First Year Horror

ivyleaf · Oct 18, 2017

I have never worked med surg, but can totally relate to the surprise of how entitled a lot of people (and patients are people) can be. You really realize this as a nurse. I have been a nurse for about 10 years, and feel pretty burnt out.

The good news is that you can move on to another sitting after getting a year or so of experience. I would try to stick it out a year b/c once you have that "golden" year of med/surg, you are much more marketable elsewhere. Also, frontline staff will respect you more as a manger if you have been in the trenches.

As far as getting things and running around, I am sure your time management skills will improve (I am not saying that your acuity/pt load isn't high, I'm just saying you can only go up from here), and you'll feel more competent.

Hang in there! You don't have to stay in this job forever.

Sour Lemon · Oct 18, 2017

Hello all!
I'm a new graduate, having finished school in December '16! My intentions were to work in home health, a clinic, and/or eventually go back to school to pursue a masters in health administration. I unfortunately got stuck on a Med-Surg unit and literally want to cry every time I have to go to work. I absolutely HATE the patients and I don't exactly love my managers.
I understand that my job is to care and be an advocate for my patient, but when 80% of the patients I care for are just FLAT OUT RUDE, how am I supposed to show compassion? I used to go through school clinicals and hear nurses say "you will lose your compassion" and I was like "nah, that won't be me". WELL IT IS! Within less than a year I literally cannot genuinely have compassion for my patients. People are so entitled and have such attitudes they are miserable to be around. I do EVERYTHING for for them all day long, and they continue to be ungrateful.
Our floor, being a med-surg floor is a great starting point for many nurses so our staff is constantly shifting. Unfortunately, no one likes the unit either so everyone wants to leave, which inevitably leaves us caring for 6 patients a piece. Now yes, I understand many nurses care for 6 patients, but on our floor we receive very sick patients and with the level of acuity rising in the general population, this comes down to one conclusion...UNSAFE. I am constantly forgetting things and overlooking things throughout my day. I don't have time to sit and have a 5 min conversation because Betty down the hall won't stop calling me because she wants some ice and Larry can't seem to understand "call before you get up" so his bed alarm keeps going off, while Susie is calling patient satisfaction because I didn't give her pain medicine an hour early.
When I started nursing, I was proud of myself and I had a drive to do my job well. I am so physically and mentally exhausted, I don't even spend my off days doing things for myself anymore. I spend them sleeping. I feel like this year has been such an eye-opening experience and unfortunately, nursing is not what I expected. Half of my dissatisfaction could be due to the fact I'm a new nurse and figuring out my journey, but I do 100% know that a lot of my frustration stems from the fact that nurses are unappreciated and undervalued. We do everything for our patients and physicians and management get all the praise.
What ive learned is that it's so important to have a strong support group in your job setting and outside because the stress that comes with nursing cannot be dealt with alone. Thank you for reading my vent! I hope someone can relate.

Adjust your expectations and think of those people as "job security". You can (and should) look to your personal life for the warm-fuzzies. As a new grad, I had eight heavy patients and an LVN to cover who also had eight patients. It was acute care ortho (plus a bunch of other stuff) and I had to get initial report on all 16 so that I could be blamed if anything went wrong. You have my sympathy, in other words.

jennylee321 · Oct 18, 2017

You said you graduated in December 2016? How many months have you actually been at your job?

daytoday · Oct 18, 2017

Oh, I feel you. I did a little over a year in Oncology, then a year in Heme/Onc at two major hospitals, with a very attainable goal to move into BMT ICU. In fact, I was asked to apply for it - I changed my mind. I moved into hospice telephone triage - in an office building, at a desk, in a room with about five or six other nurses, all of us basically handling an entire state. Are the patients and families still demanding, are people still demeaning? You bet. Would I trade my hospital experience? No way- I worked with some of the most incredible nurses I have ever seen, my experience was a true trial by fire that literally MADE me, MTV style- I wouldn't even be capable of triage without that time. But I would have to be in very dire straights to return to hospital bedside nursing. Patient safety, my own safety, and massive amounts of stress with impossible task loads were my reasons for leaving that environment, and in nearly a year I have not regretted it for one second.

oceangirl1234 · Oct 18, 2017

I can definitely relate to what you are saying! It is actually insane how many people think that being in the hospital is a vacation...and that I am their servant. Some patients (and their families) are down right nasty, but some of them are going through some really tough times that I wouldn't wish upon anyone. I always make sure to set boundaries and "kill them with kindness". By having 5-6 high acuity patients per shift, your time management skills will get better with time (I promise).

There are always those patients and families that are so thankful and sweet and express this. They may be fewer and far between the rude ones, but it gives me faith in humanity and gives me a confidence boost to keep doing what I am doing. Some days will just suck and that's okay. You will find those moments that make you remember why you wanted to become a nurse.

guest52816 · Oct 18, 2017

Please feel free to come to this site and vent. It can feel so good sometimes, just to vent.

I started out as new graduate in the CVICU. And I can tell you that some patients in the CVICU were just as rude and ungrateful as my current Med-Surge patients. Although, to be perfectly truthful, the latter are a bit more ungrateful.

As Sour Lemon suggested, look upon these folks as job security. That is how I often look at my COPD patients who continue to smoke. They are the ultimate in job security!

Please go back to doing some good self-care for yourself. Read a book. Get a massage. Go for a hike with friends. Do anything in your off time that will help to recharge yourself.

Best wishes!

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Oct 18, 2017

"All the world's a stage, and we are merely players." Oh no Betty! I am so sorry it took me so long to get your ice! Should I run up 3 flights of stairs to get the crushed kind you like?

Think of yourself as an actress, until you get enough experience to blow that pop stand.

Worked for me.

Sunshine716 · Oct 21, 2017

I think this is a great place to come vent and express your frustrations with people who get it. So first, I want to validate so many of the feelings that you have that often nursing can be a horribly difficult job that is unappreciated and even at times a field where you can be verbally, physically, and emotionally abused. It's not ok for that to happen to you or anyone. However, I do want to say as a nurse and healthcare provider it's not ok to blanketly "hate" your patients. I understand burn out, but you've only been at it for a year so I would say to try to get out of there ASAP because patients pick up on that and if that is where you are coming from emotionally it is not healthy for you or for them. I've been a nurse for 14 years so I get it. It's hard and I can't even tell you all of the stories, but it's not fair to your patients that they FEEL that attitude towards them. You may not realize that they sense your hardness towards them. It's the worst time of their lives. We go home at the end of the day. They do not. Many of their lives are forever changed. Ours our not. Sure their insult may sting for a minute or wound our pride, but ultimately we are in a place of power and they are coming from a place of fear and powerlessness. Some of this has got to be resolved within you because 100% of the blame doesn't belong on the patients, or the staff, but we have to take responsibility for our attitude and mindset.

Orion81RN · Oct 21, 2017

We hear all the time, "Well think of the stress and suffering they are going through. It's a coping mechanism." Before I even considered entering the health field, I had been "in dire straights" in the ICU then step down units. I managed just fine to not be a jerk to my nurses and other staff. I think we bend to people's behavior too easily. Thus the behavior continues. This customer service crap is just that. Crap. If I'm in an emergency, I don't stop to think about the last billboard that boasted its greatness and say to the medics, "Excuse me. I heard General Hospital had nice nurses. Take me there cabbie!"

Yep, they treat medics like jerks too. As if they are chofers. Doctors are starting to feel the heat too, though. Especially in an office setting where you very much have at least some choice in who your provider is. I hear complaints from my patients about their doctor's all the time.

Welcome to feeling jaded. It sucks.