Are we not asked to give to much?

LovingLife123 · Jul 4, 2019

How late do you stay over each shift? Some days I’m out on time and others in out 30-60 minutes later. I look at it as, nobody is going to do my charting for me. That’s usually what I always have left.

KalipsoRed21, BSN, RN · Jul 4, 2019

Right now I’m doing home health. Yes, most of my issues are charting. Have been and always will be. I can’t ignore people. And home health the charting is just nuts. Charting by exception is not what they do.

allnurses Guide · Jul 4, 2019

You have a lot of issues going on with what sounds like a desperate need for some self care. I never worked home health, but when I worked the floor I almost always left on time, and I do not feel I ever neglected my patients. I think you are struggling all the way around and just...weary. We absolutely are asked to give a lot, without a doubt but your degree of disillusion seems to be really difficult for you. I hope you find your way out of this dark place.

L-ICURN, BSN, RN · Jul 4, 2019

I read your previous post and had no concrete advice to help you, but my heart broke for you, because I know these feelings. When is the charting going to end? When can I have a day to myself? In my case, I am beholden to my pay (my fault). I have debts. And the job market in my area is abysmal. I do love my job and I love learning, but there are days when I wish I was back in that cubicle, planning my holiday activities because I knew I wouldn't have to work that day.

All I can offer is an internet virtual hug and the hope that you find something that gives you greater peace and less anxiety.

Hope it gets better for you.

Davey Do · Jul 4, 2019

1 hour ago, not.done.yet said:
You have a lot of issues going on with what sounds like a desperate need for some self care.

With all due respect, KalipsoRed, I have to agree with not.done yet and expand upon the issues part by adding that I sense a victim role is prevalent here. We cease being victims when we refuse to play the role of a victim.

Playing the role of a victim allows us to receive attention and empathy reinforcing the "woe is me" part.

In the past, when I have played the role of the victim, a coworker/friend, Pegatha, would say to me: "You're good, they're bad. You're right, they're wrong." absurdly letting me hear what I wanted to hear. There was also an inference that I was playing the "woe is me" part and needed to shut up and deal with the situation.

As far as the "giv(ing) to(o) much... for (its) patients", I remember a quote from Super Chicken:

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And as far as being "ready to lead a revolution", as the Beatles through John Lennon sang, "We all want to change the world... You better free your mind instead".

Good luck and the best to you, KalipsoRed!

Daisy4RN · Jul 4, 2019

I am sorry that you are having such a hard time right now, all your posts seem to point in that direction. I worked HH 20yrs ago and also recently, I know the paperwork and demands are relentless now, not at all like it was 20yrs ago. Other nursing jobs for the most part ditto. I really think you need to step back and get some perspective for where you can go from here. Getting advise from people you don't know and who dont know you may not help. Take inventory of your life/situation and figure out which areas can be approved on based on you circumstances. Everyone goes through trials in their lives whether you see it or not. It is up to us to make the best out of it. Maybe you need to seek some professional help to sort it all out. I agree with you that nursing can suck and some people never find their niche. But that doesnt mean you cant find something less sucky than what you have now. Take small baby steps if that helps but do be proactive in attempting to make the situation better. You are not your job, seperate the two, set boundaries as much as possible and dont let them take over your life. You can do this and make it better! I heard once that when a bad situation happens it is how we deal with it that counts, 10% bad situation, 90% how we deal. Please take care of yourself (literally), take some time to really think things through, and see what you CAN do, there is always something. Sometimes it is good to vent, and hear others vent, but sometimes it is good to focus on how to solve the issues. Wishing you well!!

klone, MSN, RN · Jul 5, 2019

On 7/3/2019 at 9:02 PM, KalipsoRed21 said:
Why do you stay?
And don’t say because you love your patients, I love my patients too. Don’t be a martyr.

