CONTINUED IN WHAT IS THE MAJOR REASON Why are they all leaving?

Nurses General Nursing

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What conditions would cause so many nurses to leave? Our ER has been losing friends fast. Why is there such a large turnover in nursing? I'm going to school, yet I talk to many RN's who are looking for a new career!!

Specializes in sub acute, ALF. Currently in RN school.
Also, are you even an RN? It doesn't look like it by your profile. If you're not then I don't think you can comment on the situation.

That was REALLY uncalled for...I am sure they were just trying to help...

Specializes in cardiac.
I thought about leaving nursing for years but the work environment finally got better -I was finally treated like a professional - what made me stay?

-union protection

-patient ratios

-mandated breaks/reimbursement for breaks not taken

-better pay

-financial compensation for years of experience/ certifications

-zero tolerance policy for abusive behaviour toward nurses by physicians

-worth saying again - union protection

I live/work in California, so the joint effect of a concerted effort to recruit/retain staff due to the nursing shortage and the advances afforded by unionization have helped me to stay in nursing.

It's not rocket science - who wants to go to work every day with the altruistic notion of helping people just to be consistently abused - and that's what's going on - plain, simple ABUSE. We have laws against child abuse, elder abuse, domestic partner abuse, even animal abuse in every state- but apparently laws against nurse abuse (ie nurse ratios) only in the State of California.

So perhaps you should rephrase the question "Why are some nurses staying ?" (and perpetuating the cycle of abuse -aha! -now I understand why nurses "eat their young")

I would love to work in CA. But, that's not feesable and won't be anytime soon. Sounds like heaven to me. I wish the government would get off their butts and make the pt/ratio laws federal. Who knows, it might just happen one day.

I must agree with Sandi.... that response was so uncalled for! It doesn't matter if you are an RN, LPN, TMA, CNA or whatever, we all have experienced the not being able to take a break. YOU HAVE TO STAND UP FOR YOURSELF, OR THE JOB WILL EAT YOU ALIVE!

I may only be an LPN, but have been one for many years, and have had to skip many 1/2 hr breaks, and gulp down a sandwich, or walk outside just to get away from the chaos... but you need to look out for yourself. If other nurses on your floor won't cover for you, then why be in a place that doesn't believe in teamwork.

I understand the frustration, but please don't say that no one understands the situation, we do..... if you choose to not take some of this advice, then, be the next one to leave this calling!

be the next one to leave this calling!

That's a big problem right there, nursing is not a "calling".

I was speaking of one evening, and in my opinion it was called for. We all have one and we're all entitled to it.

duplicate post

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.
No comparison! If you have not worked on a medsurg floor as an RN then you do NOT know what we are talking about, and you are in no position to offer advice.

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This is Mulan's opinion and not mine, I feel that the poster's point is well made. This comment reflects what is the "public's idea" of how a Nurse's day goes. We on the "inside" feel that we know best. When I was a secretary, I took my break, but also had to stay over at times to type a contract or an appraisal. Boy, I really thought I was overworked. When I was a telephone operator, I NEVER got overtime. The supervisor would come unplug my station and tell me to go home.....Again the "public sector."

I believe what is different in the two circumstances is that nurses are made to feel that they are substandard if the patient is not ALWAYS put first. Sometimes it turns into a Martyr Mary situation. Instead of eating our young (I HATE that phrase) we nip at the heels of our co-workers. To make the floor or our unit look good, we give up what is our own time.

I got a counseling note in my "permanent record" because I told a transporter I'd be right there after I went to the loo. At my age when you gotta go, you gotta go. She left the patient in the room and told her supv. the Nurse refused to come help her. And my NM believed her.

I've seen Nurses clock out and come back to finish, because it's the only way they can chart and not be called away by duty. Somehow it's better to be able to say "sorry I'm off the clock."

Now I'm no longer on floor work, I look back and see that there were times that I could have gotten a break, but it was the unit mentality that kept me from it. After all your co-workers don't do it, so maybe you shouldn't either?

That's a big problem right there, nursing is not a "calling".

I totally agree. Nursing is NOT my calling but my profession. I am not quite that angelic!:saint:

Specializes in burn, geriatric, rehab, wound care, ER.
I would love to work in CA. But, that's not feesable and won't be anytime soon. Sounds like heaven to me. I wish the government would get off their butts and make the pt/ratio laws federal. Who knows, it might just happen one day.

sorry mamason - I don't believe that the federal government will help us out on this one. It was the California Nurses Association that fought hard for the nurse/ratio law for 12 years and our "great" (?) California governer that tried to roll it back. It's up to us. I can't say it enough - unionize, unionize, unionize -there is great strength in numbers!

Yes, that's my opinion!

Eating on the fly or while you're doing your charting sounds good, however we are not allowed to eat or drink in the nurses station and will be written up for it.

I think everyone has gotten off of the subject, the point is not whether or not you take a break or go to the bathroom, that has nothing to do with it, it's the working conditions, the understaffing and the poor nurse to patient ratios.

Why is everyone getting hung up on taking a meal break and going to the bathroom?

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I believe it's because we are letting others define our role. The last 4-5 years I worked in the hospital, I kept a letter of registration on my computer. There were so many, many times I should have turned it in, but I feared the unknown. I had a job that I was good at and that paid fairly well.....compared to non-Nursing.

I also believe when the corporate world moved in on health care, we lost our power. Twenty years ago, Nurses were much more powerful.

Specializes in A myriad of specialties.
No comparison! If you have not worked on a medsurg floor as an RN then you do NOT know what we are talking about, and you are in no position to offer advice.

It most definietly IS a comparison! Whether she's an RN or not,she gave excellent examples of her emergency situations that do appear to be crises in the newsroom. Her experiences should not be belittled. :angryfire Mulan's response is a typical example of the bitterness seen at times on this board.

Good points have been made for nourishment and elimination; these basic needs need attended to by all fields. Nursing is not the only harried profession. Everyone is "getting hung up on taking a meal break or going to the bathroom" because these are basic needs and we are forfeiting ourselves(in a way) to take care of others' needs. WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES TOO and like many other nurses, I ,too,(for awhile)neglected my needs out of fear of getting "talked to" about my overtime(due to taking a break/lunch and not getting out of work on time.)

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