Have you read "Nursing Against the Odds"?

pageygirl · Apr 4, 2009

Read the book nursing against the odds thought that it was pretty good. Yes not every day is as bad as some portrayed but thank god someone has the guts to write about it. Always thought oprah should do a story about how hard nursing is and not just on the mistakes that nurses make

Trauma Columnist · Apr 4, 2009

Speaking from the other side, I've been a nurse for 17 years in multiple states, setting and licenses (CNA, LPN, RN, APN) and found the book to be depressing and overtly anti-nursing. I'm not saying nursing is a rosy little profession where we save lives and decrease discomfort on a daily basis because that's not reality either. However, I was a broadcast journalist before I became a nurse and drama sells.

firstyearstudent · Apr 5, 2009

As a second career nurse this book really resonated with me. So many nurses who have worked solely in nursing just accept the status quo as inherent to the job (the backbiting, being overworked, being humiliated by MDs, etc.). Nursing is an ugly freaking profession with too many martyrs and too many who don't "believe" in unions. Bedside is for the birds and once a bedside nurse manages to claw his/her way into management, they too often turn on bedside nurses. It's totally crazy.

I just wished the author had been a nurse. It's too bad nurses, as a profession, are too stupid to look after themselves.

dianajh73 · Apr 5, 2009

I just finished reading "where have all the nurses gone". LOVED IT! I got it from the library to use a reference in my entrance essay for RN program and read the whole thing cover to cover. Got 9 other books that I skimmed - this was the only one worth reading through. Has great stats and follows several cases from all perspective (patient, doctor, nurses). Easy to relate to.

kanzi monkey · Apr 5, 2009

It'd weed out the pollyannas and the money-seekers.

Are you joking?

If not, let me get this straight.

Say there's a person who is hopeful and optimistic--maybe idealistic at times. This person also desires a career which compensates for her hard work, training, and knowledge (you know, so she can finance her life...). Sounds like a nice, normal person who is smart, ambitious and well-intended. Also could be negatively characterized as a "Pollyanna" or a "money-seeker". This person should be "weeded out" of the potential nursing pool?

Why?

This is kind of what Nursing Against the Odds is about. The health care industry (which includes nursing) truly does make it difficult for nurses to advocate for themselves. The world is unkind to nurses who assume they deserve respect and compensation, in addition to the satisfaction inherent in patient-care. Since we're nurses and we're the only ones who really "get" the profession, we should help others understand what we do. If the public were more aware that we provide our care from a foundation of knowledge and skill, achieved through education and training (just like other professionals), they might not get so confused when nurses stand up for themselves and demand respect and an adequate salary (just like other professionals). Hospitals take advantage of the public perception that nurses are selfless, angelic, simple people who live to care for others. When that perception dissolves, nurses can stop trying to walk on water, and start putting their foot down where it matters.

If you were joking and that's what you meant, sorry for being obtuse.

-Kan

allnurses Guide · Apr 5, 2009

book review. one nurses opinion:

[color=#b60014]nursing against the odds, by suzanne gordon,
the depressing cover of suzanne gordon's nursing against the odds immediately sets the tone for the whole book: an extremely defeated, burned-out looking rn sits slumped with her head buried in her hands.
for years rns (individually and in some instances collectively) have been engaged in changing the traditional image of being the physician's and administration's handmaiden into being a strong and decisive advocate for their patients and profession.

gordon provides a very accurate description of how rns are stereotyped in the media and, with a few exceptions, in the entertainment industry as well. she is right on the mark in describing the unholy alliance of the nurse managers and administrators with the industry profit mongers, and how nurse managers and administrators have abandoned their patient advocacy duties in favor of promoting corporate interest--creating tension within the nursing profession.

gordon is also on point when she describes the appreciation of nurses by lay people.
the notion of caring, the holistic approach to patient interaction, and the special nurse patient relationship is particularly appealing.
it offers the promise of someone on your side who will escort you through an alien, scary advocacy is all about.
real patient advocacy got started in the early 1980s with the adoption of the primary nursing care model, where, for the first time in
history, the rn direct care and patient advocacy role became intertwined.

in primary nursing, rns became patient advocates because rns planned and provided the care, and collaborated with other nurses and health practitioners about the needs of their patients.
we took this road in the '80s and never looked back.
but suzanne gordon spends too much time rehashing the handmaiden image. she should have used cna's revolution as an example of what needs to occur in our profession in order to protect and promote our profession, patient safety, and patient advocacy.
the american nurses association failed to lead the profession in seeking autonomy in advocacy and recognition in practice settings, choosing instead to focus on prestige versus real power.

