It seems to me anybody and anybody can do nursing, doesn't matter if you are really interested or not, not important if you care about people or not, not relevant if you have a passion for nursing or not just come along we will train you and then you can look after our sick, elderly, frail, poor homeless, drug seekers.
Without passion, without caring, sometimes with little comprehension of what that poor sick person in the bed needs.
I am fed up with hearing about people seeing nursing as a quick route to money it is so much more and it offends me that nursing is used as a short cut to being employed. We should have stricter entry rules and by this I mean more screening to make sure the nurses coming into the profession actually want to be a nurse for the right reasons and employment not being one of them.
We all know nursing is a hard profession it takes from your soul sometimes but you know who has the passion because they ride the storms better than the nurses who dont have it.
I have had a passion for nursing most of my life and I am now struggling with some of the harsh realities-but give me a patient any patient and I come alive, I thrive. I forget why I am tired after all my years, I forget why I want a new job, I forget why the management make my life harder each day.
For me nursing is almost like acting I can be somebody else with a patient I can be who they need me to be for that person and their family, I have the ability to calm a tense situation, I can bring trust to the room, I can make that patient feel like they are the most special person in the hospital and that nothing is too much trouble for me. I have knowledge and can educate. I can make that person feel safe, I can make them laugh even when they don't want to, I can be their advocate, their confident, their friend, but also I can persuade them to take the shot, to take the medicine, to go for the test. I can hold their hand and I can be firm. I can predict their mood and can listen to their worries and woes. I can educate their families and friends and I can educate and train their future RN's.
It doesn't matter that outside that room chaos is happening, that 3 other pts need me as much if not more than the patient I am with. They at that moment are the most special important person in my working day.
In 20 years I have had this ability it has shone out of every bone in my body. I have smiled constantly even if my world is falling apart. I have the passion I can make somebodies life better, I know my 'stuff' and I care.
...and you're right. I am off base with the insulin ( I can be very overzealous about this subject cause I am so, so tired of seeing bad nursing....I live in a large city, and I'm tired of it) because some have Type 1...but I am just saying that we have to take care of ourselves, ESPECIALLY diabetics so that we're not out there taking care of patients better than we take care of ourselves....Type 2 diabetes is curable via diet, exercise, and weight loss....I know because I am cured from it. And I speak about this so bluntly because I've been in the situation of taking better care of my community and family than I do myself.
To ALL:
I am just making a comment on what I HAVE observed. And, btw, I have worked in many, many, large hospitals and YES I have seen lots and lots of neglect. Sometimes, it REALLY isn't the nurse, sometimes it's short staffing, higher than expected census...the list can go on. My main point is regarding what the original poster wrote about people going into nursing because it is a GREAT PROFESSION and pays very well.
Re: testing...A simple essay will do. No major test. I don't know how long anyone who responded to my post has been out of nursing school. But because of the nursing shortage, the overcrowding of nursing programs, the long wait lists and the economy, so many people are becoming EXTREMELY desperate...and will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get to the NCLEX...
Obsession should never be mistaken for passion. :)
when i was a new nurse, i got a lot of warning that my first year would be rough rough rough. i read a book, "the beginner's guide for new nurses". it was, oh, about 120 pages long and about.......eh, 70 pages was dedicated to "avoiding burn out".
i thought to myself, "isn't that something for people with a few years in the field to worry about?"
wrong. i was ready to quit after the first year. i don't have to explain why, everyone here went through some degree of the same thing.
what? i am giving and taking insulin at the same time? i'm smoking a cigarette, and teaching my patient about the effects it has on the respiratory system at the same time? i'm giving effexor, and taking some at the same time? no! there should be some sort of battery testing that goes on to nursing students that will determine if a person is even suitable for the profession! whether i can do dimensional analysis, or can read and write shouldn't be the first testing that i receive! am i a caregiver?~~ should be the first question asked! i am so sick and tired of going behind these people who got into nursing because their mom did it, or they came to this country to buy a house, or they want to drive a hummer...
yep. i knew a lot of people like this. i actually picked up smoking after quitting cold turkey for four years. i started in my second year of nursing and just now have gotten to the point where i quit again.
the book i mentioned before talked a lot about taking care of yourself at home. it was loud and clear about avoiding ot, not changing schedules regardless of how much we want to help. i thought that sounded harsh, but then as i became known as the "favor doer" for the schedule, i learned why. hours spread out all over the place and no consistent sleep made for a very irritable nurse. it affected my home life first, then my professionalism on the job.
i see a lot of people being pushed around to do things they should not be asked to do. the economy makes managers/admin. quite bold. outrageous schedules, being left messages that if you don't "come in extra when asked your value to the team is diminished and continued employment will be under review"...............
we have to stand up for ourselves, stop being so passive aggressive and work for better conditions. most professions would not dream of allowing for things we do. we are expected to double back after working twelve hour shifts, change shifts frequently, get to work in the worst of weather. eventually this stuff wears down even the most compassionate/passionate nurse.
