Most Pressing Issues in Nursing Today

Nurses General Nursing

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Was listening to a podcast that said "Within your area of expertise, find a problem and begin to solve it. When you begin doing that, you will begin to find happiness and purpose."

In Post Modern America, what is the most pressing issue we face as nurses? After deciding on an issue, can you come up with a solution or at least a foundation to begin tackling the issue? Excited to hear your responses!

Specializes in NICU.

Problem : no money

solution : get adopted by bill and melissa gates

result: happiness.

Specializes in PMHNP-BC.

The biggest problem in nursing is the focus on patient satisfaction and lack of personal responsibility. We are so scared of bad HCAP scores that we don't hold patient's accountable for their actions. Diabetics eating donuts you say? Must mean that nurse didn't educate them properly not that they are a noncompliant trainwreck....

Problem : no money

solution : get adopted by bill and melissa gates

result: happiness.

Bill and Melinda gates may very well eradicate the big 5 communicable diseases plaguing the world. Wouldn't mind being adopted by them.

The biggest problem in nursing is the focus on patient satisfaction and lack of personal responsibility. We are so scared of bad HCAP scores that we don't hold patient's accountable for their actions. Diabetics eating donuts you say? Must mean that nurse didn't educate them properly not that they are a noncompliant trainwreck....

I love what you said about personal responsibility. So true. I see way too many noncompliant diabetic and HTN pts. It's no wonder they need cardiac surgery

Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
I am not shutting it down at all. Saying something can't and won't change is defeatist.

I don't now Some things literally can't change. A zebra will never be a horse and a horse will never be a zebra - but the two together can under the right conditions produce a zorse.

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I myself will always be an alcoholic albeit one that chooses not to drink.

I think the biggest problem I see in nursing today is the perception that anyone who gives honest criticism to a fellow nurse is a bully. People need to quit whining, own their mistakes and learn from their peers who have been around for a while. If we all just learned how to work effectively together we might finally have better pay, better ratios and better working conditions. Although I must say I have all of those and work for a great facility.

Hppy

I don't now Some things literally can't change. A zebra will never be a horse and a horse will never be a zebra - but the two together can under the right conditions produce a zorse.

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I myself will always be an alcoholic albeit one that chooses not to drink.

I think the biggest problem I see in nursing today is the perception that anyone who gives honest criticism to a fellow nurse is a bully. People need to quit whining, own their mistakes and learn from their peers who have been around for a while. If we all just learned how to work effectively together we might finally have better pay, better ratios and better working conditions. Although I must say I have all of those and work for a great facility.

Hppy

Totally agree with the whining. People need thicker skin. Facts don't care about feelings

Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Totally agree with the whining. People need thicker skin. Facts don't care about feelings

There's your project. Define the specific types of behaviours identified as "bullying" "lateral violence" and "nurses eating their young". How much of this can be attributed to thin-skinned people who take umbrage at every little nuance, real or imagined? (Previous AN threads should give you plenty of fodder.)

To what extent do managers pit nurses against one another to keep us all divided and conquered? It's pretty hard to present a united front when people are rewarded for tattling on one another and constantly nursing their hurt feelings. And we know working conditions will not change until we do stand up together.

There's your project. Define the specific types of behaviours identified as "bullying" "lateral violence" and "nurses eating their young". How much of this can be attributed to thin-skinned people who take umbrage at every little nuance, real or imagined? (Previous AN threads should give you plenty of fodder.)

To what extent do managers pit nurses against one another to keep us all divided and conquered? It's pretty hard to present a united front when people are rewarded for tattling on one another and constantly nursing their hurt feelings. And we know working conditions will not change until we do stand up together.

haha I genuinely dont have a project. But I am hoping that discussion may facilitate change. And this is a fairly large platform for a discussion. I believe there is an entire generation of new nurses that are entitled and have been told they are special and that they deserve respect without earning it. Snowflakes.

Specializes in Rodeo Nursing (Neuro).
It's best not to feed it.

