Title says it all . Second semester baby nurse in clinicals at a major hospital.
Patients = Awesome
Most Nurses = Very sweet and helpful
Some nurses are rude, terse, horrible with patients, horrible with students and horrible with each other.
To those nurses I say this, please retire.
Its only a matter of time before management figures out they can live without you and hire some very hungry and very competent new grads that want to be there to fill your dusty shoes....
word...
sadly the vast majority of the time these happen to also be charge nurses....in charge of what? Misery?
My point of view is that anger, and rational are mutually exclusive terms....
Your point of view is mistaken. You've said what's on your mind, and you certainly have that right, but those of us who've found at least some of what you've said obnoxious or offensive, or simply mistaken, have as much right to our opinions and are in all likelihood quite as capable of rational thought. You made the choice to speak of old, bitter, dried-up nurses. You later retracted the term, "old," but continue to speak of eager young nurses coming up to set things right. There's nothing wrong with being young (even just new) and idealistic. Quite a lot of nurses enter the field that way. Those of us who are successful in the field necessarily learn to be realists. There are, of course, those in every walk of life who mistake cynicism for realism, but I would suggest that inexperience can sometimes lead one to mistake realism for cynicism. A lot of the resistance to the sort of customer service model you advocate (and you truly aren't the first to do so) has nothing to do with a lack of care or compassion, but a profound weariness with what seem like endless attempts to create cookie-cutter scripts and patient care templates that might have a place in industrial engineering, but aren't nearly adequate for nursing, which is a profoundly human endeavor. At its finest, the nurse-patient relationship is an extraordinarily intimate connection, and the art of nursing is the expression of something which is often ineffable through a medium which is almost infinitely variable. We perform our art against a whole array of currents: patients who don't really want to be well, bean-counters who care more about the bottom line than about human suffering, regulators and administrators who are so obsessed with standardization that they would leave no room for excellence, other than in lip service.
I have cared for dying patients with a spouse of several decades at their bedside, have seen love of a depth and breadth that no teen ardor could possibly rival. I've heard sighs convey a range of emotions intermingled that no poet can put into words. And I have seen nurses whose passion for their field has a similar maturity, for whom nursing is no longer what they do, but what they are. And when you speak of some horrible, heartless excuse for a nurse, and the first thing you notice is that they are old, when you would instruct those who practice in a realm of nuance and attention to details with slogans and generalizations, well, it does get a little annoying.
Last night I watched a first year nurse half my age perform magnificently. I kid you not that I'm a little choked up writing about it, and the moreso because her patient, who had every reason in the world to be angry or bitter, understood exactly what that brave little girl was doing for her. I vow to you here that, to my limited ability, whosoever would eat that young one is going to have to chew through some gristle to get there. I also watched a bitter, nasty young patient try to take a bite out of an older, experienced nurse, and when I asked that nurse to kiss some butt and make nice until shift change, for the good of the unit, she did it. She and I both know I owe her one, and I won't be asking her to do it again, tonight.
This is not a simple business. Like a Mandlebrot curve, it is complex on many levels. There is no single way to get a patient onto a bedpan; there is probably no single way to provide healthcare to a nation. Every intervention is an experiment. I spoke earlier of some unusual circumstances in which what my patient needed most at a moment was a kiss on the cheek. I was a little surprised no one pointed out how unprofessional that was--and it was. I've debated at length on other threads whether nursing is a profession or a trade. I've tended to like the skilled trade view, because it's practical and down to earth, but it occurs to me that what I've really disliked about the professional model--and no less the business model--is that it belittles my art. Marginally competent practitioner though I am, I am a nurse, and it is nurses who give nursing its meaning. Even the bitter ones are part of that. The tone and content of your post leads me to believe you don't get that. But it may show some promise that you care enough to be angry at nurses who don't do the job justice. Others have pointed out that bitter, dried up nurses don't retire because they can't afford to. I suggest you consider that administrators don't get rid of them for the same reason--they can't afford to. If you really want to improve the state of nursing, figure out a way to ensure that fewer magnificent young nurses like I spoke of become bitter and dried up. If you want to look at our profession as an industry, here's a simple bit of economics: patients are plentiful, skilled nurses are scarce. And those eager, hungry nurses in the pipeline cost a lot of money to get up to speed.
Specializes in ED, Telemetry,Hospice, ICU, Supervisor.
Wake up folks....
Your patients ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS....
Without you patients you will not have a job.
Patientes have choices in most cities and do not have to go to your hospital.....
I promise you the customer focused model is going to return....
Be advised
I can see from your standpoint why you would want to go to management. Less time doing bedside and more time behind a desk. Im not putting you down, just wanted to point out that management is an option for when you finish up school. Thats the great thing about nursing is that there are so many niches to be filled. Yeah I guess from a business standpoint the patient is the customer because its their insurance they use to pay for medical services.
Specializes in med/surg, cardiology, advanced care.
ZOMG! moogie, nursemike, and others have said it better than i could. the OP mentions a degree/tons of experience. reminds me of the nurse who told me about her bsn, msn as we
were introducing ourselves to each other during a shift, then asked me if she should microwave the prbcs before hanging because they were so cold
as a student, you don't yet know what you don't know, remember 2 ears, 1 mouth...
