Does anyone else ever envy their patients?

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Jun 21, 2017

Absolutely not. Just being in a hospital or SNF as a visitor makes me depressed and I cannot wait to leave. The thought of being the patient horrifies me.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Jun 21, 2017

I envy the little babies I care for because they have their whole lives ahead of them and they can sleep all day and in a warm isolette. I am approaching my late twenties and am already almost a third way done with my life.

I would never envy the elderly. Ever heard of the saying, "youth is wasted on the young"? It is a saying for a reason.

FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2017

Be honest--do you ever the patients you take care of, even just a little bit?
It probably sounds wrong, but I often do envy the patients I take care of. Ultimately, they get to choose their schedule their way. If they want to sleep in, they can. If they want to stay up all night, that's their choice, too. They don't have to wake up to any responsibilities. They can sit around and watch TV all day, read, color, or pretty much whatever they like. They're able to order around staff members and can get upset when things aren't just the way they want, and get away with it. However, if I were to start demanding things from others...well, you can guess how well that would go. I wish I could have a call light to press every time I needed every single little thing. One patient stays in bed all day and all night, except when she goes to the bathroom; as someone who loves to sleep, I would totally love to have that life. Instead, I get to work two jobs and some nights get barely 5 hours of sleep while they do basically nothing all day and have all the time in the world to sleep.
Is there any way to speed up my life so I can finally reach the age where I get to sleep all day, lol?

Are your patients in a hospital because they are acutely ill? Not a life I would want.

It sounds like you need to adjust your life so that you have more time to relax. It's messing with your perspective.

iPink, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2017

Never envious of my patients. In fact, I get to wake up whenever I want, lounge around all day and bing watch tv/movies the four days that I'm off from work. It's my family members who are envious when I tell them I'm off 4-5 days in a row and plan to have a staycation during that time.

allnurses Guide · Jun 21, 2017

Yeah I can relate to that. Dead people don't have to do anything at all.

Yeah, but like ...they are dead! I agree with some of the posters here who postulate you may be suffering from some form of depression. I suffered from Major Depressive disorder from about the age of 13 until about 10 years ago. It is largely in remission now thanks to help of some wonderful people who made up my care team. Still I was passively suicidal for 15 years and ultimately did try to take my life in 2002. So glad today that I did not succeed. Life is full of so many wonderful and joyous things. I suggest you seek out a consult with a mental health practitioner. You are far to young to feel that being dead is a viable option for living.

Peace and Namaste

Hppy

allnurses Guide · Jun 21, 2017

You seem to think that being ill = being lazy. That sort of annoys me.
I'm someone with a medical condition that "allows" me to stay in bed all day if needed. The reality of that is that I can't see well, or my head aches so badly I can't move, or I can't swallow and I keep choking. It sucks. I can't imagine anyone wishing for that kind of life. You have no actual idea what it's like.
Maybe instead of wishing you were sick, you should make changes in your life that would enable you to work only one job and have more time to be lazy.

I have to agree with Jen - I have fibromyalgia, Ulcerative colitis and CRPS. What this translates into is the fact that I am in constant unremitting pain (All the time). My pain level hovers around 5-6/10 on a good day. There I times when I take to my bed but it's not due to laziness let me assure you. About 10 years ago I started making positive changes in my life. Reduced my work schedule, took up some hobbies, Planted a garden, started really raising my son, gave of alcohol and rediscovered what a great guy my husband was.

Life is about balance my friend.

Peace and Namaste

Hppy

duca · Jun 21, 2017

If someone dying of cancer wants to stay up all night, that's ok, but hardly anything to envy.

PCzoonurse · Jun 21, 2017

Don't envy anyone's illness. Being sick is no fun. Even a little illness means I'm off from work but can't do a thing. It's no fun.

But I have envied my patients being able to sleep when I worked night shift. Could never shake it once 2 am hit. No kidding I would tell my bed see you in a few hours. Hated it.

Did if for five years. Maybe changing shifts will help a bit.

Zyprexa · Jun 21, 2017

I work in an inpatient, locked psych unit....so no, I do not envy my patients.

debrasimons · Jun 21, 2017

Certainly I do not know many people who would prefer to be bedridden or unable to live a normal life and be active instead of relying on others for simple care and complex care . Being independent instead of dependent on others is a far cry better than being a patient anywhere and I feel sorry for those people not envious.

And that's the goal of healthcare --to hopefully help them get back to their activities of daily living at whatever level they can or at the least to offer Solace and comfort in their days of their lives.

And if they can eventually recover that is the optimum goal so they don't have to lie around in bed all day which is extremely unhealthy in and of itself.

purplegal · Jun 21, 2017

OP it sounds like you need to make some adjustments in life. You may need to quit you tech job, focus on your nurse job. Also, it sounds like you may need a vacation to give yourself a break, even if it is just for a few days. Spend some time with your mom, just the two of you, or with some female friends. Life always has its up and downs, there are some days I would love to hang out at the pool and really do nothing... that is normal feelings. I would love for someone to come and ring me food and drinks. When I go on vacation that is exactly what will happen, but also vacation is not what pays the rent. Some years are just better than others. Sometimes you have to make big decisions and it can cause a lot of stress.
Stress can play games with you and cause you not to think as clearly.
For the others I do not think OP was trying to insinuate that being ill was all fun and games. I think she is just stressed and isn't seeing things clearly.

That really wasn't the intent of my post, but I can see how it came across that way to others. Sometimes, it gets tiring constantly giving and giving to others when you barely have time to recover from a shift. Every once in a while, you need an eye opener to remind yourself that these people really have very little choices in their life, and so the ones they do, should be respected. In one way or another, they are suffering, and it's important to remember that the next time you feel that someone's pushed the call light one too many times.

purplegal · Jun 21, 2017

Pixie Rose you & your mother areare in my thoughts.
Have you ever been hospitalized? I take it you haven't became if you have you wouldn't have made this post. The last place I wanna be when I'm that sick is the hospital. You don't get to sleep in, you are disturbed because they have to check your vitals. The bed is not that comfortable. I do not stay up all night by choice.
You obviously need to see a psychiatrist & need to cut back on your jobs. Why are you working 2 jobs?

No, I have never been hospitalized and this post wasn't really referring to those patients in the hospital. Regardless, the people I am working with, for one reason or another, can no longer live on their own and while it seems like some of them have all the free time in the world, in reality that's probably not how they perceive it, since in one way or another they have to rely on someone else to get some of the even basic things completed. I'm sure they probably wish they could do things for themselves rather than waiting in hopes that someone will respond to their need. For example, they would probably prefer to use the bathroom right away on their own rather than wait 15 minutes for someone to even respond to their light.