Ouch, I'm tired!!!!!!!

tapper · Feb 2, 2002

I've never read as many sad tales before reading this thread. If life as a nurse is sooooo bad . . . quit. You can't be doing anything but putting everybody around you in a bad mood with all the negative attitudes you have. Get a job doing something you enjoy! You'll improve your state of mind; as well as those around you that are tired of your whining. Just think you could be the patient . . . and not the person who is supposed to be providing for that patient.

mjamesRN · Feb 2, 2002

I was tired when I went in tonight.

Did two 12-hour shifts (morning slot clean-up and new 3-11 terror) the last two days and another 8 tonight. Slept in (thankful that I was able to), but it didn't make my legs feel any less than the crackling sticks they are after those two back-to-back shifts. Didn't make me feel rested at all.

Too tired to prepare any food, so I hatefully stop at McDonald's on my way in.

As I enter the unit I feel like I'm floating in a dream. My shoes, relatively new, are already squeaking and losing their shape against my aching feet.

My goal tonight was to get one of patients over the hump of her depression and poor appetite after hip surgery and a recent pleural effusion (because she SHOULDN't have been cleared medically for this surgery due to she had a bout of bronchitis over the holidays-- but she has good insurance, right?)

Was I able to NURSE her????? Was I able to implement my goal for her recovery???? Was I able to be a viable member of a collaborative team in "helping people" get well?? Nnooooooooooooooo:

I had a transfer from ICU (too much Bupivocaine and poor pressure -- not my fault), two post-ops (one 81-year old bilateral knee ((what is the point??)), and one a young guy with an infected foot with reocurring I&Ds status post an MVA), a direct admit from a rehab with a stage IV decub (with family fluttering about with annoying questions) , and an ER admit (all directs to my slot).

Am I tired now? hmmmmm. I'm too crispy to feel it if I am. Even the martini is useless.

And as for the previous post: If I had a husband bringing home the bacon, I could quit. I could have more options. If I was a 22-year old squeak right out of school with Mommy and Daddy paying my cell phone bill, I could quit.

You patronizing, condescending "experienced" nurses really get on my nerves with your ridiculous ideals when it is your self-serving lack of representation to this field that has let the mess it's in fester into its present-day predicament.

sgavette · Feb 2, 2002

You are absolutely right mjamesRN. We are all tired and need to vent. I would love to be able to quit my job and stay home or even work per diem, times of my choice. My 3 children would love me to be at home with them, but I need to also help pay the bills and put food on the table.

At this point I am actually working on being able to do that. I have begun a business, which I don't have to spend 12 hours a day doing and can eventually go per diem.

I hope no one feels that they should not express their feelings and frustrations. We all need to have an outlet and this is one of mine.

Furball · Feb 2, 2002

[You patronizing, condescending "experienced" nurses really get on my nerves with your ridiculous ideals when it is your self-serving lack of representation to this field that has let the mess it's in fester into its present-day predicament.

[/b]

If you look at that posters profile you'll see she's a student.

Glad you wrote because my bad day just looked a helluva lot easier! Hope you're getting some well deserved rest and some fun!

Tapper, if you arent a nurse already, you'll find out that some days you'll feel like you were sucked up in a tornado when you walk on the floor and then spit out 12-16 hours later. (THEN let us know how you feel) If you are a nurse, well...where are you working? Can I come and play?

Ciao (sic?)

tapper · Feb 2, 2002

You shouldn't assume . . . yes HE is a student. I work for an oncology clinic, not as a nurse, yet. I see the roles our nurses play in the lives of our patients and have the utmost respect and admiration for them, enough that I plan on following in their footsteps after I graduate. I never hear one of them complain and whine, they understand just how bad life could really be, and so do I. As my mother has told me on more than one occasion . . . "You haven't had a bad day until you walk through the doors of the clinic as a patient."

I am not trying to speak to any of you in a condescending manner I have a certain degree of respect for all of you who have made it through nursing school, just consider it a little constructive critism, a slap in the face to wake you up and realize that maybe you need to get a new perspective about what is trully important in life.

Furball · Feb 2, 2002

Originally posted by tapper
You shouldn't assume . . . yes HE is a student. [/QUOTO Oops, I'm sorry Tapper!
Get used to it....you'll be mistaken for a doctor when you start your first job!

mjamesRN · Feb 2, 2002

Thank you.