ZOMG! moogie, nursemike, and others have said it better than i could. the OP mentions a degree/tons of experience. reminds me of the nurse who told me about her bsn, msn as we
were introducing ourselves to each other during a shift, then asked me if she should microwave the prbcs before hanging because they were so cold
as a student, you don't yet know what you don't know, remember 2 ears, 1 mouth...
Maybe you hit he nail on the head here...promote 'em up to management where they can do less harm
OP, just for the record, I disagree with most of what you've posted. I as well think you have come accross as very arrogant, condescending and rude.
However, my question to you is-why not just get a health care administration/management degree instead of nursing? You seem to have all the answers. Heck, you should teach the program.
I don't think you are rude or condescending. I have come across the bitter, bad, and ugly. Most of the time it is older nurses (older being those that were nursing back in 76 or those that are age 66 or so----lol) but sometimes the bitter can be those that have just become bitter in nursing and are afraid to step out and do something new. It's best to deal with them by just being straight up and giving them a piece of your mind. I do it all of the time and when those "charge nurses" attempt to give me
Thanks Moogie :) Yes, this is the net, but these attitudes prevail in the workplace too. It just gets ridiculous. I think we should remember to be kind to each other, as well as our patients.
I disagree. It is absolutely possible to be angry, even furious, yet completely rational. Anger can only be cnstructively channeled through rational thought. So, you're saying that when you are angry, you're irrational. Poor managment skill.
I have to completely agree with u on this one. It is absolutely possible. And, yes, poor mgmt skills, indeed.
Maybe you hit he nail on the head here...promote 'em up to management where they can do less harm 
nursemike, ASN, RN
1 Article; 2,362 Posts
Your point of view is mistaken. You've said what's on your mind, and you certainly have that right, but those of us who've found at least some of what you've said obnoxious or offensive, or simply mistaken, have as much right to our opinions and are in all likelihood quite as capable of rational thought. You made the choice to speak of old, bitter, dried-up nurses. You later retracted the term, "old," but continue to speak of eager young nurses coming up to set things right. There's nothing wrong with being young (even just new) and idealistic. Quite a lot of nurses enter the field that way. Those of us who are successful in the field necessarily learn to be realists. There are, of course, those in every walk of life who mistake cynicism for realism, but I would suggest that inexperience can sometimes lead one to mistake realism for cynicism. A lot of the resistance to the sort of customer service model you advocate (and you truly aren't the first to do so) has nothing to do with a lack of care or compassion, but a profound weariness with what seem like endless attempts to create cookie-cutter scripts and patient care templates that might have a place in industrial engineering, but aren't nearly adequate for nursing, which is a profoundly human endeavor. At its finest, the nurse-patient relationship is an extraordinarily intimate connection, and the art of nursing is the expression of something which is often ineffable through a medium which is almost infinitely variable. We perform our art against a whole array of currents: patients who don't really want to be well, bean-counters who care more about the bottom line than about human suffering, regulators and administrators who are so obsessed with standardization that they would leave no room for excellence, other than in lip service.
I have cared for dying patients with a spouse of several decades at their bedside, have seen love of a depth and breadth that no teen ardor could possibly rival. I've heard sighs convey a range of emotions intermingled that no poet can put into words. And I have seen nurses whose passion for their field has a similar maturity, for whom nursing is no longer what they do, but what they are. And when you speak of some horrible, heartless excuse for a nurse, and the first thing you notice is that they are old, when you would instruct those who practice in a realm of nuance and attention to details with slogans and generalizations, well, it does get a little annoying.
Last night I watched a first year nurse half my age perform magnificently. I kid you not that I'm a little choked up writing about it, and the moreso because her patient, who had every reason in the world to be angry or bitter, understood exactly what that brave little girl was doing for her. I vow to you here that, to my limited ability, whosoever would eat that young one is going to have to chew through some gristle to get there. I also watched a bitter, nasty young patient try to take a bite out of an older, experienced nurse, and when I asked that nurse to kiss some butt and make nice until shift change, for the good of the unit, she did it. She and I both know I owe her one, and I won't be asking her to do it again, tonight.
This is not a simple business. Like a Mandlebrot curve, it is complex on many levels. There is no single way to get a patient onto a bedpan; there is probably no single way to provide healthcare to a nation. Every intervention is an experiment. I spoke earlier of some unusual circumstances in which what my patient needed most at a moment was a kiss on the cheek. I was a little surprised no one pointed out how unprofessional that was--and it was. I've debated at length on other threads whether nursing is a profession or a trade. I've tended to like the skilled trade view, because it's practical and down to earth, but it occurs to me that what I've really disliked about the professional model--and no less the business model--is that it belittles my art. Marginally competent practitioner though I am, I am a nurse, and it is nurses who give nursing its meaning. Even the bitter ones are part of that. The tone and content of your post leads me to believe you don't get that. But it may show some promise that you care enough to be angry at nurses who don't do the job justice. Others have pointed out that bitter, dried up nurses don't retire because they can't afford to. I suggest you consider that administrators don't get rid of them for the same reason--they can't afford to. If you really want to improve the state of nursing, figure out a way to ensure that fewer magnificent young nurses like I spoke of become bitter and dried up. If you want to look at our profession as an industry, here's a simple bit of economics: patients are plentiful, skilled nurses are scarce. And those eager, hungry nurses in the pipeline cost a lot of money to get up to speed.