CONTINUED IN WHAT IS THE MAJOR REASON Why are they all leaving?

krystaldragon721 · Nov 7, 2006

yikes! thats definitely grounds for a write up and counseling in your jacket!

ShelNewGrad · Nov 7, 2006

I am so shocked at how much RNs want to get away from their jobs...

I think there are so many professional & personal reasons for this. I will be leaving my present job shortly............because some RNs there are lazy, and they want me to work X-mas eve, xmas day, New yrs eve & New Yrs day.

I was so upset.................I am starting my own business in January because I'm so sick of all this.... I was studying for a second career while working 3 12-hr shifts so that worked out well for ME .

Take care & I hope this nursing short:o age doesnt last too long. What's the point of training RNs when they just want to leave anyway.

Hope this helps.

Shel

slrrn101 · Nov 7, 2006

they are leaving because of too many patients and not enough staff to provide the type of care we desire. i leave here many days frustrated because i did not get to give adequate teaching to my patients. i dont like to give mediocre care. supervisors expect you to carry a heavier patient load with half of the staff. also the pay is not that great!!!

CHPN in So Cal · Nov 7, 2006

I will NEVER work in a hospital setting again...when I had to get my year hospital experience after nursing school I worked in a university based medical center doing oncology and literally wanted to crash my car on the way to work so I wouldn't have to go. The stress was with me all the time. I would wake up in the middle of the night panicing because I couldn't remember if I'd completed a specific vital task. NO THANKS.

I do hospice nursing now. I can focus on the patient and family I am with as I am in their home and the office nurses handle patient calls. I am treated with respect by the physicians I work with and have an incredible amount of automy. And best of all, I am able to help my patients die comfortably and with dignity. I am a CHPN (Certified Hopice and Palliative Nurse) and am able to offer to my patients and familles my expertise. After 10 years I am still fascinated by my work and feel privledged to do it.

motoonz11 · Nov 7, 2006

Well, to begin with, hiring from the outside (canada) to my hospital pushed me out of the nursing position I was in - I don't blame the Canadians though because they need work too - but a whole crop coming in all at once? I don't take kindly to being pushed out of a position for another nurse to take. Second, it does not matter if a nurse is sick - "nurses don't get sick". I'm sure there are a number of nurses who would agree that if they called in ANDTRUTHFULLY were quite ill, they woiuld be punished for this -- I mean being placed on probation for excessive abscences (that would be 3 call-ins -non-consecutive mind you, during the flu season). Third, when I had to leave on medical disability due to my immune system problem (probaly becasue I was so stressed out), I had NO help from Human Resources - a duck could have done her job. Although I was part-time, my supervisor tried to force me to go Per Diem (WHILE ON DISABILITY???) no no no -- illegal.

Here's one - I know that it is a tough job, but I am really tired of nurses blaming other co-workers for THEIR mistakes. Ok I'm off my soap box now.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 8, 2006

I'm happy for you, congratulations! I guess I am so bored with nursing really, perhaps clinic nursing will shield you from the cynical immersion. Having steady hours is a really good feature. You Go!

Thanks for the supportive message. At first, I didn't think that I was 'validated' as a nurse by not 'paying my dues' and working on the floor, but then, I decided that I didn't care...the Creator placed me there for a reason, and that was because I needed to be safer.

krystaldragon721 · Nov 8, 2006

I love how the CNA will change it's tune..first the nursing shortage was because of the babyboomer retirement factor...now they're saying it's because there are not enough schools and not enough space in the schools there are to replenish the nursing shortage. But never a word about the high burnout rate or never a word about how even though they've fought for lower patient/nurse ratios the hospitals are getting around that by making each nurse do total nursing care and with patients on med-surg that should be in ICU!

Racin_Rick · Nov 8, 2006

I love how the CNA will change it's tune..first the nursing shortage was because of the babyboomer retirement factor...now they're saying it's because there are not enough schools and not enough space in the schools there are to replenish the nursing shortage. But never a word about the high burnout rate or never a word about how even though they've fought for lower patient/nurse ratios the hospitals are getting around that by making each nurse do total nursing care and with patients on med-surg that should be in ICU!

