I'm So Over Nursing. I would rather work at Costco!!

[rnfrombama]

I am ready to leave the nursing profession after 6 years. I have a bachelor's degree in biology and got my associate's in nursing. In high school, I decided that I wanted a career in nursing. By the time I entered college, I decided I wanted to become an OB/GYN. Halfway through college, I realized I didn't want to be a doctor. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do but I wasn't going to change my major and start over. Fast forward about 8 years, I considered nursing and applied to nursing school and here I am.....back at square one. I wish I had sacrificed and endured one or two more years of college by changing my major and pursued something else.

I often-times cringe when I think of going to work. My attitude changes, my heart races, and anxiety sets in. My coworkers are nothing less than awesome. Most of my patients rock. Both have been unexpected blessings to me and I thank God for our paths crossing. But management, the physicians, and the facility at which I work have made nursing a profession that I wished I had not entered. I never have to wonder how devalued I am when I'm at work. Our voices are not heard, and as a matter of fact, our concerns are considered complaints.

Not only am I a caregiver, but I am the business office, auditor, waitress, maid, logistics, IT, quality assurance, babysitter, personal assistant, and the list goes on. When doctors fall short, it is our job to clean the mess up.....and, no, I'm not speaking of mistakes that affect patient care. I speaking of simple documentation that they are supposed to take care of. I understand the importance of having all "I"s dotted and every "T" crossed, but when will the physicians be held accountable? I can't be chasing down physicians when they forget to check the correct box especially when it has little or nothing to do with a patient's outcome. That's not my job. We nurses are stressed, afraid, furious, and just plain depressed as a result of these added responsibilities. We already worry about our patients even after quitting time. After leaving work, many of us call back up to the floor or unit checking on our patients. We are genuinely concerned about them, but it is very obvious that management's agenda is not the patients. Whatever management's agenda is becoming our agenda, right? WRONG! I'm here to take care of patients, not physicians.

There are so many nurses, YOUNG, fairly new nurses, that I know that started their nursing careers with a clean bill of health. They are now on antidepressants, benzos, blood pressure meds, and others due to the stress and unhappiness. Nursing has gotten away from patient care. It's about making money for the organization which is about making the physicians happy. If that means being stripped of our dignity, we are to do what it takes. I feel as though it is second nature to provide excellent care to our patients. WE have saved many lives anywhere from observing changes in our patients to discovering mistakes made by others (physicians) and correcting them or directing attention to the oversight. I wish they would let us do OUR jobs and provide care and management can run up behind THEIR "customers". If we can keep those two jobs separate, that would be great.

We are a vital part in patient care, but yet, we are so underappreciated and taken for granted. We make a positive impact in many lives, but we are the first ones cursed out because someone is having a bad day. Not only are we unappreciated, but we are very disrespected, and in many occasions, we are unfairly belittled and we are just supposed to accept those words because "it's part of the job." I'm done accepting it. I'm reminded every day there are replacements waiting in line. I'm reminded that any fool can do my job. I don't want a pat on my back every time I do a great job, just acknowledge that I am a vital part of the team. I understand human resources has a stack of nursing applicants on their desks. I just don't have to be reminded of that everytime all my paperwork isn't on the chart (because I'm still working on it), or if I come back from lunch two minutes late.

I am not cut out to take jabs and low-blows without throwing them back. I have so many responsibilities that I take on from the time I punch the clock to the time I punch out and I refuse to be disrespected by someone with a title because I happen to not move fast enough or I am having to clarify an unclear and, most of the time, an unfinished or incorrect order. I'm helping YOU out!! We genuinely worry and care about our patients that it often consumes us. When a patient codes or expires, we are crushed. I once had a patient who got stuck at least 15 times by various staff members, including physicians, to get IV access. The patient took those sticks like a champ, but I still went home and boo-hooed because I hated to see him go through that. We hurt when our patients hurt. On top of carrying out our responsibility as nurses, we are holding in so much emotion associated with our patients.....yet we get very little to no respect. Don't get me wrong, there are some physicians that I'm in contact with whom are polite and value my opinion and I do appreciate them. Of course, I'm not always right or may not make the most intelligent statements, but they acknowledged my voice. Again, I don't want a cookie. I just want to be acknowledged as a professional.

I understand customer service includes dealing with angry, rude, and the dissatisfied. But when I have poured my heart, soul, and emotion into my job and my customers and I am still allowed to be mistreated and insulted, then that becomes a problem. I feel I have no rights as a nurse. Who is protecting me? Who is my voice? Who is standing in my defense?

