What is the worst part about nursing?

loricatus · May 22, 2007

oh yeah, can't forget my favorite -- the apparent belief that any problem can be solved by an additional piece of paper that the nurses have to fill out.

so very true

Brad_RN_Student_PA · May 22, 2007

I've been a CNA for four years, almost two in a hospital. I am already burned out, and I havent even started my first GN job yet! I don't think I'll be able to handle bedside nursing for more than a handful of years. My biggest pet peeve is the whole issue of supply and demand. The supply of nurses is short, or at least the hospital superiority expects us to believe that (even though they are turning away four times the amount of nursing student applicants that they accept, and hire half of what HR posts!), and yet the demand is higher. Pt loads are unsafe, and I think insurance companies have WAY too much impact on the quality of care. Critical care is the only way to go if you are "ANAL" like I am, and I am not even close to being experienced enough to go there yet. And even there, the patients are generally heavy and very much dead weight...in the hospital I worked at as a CNA...the odds of the CNA's having time to go to ICU to help? Slim to none. But still DEMANDED to. Everyone is burnt. The whole way down the chain. On a positive note, with an associate's degree, I can expect to make about 5-7 dollars more an hour with steady work, contrasted to my cousin who has a bach. degree and is trying to get into state police! The work is there, the money isn't bad, but the respect we deserve and the autonomy we strive for is a LONG ways away. Then again, our government could use some tweaking too, considering the price gouging on fuel. Bottom line, stick up for yourself!

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 22, 2007

Hilton Healthcare, LOL! I need a nurse NOW!!!......would you raise my head up a little. No, that's too much! Down a little. No, up a little. No, down a little. Down a little more.......there. Now, would you pull my blanket over a little more, and tuck it in on that side. Oh and would you put my water, glasses, phone, tissues, chapstick, etc., etc., etc. over there. No, over a little more, there. And would you turn the lights down. No, up a little. No, down a little more. X however many patients in your assignment that night.

Yep, these days I frequently feel as if I am working as the bellhop for the "Healthcare Hilton Hotel." There are too many demands, not enough staff, and so on. My nurse managers and administrators constantly tell us that we need to provide better 'customer service'. Well, they need to provide us with more staff, more competetive pay rates, and less turnover!

NHNurseMan · May 22, 2007

Worst part of nursing? I've been a nurse 16 years. Things have changed in those years. Patients who now end up in the hospital are much SICKER than they were years ago. (Yet the number of patients we are expected to care for has stayed the same.) And at the same time, many hospitals have taken the approach of promoting the hospital almost like its a hotel. "special kind of care" crap. They even architecturally design hospitals now so they don't look like hospitals - when you walk in you feel like you are walking into a hotel lobby. waterfalls. comfortable seats. etc. PROBLEM?? The patients and families seem to forget they are in a hospital, and are very demanding expecting it to be like hotel room service. In recent years, I have seen patients and families become increasingly demanding.
Combine these two things - sicker patients who are also more demanding. UGH!
I'm a burned out and cynical nurse...

So very true, patients and family members are often off the charts regarding their care. I recently was "ordered" to get a patient a "real" meal as the box lunch was not acceptable. I've also been asked to get patients Dunkin Donuts coffee, gum from a vending machine, not to mention the fact that Baby Boomers expect the pain from joint replacement to be non-exsistant, and when told that the cpm they have on is needed "Take this #$%@$%^

me now, I had this done to get rid of pain not increase it!!!!"

I've gotten to the point of calling my hospital not Portsmouth Regional Hospital (PRH) but the Portsmouth Regional Hotel, and the surgical unit the spa unit.

All that being said I really do love most of my pts, 90% are wonderful and greatful, it's the 10% of a-holes (my own clinical opinion and diagnosis) that drive me crazy.

TazziRN, RN · May 22, 2007

The worst part of nursing is what I just experienced: I spent 8 years at my last job, loyal to the facility --- even to the point of fighting for them against the complainers. They had my complete loyalty, and just hung me out to dry.

Bitter? Oh, hell yeah! I feel betrayed and sacrificed, and I don't think I will ever trust my employer again.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · May 22, 2007

They even architecturally design hospitals now so they don't look like hospitals - when you walk in you feel like you are walking into a hotel lobby. waterfalls. comfortable seats. etc. PROBLEM?? The patients and families seem to forget they are in a hospital, and are very demanding expecting it to be like hotel room service. In recent years, I have seen patients and families become increasingly demanding.

I work on a long term acute care (rehab) unit with a lobby that is decorated with custom made drapes, a pool table, an internet cafe, pergo flooring, a big-screen high definition television, flat screen televisions in every patient room, leather sofas and recliners, and expensive paintings. Each patient has their selection of four meals at each mealtime.

YooperNurse · May 22, 2007

Bad management, too much management, being treated like I'm just another expense to the hospital when we are all supposed to be promoting a caring environment.

Nemhain · May 22, 2007

Personally speaking-it's in having the accountability without the responsibility of ultimate decision making (not being able to initiate orders & unable to do anything without orders------technically speaking)
A close second is the high patient loads.

You said it, sister! I want to add "management". I've had three other careers before nursing and all of the nursing managers I've had so far (although I know all aren't like this) act unprofessional, are vindictive or are completely clueless about bedside nursing. It truly is sad and very disappointing.

HM2VikingRN, RN · May 22, 2007

oh yeah, can't forget my favorite -- the apparent belief that any problem can be solved by an additional piece of paper that the nurses have to fill out.

:roll :roll :roll :roll :roll :roll :roll :chuckle :smackingf :yelclap: :rotfl: :yeahthat: :yeahthat: :yeahthat:

Hoozdo, ADN · May 22, 2007

Critical care is the only way to go if you are "ANAL" like I am, and I am not even close to being experienced enough to go there yet. And even there, the patients are generally heavy and very much dead weight...in the hospital I worked at as a CNA...the odds of the CNA's having time to go to ICU to help? Slim to none.

An aching back and neck, nerve pain and pins and needles down my right arm, everyone in report having to premedicate with Aleve to lift and repositon all these obese turn Q2hr patients. No CNAs, no unit clerk, and 24 hr ICU open visitation with extremely agitated and upset families.

bill4745, RN · May 22, 2007

I love what I do 90% of the time (ER),but the fantasy that we can always provide immediate, quality care to every patient, no matter how many we have, no matter how sick they are, is what drives me crazy.

Recently, I had a doc asking me repeatedly to assist with a pelvic exam. I informed him that I had a pt. vomiting coffee grounds with a pressure of 80/40, and two new chest pains, both of which sounded like real cardiac chest pain. I asked him if he thought I could possibly provide decent care to those three pts at the same time, let alone leaving them to do a pelvic. He shrugged his shoulders and walked away shaking his head.

StNeotser, ASN, RN · May 22, 2007

The expectations of "bellhop/concierge" one minute to "save-my-life" the next.

No patient really gives a flying fig that you have 11 others either. So when "customer" satisfaction surveys come around they just remember they had to wait for a pudding once because the nurse was faffing about with another patient with a sat of 48%.