I feel much better, and Yes, I should have considered that that last post may have been from a student. That ideal was me not long ago and I'm just now myself experiencing the tornado. The stress makes me fear for my own health.

What really irks me is that whenever I express discontent, I get patronized, usually by some clipboard nurse as I'm supposed to accept the horrible norm of it all. I've never seen so many Stepford Nurses in my life!

So how much does one let "roll off their back"? When I do that I feel inadequate, feel like I've let my patients down, feel insufficient, incomplete. Everyone deserves good care. God knows they're paying for it.

What a strange, strange profession. My opinion of it changes daily. Yet, it's true: there is/ has been poor representation. Does anyone have any knowledge of how and when it's going to change for the better? I know there are issues in legislation lately about overtime etc, but the entire structure of the field is so distorted I don't see how any of the real problems can be solved when that corporate money wheel keeps squelching the True Definitioni of nursing.

PhantomRN · Feb 2, 2002

when i start to feel burnt out or tired of the grind i change jobs. i justrecently made a floor switch within the same hospital, so fr right now all is well. the staff ratios are 2:1, and all the chronics have not gotten to me,yet.

i fully expect them to so i am thinking about my next move already and it is possible that it will be out of bedside nursing..........turning 400 pound people and taking care of a patient who is dead on the vent is going to get old fast.

i am not a pessimist, i just happen to live in the real world.

emergency · Feb 5, 2002

Hey Tapper - just to let you know, lots of "us" felt the same way in school, but now we are in the real world. We LOVE nursing, just don't particularly LOVE what's happening to nursing today. Come to my ED, where we have 44 beds in the ED, 550 beds in the hospital, and are routinely "holding" 25-30 pts in the ED (or somewhere in holding land). One day last week we were holding 72 pts for admit. When the docs send them over from the office for a "direct admit", guess where they go. Complete with 4 pages of bull**** orders and expecting room service like at the Hilton. Everyone is frustrated, and you get yelled at all day. I think the only ones who DON'T yell are my fellow nurses and the ED docs. Management is really trying (how hard I'm not sure) to work something out for the holds, but there simply isn't room. So when you get to the point where you are holding 2 pts, and your 2 other pts are actively infarcting and being prepped for the cath lab, hopefully you will still maintain your cheerful attitude. All I can tell you is I try very hard, very hard .... as you will also.

victoreia · Feb 7, 2002

Letting my stressors get me down makes me tired. Some people spend so much time whining and complaining about their jobs, kids, husbands,that makes me tired. Walking through the door after a 12 hour shift and instantly becoming a mother and cooking and cleaning makes me tired. Having sex with my husband makes me tired.

How about what perks you up??

What perks me up is when i go home and think about the life I helped save that day or the sick little child I made smile or the parent I educated about a medication and actually got a genuine thank you for. Seeing my kids good grades or some other accomplishment they made perks me up. Reading a good book perks me up. Taking a calgon bath after everone is asleep makes my tired wearry body and mind feel good.

I knew when I got into nursing the hours stunk, working holidays stunk, putting up with over bearing god-like doctors stunk..... hm I did it anyway. Why? For the reasons mentioned above, the smile on the childs face, the life I helped save... Think of the good you do not the bad..... Vicki RN

How about what perks you up?!

victoreia · Feb 7, 2002

Originally posted by tapper
I've never read as many sad tales before reading this thread. If life as a nurse is sooooo bad . . . quit. You can't be doing anything but putting everybody around you in a bad mood with all the negative attitudes you have. Get a job doing something you enjoy! You'll improve your state of mind; as well as those around you that are tired of your whining. Just think you could be the patient . . . and not the person who is supposed to be providing for that patient.

AMEN. And I would like to add... the grass is not always greener on the other side and one should not talk about a surgeon complaining about working hard and not getting recognition when that's all that seems to be going on here... Maybe the surgeon is under a lot of stress, after all he holds a life in his hands, how do we know..... thou shall not judge lest he be judged back. Vicki RN

rachet65 · Feb 7, 2002

Victoreia-I'll chime i here about what makes me tired and what perks me up-

Ignorance makes me tired

the 16 year old patient I took care of 6 months ago visiting me at work today with homemade cookies, a big hug anda thank you really, really, really perks me up! Ain't no better feeling than being appreciated for not only what you do , but for who you are!