So at this point, it's time for me to bow out from the nursing profession gracefully and while in good standing with the organization, my family, and myself before I am forced out or OD on my meds(or somebody else's). My family, happiness, health, dignity, and peace of mind is worth leaving. They tell me Costco employees never leave.

I'm-so-over-nursing-I-would-rather-work-at-costco.pdf

[Libby1987]

I'd like to hear from someone who has worked at Costco, I've heard they are happy employees. From a retail perspective, there seems anecdotally to be less disgruntled customers at Costco than anywhere else I've shopped. Who doesn't love Costco? Well, except for blocking the aisles trying to get a food sample, that's annoying LOL.

A friend/coworker told me Trader Joes has a great culture as well.

I wouldn't entirely give up on nursing. I was burnt after my first 10 yrs in, I took a looooong break to be a SAHM. I thought I would never go back but divorce during the top of the recession changed my plan and it turned out to be the best thing for me. 10 yrs and 3 kids later I went back with a different perspective. Don't let yourself stay out for 10 yrs though, I was lucky I didn't kill my career. Keep your toe in the water while you try alternative work if you must.

[nurseburst, ASN, BSN]

Libby, you make a great point and sometimes a little break is all that is needed...

I worked for a call center and in my training class met a wonderful nurse who was done with nursing. She did home health and from what I remember it was more the management than anything else...

One year later she hated being tied to a phone and is back at her previous job happier than ever.

And I went into nursing after that too. The grass is not always greener on the other side...

[MikeyT-c-IV]

This is such a complex topic and I hate to see these threads. So I'll just say this. I think it's interesting and powerful to think that nursing administration and/or administration in general, will accept evidence based research and practice related to patient care so very important. I find it disheartening that the same administrators refuse to acknowledge the same research and evidence related to nurses... which factors contribute to nurse satisfaction and what evidence shows to retain highly qualified and competent nurses. It's disgusting.

Overwhelmingly we face the same struggles throughout the country. I feel very satisfied in my position but I see the same turnover at my hospital... and nurses quitting the profession. I hate this so bad. What's the underlying cause? Does it always come down to money or are there many other reasons?

[rnfrombama]

Hey all!!! I'm still trying to get this commenting and replying thing right. I usually just read these articles and print them out take them to work. Thank you all for your responses and your input. Many people have told me and you all have suggested trying a change of scenery. I've talked to some of my coworkers whom have traveled or worked at other facilities and they've said "It's this hospital." The facility in which I work is surely the huge problem. I've even had a physician tell me "This [hospital] isn't a good place." This place has frustrated me to the point that I'm done with nursing. I will try to find employment elsewhere. It will be difficult because of the area that I live and the monopoly this facility has on healthcare throughout. That's where a lot of my frustration cones from. To Mikey, who asked about the reason for nurses leaving. I'm sure pay has something to do with it. But it's the lack of respect that we professionals receive on a daily basis. This facility's culture is making money and making the docs happy....that's it. There is no question about it. And BTW, this facility is a "non-profit" organization.

[bgxyrnf, MSN, RN]

rnfrombama said:

To Mikey, who asked about the reason for nurses leaving. I'm sure pay has something to do with it. But it's the lack of respect that we professionals receive on a daily basis.

That makes sense.

For me, in addition to the professional detachment, one reason that I'm able to blow it off so easily is that I get paid very well. At my first job I didn't and it made it much tougher.

[sjerseymom]

I feel your pain. Why not look at other avenues instead of the bedside? I have worked for insurance these last 3 years. While yes they have their issues but everywhere does. So far I am loving what I do & at this point have absolutely no desire to go back to the hospital bs & politics.

[CammieFairfax]

I'm over the Dr tantrums, and the generally rude and ungrateful patients. The short staffing, the relative low wages compared to the many hats we wear. Just did a Healthstream yesterday that talks about culture of safety and that's going to be my answer to everything from now on. I'm sorry, but xyz is detrimental to a culture of safety. I will have to escalate this matter up my chain of command and leave it at that!

[dbabz]

You need to find a different line of work. I would not want you caring for me or a family member.

[samwins]

Wow...I am so glad I have been watching this forum for the past several months. I had decided to make a career change and work toward a second bachelor's and become an RN.

I kept finding that the date I would be able to begin the program was being pushed back and back further, and I keep seeing these sad posts pop up in my inbox.