:heartbeat
yea thats bad i get it, but not that many people think this way, you cant just sign up do be a nurse and start that day, going on hating your job. its a profession, and you make it sound like half the nurses in a given hospital hate their job like ticked off mcdonalds cashiers. people may gripe about their job every now and then (its a tiring job you are on your feet all day and are in a stressful environment) but i really dont think many of the nurses out there today are just in it for the money. every nurse is bound to make a mistake but a downright neglectful person wont keep that job very long (as with any career).
i used to be a travel nurse. i made a career out of walking onto the worst units in poorly managed hospitals and making it work for 13 weeks. i have seen poor moral, and believe me........there are hospitals where "half the nurses in a given hospital hat their job" would be a major improvement.
in most given hospitals, yeah, i'd say its close to 50/50. some nurses show it more than others, but the "happy with things exactly as they are" are few and far between. many nurses are working shifts they did not sign up for, have not been given raises in close to two years, are cancelled and sent home meanwhile the nurses on duty are working short handed, can't get the vacation time they want becasue "the hospital is working short" but.........are getting cancelled.
i could go on and on about what wears nurses down.
my point is though, is something else that was mentioned in the book i read years ago. most nurses who are unhappy with their jobs are only a lateral move away from being perfectly fulfilled with what they do. i know many m/s nurses who are not made for it. yet, the familiar is too comfortable hence they stay there and are miserable. i know other nurses who want to get into a specialty, but hospitals are being picky about letting people move, the training costs always come up when i try to go from m/s to icu. i'm good enough at performing as an unhappy m/s nurse that it is cheaper to train a gn for the icu than it is to train me for icu and a gn for my old m/s position. so on and on i go, being a somewhat detached nurse, hating that my days consist of chasing granny around in circles around the bed yelling "sit down, you are going to fall, let us help you walk to the bathroom, you have to use your call bell." i didn't get into nursing to do that.
to avoid burnout, one should use one of nursing's biggest advantages, which is that there are many different fields to go into. one is surely going to suit your personality.
now, if the economy would just improve enough that people like myself would be able to make the moves they want to......i think you'd find more nurses happy with where they are in life. this one would be anyway.
...thank you for responding. I was beginning to think that no one from the nursing world that I've lived in for 15 years was on this site.
I work registry too as a PCA in a major metro city in Cali:)... I get to watch all of the afore mentioned from the ancillary standpoint...and I've just sat back and been amazed.
So when I got burnt out in M/S, I went to ICU as a PCA...and it's even worse some times, even with the ratio being 1:2, maybe 1:1 sometimes...People just get really selfish..I really hope I don't get stuck anywhere when I graduate~~everyone's told me to just change up the unit, or the speciality if I find myself being burnt out. So I have ESPECIALLY as a PCA ~ I have been the US, worked in bariatric surgery, transportation, Psych, M/S, Step down, Tele, Sub-acute, rehab, and regular surgery. I've been cancelled at 5, and called at 8 ( which sucks)...
For me, the solution has always been...(let me call my registry and do something different for a while)...I work per diem, so I have this advantage...I get to go around to other hospitals through the registries I work with...but most times see the same thing elsewhere and end up , after a few weeks, calling my nursing office to give my assignment. I really love the area that the hospital is in that I work, but believe that it's ran in a mafioso style...it's really getting ugly with the new Medicare laws, and JCHACO rules.
I just want to be able to add to the profession in the most caring way possible. And I don't want to end up like many of the nurses that I've worked with.
I hope no one is offended.....this is the reality that I live in at work.
hi I'm a new NCLEX-RN passer here in California, and I have a hard time finding a job eventhough I have an experience in the Philippines as a med/surg staff nurse for almost two years, can anyone send me job opportunities that will hire newbies like me? Ive walked in through clinics and healthcare centers in hayward, unfortunately they are hiring CNAs so I just applied that as well.
Specializes in Developmental and Peds with disabilities.