I know, I know, I know...but, dagnabit, it's a question worth asking, and there are people on these boards with ideas worth hearing.

It's a question that particularly hits me, today. I've been back to work almost a year after a year on disability. Being off, and fighting really hard to come back, have made it vividly clear to me that I love this profession. I'm sorry to be maudlin, but I've been forced to ponder why I am alive, and I can't escape the conclusion that a big part of my answer is: to be a nurse.

I am very possibly the luckiest person I've ever met. My facility is a not-for-profit with better ratios than a lot of places. Twenty years ago, at new employee orientation, our CEO said our motto was "Putting Patients First," and that by that he partly meant putting ourselves first, because the administration genuinely wanted us to be happy and understood that was key to making our patients happy. I am not actually gullible--I realized from the get-go that there would be limits to how far they would go to achieve that--but even now I believe he, and his successors, meant it. And, as it happens, my particular unit is arguably one of the most collegial ones in our facility.

And I left work this morning muttering, "I gotta find a new job."

I've had time to gain some perspective. Bad shifts happen. A lot of the time I actually am about as happy as I know I ought to be. But, still...why am I sometimes not? And I'm going to be thinking about that for awhile.

There's your project. Define the specific types of behaviours identified as "bullying" "lateral violence" and "nurses eating their young". How much of this can be attributed to thin-skinned people who take umbrage at every little nuance, real or imagined? (Previous AN threads should give you plenty of fodder.)

To what extent do managers pit nurses against one another to keep us all divided and conquered? It's pretty hard to present a united front when people are rewarded for tattling on one another and constantly nursing their hurt feelings. And we know working conditions will not change until we do stand up together.

To what extent are we pitting ourselves against each other? In psychology it has been studied that marginalized groups of people (and rats) when oppressed start infighting. I believe some, not all nurses, feel marginalized and oppressed which leads to lateral violence. The question is how do we rise above it?

I apologize if you thought I was being argumentative. But I was simply stating that I don't believe something can't change. Is nursing really a no-win scenario?

Apology gladly accepted and welcome to AN. I actually really like your question and the discussion that has ensued. Right now I'm sitting back and mulling over the excellent points that have been made but I did want to address the last part of the quoted post. Is nursing "no-win"? I hope not but it's not an easy thing to change. One thing you have to understand is that, historically, any time women rise up and take a stand for something (right to vote comes to mind) they are often painted in unsavory terms. Men that rise up are heroes, women that do are witches (can't use the term that is most accurate). Because nursing is an overwhelmingly female occupation it affects us even more. Think of striking nurses. The vast majority of strikes occur because nurses are standing up for better care for their patients yet they are vilified by management, by the press and by the public as selfish women who are letting patients die to get more money. Furthermore management looks at nurses as disposable. Get rid of one and there are 10 more available to fill that spot. In nursing the squeaky wheel doesn't get the grease, the squeaky wheel gets fired. In my three+ decades I have seen more than my share of "noisy" nurses lose their jobs. And the world of nursing is very, very small. Whats more the percentage of women as primary breadwinners is growing exponentially so this is a big deal. They simply cannot risk their jobs so they put their heads down and take what's handed to them. Frankly, nurses are the modern day version of the turn-of-the-century sweatshop employees in that we don't like what's happening but we have to eat. I don't think it's defeatist I think it's survival.

Staffing/nurse pt. ratios.

The only solution that I see is either legislation or social media pressure.

In my humble opinion; increasing staff is the single greatest intervention in preventing falls and adverse events.

The problem is that increasing staff costs money and the powers that be in most facilities don't get the connection.

My other opinion is that if staff is chronically short then the census needs to be cut. Period.

Over fatigued staff who routinely work double shifts will make errors. Errors can cost a lot of money.

The cost of defending one large lawsuit will completely overshadow the cost of adding one or two nurses.

Abolish double shifts. Make that illegal.

SERIOUSLY. 17 hours a day??? It's insane.

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