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

PANurseRN1 · Nov 5, 2006

schooldays wrote:

I'm not at the level of either one of them (!), but from the comfortable position of a student I can see where they are going wrong.

This is what makes many people bristle at students/nurse wanna-bes who say "You should do this," or "You should do that" or lecture those of us with experience for our "bad attitudes." They haven't been there to know what it's like.

So some of us, especially those of us with years of experience, are a little impatient with people who right now have no clue what it's like to be a practicing nurse trying to advise us.

You're certainly entitled to an opinion and to express it. I'm just saying that for those of us who are actually working as nurses, we also have the right to give those opinions exactly the consideration they merit.

oldiebutgoodie, RN · Nov 5, 2006

What amazes me, is why are nurses leaving hospitals (at ANY hospital) and Administration isn't scrambling doing exit interviews to see why.
From reading these boards, orientation is a huge expense to the hospital, so I don't see how to keep training new hire after new hire is going to benefit them in any way. ....
Has anyone that has quit a hospital had an exit interview? Are these typical or rare for the industry?

I quit my first nursing job after 4 months because when I was hired, I was told I would probably do days and PMs. Instead, they scheduled me for 4 nights a week! (Pretty different from what was said!) Furthermore, the nurses there were witches, etc...

When I handed my paperwork into personnel and I turned to leave, I heard one HR person say to the next, "Boy, we sure have had a lot of nurses resign this week!"

Of course, there was no exit interview. But they keep on hirin', and people keep on leavin'. Make you wonder where the brains are.

Oldiebutgoodie

mamason · Nov 5, 2006

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,,you are very correct. It was just some wishful thinking on my part. I wish I had the option to go union. But, around here, they are few and far between.

NurseCherlove · Nov 5, 2006

Speaking from a purely personal experience.
I just can't keep any self respect and continue nursing! I refuse to allow myself to be treated in the manner that is customary toward NURSES!
Brutal, but true.

I feel ya! I have said that a couple of times lately to my SO...that one has to have some serious mental/self-esteem problems to continue in a job like mine. Makes me sad though, because there are some times (albeit far and few between) that I really love it and feel good about being there and what I'm doing. Unfortunately, I know those moments, when they are happening, will be ending very shortly and that I will go home that day wondering why I continue in this.

walktheline · Nov 5, 2006

Just curious, can you use a patient's bathoom for a bathroom break if you ae on your way in there to check on them, or is that considered bad "nurse etiquette"/prohibitted?

mickeypat · Nov 5, 2006

My answer to the OP's question would be this.... it could be because of the stress and lack of respect from the company you work for, from the public and co-workers.... Who needs to be treated like a piece of dirt or who wants to be treated like that..... NOT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have to look out for our own sanity and well being!

mamason · Nov 5, 2006

Just curious, can you use a patient's bathoom for a bathroom break if you ae on your way in there to check on them, or is that considered bad "nurse etiquette"/prohibitted?

No...and you really wouldn't want to use the pt's bathroom. That whole idea is yucky to me. I would also consider it unprofessional.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 5, 2006

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!!

Nursing can be a back-biting profession. While we do work with unbearable managers, are overworked and unappreciated, it may be easier to deal with if we supported each other. I am a new LPN (but not new to my hospital), and many days I walk in afraid. The same nurses I worked side by side with as a patient care associate are ones that I see are the worst to teach me skills as a new nurse. They sometimes set each other up, tell on each other, don't assist other nurses and they 'eat their young'.

Unfortunately, it is not the Florence Nightingale image that is protrayed in school and television, and this is the turn off and rude awakening that many nurses walk into. This is one of the reasons that I, personally, will never become an RN...in spite of the money they make, I see their problems to be even scarier than mine because there are too many live wires that cannot be controlled, but a charge nurse has to explain.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 5, 2006

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.

I have to agree with others, I think that this person was offering helpful advice. You do need time to leak in the toilet and even if it is just a few minutes to have a sandwich is not unreasonable. I worked in med-surg as an LPN so, I do know that it is extremely demanding, and we cannot control WHEN we can actually do these things, but (or even if it can be done every day), I tried to make time to go to the bathroom as well as make sure that I ate, even if it was for 5 minutes of uninterrupted time. I believe that she meant that we need to take a moment to breathe under the stress.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 5, 2006

