Early burnout?

CUCU · Aug 5, 2000

Hi, I am a RN working in the OR for one year. I am a nurse for just 3 years. At the begining, I worked as a med/surg nurse. When I started in the OR, I have felt little by little the burn out getting me. I supposed to finish working every day at3:30PM, but my boss is very demanding asking all staff to stay, so I am working about 12 hours every day plus the "on calls". Nobody explained to me when I signed the contrat for OR that I have to work the hours that the OR could decide to ask me for. I am very disappointed with my job. I am very disappoited with the way that some surgeons are treating RNs as inferior and unrespectfully. The sadest thing is that administration does not do anything about it because surgeons are their income, and we are JUST nurses.

spunky · Aug 6, 2000

I feel people burn for many reasons. Personaly i feel the biggest is that we go to school for 2-4 yrs to become a "professional" ----thats what all those nursing instructors said---only to be treated like a glorified waitress. Pt loads are horrible and pay is crummy for what we do.

Jo_deye_yuh · Aug 6, 2000

What an oxymoron doctors are. They go through years of training and education to care for the sick and injured. When they finally get to the point of treating patients and get the title of Dr., they become obsessed with $$. Then each pt is seen as $$, each diagnostic test or lab is $$. Then the pts get in the way of their tee time or travel plans. The staff around them are 'servants', that are to do as they order and put up with their verbal abuse and antics. Even though the staff is educated and talented, they are treated as though they are mindless grunts.

I have only worked with a small percentage of drs who still "care", and view the staff amoung them with respect and value their input and tireless efforts. They say 'please and thank you', and even cancel their plans to follow up on their pts. They do not go above their 'means $$' and display the true reason for being heads of healthcare. It does not take long to break under the duress and stress of verbal abuse, unrealistic job demands, and time constraints.

Mijourney · Aug 7, 2000

Originally posted by Jo_deye_yuh:
What an oxymoron doctors are. They go through years of training and education to care for the sick and injured. When they finally get to the point of treating patients and get the title of Dr., they become obsessed with $$. Then each pt is seen as $$, each diagnostic test or lab is $$. Then the pts get in the way of their tee time or travel plans. The staff around them are 'servants', that are to do as they order and put up with their verbal abuse and antics. Even though the staff is educated and talented, they are treated as though they are mindless grunts.

I have only worked with a small percentage of drs who still "care", and view the staff amoung them with respect and value their input and tireless efforts. They say 'please and thank you', and even cancel their plans to follow up on their pts. They do not go above their 'means $$' and display the true reason for being heads of healthcare. It does not take long to break under the duress and stress of verbal abuse, unrealistic job demands, and time constraints.

Hi Jo_deye_yuh,

I agree with your assessment of most physicians and their frequently blatant effort in making a lot of money, a killing as bunky mentioned in another topic. The actions of physicians, hospital and health care executives, some lawyers, pharmaceuticals, and their lobbyists have made the lives of most frontline workers miserable. In my opinion, there is not much that can be done to reverse the mentality of greed, at least not in the states. In fact, the level and pursuit of greed has to be maintained to keep at least 14 percent of the GDP from nosediving and causing a worldwide depression. Somehow, we must find the strength to support the holistic interdisciplinary model that was offered years ago as opposed to the extreme capitalistic, limited medical model. Physicians only need to be supported as team leaders of patient and medical care, not of health care which is holistic. Even though some are trying to prove otherwise and some medical schools are restructuring, physicians are only trained to diagnose, treat, and cure. Most are not even effective with palliative measures and death and dying. They are not trained nor expected by society to be well-rounded as nurses are. If we see the lessening of the effects of the medical model, then I believe we will see less stress and burnout. Until then, we are on a downward spiral, fast.

Jo_deye_yuh · Aug 8, 2000

Mijourney-- Agreed. What I have found with drs from a variety of specialities is, when I allowed them to play the head games and power trips over me, they did and how! But when I would point out an error they made whether med error or dx error per hx, they seemed to do a turn around. Also, I tend to be one who only acts submissive until I then (for good or bad) stand up to them. Whether it be my smart a**, sarcastic humor, I belt one at 'em. Then a battle for wit ensues and soon the next time I have to interact with that dr, I am treated more as a colleague and subsidiary than a subordinate. So many have a stuffy, dry humor, but I still find a way to humanize myself to them. I find humor is my most valuable characteristic that helps not only my patients, but also in my dealings with co-workers...from dr to tech. Plus with laughter and humor, BURN OUT is lessened.

I have said this joke before but here it is again... *Did you hear about the dead, naked nurse that washed up on shore today?

*How did they know it was a NURSE?

*Her stomach was empty, her bladder was full, and her a** was chewed out!

HA HA...Have a good day! ~Jodie

[This message has been edited by Jo_deye_yuh (edited August 08, 2000).]