Burnout?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

]I've only been a nurse for 3 years, but I'm afraid I am completely burned out. I find myself wanting to do a public service announcement on how to be a good patient. I am sick to death of patients and patient's families complaining that daddy had to wait 20 minutes for a cup of coffee while I've been in the middle of a code. I'm sick of seeing family memebers out in the hall giving me the "stare down" like when am I going to come in their room (half the time it's not even my patient). Had a daughter of a patient the other day (an RN at that) and wanted to know why daddy didn't get shaved today. Well, lets see...we were working 3 nurses short, I had been there for 16 hours and I had 3 very critical patients that were very time consuming. You just don't always have time to do everything. I actually had one man blast me as soon as I hit the door about how he had been waiting 30 minutes for a cup of coffee. I explained to him that I had been in a code down the hall. He didn't care. I asked him if he were in a crisis situation would he want me stopping to get someone else a cup of coffee before coming to his aid? Family memebers want ot sit by the bedside and pester the crap out of the nurses and patients 24 hr a day, but God forbid they actually lift a finger to help their loved ones get a drink of water of get on to a bed pan. I often feel more like I'm working in a 5 star hotel rather than a hospital. Am I the only one who feels this way? :smackingf

Specializes in ICU.

It has been my observation that our patients and their families have been seriously behaving badly like spoiled, rotten, I, Myself and Me first kids.After 25+years in adult critical care,I have had it! Acute bedside nursing has robbed me of my love,caring and compassion for the sick.Our poor nursing students have nonsense requirements that in the end,they will barely use at the bedside where they(the new grads) are needed.Also,what is up with the other members of the healthcare team? Why is it that they try to dump their jobs on us? PT gets the pt up and leaves them in the chair and they don't come back to get them back to bed and expect nursing to do it.Case Managers that ask us to call the docs to ask them to transfer/change the pt status when the doc's notes clearly says will stay overnight(mind you this pt is fresh post-op).

An nurse admin who says that every nurse can precept a new grad to ICU and no, they will not get any extra compensation because"I believe that it is every nurses' responsibility to orient/precept".And many more irritating mindboggling nurse dissatisfying stress-inducing instances that occur rather too frequently lately!!!!!!Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

I am so done with bedside nuring and the Bs that go along with it.I want my sanity back.Yes,I have a new job and love it. At this point, money is not everything.

To everyone,take care of yourself first so you can continue to care for others.

There are so many times that I state..."so this is why they took the potassium IV off the floors." quote]

Who needs KCL? Think "pillow therapy"!

]I'm sick of seeing family memebers out in the hall giving me the "stare down" like when am I going to come in their room (half the time it's not even my patient).

This struck me as funny and made me remember the time I accompanied my private duty patient to the nursing home to visit a relative. Well, I decided to sit out in the visiting area so the family could have some privacy--I'd never been to this nursing home in my life. I was sitting lounged back, and this harsh looking woman marched over to me and told me so and so needed the bedpan. I just said in a nonchalant way oh she does? and I'm kind of dense but I then realized I was in my scrub suit and she apparently thought I worked there.

Then she barked out, she's been waiting the last HOUR (I didn't really know the situation, but having been in the nursing home scene before I know time seems to get exagerrated when it comes to how long people have been waiting for this or that).

Anyway, I could have cleared up the misunderstanding but...naa. So after she said that I just nodded and said oh wow, that's long time and kept sitting in the chair in the visitor's lounge. She was so angry she could hardly stand it and I could see how she was glaring at me and the rage was building up, while I sat there all innocent. About that time two aides came rolling a trash bin down the hall and into the bedpan waiting patient's room.

I imagine the aides cleared up the misunderstanding, but it was funny at the time.

Specializes in NICU.

.....

motorcyclemama, you're my hero.

:bow:

really?

i was thinking of that poor pt's bladder.

a simple "i don't work here" would have had nurse ratchett looking elsewhere for help for the pt.

leslie

Specializes in Gyn Onc, OB, L&D, HH/Hospice/Palliative.

This REALLYgets to me , and the managers want customer service,that'swhy they're called patient service managers now...whatever happened to nurse managers ??No one cares about us,they only care about press ganey, that is the sole purpose of weekly staff meetings...our press ganey scores, the ironic thing is we are the top units in the hospital but all we ever here is what a crappy job we do,how pts have to wait to be discharged, Our fault( not the md's wer'e waiting all day to put in the orders and rx's,) people want different rooms b/c the view is better.. the VIEW??? they should be grateful they have antibiotics, top surgeons, sterile equipment,go get a room in a third world country hospital and then complain about the "view" :angryfire

Lowly student here. Yes, people should be grateful that they have access to good medical care and highly educated nurses. But it seems to me that hospital marketing departments encourage them to behave like customers at a high-paying hotel.

One of the medical centers near me advertises that patients receive a "home-baked chocolate chip chookie" each day and brags about its four-star cuisine. It's even running ads touting a new surgical center, complete with "indoor trees and a wall-size aquarium." When you walk into the lobby of the 300-bed hospital in my home town, it's like walking into the Hyatt, complete with dramatic fountains (yes, fountains, plural), a sweeping glass staircase and a Starbucks. What's wrong with this picture?

No wonder patients treat nurses like maids and demand speedy room service. They've been told to expect it.

Lowly student here. Yes, people should be grateful that they have access to good medical care and highly educated nurses. But it seems to me that hospital marketing departments encourage them to behave like customers at a high-paying hotel.

One of the medical centers near me advertises that patients receive a "home-baked chocolate chip chookie" each day and brags about its four-star cuisine. It's even running ads touting a new surgical center, complete with "indoor trees and a wall-size aquarium." When you walk into the lobby of the 300-bed hospital in my home town, it's like walking into the Hyatt, complete with dramatic fountains (yes, fountains, plural), a sweeping glass staircase and a Starbucks. What's wrong with this picture?

No wonder patients treat nurses like maids and demand speedy room service. They've been told to expect it.

Kinda makes you wonder what all that money spent on this crap could have provided in actual patient care.
Specializes in NICU.
Kinda makes you wonder what all that money spent on this crap could have provided in actual patient care.

:eek:

You mean I could stop buying my own Kelly clamps? Shut UP!

Specializes in NICU.
Kinda makes you wonder what all that money spent on this crap could have provided in actual patient care.

No kidding!! Sorry we might be all out of the apporpriate size diapers for your baby at this time, but at least you can go watch the flat screen TV in the cafeteria! :uhoh21:

Kinda makes you wonder what all that money spent on this crap could have provided in actual patient care.

When we complain about the multi-billion dollar remodeling being done when we get told appropriate staffing "isn't in the budget," we get told that it's "all from donations." Perhaps when asking for donations, they could ask for a few bucks towards actual nursing care.:idea:

Specializes in ER, Occupational Health, Cardiology.
I hate people.

I can't say that I hate them, but I sure do hate their behavior. Our society has permitted bad behavior for so long and made excuses of all types for why those people should be allowed to continue as they have before. Now they are being enabled to continue on, by our self-same society. Wrong is still wrong, it doesn't matter who does it. Making excuses for bad behavior makes it no less wrong! The right to act as an a$$hole ends where my rights begin. The 'hated' people are the ones that don't realize that Nurses (and other members of Society) HAVE rights!

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