Ever Feel Inadequate?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi Everyone,

I have worked in various departments and facilities as a nurse with five years of experience. I was also an ER Tech before becoming a nurse. I am in a new department, a Med/Surg Tele. My background has been mostly float pool and in ER, ICU, SNF.

In my new setting and reflecting back on my career, I often feel like a complete failure. On my commute home, all I can think about is what I should have done, could have done, and did not do right. I do realize hindsight is 20/20 and I have never broken any rules or hurt a patient. I think I just beat myself up constantly for not being good enough. I look at all my coworkers and I always think about how much better of a nurse they are, compared to how I feel about myself.

I find that I am personally better with things outside of direct patient care and that is my future goal, but I do really want to learn more about floor nursing before going into another role.

Do you ever feel this way? Any tips? I would just like to leave work every now and then and think to myself, "Wow you did an awesome job today". Rather then, "Wow how did I survive today" or "Wow I suck".

Thank you!

Specializes in as above.

so??? Stop over analysing it..just go to work. Learn!!!!

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Perhaps you should count on the charge nurse... to assist you with your assignment.

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Specializes in Float Pool - A Little Bit of Everything.
Perhaps you should count on the charge nurse... to assist you with your assignment.

Stalker Status! I would like to introduce "Been There, Done That" who is upset with my reply to her on another board and is stalking my replies and attempting to bring her practice of lateral violence in nursing into AllNurses.com. That is a stellar leadership example right there! In case anyone wants to catch up on why this person is stalking me, please read https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/am-i-a-1059326-page3.html#post9109001

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You hit the nail on the head. Nurses are always expected to know the answers, right off the top of their head, what to do, how to fix this, how to get that done, etc. Doctors, patients, society, our own profession.... They all expect super human abilities from us on a daily basis!

I would say that because leadership focuses and thinks "finances" it has come to the point where healthcare has become a dehumanizing experience in which nurses are seen as less human.

I do not necessarily think that perfection is expected as I have seen a huge shift towards the just culture and culture of safety.

A lot of nurses put themselves under stress because they expect to be perfect, never to make a mistake, and to complete all tasks by the end of the shift. Expectations by leadership and nurses are often totally unrealistic and the unexpected often changes the game plan. Today I talked to a nurse who had a full assignment but was mostly in one patient's room because of the amount of things going on. She was not able to complete everything or even catch up much but the other nurse who came on understood and picked up where she had left. There was no inquisition or nutty expectation from the other nurse.

I think we need to understand that the workload in many or perhaps most places is so much that nurses simply can not do it all and have to prioritize. The healthcare system and the way we deliver care has to change but nurses do not speak up enough and when they do , like at the Brigham's, other nurses say it is all about the money...

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Specializes in Float Pool - A Little Bit of Everything.
I would say that because leadership focuses and thinks "finances" it has come to the point where healthcare has become a dehumanizing experience in which nurses are seen as less human.

I do not necessarily think that perfection is expected as I have seen a huge shift towards the just culture and culture of safety.

A lot of nurses put themselves under stress because they expect to be perfect, never to make a mistake, and to complete all tasks by the end of the shift. Expectations by leadership and nurses are often totally unrealistic and the unexpected often changes the game plan. Today I talked to a nurse who had a full assignment but was mostly in one patient's room because of the amount of things going on. She was not able to complete everything or even catch up much but the other nurse who came on understood and picked up where she had left. There was no inquisition or nutty expectation from the other nurse.

I think we need to understand that the workload in many or perhaps most places is so much that nurses simply can not do it all and have to prioritize. The healthcare system and the way we deliver care has to change but nurses do not speak up enough and when they do , like at the Brigham's, other nurses say it is all about the money...

I definitely agree with you. I am very interested in value based purchasing and the way it has negatively impacted nurses. Just the other day my boss said that nurses are of no financial benefit to hospitals. I almost fell out of my seat. I brought up the fact that good nurses are proven to be one of the biggest factors in cost savings for hospitals because we impact patient satisfaction scores, outcomes, readmits, fall numbers, hospital acquired infection rates, etc. The work of a team of good nurses can save millions of dollars every year for hospitals. My boss didn't quite see it my way, I am determined to change their mind.