I have to say that I think the people who only go into Nursing for the money ought to consider this: say you found out you were seriously ill. Your doctor comes in, tells you you have less than a year. Now, what would you prefer to have happen next, the doctor sits with you and talks to you, provides you with support and care and actually seems to give a crap about doing all he can to make sure you see your child's third birthday and maybe even gives you the hope you will see a graduation ceremony, or the doctor who then stands up, hands you a prescription, and walks out, leaving you stunned and petrified? And while doctors do the diagnosing and make the most important medical decisions, it's the nurses who are on a more intimate basis, who let you hug them and cry on their shoulder, who sit with you as you tell them your fears, and make sure that you are as comfortable as possible in a frightening environment such as a hospital can be. Wasn't it your mother who "nursed" you as an infant when you couldn't make your own food or your father who "nursed" you when you were a child with a horrid stomach virus? Why do you think they call it nursing?! Nursing is the number one most respected profession because they care about their patients. Yes, the money and so called "job security" ( I use the term loosely in todays fabulous economic state) is a perk, but shouldn't the ideal job be something you love as well as something you can live on? And to the person who says that those who go into nursing strictly for the benefits have an easier time because they don't get attached, why is it such a bad thing to be attached to your patients? Is it such a tragedy to care about the person whose hand you may be holding as they pass away? I know that I will never forget one of the nurses who saved my daughter's life when she was born and came into my room the next day to bring her to me with watery eyes as she cooed over the baby girl who almost died in her arms the night before. My daughter is almost three and I still to this day remember that woman's name. I couldn't even tell you the age or even the sex of the nurses who came and took my vitals or gave me my meds during my postpartum stay, but I will be grateful to Maggie (for this is her name) for the rest of my life. I will always remember her and that's how one leaves their mark in history. I have always been a firm believer that you have to love what you do or else you will not be satisfied when you look back later in life. The nurses who care are the ones who touch people's lives, and they are the greatest people of all.
I pray for the nurses who do it for their own selfish reason, because this profession is supposed to be for the selfless. I pray that one day they will get that one patient who changes the way they think and become one of the nurses that they scorn for caring so deeply.
thank you...and wow...for all of my nursing life, I've viewed EVERY patient as if I was taking care of a parent...makes griping disappear, brings out the loving spirit in my work...my co workers can see that, the patient DEFINITELY can ( which is what gets requests by managers), my supervisors see it---this is simply a job/profession where you have to have LOVE INSIDE of you, or at least pretend to, to be at peace with YOURSELF. (*Lord, did I do what you wanted me to do today?*)~~ Is the question I've tried to ask myself EVERY shift I've worked. When I get in my car after 12 hours of bathing, turning, paperwork, stocking linens, stocking isolation carts, calling Central supply, runninig labs, checking stocks, restocking pyxis, and TALKING with my patients during my work, I get in my car and cry sometimes because I LOVE my job ....All of the complaining and halfheartedness is so pitiful.
Why work in a profession that you hate?? Some simply don't. ...I pray for them all of the time.
Yes. There's a shortage.
Yes. People are burnt out.
Yes. It can be hard.
But, if we lived in Florence's time, we wouldn't have ANY of the amenities that we take for granted ( bedside monitoring for example)
Nurse is a CALLING!!! I do believe in that!!! A nurse must not after for money alone but the important thing is we show how we truly care for our patients through our actions, words and understanding and share them God's love each and every day... though how tired a nurse will be yet we can still manage to care for our patients for we love our work!!! God has His purpose for all of these things that comes our way!!! God bless us!!!
Specializes in ICU, MS, Radiology, Long term care.
To all the people who feel being an RN is so easy. "I don't know why there is a nursing shortage, why don't they just hire people."
Excellent question! Why is there a nursing shortage? There was a nursing shortage 30 years ago when I graduated. As far as I can tell this is the same one. Please someone give me an answer and win a chance at a seaside vacation in Kansas!
Excellent question! Why is there a nursing shortage? There was a nursing shortage 30 years ago when I graduated. As far as I can tell this is the same one. Please someone give me an answer and win a chance at a seaside vacation in Kansas!
There is no nursing shortage.
There is a grand difference between hospitals/health systems "running short", and a nursing shortage. Currently, health systems are, by choice, "running short". They are doing so to make better profits and to make up for lost resources that slipped away during the recession.
A "nursing shortage" implies there are not enough nurses to fill the voids. There are. Many GNs have to relocate to find work. Yet, the hospital 5 miles down the road from where they live now could double its staff and still not be properly prepared for the number of patients they admit.
The nursing field is currently saturated. People who want to change careers are afraid to because jobs are so scarce, people who expected to retire in 09' are still holding on, and probably will for another two or three years.
Hospitals can use and abuse right now, and most choose to do so. Don't like your working conditions........better luck in another hospital where you have no seniority, and even better luck in a new career where you have no experience.
