BEDSIDE...run, don't walk!

https://journals.lww.com/ajnonline/FullText/2018/04000/An_Exodus_of_Bedside_Nurses.6.aspx

https://minoritynurse.com/the-true-nursing-epidemic-getting-nurses-to-stay-at-the-bedside/

https://www.florence-health.com/career/registered_nurse/nurses-share-why-they-decided-to-leave-the-bedside/

I have an MSN and CHOOSE to be at the bedside. I love it. I don't want to be anywhere else. I work for a great organization and while it is very large, it tries very hard to take care of us.

During Covid, they have been amazing. I think it is not fair to generalize that all bedside nursing is bad. Just because it is not for you does not mean it is not fir anyone. I work with nurses that have spent 25+ years at the bedside and they still like coming to work.

Some just can't cut it bedside ?

6 minutes ago, mmc51264 said:

I have an MSN and CHOOSE to be at the bedside. I love it. I don't want to be anywhere else. I work for a great organization and while it is very large, it tries very hard to take care of us.

During Covid, they have been amazing. I think it is not fair to generalize that all bedside nursing is bad. Just because it is not for you does not mean it is not fir anyone. I work with nurses that have spent 25+ years at the bedside and they still like coming to work.

Some just can't cut it bedside ?

If your organization has been "amazing" during Covid, you are the exception, not the rule. We are required to report any Covid-like symptoms (even if minor), accept a Covid test and wait for the result while burning through PTO. Nurses are starting to hide their symptoms.

14 hours ago, 2BS Nurse said:

If your organization has been "amazing" during Covid, you are the exception, not the rule. We are required to report any Covid-like symptoms (even if minor), accept a Covid test and wait for the result while burning through PTO. Nurses are starting to hide their symptoms.

Same in my organization....

I personally love working bedside! I'm only at my first job though, we'll see where I end up. :)

On 8/18/2020 at 8:10 PM, mmc51264 said:

Some just can't cut it bedside ?

Or, perhaps some of us Nurses just have integrity, self-respect, and healthy self-esteem that we don't feel a need to tolerate being treated like garbage ?

On 8/18/2020 at 12:11 PM, CaffeinePOQ4HPRN said:

I don't know who needs to hear this today, BUT...

You are NOT required to martyr yourself for the sake of the nursing profession!

You are a human being, and deserve a lovely life.

You deserve to wake up everyday and not feel knots in your stomach while preparing to go to work.

You deserve BETTER!

The day I transitioned away from the (abusive) hospital system was the day my life started to significantly improve. I've never looked back, and the thought of having to subject myself to the poor working conditions ever again makes me sick to my stomach. I don't envy my friends/professional colleagues who decided to "stick it out" even though they were admittedly suffering.

I'd encourage anyone, new-grads or more tenured nurses, to RUN don't walk away from the hospital system if it's negatively impacting you.

Ignore the zealots who tout it as a calling, that you must give your everything... That's logic is beyond stupid! You are not required to subject yourself to abuse.

I don’t think every bedside nursing job is bad but I will say that nursing and healthcare has changed drastically throughout the years - and not necessarily for the better for nurses, physicians, or patients. Nursing is simply not what it was a decade or two decades ago. I have seen my healthcare system change in just under a decade.....I am choosing to leave the ER and go to a different bedside job not because I don’t like it, but because I feel a different job without the constant pressures can make my life so much less stressful when I have other things going on in my life.

I know a lot of people who love love love hospital nursing. I am not one of them, and I work in an FQHC. But I'm glad not everyone wants to flee hospitals! Otherwise, who would take care of us? It's a shame that many hospitals have such a terrible work environment, but the solution is that the hospitals need to improve, not that all the nurses need to quit.

I agree with you that in many places, esp today, it is tantamount to an abusive relationship! They keep cutting staff and increasing patient ratios with rising patient acuity while the nurses are just expected to work harder to keep this sinking ship of corporate healthcare going and profitable for those at the top!

I agree with you and wouldn't wish my children or friends or anyone frankly to endure what I've endured over the years because of the abusive working conditions. If only I had known of other options when I was younger, now I'm nearing the end of the road and that fills me with relief!

I feel for the new ones starting out, but know most have seen the writing on the wall and are using a short stint at bedside to pave a better life for themselves, either through other nursing options or advancing to NP. I wish them luck because I don't see things ever getting better, only worse!

The time of lifelong bedside nurses is nearing the end of its run. Sadly even the corporate yahoos are happy about this because all they care about is money in their pockets and their bonuses and want to replace the older, experienced nurses for new grads at the bottom of the wage scale.

I've heard my new boss actually had the nerve to tell the new grads she planned on getting rid of us and replacing us with newbies, this in the middle of a worldwide pandemic where nurses and other healthcare workers have gotten sick and even died no less! Where is the compassion!

For the newbies I'd be afraid to work here knowing what they have in store, only the blind leading the blind. They have no respect for experienced nurses, esp the vast knowledge, expertise and patient safety we bring with us. They would rather have all new grads that are inexperienced, but malleable; and management is willing to overlook the safety risks that imposes as long as it puts more Benjamins in their pockets!

Thankfully I will be walking away soon and starting early retirement to escape this, so hey its a win-win for me and my boss! But it is a lose-lose for the patients and the new grads!

I think it all depends on the system you worked for. My old job underpays everyone that works there including doctors. They consider it a privilege to work there and you should be grateful you even work there. My current job as a bedside I enjoy more. I enjoy the pt population more. I enjoy my paycheck more. Do some days suck? Absolutely. I am lucky to have good co-workers and a good manager/assistant manager. The acuity of the pt's is also lower than my previous job.

I have had my moments where I dabble at the idea of moving on from bedside. Some day I will but I won't move on just for the sake of moving on. It has to be for a position I know I will enjoy and not a position just to get out of bedside.

I did 8.5 years in Med/Surg and it was horrible. I learned a lot and knew I wanted to be a NP so I kept at it despite the tachycardia from anxiety, sleepless nights before shifts, sleepless nights after shifts, no lunch breaks, physical demands, short staffing, hostile work environment, etc. Needless to say, it took a toll on my physical and mental health.

10 months ago, I started working as a NP and I do have to say all the time I spent in Med/Surg hell has benefited me in my current role. I'm good with patients. I know how to problem solve. I'm resourceful. I know a lot of doctors (helpful for referrals). I'm familiar with most treatments, procedures, diagnostic tests, and surgeries. I know how to deescalate angry patients.

Would I do it again? I'm not sure. It took a lot out of me. I should probably be in therapy. Wish there was an easier way to get to where I wanted to be. I would have taken it.