A lot of truth there. Our hospital hasn't hacked the CNAs yet, but they have cut the sitters way back.

wilbur's mom · Nov 8, 2006

I am a nursing instructor for a 1200 hr. LPN program in NY and I am TIRED, and overloaded with students and paperwork. A recent crisis, finding out in April as evidenced by the local ads for LPNs in our area, that per diem LPNs were paid $0.22 more an hour than I made, was the straw that broke my back. The boss at our BOCES, with respect and in honor of the absolutely necessary paperwork that goes with in front of the class teaching, returned our time sheets with a mandate to our program coordinator to amend our timesheet, remove any hours that were not backed up by the calendar, and never again allow submission of a time sheet that had prep time hours documented on it. If I am in front of my students in class for a 6 hour day, at least 3 hours of additional work is required to meet only the basic needs of our students. Never mind a power point or internet resource lesson on our white board. It takes an hour to review chapters and make teaching notes, an hour to write a lesson plan and format an exam, and an hour to correct that test, all previously done at home, unpaid, at my kitchen table. Not any more. Needless to say, we have been unable to date to replace 2 necessary instructors. I have 11 students in my clinical group. Picture our current hospital hospital workplace where overworked staff nurses look at the students as a warm body to carry some of their workload, no offense intended. It takes time to learn! I will no longer be doing any classroom teaching. A recent article in USA Today documents that 41,000 prospective nursing students where denied admission into a nursing program in 2005 because of a lack of faculty. Nursing shortage? What nursing shortage?

Rickymom · Nov 8, 2006

I too experienced all these things, no food, limited bathroom breaks. I hated the cell phone in my pocket going off when I was taking care of personal business. So I said forget this life is too short. I now work in utilization review. I miss the 3 days a week but I can eat, pee and make a phone call when I need too, no questions asked. I am still a nurse, make pretty good money (in fact, I make a little more because I work 40 hours instead of 36). It may not be for everybody but at 55 I can't do the floor anymore.

LDJRN · Nov 8, 2006

you know, i truly empathize with everyone here. i was "burnt-out" about 2 1/2 years ago. i was in my last rn semester, working as the evening lvn charge on a "medicare unit" (20 sub-acute patients and 20 ltc patients). i'd usually be the only nurse on the floor and those would be the days the higher-ups would leave early (on their way out of the door, they'd say, "call us if you need anything") and i'd get slammed with 2-3 admits (most which weren't even evaluated by a nurse before being accepted). no time for lunch, potty breaks; heck, i smoke and most days i'd work my 8 hours without a cigarette. management/administration were real piranhas; a very cut-throat/hostile environment. i was very bitter and needless to say, usually hyped up on phentermine (between working 40+hrs/wk and going to school full-time with a full-time clinical preceptorship in pp, i was running on fumes 24/7). this was me, every friday night after work: :biere:. i can say that i'm content where i work, now (a different facility, thank you, jesus). not happy; because it's not the area i feel i'm called for; just content. i let my job and disgruntle-ment towards it take over my life; nothing could've made me happy. now, i've come to realize that it's just about the same every where you go, and that being bitter was only hurting me. we all have bad days (i.e. 3-4 nurses when we're supposed to have 6, no aides, etc), but what can you do (excluding leaving) besides suck it up and handle it like a big girl/boy? it helps to have co-workers (on your shift, especially) that you can at least semi-trust. anyway, i hope things improve for all who are having these problems, now. everyone hits a rough patch now and again; you navigate through it and keep going. not trying to sound preachy, people; i just think if you're called to do something, you'd be able to deal with these things.

PANurseRN1 · Nov 9, 2006

Your coping mechanisms are smoking, taking meds, drinking, and yet you're telling others that if only they felt "called" they wouldn't be quite so stressed?

I hope you were aiming for irony big time in that post.