I also agree that we have to reform healthcare and the profession. I hope more nurses dive into advocacy work and help the movement. We have to decide enough is enough and demand change. I hope to make my way professionally to Capitol Hill to make such changes one day!

You make a good point about our expectations being unrealistic. Sometimes just surviving the shift is the best you can get.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

I also agree that we have to reform healthcare and the profession. I hope more nurses dive into advocacy work and help the movement. We have to decide enough is enough and demand change. I hope to make my way professionally to Capitol Hill to make such changes one day!

.

The thing is....nurse have been advocates and have been promoting a culture of safety...nursing ratios in CA is a GREAT example of advocacy; nurses speaking up about how unsafe taking care of a Ebola pt and for the ones who pushed for changes were not only advocating, these example are healthcare activism; mainly performed by UNIONIZED nurses.

Once people reform how people in this business accept and level the playing field from people who are ill advised, pathologically indifferent, pressured, and illogical, and NOT be afraid to collectively ensure that we drive this business and continue to be scare of the "U" word, then progress will be stunted.

There are plenty of working nurses who fear for their JOBS and fear to speak out when something is wrong or don't make sense, although ADVOCACY is our MAIN skill and rationale to what we do...

When people scoff and lament about how they are a "doctor's handmaiden" when they have the main POWER to at least ensure a patient's safety and that being a nurse can be VERY empowering, we would get an overwhelming support and pressure to the powers that be to do what's right by us, for the sake of public health.

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I have only been a nurse for a little less than 7 months, so I suppose it's still kind of "expected" that I would feel like I don't know anything and would beat myself up over what I could have done differently after each shift. I work in short-term rehab (of the post-op kind, not the addiction/mental health kind). Our ratios fluctuate from 5:1 up to 20:1. And I often feel like I'm drowning.

Then my A&Ox1 patient remembers my face. Not my name. My face. I guess I'm still kind of in that naive "I just want to help people and make their lives a little better" stage, because damn it if that old man remembering my face doesn't just make my day.

Or when the new admit COPD/anxiety patient thanks me for spending a few extra minutes bedside to talk with her, not about her treatment plan or medications or doctor, but about how she is a little embarrassed that I have to see her without her dentures in and she didn't get a chance to get her hair done today.

I don't look forward to getting hard and jaded like some appear to be here or like some of the nurses I work with. I suppose it might be inevitable. In the meantime, I'll keep grabbing onto these little wins, so my post-shift beat up isn't quite so horrible.

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I definitely agree with you. I am very interested in value based purchasing and the way it has negatively impacted nurses. Just the other day my boss said that nurses are of no financial benefit to hospitals. I almost fell out of my seat. I brought up the fact that good nurses are proven to be one of the biggest factors in cost savings for hospitals because we impact patient satisfaction scores, outcomes, readmits, fall numbers, hospital acquired infection rates, etc. The work of a team of good nurses can save millions of dollars every year for hospitals. My boss didn't quite see it my way, I am determined to change their mind.

I also agree that we have to reform healthcare and the profession. I hope more nurses dive into advocacy work and help the movement. We have to decide enough is enough and demand change. I hope to make my way professionally to Capitol Hill to make such changes one day!

You make a good point about our expectations being unrealistic. Sometimes just surviving the shift is the best you can get.

Actually - value-based care is your friend here. Because the focus is on outcome and quality , not quantity. Meaning that if you do a good job and the outcome is good the hospital gets paid, if the outcome is not good or they do not meet certain measures - payment is reduced or perhaps even held.

What your manager said makes no sense as nursing care is already factored into bundled payments for example. What the manager probably thinks is that there is no way to measure "productivity" in a way that it reconciles with the financially driven mind and decisions.

If you are interested in those topics I can recommend "Quantum Leadership" and "Value by Design"

Quantum Leadership: Building Better Partnerships for Sustainable Health: 9781284

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Specializes in as above.

NO..never expect Charge Nurse to do your dirty work for you!. You have to learn. and focus.

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