I stay because I love the nurses with whom I work. I couldn't do it if I were an island.

egg122 NP, MSN, APRN · Jul 5, 2019

Kalipsored21- There was recently a good article in the NYTimes about the same topic that you might like: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/06/08/opinion/sunday/hospitals-doctors-nurses-burnout.amp.html

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Jul 5, 2019

On 7/3/2019 at 10:28 PM, KalipsoRed21 said:
Right now I’m doing home health. Yes, most of my issues are charting. Have been and always will be. I can’t ignore people. And home health the charting is just nuts. Charting by exception is not what they do.

I've been there, done that. I loved HH except for the crazy charting, on call, and driving the wheels off of my car. I feel your pain there. But in facilities (hosp, LTC, IP Hospice, and dialysis), I can count on one hand the number of times that I have left an hour later than scheduled, unless on call and had to stay...

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Jul 5, 2019

18 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:
I am sorry that you are having such a hard time right now, all your posts seem to point in that direction. I worked HH 20yrs ago and also recently, I know the paperwork and demands are relentless now, not at all like it was 20yrs ago. Other nursing jobs for the most part ditto. I really think you need to step back and get some perspective for where you can go from here. Getting advise from people you don't know and who dont know you may not help. Take inventory of your life/situation and figure out which areas can be approved on based on you circumstances. Everyone goes through trials in their lives whether you see it or not. It is up to us to make the best out of it. Maybe you need to seek some professional help to sort it all out. I agree with you that nursing can suck and some people never find their niche. But that doesnt mean you cant find something less sucky than what you have now. Take small baby steps if that helps but do be proactive in attempting to make the situation better. You are not your job, seperate the two, set boundaries as much as possible and dont let them take over your life. You can do this and make it better! I heard once that when a bad situation happens it is how we deal with it that counts, 10% bad situation, 90% how we deal. Please take care of yourself (literally), take some time to really think things through, and see what you CAN do, there is always something. Sometimes it is good to vent, and hear others vent, but sometimes it is good to focus on how to solve the issues. Wishing you well!!

well stated!

KalipsoRed21, BSN, RN · Jul 6, 2019

On 7/5/2019 at 11:58 AM, egg122 NP said:
Kalipsored21- There was recently a good article in the NYTimes about the same topic that you might like: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/06/08/opinion/sunday/hospitals-doctors-nurses-burnout.amp.html

EGG122NP - Thank you for this article. This is exactly what I feel about healthcare. To quote this article, “I stop short of accusing the system of drawing up a premeditated business plan to manipulate medical professionalism into free labor. Rather, I see it as a result of administrative creep. One additional task after another is piled onto the clinical staff members, who can’t — and won’t — say no. “

Yes, I have a lot of sad things going on in my life right now and I am exhausted in my personal life which is leaking over to my work. BUT, with that said, I have ALWAYS had a resentment towards medicine due to this ‘administrative creep’. You can look at my posts since I started in 2008 and see that I have been angry about this abuse for over a decade. I have never been able to put my paperwork ahead of the emotional needs of my patients. And the non nursing chores are relentless and ever piling. And no one ever says no, so then no one ever feels like they can say no, because what about the patient?

I think there is a systemic abuse of all medical professionals because of our overall integrity. Probably similar to teachers who are hard pressed not to do things like strike because they have an honest integrity to keep their promises to the children they are educating. But at least most teachers are in a union. California is the only state I know that is mostly unionized. And I hear it is better there, but I’ve never experienced it myself.

I am a supporter of unions. My husband is in a bricklayer union and when he was working his benefits AND pay were leaps better that what I have ever gotten through working at a facility. And I have worked for one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation.....somewhere that brags about their benefits and yet my husband’s were WAY better. Actually I have a cousin that is a music teacher at a high school and her benefits are better than mine...our pay is about equal.

But my issue is not just about pay. It is about the sheer amount of work demanded from us, work that actually just distracts from caring for the patient, that must be done in the name of billing. That I have no doubt that managers and higher up administrators know that the tasks they are demanding be completed are not tasks that can be completed in the time allotted and include good care.

Example? I just had to watch a video for my organization that showed us how to make a ‘caring and trusting bond’ with our patients in 56 seconds. This is the education I am getting from my organization.....does no one else see the concern here?