I have decided not to pursue nursing at all. Thank you, everyone, for sharing your insights.

[rnpatrick]

37 years in it and next year when I can collect SS I might work one day a week at most. There is zero accountability for mistreatment of the nurse who champions patient safety. Ninety per cent of nurses submit to their corporate masters. Very hazardous to practice full time as coworkers will literally stand silent if they don't betray you all together.

[Yive]

I am a senior in Nursing school and in school, we are taught to be empathetic and that nursing is not a job, it's a career. The professors sugarcoat to some extent, how wonderful nursing is (they admit it's difficult but the patients are worth it, and emphasize how important you are as a nurse - which we are, but just underappreciated) and really make it sound like the best profession in the world. However, my clinical preceptors offer a glimpse on the reality of nursing. They love nursing and tell us how scewed our healthcare system is, the brutality of some interventions we perform, etc. but, at the end of the day, they are passionate about their patients. I currently work as a CarePartner/Nurse tech. and I will admit that some days, it's a literal crapstorm - I find myself stressed and ready to leave, but thankfully, the unit I work in has a really supportive ecosystem where nurses and doctors work relatively well together in a respectful manner and are grateful for one another's work. However, I know that this is not always the case in another unit, or hospital.

So, what sort of mindset must I have to continue Nursing? One of the RNs that I was with during my clinicals said, 70% of nurses leave the profession usually after 5 years due to burnout. I have to tell myself to put work aside after I leave the hospital but there are times where they sneak up on you, or you find yourself mulling over that one patient. I really don't wish to be a part of that percentage, but I want to be able to call nursing a professional career and not just a job.

[casias12]

rnfrombama said:

Hey all! I'm still trying to get this commenting and replying thing right. I usually just read these articles and print them out take them to work. Thank you all for your responses and your input. Many people have told me and you all have suggested trying a change of scenery. I've talked to some of my coworkers whom have traveled or worked at other facilities and they've said "It's this hospital." The facility in which I work is surely the huge problem. I've even had a physician tell me "This [hospital] isn't a good place." This place has frustrated me to the point that I'm done with nursing. I will try to find employment elsewhere. It will be difficult because of the area that I live and the monopoly this facility has on healthcare throughout. That's where a lot of my frustration cones from. To Mikey, who asked about the reason for nurses leaving. I'm sure pay has something to do with it. But it's the lack of respect that we professionals receive on a daily basis. This facility's culture is making money and making the docs happy....that's it. There is no question about it. And BTW, this facility is a "non-profit" organization.

After reading your article, and all of this thread. It seems many of the main complaints are purely personal.

I was a nurse for 20 years. I always found peace in 3 things.

I bounced around and tried to stay out of politics. In almost all of my jobs, I worked float in large hospitals. So I was never in one place for more than a day or two in a row.

I focused on my patients and let everything else roll by. Unit politics rarely affected me, and I didn't have trouble relating to physicians.

Every day I tried to make a significant difference in someone's life, and then I left work and counted on the team to take over. That's the way the modern hospital system is designed.

I couldn't be responsible for what happened after I left.

I do take offense at your attack of physicians (I include myself since I am a provider now). I really didn't have serious issues with providers (MD, DO, PA, NP), anywhere I worked. On occasion, one would go off or vent (kind of like you). Usually, I would say, "OK, now that you are done, you can buy us lunch". Or hand them a bill for $50 for counseling.

Sometimes, they have reasons for their rants that you don't know about.

But I am going to say that from the providers point of view, sometimes your nursing colleagues make it challenging to be a nurse. When I walk down the hall and see nurses with their heads buried in their phones (texting or surfing the net), or listen to them stand at the desk and complain, I lose a little empathy. I will see somewhere between 15 and 20 patients in a day. I will receive calls from nurses, pharmacist, case manager, social worker, family, etc. And I have to field every one of these because being a provider is the business I chose.

I didn't realize how much work I could get done when I had to.

When I was a nurse, I used to say "I used to be a roofer, but this is indoors and year-round". I don't know anything about your past, or how much you think people on the outside make. I don't know what you think non-nursing jobs are like. But I can tell you, if you truly feel the way you do, get out now. Anyone who copies articles from the internet to take to work, anyone who calls in on their day off to check on patients, anyone who lets menial clerical tasks affect their professionalism, is way to close to the problem.

Take care of yourself. You owe me $50.