no so with cna. we seized the power.
yet gordon's book provides no anatomy of the most incredible achievements of cnasponsored landmark legislation, like the nation's first safe staffing ratio law. these accomplishments not only changed the manner in which rns responded to the patient's clinical, therapeutic, and restorative needs, but also created social change in the rn culture, e.g. acting as lawful weapons to fight for our patients, our profession, and our well-being.

gordon supports the bsn degree as the entry into practice and differentiation of practice. she also promotes the "magnet" hospital status, which is really just a money-making scheme by ana and a marketing tool for the industry. also, contrary to her recommendation, there is no need for further experimentation in nursing models. that's like the frog adapting to more and more heat, not realizing that he is being slowly boiled.
finally, her focus on the rn being weak, a victim, and burned out is misplaced.the strategy to deal with these factors can be rather simple if there is a professional and political will. how does one deal with stress? very simple, by changing the stress factors.

what are the stress factors?
on the clinical side, having the responsibility and accountability of too many patients without the authority.
what is the solution? representation by a progressive professional and labor organization fighting for better working conditions/benefits and achieving safe patient ratio standards, including the requirement to staff up based on patients' individual acuity as determined by the direct-care rn.
--hedy dumpel, rn, jd
http://www.calnurses.org/publications/calnurse/2005/californianurse_julaug2005-web.pdf

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Apr 5, 2009

Are you joking?
If not, let me get this straight.
Say there's a person who is hopeful and optimistic--maybe idealistic at times. This person also desires a career which compensates for her hard work, training, and knowledge (you know, so she can finance her life...). Sounds like a nice, normal person who is smart, ambitious and well-intended. Also could be negatively characterized as a "Pollyanna" or a "money-seeker". This person should be "weeded out" of the potential nursing pool?
Why?
This is kind of what Nursing Against the Odds is about. The health care industry (which includes nursing) truly does make it difficult for nurses to advocate for themselves. The world is unkind to nurses who assume they deserve respect and compensation, in addition to the satisfaction inherent in patient-care. Since we're nurses and we're the only ones who really "get" the profession, we should help others understand what we do. If the public were more aware that we provide our care from a foundation of knowledge and skill, achieved through education and training (just like other professionals), they might not get so confused when nurses stand up for themselves and demand respect and an adequate salary (just like other professionals). Hospitals take advantage of the public perception that nurses are selfless, angelic, simple people who live to care for others. When that perception dissolves, nurses can stop trying to walk on water, and start putting their foot down where it matters.
If you were joking and that's what you meant, sorry for being obtuse.
-Kan

No, I was not joking. I meant every word. There are real Pollyannas out there trying to get into nursing school who have no idea that nursing in today's market means they will never get time to hold a hand, wipe a tear, or comfort a dying patient.

There are other potential nursing students who are being steered toward nursing "because it's recession-proof" and they need the money. Just read some of the posts here. There are more people changing careers to pursue a nursing career because they genuinely believe there's a nursing shortage, a fact that is widely disputed among licensed nurses.

Those folks should read that book before they apply to nursing school.

I never said that nurses shouldn't demand a good wage for what they do, better working conditions, and more recognition. I think that nurses should educate the public about what we do, just as we educate them about their diseases. (Read From Silence to Voice, by Suzanne Gordon. Another must-read for all nurses.) And finally, yes, I think we have a responsibility to tell the public that what we do is more physically, emotionally, and intellectually demanding than they could ever imagine.

jenni82104 · Apr 5, 2009

Hmm. I am one of those "pollyanna" types that wanted to get into nursing so that I could actually spend time with people and really take care of them. Part of the problem is nursing school itself. I just spent 15 wks learning about nursing theories, theraputic communication, how we're supposed to take care of people's pychosocial and spiritual needs (yeah right!) as well as their physical needs. It makes me angry that schools promote this unrealisitc view of a working RN. Part of nursing is supposed to be about holding a hand, wiping a tear, and comforting a dying patient. It's just a shame nurses have no control over their own profession.

allnurses Guide · Apr 5, 2009

Hmm. I am one of those "pollyanna" types that wanted to get into nursing so that I could actually spend time with people and really take care of them. Part of the problem is nursing school itself. I just spent 15 wks learning about nursing theories, theraputic communication, how we're supposed to take care of people's pychosocial and spiritual needs (yeah right!) as well as their physical needs. It makes me angry that schools promote this unrealisitc view of a working RN. Part of nursing is supposed to be about holding a hand, wiping a tear, and comforting a dying patient. It's just a shame nurses have no control over their own profession.

