RN's in hospitals. What is the worst part of your job?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in LTC.

Hello.

I am scheduled to start Nursing School next fall. I am really excited about it and am looking forward to becoming a Nurse and getting into the workforce. I am not worried so much about the curriculum and caring for patients. I figure whatever a nurse has to go through it is often harder on the patient anyway. But I am concerned about the paperwork and the bureaucracy, I have heard horror stories about Medicare, Medicaid, and the dreaded HMO. So please give your thoughts and experiences. Is this an area that doctors are mainly responible for, or do nurses have to deal with it too?

Thanks..

Also, feel free to elaborate on anything you want regarding the work of a nurse. While my decision to become a nurse was well though out and with good intentions... I can't think of everything.

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I can't answer your question as I am just about to start nursing school but I thank you for asking. After I joined the forums here I started reading all these horrible things about how nurses get stressed out/burnt out working in the hospitals. It made me pretty concerned. I absolutely want to be a nurse but I never heard all the negatives until joining here. Yes, I have heard great things as well.

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Specializes in Acute Care.

Things I hate about my job.

No help. - They want our unit to do primary care nursing (provide all nursing care such as meds, assessments, dressings, etc... plus, baths, ADLs, toileting, etc.) yet our unit continually gives us 6 pts, sometimes up to 7 or 8. We are a 30 bed unit and would have many 6 nurses and 1 tech/CNA. Sometimes, even our charge nurse is forced to take a group. Now, primary care nursing with 6 pts CAN be doable IF a lot of your pts are walkie talkies... but I work on a CVA, neuro floor... Most of our pts are debilitated, have neuro deficits, are on bed rest, etc. We also have had a large amount of supermorbidly obese pts come in - There is no way you can bathe these people without help if they cant turn on their own!

Pts visitors/families. Constantly calling, asking questions, getting mad when I can't tell them anything and everything b/c of HIPPA. If the pt is A&O, I offer to transfer them to the pt and ask themselves. Just the other day, I had a woman come in to visit a man who had been in the hospital about a week - He was down at a test so she asked me what test he was in... Long story short, this woman was a "niece" who didnt even know this man was in the hospital until the night before she came in.

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Specializes in CMSRN.

hands down-

CHARTING! with the inability to be perfectly complete unless you stay many hours past your shift and have a perfect memory.

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That's easy.

Short staffing.

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Specializes in ICU & IV Therapy.
I can't answer your question as I am just about to start nursing school but I thank you for asking. After I joined the forums here I started reading all these horrible things about how nurses get stressed out/burnt out working in the hospitals. It made me pretty concerned. I absolutely want to be a nurse but I never heard all the negatives until joining here. Yes, I have heard great things as well.

You have taken the words right out of my mouth....Everything I hear is always so negative...that is why I asked in another thread Is everything nursing related bad and scary like everyone makes it out to be. I understand that it will not be perfect and there will be problems and what not...but I just didnt expect it to be so negative at such a high rate....yikes!:stone Makes me truly wonder if my decision is going to be a wise one...as I am taking time from my current Bachelor degree to complete RN associates degree then back to finish my BA degree then on to my Masters degree...or so I am planning at this point.:rolleyes:

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You have taken the words right out of my mouth....Everything I hear is always so negative...that is why I asked in another thread Is everything nursing related bad and scary like everyone makes it out to be. I understand that it will not be perfect and there will be problems and what not...but I just didnt expect it to be so negative at such a high rate....yikes!:stone Makes me truly wonder if my decision is going to be a wise one...as I am taking time from my current Bachelor degree to complete RN associates degree then back to finish my BA degree then on to my Masters degree...or so I am planning at this point.:rolleyes:

Someone else like me! I seriously am thinking about whether or not I made the right decision. I don't want to turn back now as I am not sure what else I would do. I just keep telling myself that I plan to either be a NP in a doctors office or if I don't want to go that far with the schooling that I will find a more alternative job in nursing.

I have orientation tomorrow. Maybe I will talk to some of the instructors about how I am feeling. Then again, they may tell me what I want to hear for my 15 grand a year.

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Specializes in ED.

YOu have to remember when you visit this site that many people come on here to vent and talk about the negatives. For every negative post there are a ton of nurses out there who had a good day. I am a new nurse but feel lucky in that I like my job and, yes we have complainers on my unit, but for the most part people are positive and even happy at times. You have to find the right fit for you, where you are supported and there are positive people around you. I do not handle all the insurance paperwork. Admitting does that, as well as social services. The hardest part of my job in a busy ED is that we get so busy that pt have to wait a long time and get crabby with the RN's when it is really out of our control. I also think overuse of the ED is a big problem and that can get frustrating when I get someone in for a nosebleed or something like that. Charting is not a problem, and I get out on time 99% of the time. Understaffing is also not a probloem. I have never had to take more than my assigned 3 pt.

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I'm not a nurse yet, but I'll jump in with what one nurse told me. She has always loved her work (the nursing), but hasn't always loved her job (the place where she nursed).

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Specializes in Hospice.

Uuuummmm... the title of this thread is inquiring what the worst part of a hospital nursing job is. However... while some people might interpret this as a negative thing, it can also be interpreted as a reality check or useful for someone to read and realize that if that is as bad as it gets, it's survivable for them. I'm the kind of person who deals much better with things if I know what I'm walking into. That way, I can figure out a plan to deal with "challenges and opportunities". (I do draw the line if safety is involved though.)

All of us have different things that are the "worst" for us personally.

Just thought I'd throw in a different perspective...

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Specializes in ER.

JCAHO

Rules that don't do anyone any good, at the same time we don't have the staff and equipment we need. I thought that was why they formed?

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My biggest peeve is being held accountable for things over which I have no authority.

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