Just to touch on a few things the last person commented on...
Take a bathroom break. I know this many sound tough, but YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE of YOURSELF TOO. Unless it's a life or death situation, I am sure the patient can wait a few moments while you use the restroom. Same for eating, you should take at least a 15 min. break to sit and eat a sandwich. You are no good to your patient and fellow staff members when you are tying your legs and about to fall over from low blood sugar. That helps no one. YOU HAVE TO TAKE A FEW MOMENTS FOR YOURSELF. I have read on this board where nurses take care of everyone else BUT themselves. Yes we are in this to help people, but we have to remember to help ourselves too! You just have to make the time. Period. If the other staff members give you a bunch of junk over taking a 5 min. bathroom break or 15 to wolf a sandwich... get out. I am sure there are other places to work where employees are valued. It may be a challenege in the nursing industry, but I am sure decent places do exist. Stand up for yourself. I will. I have read that is one of the traits of nurses.. that many don't stand up for themselves. In the end you have to NURSE yourself too.
Good luck and hold your head high.. because YOU are worth it.
Thanks to all the nurses!!! E
:w00t:

I want to take the time to thank you for your message, and sorry that it was challenged. It is true, we need a moment to breathe, and in many cases, in the midst of chaos, we tend to forget that if we ignore Maslow's theory for ourselves, there is no way to care for those that cannot care for themselves.

pagandeva2000, LPN · Nov 5, 2006

No.. I am not an RN YET. Will be starting school in Jan. and I look forward to it. I do not work in a hospital, BUT do work in a TV newsroom where I am the "brains" of the operation and run the newsroom. All the stories that get on air.. I make happen. All feeds, live shots, stories, VOSOT's etc. Yes.. I do not deal with sick or dying people directly, BUT I do deal with people shouting over the phone that their holding on for one more day then going to slit their wrists (had that today and was trying to calm her down over the phone as she was sobbing uncontrollably)... or a mother crying on the phone that her child has been abducted... and yes.. I get calls from family members screaming over the phone line that their house is burning down. I can hear the Moms shouting at the kids to get out... get out!! So nope.. I am not a nurse, but do deal with what you could classify as emergencies on a daily basis. Do I take hour breaks.. No.. do I take half hour breaks.. No.. but I do take 10 min. breaks to go to the bathroom and call to tell my folks I love them... do the Producers get ticked... yes.. too bad.. they get over it. I HAVE to use the bathroom. I HAVE to eat. So no, I am not a nurse yet, but will be one someday. And I was complimenting nurses, saying they should try and take BASIC care of themselves while on shifts... no one is saying yack on the telly for a half hour or take smoke breaks every hour. Going to the bathroom and eating a meal are basic every day bodily events and it does not take being or not being a nurse to know that. If you don't take one, you are only hurting youself.
Also.. I have heard nursing in hospitals can be rough.. why not look around then. There are plenty of nursing opportunities in the field of nursing. Hope you find your niche and your happiness!! E

There are many careers that are filled with chaos, and yours sounds like one of them. Thanks for thinking of us!

Racin_Rick · Nov 5, 2006

Hi, I departed this site almost 4 years ago under the user name Glad2behere, and this is a wonderful site. I will be leaving nursing again soon, my second departure. I am 52 yeats old, and it is really quite easy to explain why. Where else could I find the wonderful employment to work a Christmas evening and many weekends with staggered shifts, awesome responsibilities, vague legal guidlines, disease exposure of the nth degree, pathetic insurance, physically demanding, emotionally draining pseudoprofession that has become nothing but a temporary nesting job until something better is found that promotes some quality of life. I have worked my job 4 years in critcal care CCU, and have seen for a hired staff of 50 turn over 4 times. Yes, I am very senior now, Level II RN, (could be Level III easily if I wanted to play the goofy games to be one), do housesupervisor in a 478 bed trauma center prn, and could probably be the nurse manager of my unit if I cared about it. Reading truckdriver ads in the newspaper for a salary $15K> somewhat dissimenates the urge for the glory of a NM position. It's simple, the job doesn't pay enough for the exertion. What is really infuriating is the doublework of charting. Physicians don't really do it, bricklayers don't chart every brick they lay, architects write their thoughts when using CAD, plumbers don't say "applied plastic cement to x joint exactly 8 cm beneath expected concrete slab". Overall, having been in business, seen other industries, nursing is the most wasteful of available talent that has created a monster watchdog in charting that has become so important that it totally destroys the mission of nursing. Those of us who attempt to prioritize the patient as first do so at the risk of professional jeopardy in the charting arena. We are all guilty of getting slammed, not being able to chart until it's time to clock out or two hours later, then humans we are, the relevancy of it really rings and we succumb to drawing from memory tainted subjective comments that mean nothing. So there, wasn't that easy?