An open letter to the #NursesUnite movement

[disillusionedrn]

An open letter in response to #NursesUnite:

It is amazing that you have finally found a cause to unite over (#nursesunite), however, I find it hard to jump on board this superficial bandwagon that actually serves the nursing profession no purpose whatsoever.

I have pondered over the last week why it is that so many nurses take such offense to the few words of an ignorant television host, being that Ms. Behar has zero impact or influence on the healthcare profession or the role of nursing, yet they do nothing to end the many real issues plaguing the nursing profession.

The only conclusion that I can come up with is that nurses feel that they can't do much to change the real problems in nursing, so they unite and attack over something that really makes no difference at all to us as a whole.

There are so many other REAL aspects of the nursing profession to unite over to influence change that will actually make a difference to nursing. There are many "dirty secrets" of nursing that go unspoken and ignored, many of which are cultivated by nurses themselves.

Bullying, horizontal violence, inadequate training, nurses "eating their young", 12+ hour shifts, no breaks, high acuities, too many patients per nurse, etc.

I went into nursing because I like to help people. I am empathetic. I am a quick thinker. I am smart. But that isn't actually what makes a nurse successful in this profession, as I have come to find out. As I have come to find out, nursing has less to do with how competent or compassionate you are, and more to do with how much you can, or are willing to, put up with. The nursing culture is full of "suck it ups" and "oh well, it is how it is."

What seems to make a nurse successful is the ability to withstand bullying, intimidation, being talked down to by supervisors, patients, family members, and doctors. The ability to get over inadequate training and support provided by management and your peers and to be okay with unsafe patio to nurse ratios. You'll feel more confident in time, it's just a part of nursing.

To be successful in nursing, you have to be okay with having zero time to take a break (even a bathroom break) and most times, taking your lunch sometimes 8 hours past your start time, or sometimes not even getting a lunch. You have to be okay with being dehydrated while hanging patient's IV bags and shaking from not being able to take a break and eat while you are checking diabetic's blood sugars and teaching the importance of proper urinary hygiene to avoid UTIs while you've been holding your own urine for the past 5 hours. Nurses are expected to just be okay with it. It's just a part of nursing, right?

You have to be okay with coming in early to "get familiar" with your patient load and not getting paid for that time. You have to be okay with staying well past your shift to give report on a regular basis, taking your total time on the clock (and off) well into 14-15 hours, which means that you are so tired driving home that you hope you make it there without crashing because your brain is tired mush. But long shifts are just a part of nursing.

You have to be okay with having to do more with less, even if it affects patient safety and outcomes. You have to be okay with doctors yelling at you and treating you like you're an incompetent idiot rather than a professional colleague in health care. You know that if you call a doctor to clarify orders or to update on your mutual patient, you may be met with disdain and sarcasm. But that's okay too, because it's just a part of nursing.

Nurses know this to be true. Nurses know these are the dirty secrets of nursing. Nurses know that bullying is rampant. Yet, the answer to this problem is "grow a thicker skin" or "you'll just get used to it".

Nurses know that understaffing is a given and that high acuity and high patient loads per nurse is more common than not. Nurses know this isn't safe, they know the care being given isn't what it should or could be, but they do not unite together against it and demand change.

Nurses know that there is often a lack of adequate training and preceptorship for new grads and new employees entering new specialty areas and that too many times nurses get thrown to the wolves and it's a sink or swim mentality. But, this is just a part of nursing we accept.

Nurses know this. They live it. They experience it. It is the culture of nursing. Yet, there is no call to end it. No hash tag. No selfies. No viral campaign on social media. No standing up to it. Just the continued mentality that these things are just a part of nursing that you have to accept or leave.

So, instead of uniting together against something or someone that has no impact on nursing, why not stand up and unite against the things that are killing the nursing profession and demand they change?

Sincerely,

A disillusioned nurse

[AlaneBSNRN]

I agree with you. I don't let anyone disrespect me. I urinate when I need to and have a drink at my computer. I take a short lunch but that is my choice. We don't have a union here in Tx so I stick up for me.

[gypsyd8]

RATIOS: Implementation | National Nurses United

[amarav]

I appreciate this because ive experienced it and its hurt. I am a new nurse but im in my mid fifties entering this career much later in life. I have had so many on the job haters who had hung me out to dry. I know i am a good nurse and a very hard worker. Always on time and never call out. Yet i find the environment is one where i feel that co-workers just want me to fail so they withhold information, do the bare minimal to train me and than watch me miss minor things in my struggle to learn and carry my patient load. Theres just so little support. I wish i didnt go into this field. I feel that i have allot to offer but between the patients and their families blaming me for everything and the lack of support its just a very very thankless field.

[miszsantiago]

I have mixed feelings about your post. While I do think that some people really did take way too much offense to something said in ignorance, I don't think there is anything wrong with a group of people with similar interests uniting for something they believe in. Also, I felt some of what you said was contradictory. You talk about nurses not standing up for themselves while being "bullied;" isn't that exactly what the hosts of this show were doing? Bullying? Yet you criticize them for being superficial. I have not experienced many of the "dirty secrets" that you talk about, but I do know they exist because I hear and read about the same issues over and over again. There are laws and policies that protect nurses from these injustices, so why must there be a "movement" to fight for them? Just like blondy2061h said in her post, people will only walk all over you as much as you let them, which is why I support open opposition to the degradation of nurses demonstrated by the hosts of the View.

[RyzenRN, ASN, BSN, MSN]

Thank you gypsyd8,MSN

[mtmt99]

Perhaps the #nursesunite movement can be the precursor to greater change. Making people aware of what nurses actually do is the first step toward change

[schneidergirl]

Thank you for your viewpoint that I see as an internal nursing perspective. The attack by Joy Behar was external and many (if not most nurses) took it as a personal affront to the profession we are proud to represent. It appears there are two different issues here. I was pleased to see the ire of nurses against the ignorance about nursing expressed in The View. I was also pleased to see the withdrawal of support by sponsors of the show. I agree with the points you make about the profession of nursing that need to be addressed and that nurses should rally to deal with them. Perhaps this will help nurses now come together to wrestle with the real issues we face.

[RNBSN2DFW]

I couldn't agree more with this blog. It says it all. I love nursing. This is a second career for me. Unfortunately many times we are treated like disposable commodities. This fact is apparent despite the education, dedication, and hard work so many of us give and will continue to give because we are nurses. There are too many horror stories to count. It's so sad our honorable profession has no representation. We deserve better.

[Brian57]

No, this is not the place.

[Farawyn]

No, this is not the place.

For what?

[RNBSN2DFW]

We already pick up the slack, and yes, I'm currently at one of those hospitals who treat nurses like disposable commodities. It's wrong. If nothing else there should be laws in place mandating required personnel needed to care for high-acuity patients. Corporations are making money hand over fist. The laws need to be changed. Why would anyone take or job or stay at a job when they make $12 an hour? Ever try to provide for a family on that wage? I haven't and I can't imagine even trying. The reason nurses have no representation is because they have accepted some of the deplorable conditions and condemn any movement for change. It is a shame

[Roy Hanson]

Why are nurses so overwhelmed by some lame TV Talk Show Host who knows nothing except how to shoot her mouth off, about a profession. This is a TALK show, nothing more. I suggest writing to their website or/and Network, and complain OR we want her to resign. Its artificial celebrities that throw a lot of weight.