An open letter to the #NursesUnite movement

[target98765]

I just want to tell you some of the chatter I was in a front row seat for...two doctors, in mixed company mind you; myself and another nurse in the procedure room, these two women decided to talk about how stupid it was for nurses to get upset over what was said on The View and then when on to talk about how nurses just need to shut their mouths and do their jobs, which was, in there description, call the doctors and bothering them every 5 minutes about stupid trite things, then went on to talk about nursing just babysitting patients for them. So, from my perspective, the medical side isn't exactly supporting nursing. This leaves me with a nasty, bitter feeling.

[target98765]

That is great unless you have a surgeon throwing s**t at you.

[target98765]

We had everyone but nursing punching a clock at one point. Then the RNS were found to be abusing this system. That is why everyone now punches the cl9ck.

[FlyingButterfly]

You are wrong hon, bully is very common in other units...ER has very bad reputation...And, more education ie taking a bunch of other training courses would not make nurses better human beings...

[LauraRasmussen]

I agree. I've only been a nurse for about 3 months and I'm beginning to get depressed about it. I love my patients and I feel I can become a great nurse, but dealing with the ridiculous amount of paperwork, inadequate training, doctors, etc., etc. is overwhelming. I'm starting to get an ulcer from it.

[Jules A, MSN]

The ANA is out of touch with the bedside nurse.

Are there even any bedside nurses left? that aren't applying for or in grad school?

[Nonyvole, BSN, RN]

Are there even any bedside nurses left? that aren't applying for or in grad school?

Only reason I'm going to grad school is so that I have options before my body gives out completely. But I'll be quite happily doing my bedside nursing thing until I can't anymore.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Only reason I'm going to grad school is so that I have options before my body gives out completely. But I'll be quite happily doing my bedside nursing thing until I can't anymore.

Ditto. I don't want to get to the point of not being able to handle the physical demands of beside nursing and taking on student loans at an age close to retirement in order to advance my career. That's why I completed my MSN Ed program last year instead of waiting until I need it.

[birdwhisperer]

One of the best articles I have ever read about what is REALLY going on with nurses and I have been in it to win it 40 years hope I can hang in there for 2 more years until I retire..... Thank you for this post it reaffirms. :)

[jtmarcy12, BSN, RN]

Dear disillusioned RN--AMEN AMEN!!!!

No truerer words were ever spoken! 😊👦

[NurseDiane]

That's why the time clock thing is used----because there is always that 1% of nursing that abuses the system, and so the entire nursing staff gets "punished" for the 1%, because they can't be trusted. That's just how life is---the 1% that abuses ANYTHING, whether that be insurance claims, running red lights, and even mass shootings cause the entire population to suffer the consequences of their actions. In order for the establishment to feel that they can "catch" the wrongdoings, they must monitor the entire population.

[NurseDiane]

I remember when computerized charting was first utilized. Computer charting was supposed to REPLACE paper charting. Now, nurses have to do charting on paper AND in a computer. WHY? Because the hospitals are afraid that their system will be compromised & crash, so they want the charting done in hard copy too. Hospitals & facilities have to do EHR's because of Medicare---so nurses get to double chart. In the medical malpractice consulting I have done, one of the BIGGEST issues surrounding charting errors is having to put the same thing in a whole bunch of different places in a chart. It is totally unnecessary to put medication administration information in 3 or 4 different places. It is totally unnecessary to put assessment information in more than one place. It is totally unnecessary to put ANYTHING in more than one place. Many times, it is an error in the duplication of the same information in multiple places in the record. But, try to tell the powers that be about this. If there is a stable & secure EHR system in place, it would not be necessary to chart in a computer & on paper. The problem is that facilities don't want to pay for the most stable & secure system----they'd rather toss the dice & see what happens.