I am having one of those days that just brings me to my knees in terms of my faith or enthusiasm for this profession.
I see SO much adamant, flagrant unprofessionalism in my colleagues, and my managers and leadership.
I see the quotient of profits quickly overtaking people as a priority on all levels of practice. It's sickening how pervasive this is. And accepted.
I have only been at this a few years and am beginning to see grad school (for something unrelated) as a means to get OUT of this mess, and save my quality of life at age 42. Life is too short to be this miserable.
Compassion and fastidiousness are no longer compatible with this line of work.
I am very well aware of it; I work for this corp. I have taken a pay cut, and other "take backs" with each successive contract. Our staffing has decreased year by year. I have a deductible and a 20% copay. I have never heard of a facility fee on top on the office visit fee before this corp. took over, but it is legal. What I was answering was the question about hospitals and money.
On the other hand, I still have a job, my manager is working with me about the extended leave I have needed, and I do have insurance that is bearing the brunt of these massive bills. I know why these charges exist (pharmacy hoods, protection against exposing my coworkers to the repeated toxic effects of these drugs is neither easy nor cheap). Hospitals do have to charge for all the overhead, and to cover the non-insured. Yes all that money goes somewhere, but not nearly enough of it toward staffing.
I believe that you are referring to those who have earned a "bachelor's degree" (or less); Ordinarily, I would not point out the lack of an apostrophe, however, I would have thought that an individual in possession of an advanced degree might at least use snarky comments in a grammatically correct manner.
And yes, I am very well aware of how not for profit entities work. They hide behind their tax exempt status to enrich the few at the expense of the many. Simply put, many, if not most of them should lose their status in my humble opinion because in real terms they provide very little community benefit or charity care.
And yes, hospitals are exceptionally expensive; I think we all know that the money "goes somewhere" as you put it. But some of us believe that the money could be better spent on caring for patients, rather than making a handful of leaches fabulously wealthy.
I will admit to the stinking thinking. Patients want to totally disregard their health and when they do it long enough and get sick they want to be cured so they can abuse themselves some more.
I don't blame "corporate-ism" . . . . I blame bureaucracy.
The myriad rules and regs ........the requirements for charting via computer (and having one system for the ER, one for acute, one for wound care, one for the operating room, one for hospice) . . . .drives me crazy.
I'm a school nurse and the bureaucracy drives me crazy there as well which is why after this year, I'm getting out. So many mandates but not enough time to complete them.
For me, it is the government's involvement that is breaking down the majority of the system. We just had an audit in hospice and the things they ding you for are absolutely ridiculous.
Oh the good old days of paper charting and just caring for the patient. I will say that mission nursing is still as close as I've come to just being a nurse and caring for patients. I've been to Vietnam twice with a medical mission team and it was wonderful.
Not knocking on the OP specifically, but whats with all the nurses who seem to blame all hospitals problems on money.
Well, we are being blamed for readmits with in 30 days( you must not have taught the pt properly). We're being blamed for all the falls that pts take. We are being blamed for UTI's. We are being blamed for skin breakdown.Etc Etc.
These things are not paid for. The hospital eats these readmissions. They cut into the shareholder's profits. Someone needs tro be blamed.We cost the hospitals money from their profits also.
We see the cutting of staff, cutting of supplies, cutting of services, etc. Its more important that the stockholders get their bonuses than us lowlifes get what we need to take care of the sick patients.
I believe that you are referring to those who have earned a "bachelor's degree" (or less); Ordinarily, I would not point out the lack of an apostrophe, however, I would have thought that an individual in possession of an advanced degree might at least use snarky comments in a grammatically correct manner.
I don't think writer was being snarky- was just pointing out that we get paid decent for an diploma or AAS nursing degree better than some other AAS degrees do.
Stop letting idiot coworkers dictate how you feel about your profession. Instead allow your own example and actions determine how you feel about your profession.
For what it's worth, I am constantly annoyed by unprofessional coworkers. What I do in response is to try to make my own practice that much more professional - and satisfying - by not emulating them. This has a double effect: First, you feel good. Second, nothing your idiot coworkers can do, think or say, can make you feel bad about yourself.
I first instituted this attitude during my first healthcare job as a CNA in a nightmare nursing home. Will some coworkers hate you and try to get to you or freeze you out? They sure will, but do we really care how "flagrantly unprofessional" colleagues feel about us?
Not knocking on the OP specifically, but whats with all the nurses who seem to blame all hospitals problems on money.
Because money is what drives a facility.
Because the bottom line is what is changing the profession to include scripts, and customer service, and magnetism, and other illusions that are meant for patients to THINK that a nurse is invested in their outcome, but in reality, between having to do more with a whole lot less and do it for 8-9 patients per 1 nurse , nurses being thrown under the bus for not being kind to a patient's visitors or not keeping a quiet environment, and long term nurses being edged out for ones that expect a whole lot less pay and benefits....well, it is disillusioning, and not what any number of nurses thought they were getting into.
Specializes in Occupational health, Corrections, PACU.
I'm feeling extremely negative about my job, my place of employment, and my patients. I don't know if it's the season. I don't know if it's a life stage. I just know I absolutely don't care about any of the people I'm supposed to take care of. I'm going through the motions, and I'm doing a really bad job.
No pep talk here.
Maybe after the new year
Just an observation, here. No judgement. If you are feeling that you cannot care for your patients that depend on you, that would signal to me that you are simply "burned out". Caregiver burn out is real and documented. If you need a break, take one. Go to your EAP program and get some counseling. Take a couple of months away. And/or search for a new place to work. There are places out there that are rewarding to work, and different areas of nursing that you may not have explored. Or maybe after a short break, you won't feel the same way about the same place. People get afraid to change things up a bit. Sometimes a switch to another type of nursing is a leap of faith, but many good things come from leaps of faith. Rejuvenation can happen, or possibly a nostalgic longing for what you left, and perhaps realize that you really were happy there after all...you just needed a temporary change of scenery. GET OUT there and explore other avenues of nursing.
In response to above:Just an observation. How is one supposed to "take a break" who will pay the bills? I would , and desperately need, to take a break, but that means I would have to file bankruptcy as my spouses income can not support this family.Would lose house, etc.
That's why for me this is a big struggle- I want to quit, but since I have no other skills, I have to stay in this job despite being burnt to a crisp.
........the requirements for charting via computer (and having one system for the ER, one for acute, one for wound care, one for the operating room, one for hospice) . . . .drives me crazy.
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JBudd, MSN
3,836 Posts
I am very well aware of it; I work for this corp. I have taken a pay cut, and other "take backs" with each successive contract. Our staffing has decreased year by year. I have a deductible and a 20% copay. I have never heard of a facility fee on top on the office visit fee before this corp. took over, but it is legal. What I was answering was the question about hospitals and money.
On the other hand, I still have a job, my manager is working with me about the extended leave I have needed, and I do have insurance that is bearing the brunt of these massive bills. I know why these charges exist (pharmacy hoods, protection against exposing my coworkers to the repeated toxic effects of these drugs is neither easy nor cheap). Hospitals do have to charge for all the overhead, and to cover the non-insured. Yes all that money goes somewhere, but not nearly enough of it toward staffing.