetch the ice chips, encourage the mother.
isn't the birth of a healthy infant the reward of labour? a new life regardless of delivery method is to be celebrated.
too much emphasis today is put on the "postive, empowering experience" of birth. i think those "birth story" type shows should be banned.
Everything the OP said is true, and I love my stupid job. Clearly, someone is very seriously confused. Sadly, I don't think it's the OP.
But, seriously, most of the nurses I work with seem to be pretty happy in their careers, but none would for a moment question the wisdom of getting into another line of work. I agree with those who suggest that another unit, another facility, another type of nursing might be more agreeable. As to whether the grass is greener, sometimes the only way to find out is to jump over the fence. I guess it depends a lot on how brown the grass is where you are.
My best wishes to the OP. If you decide to get out of Dodge, all I can say is that anyone who would fault you is even more confused than I am. If you decided to try your luck at nursing somewhere else, or even to stick it out where you are, just remember that being cynical, bitter, and tired to the bone doesn't make you a bad nurse, and what happens in the Med Room stays in the Med Room.
As to whether the grass is greener, sometimes the only way to find out is to jump over the fence. I guess it depends a lot on how brown the grass is where you are.
That's a really good point. I'm the one that made the grass comment... And here I am getting ready to take my pre-req classes for nursing this fall
Specializes in med surg, geriatric, clinical, pool.
Honey, I agree totally. My daughter is now 8 years old and Ive missed most of her milestones. She has cried and begged me to stay home with her many times. I hate it and I hate my job. I just dont know what else to do with my life. Ive invested so much money, effort, and time into nursing I dont know what else to do. Good luck to you and do what your heart tells you. Your child is only young once and I wish I had it all to do over. I certainly would have done it differently.
I second you here. My kids were somewhat older, but there is something about a daughter, mine wanted me home too, but she was old enough to understand. Sometimes she would bring me a slice of pizza while I was working on 3-11.:redbeathe
Specializes in med surg, geriatric, clinical, pool.
Honey, I agree totally. My daughter is now 8 years old and Ive missed most of her milestones. She has cried and begged me to stay home with her many times. I hate it and I hate my job. I just dont know what else to do with my life. Ive invested so much money, effort, and time into nursing I dont know what else to do. Good luck to you and do what your heart tells you. Your child is only young once and I wish I had it all to do over. I certainly would have done it differently.
Don't confuse what your employer decides to withhold for taxes from your paychecks with what you will actually owe in taxes at the end of the year. I'm no financial expert, but I'm guessing if you continued working more and having that money withheld, you would have a nice, fat tax refund waiting for you at the end of the year.
Are you kidding? I never got a tax refund at the end of the year. My husband and I made too much!
You will see.
MMARN, BSN, RN
914 Posts
I am a brand new nurse in a tele floor (more med/surg than cardiac) and I HATE IT. In fact, I just emailed my nurse recruiter to help me find a summer internship to ANY other specialized field. I've only been a nurse for 3 months, but I've had enough. I can't deal with patients' families thinking that nurses are their personal chefs/cleaning person/room service, etc. That's not the way things work. I admire the floor nurses I have met and I admire them even more how they handle these situations. I don't think I'm cut out for it, though.