So I am working at a Retirement Home and its going well, I love being the Nurse on the floor, but sometimes they will pull me and say I am gonna be a screener today to screen essential visitors, or one day I will be the Wound Care Nurse, or I will be helping out the Director of Care with their duties, or one time they were so desperate I was folding laundry cause they could not find anyone for the laundry staff. One time I was also a porter, porting Residents to different rooms in the building for infection control.
I don't want to sound mean and say no, but I feel like I lose my dignity as a Nurse. I don't wanna tell people that I screen or that I porter people, I want to just do Nursing related stuff.
I do get paid for all that stuff, but to me I feel like its a waste of my clinical skills. I can't just leave and find work since we are restricted to only 1 workplace at this time, and if I leave this job, its not guaranteed I will find work elsewhere.
I am full time there, but they did say that I will be working different jobs. Not sure if its just me complaining
As the only licensed nurse on night shift in a LTC facility, I have unstopped a messed up toilet and mopped the resultant mess on the floor. We had no maintenance available at night for most low level emergencies. The nursing assistants were too busy. I wouldn’t ask them to do what I wasn’t willing to do myself. It was a safety hazard as well as environmentally unpleasant. I am well aware that plumbers get paid a ton more money than I was being paid, and they typically don’t consider such tasks beneath them. Housekeeping likewise was not available in the middle of the night. I guess the dignified nurses would have left the mess there all night.
. I guess the dignified nurses would have left the mess there all night.
Thank you caliotter3. Frankly when the salary for RNs went up knew we we would get the "Florence Nightingale - Pretenders." Same kinds of students who flock to any high paying job without any of the dedication for what the profession represents. I have heard students say without shame "I wouldn't do that..I will have an aide." "No, I can't work weekends, I have a boy/girl friend" and my favorite "I can't study that much, I have a life!" I have replied when the patient is coding -- be sure to mention you have a life--they don't. When did we get in this mess?
Quote
In the UK Florence Nightingale is included in all schools:
Learn all about Florence Nightingale, part of the national curriculum at Key Stage 1 & 2.
Nursing is the one (and only) profession that makes the commitment to meet all of the patient's needs -- be they glamorous or not. If the patient needs us to make a sophisticated judgment, we need to learn how to make good sophisticated judgments. If the patient needs us to wipe their bottoms, we wipe their bottoms. Whatever ...
That is what makes nursing unique among the healthcare professions and what gives us our power/authority. We don't walk away from a patient need. We find a way to meet it -- and are willing to meet it ourselves if needed.
As a nurse with a PhD, working in a hospital ... I have been known to clean up procedural trays after procedures ... take trash bags to the trash room ... change diapers ... feed babies ... carry specimens to the lab ... make copies of my class handouts ... gather my own data ... man the sign-in table at education events ... etc. None of these things required the use of my full expertise. But my dignity was not damaged by any of these activities.
Thank you caliotter3. Frankly when the salary for RNs went up knew we we would get the "Florence Nightingale - Pretenders." Same kinds of students who flock to any high paying job without any of the dedication for what the profession represents. I have heard students say without shame "I wouldn't do that..I will have an aide." "No, I can't work weekends, I have a boy/girl friend" and my favorite "I can't study that much, I have a life!" I have replied when the patient is coding -- be sure to mention you have a life--they don't. When did we get in this mess?
We got into this mess when facility administration (and some schools too, honestly) allowed it. Also the whole "nurses are heroes" tag line doesn't help. It gives some the attitude that anything below the perceived heroship list is beneath them. You know Flo is turning in her grave at these folks...
Thank you caliotter3. Frankly when the salary for RNs went up knew we we would get the "Florence Nightingale - Pretenders." Same kinds of students who flock to any high paying job without any of the dedication for what the profession represents. I have heard students say without shame "I wouldn't do that..I will have an aide." "No, I can't work weekends, I have a boy/girl friend" and my favorite "I can't study that much, I have a life!" I have replied when the patient is coding -- be sure to mention you have a life--they don't. When did we get in this mess?
As discussed on another recent thread: "Prepare Nurses to Pass NCLEX, or Prepare Nurses for Real World?" these consequences came about as a result of decisions and actions that were deliberately taken by multiple parties, over a period of decades. These conditions didn't magically appear one day. Both industry and some of the nursing schools had a part in this. I agree with the previous poster that Florence Nightingale would be turning in her grave.
Frankly, I would consider it a dream job. Lots of variety so you gain a lot of insight into the workings of the whole retirement home, instead of the tunnel vision we get from just doing our own jobs.
I'm not sure what you're calling "clinical skills" that you're so afraid of losing. Wound care is certainly a valuable skill; assisting the Director of Care should be providing additional skills. Screening visitors provides an opportunity to improve interpersonal skills and provide education to the community, something all nurses are expected to do. Being a porter involves positioning patients for safety and comfort, and of course you're never not assessing.
If they're willing to pay you nursing wages to fold laundry, then that's almost like a paid day off. Take advantage of the brain breather.
None of these things strikes me as anything that's "beneath the dignity of a nurse". (That would be more along the line of having to stand when a doctor enters the room.)
If you embrace all this with a willing spirit, no telling how far you can go. Doing things grudgingly will show on your face and in your body language and might hamper you in ways you don't expect.
I completely agree with all of this! Very well said! I was going to respond with a similar comment. I think it can be advantageous for is to explore different roles within our facility. You never know how far you can expand your skills! Personally, I would be excited about this though I understand why this would be unnerving to you. Do you feel like there is a lack of education as you switch roles? Are you supported in these other positions? If you feel like you need extra support or competency, you shouldn't feel timid in asking for help from an experienced RN or a supervisor. Best of luck! It actually sounds like a fantastic way to build your skills and become more comfortable in areas you weren't before. As the nurse I quoted said, this is something you would benefit from embracing!
caliotter3
38,333 Posts
As the only licensed nurse on night shift in a LTC facility, I have unstopped a messed up toilet and mopped the resultant mess on the floor. We had no maintenance available at night for most low level emergencies. The nursing assistants were too busy. I wouldn’t ask them to do what I wasn’t willing to do myself. It was a safety hazard as well as environmentally unpleasant. I am well aware that plumbers get paid a ton more money than I was being paid, and they typically don’t consider such tasks beneath them. Housekeeping likewise was not available in the middle of the night. I guess the dignified nurses would have left the mess there all night.