It will be this way until the economy improves enough that people who have decided nursing is not for them (AND THERE ARE OH SO MANY) can move on and the people who are considering retiring are comfortable enough to do so. That, plus the increase in admits that is bound to happen with a better economy and you will again have a real "nursing shortage". Until then.............don't be shocked by anything these health systems will do.
Specializes in ICU, MS, Radiology, Long term care.
The so called nursing shortage has me confused. There are many job openings, but when I apply the hospital states they are looking for a candidate with other qualifications. Some of jobs have been posted and re-posted for almost a year. Something doesn't smell right here. I understood hospitals are regulated to have adequate nurse to patient ratios, but many don't. Is it the regulators that are not regulating?
Even if a person goes into nursing with such innocent enthusiasm, it doesn't last because it doesn't take long to see how corrupt society is. And if you have not been faced with the cruel people out there or haven't been forced to treat someone inhumane, then where are you nursing?...Never Never Land?
Even if a person goes into nursing with such innocent enthusiasm, it doesn't last because it doesn't take long to see how corrupt society is. And if you have not been faced with the cruel people out there or haven't been forced to treat someone inhumane, then where are you nursing?...Never Never Land?
I'm not sure whom, if anyone, this is directed toward. I don't think I'd ever accuse the OP of "innocent" enthusiasm. I guess I'd have to agree that innocence doesn't last long. As the poster notes, you see a lot, and it ain't always pretty. But I do think that while enthusiam may wax and wane from shift to shift, it is entirely possible to maintain a general level of enthusiam over time. I'm not exactly a haggard veteran, so I may sing a different tune five years from now, but so far I've been finding that the more I understand people, the more I understand them. By that I mean that seeing under their skin (figuratively, usually) makes it easier to, if not forgive, at least suspend judgement. (And I'm not sure it's my place to forgive, anyway.)
I've had patients who were shackled to the bed and under guard who called me "sir" and thanked me for everything I did. I've had upstanding citizens I probably wouldn't want to be friends with away from the job. I watched a young man die after days and days on comfort care, and if all you knew was what you read in the paper, maybe you'd say he deserved it, but the family I had to console as his body fought for every breath of a life he'd discarded--they sure didn't deserve it, and however screwed up he had been, who knows what potential was lost.
I really don't know about higher callings. I go back and forth on that. But I think I'm on madwife's side in that I truly believe this work demands that you give of yourself and open yourself to people. Maybe in part because I work in neurosciences, I think it's important to find ways to connect with my patients. Truthfully, I am more emotionally invested in my cats than my patients, but while I'm on the job, my heart and mind are there with my patients. If I can find that commitment simply from a sense of duty to do my job well, fine. If I need to believe I'm doing God's work, so be it. But if I'd rather be golfing, I need to call off and go golfing, and if that's more than a rare moment of distraction, I need to find a different line of work. (Hypothetically. In reality, I detest golf.)
i am giving and taking insulin at the same time? i'm smoking a cigarette, and teaching my patient about the effects it has on the respiratory system at the same time? i'm giving effexor, and taking some at the same time? no! there should be some sort of battery testing that goes on to nursing students that will determine if a person is even suitable for the profession! 
whether i can do dimensional analysis, or can read and write shouldn't be the first testing that i receive! am i a caregiver?~~ should be the first question asked! i am so sick and tired of going behind these people who got into nursing because their mom did it, or they came to this country to buy a house, or they want to drive a hummer...
:yeah:
nursekimmi
17 Posts
:)
...and you're right. I am off base with the insulin ( I can be very overzealous about this subject cause I am so, so tired of seeing bad nursing....I live in a large city, and I'm tired of it) because some have Type 1...but I am just saying that we have to take care of ourselves, ESPECIALLY diabetics so that we're not out there taking care of patients better than we take care of ourselves....Type 2 diabetes is curable via diet, exercise, and weight loss....I know because I am cured from it. And I speak about this so bluntly because I've been in the situation of taking better care of my community and family than I do myself.
To ALL:
I am just making a comment on what I HAVE observed.
And, btw, I have worked in many, many, large hospitals and YES I have seen lots and lots of neglect. Sometimes, it REALLY isn't the nurse, sometimes it's short staffing, higher than expected census...the list can go on. My main point is regarding what the original poster wrote about people going into nursing because it is a GREAT PROFESSION and pays very well.
Re: testing...A simple essay will do. No major test. I don't know how long anyone who responded to my post has been out of nursing school. But because of the nursing shortage, the overcrowding of nursing programs, the long wait lists and the economy, so many people are becoming EXTREMELY desperate...and will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to get to the NCLEX...
Obsession should never be mistaken for passion. :)