We can and many of us HAVE taken control of our profession.

Please don't give up on nursing!

http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/nnoc_101.pdf

Watch some of the historic nurses of our time who are and have taken control over their work-

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Apr 5, 2009

We can and many of us HAVE taken control of our profession.
Please don't give up on nursing!
http://www.calnurses.org/assets/pdf/nnoc_101.pdf
Watch some of the historic nurses of our time who are and have taken control over their work-
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Herring, thanks so much for the valuable links. It's exciting to know that something is happening somewhere in the nursing field. Unfortunately, it's too little, too late for me -- I've left the bedside, and I will not be able to return.

I still miss it and I still grieve over the fact that if my working conditions had been better, I might have been able to stay a few more years.

allnurses Guide · Apr 5, 2009

Angie;

You can still help.

It will help OUR profession and those of us who will need a nurse.

I know you know this but many others may not know of the resources right here on ALLNURSES.COM

NRSKarenRN and many others provide may ideas for anyone to actively work to improve nursing and healthcare;

https://allnurses.com/nursing-activism-healthcare/

kanzi monkey · Apr 5, 2009

No, I was not joking. I meant every word. There are real Pollyannas out there trying to get into nursing school who have no idea that nursing in today's market means they will never get time to hold a hand, wipe a tear, or comfort a dying patient.

Never? I do this every day. I do it when I'm talking with my patients about their meds, when I'm educating them about their condition, reviewing the plan, listening to them. I'm sure you did too. Unfortunately the system is so broken (aka, budget-driven) I find I'm wiping their tears of frustration more than anything else. The plans are a mess. I listen to them, then do what I can to open a line of communication between the patient and the team. The residents are so swamped, it sometimes takes days to fix a problem in a care plan. For example, I had a patient recently who had been taking ativan tid x >6 months--a psych consult done soon after she was admitted recommended changing the ativan to qd (and .5 mg rather than 1mg), and give haldol prn. The consult note did not indicate the patient's ativan intake prior to admission, and it was clear that whoever did the consult missed that part. But the residents didn't notice that. They simply followed the recs. It took 2 hellish days of nurses TELLING the resident that this was inappropriate, demanding PRNs multiple times a day at the very least, until someone actually listened to nurses, listened to the patient's family, read the psych note, and realized the discrepancy. So no, it's not the ideal picture of hand-holding, tear-wiping, and comforting. But all the nurses on the floor provided these things to the patient during those days when she was acutely anxious and beginning to withdraw from benzos. And yeah, we worked after the end of our shifts those days, didn't take lunch breaks, and had to file safety reports for the 2 times the patient fell. It shouldn't have happened, and the nurses were the unappreciated buffer--but we did an excellent job with the tools we had. And it meant a lot to the patient and her family. The fact that I was pi&*ed at how badly things went, I still felt satisfied with my role, my relationship with the patient, and my ability to advocate for her. Yeah nurses clean up *&^% for a living--and it's often not the biological type.

There are other potential nursing students who are being steered toward nursing "because it's recession-proof" and they need the money. Just read some of the posts here. There are more people changing careers to pursue a nursing career because they genuinely believe there's a nursing shortage, a fact that is widely disputed among licensed nurses.

I knew nothing about nursing before I went to nursing school. I was never a CNA, my first year working in a hospital freaked me out...because hospitals freak me out. If I went in to nursing solely for job security, I would have quit by now. I'm guessing most of those potential nurses don't pursue nursing for very long. It's a hard and often unforgiving job.

I never said that nurses shouldn't demand a good wage for what they do, better working conditions, and more recognition. I think that nurses should educate the public about what we do, just as we educate them about their diseases. (Read From Silence to Voice, by Suzanne Gordon. Another must-read for all nurses.) And finally, yes, I think we have a responsibility to tell the public that what we do is more physically, emotionally, and intellectually demanding than they could ever imagine.

I totally agree with you. In fact I think we pretty much agree on most everything here. I have less experience than you, have not been burned as many times. I honor the work that you've done and respect your choice to move on. I think I just bristled at "pollyanna" and "money-seeker" because I know people who believe that this is all nurses are, or don't believe they are intelligent, normal, driven people. And I know some really amazing nurses who think very poorly of themselves and believe they deserve to be treated as they are. I really wish they didn't feel this way. Not only is it unfair to them, it's unfair to the rest of us as well.