Healthcare Nowadays..what the heck's up?

[augiebear]

Ok, so this is just a little venting session, please feel free to join. So, I am going to go to KCC's nursing program, hopefully next semester. Right now I am working as a home health aide and taking some classes. The whole time I was in school I have been working full time and I think my grades and GPR is super awesome considering that I usually never had a day off the entire week...sooooooo..with that said..I applied to KCC's nursing program for this semester(spring) and got in as an alternate..which I still consider to be awesome but I did not want to give my job such late resignation notice had I been called on short notice so I decided I would just try again in the fall...It really ****** me off that I have such a passion to be a nurse and am just in limbo, and over and over again I see such mediocracy (and even less than) in our healthcare systems.

I spent so much of my younger days in hospitals, not as a patient, as a visitor. I have seen the great, the good, the mediocre, and the ugly. I know how it feels to have a loved one in the hospital and wonder if they are getting the care that they need, that they deserve. Not only that, but to just see a smiling face when you feel like the world is caving in on you is such a relief. I have seen the beautiful hearted nurses that no matter how tired they were or overworked, they continued to give care beyond necessary. I have also saw terrible nurses, no compassion, no heart, they are just there, and their CNA's have attitudes to match.

A friend informed me that at a local nursing home that she works at, they had to have compassion classes...you believe that??..COMPASSION CLASSES...Look, sorry to break the news to you but if you really need compassion classes, do the entire healthcare system a favor and FIND ANOTHER PROFESSION..one where compassion is not required...hmm..maybe a politician?:chuckle There are so many potential nursing students yet there is always this thing of a "nursing shortage" . I know it has to do with not having enough teachers, etc., etc., etc. What I am saying is that it is a lot of work and time to actually get IN to nursing school and this only measures our skills academically. Someone could be soooo booksmart and get such great grades in their classes and score super high on their NLN and get in, but be a complete a-hole..is that okay? How about nurses? Is it okay if a nurse is exceptionally well at all the technical aspects of her job but has absolutely no compassion and the people skills of a rock? I know that it is a selective program, but it would be cool if there were some sort of interview kind of thing or even essay. Yeah, I know there are so many appllicants, maybe short interviews with the the people who almost got in but not quite..hahaha..okay, so maybe I am a little salty about not getting in outright..

But seriously, I think that our healthcare system is set up with good enough regulations and rules where EVERY person in the healthcare system should atleast be providing above mediocre care, and it's the bad doctors, nurses, cna's, WHOEVER..that is bringing down our level of healthcare. Doctors overprescribing antibiotics or sending people home with little to no care, nurses not being alert and aware of the medications they give patients, cna's with bad attitudes that walk into someones room without saying a damn word and look like they should be the ones in the hospital bed...please please please..if you are one of these people with no heart..no passion for nursing..once again..THIS IS NOT THE CAREER FOR YOU! you will work hard, maybe even sweat..you will have to think..yes THINK..PEOPLES LIVES ARE DEPENDING ON IT...you will need compassion..heart..you will need to smile all the time..SO you worked a 16 hour shift and the charge nurse is getting on you and you feel overworked and underpaid..BOO HOO..YOU STILL HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF PEOPLE..i don't care if you are not happy..PRETEND THAT YOU ARE!! If this is not you than, stop going to school to be a nurse so that someone who will be a more than mediocre nurse, maybe even GREAT NURSE can have your seat in nursing school..seats that seem to be going faster than free krispy kreme donuts..AAAAAAAAHHHH..if you really read all of this..your awesome thanks!

[mzjennx, BSN, RN]

crazy... compassion classes. where is this at. i wonder if im compassionate enough? haha my graduating class voted me mrs passionate.

you know i felt the same way when i was trying to get into nursing school. i hated all those people who say they want to be nurse but they partied, or didnt do good in school, or... i dunno i had my reasons. and then there the people who i use to work with who were rude and did not respect the patients... and of course the nurse who would rather talk and laugh and make you do all the work... but then again i was only a nurse aide. i told myself i was going to be a better nurse, a more compassionate caring nurse.

then you got the people who get into nursing school that arent as great as you. school in hawaii dont take into consideration if you have experience as a nurse aide, home aide, clerk, volunteer. they look at your grades only. they should do interviews too. i was like you i worked as a nurse aide and was trying to get into nursing school, i was maintaing a 3.7 so pick me!!! i found out i got into UH and started nursing school January 2005. but you still meet the same people. people who went to school because their parents said so, because its a good job and make money... where is the compassion, the real nurses.

but thats reality. good luck at kcc. alternate list... if you got good grades look into UH too. a lot of alternate list students got into UH. they are taking in more students now and BSN, come on you cant go wrong with that. well take care.

[jerrycRN]

yea i agree..i was placed on the alternate/ waiting list at KCC, but was accepted at UHM..

[Slobgob]

"you will need compassion..heart..you will need to smile all the time..SO you worked a 16 hour shift and the charge nurse is getting on you and you feel overworked and underpaid..BOO HOO"

Compassion? Where's your compassion for the nurse who just worked a 16 hour shift? =P~

I think ya gotta walk a mile in their shoes first...

Maybe take your cell phone with you on that walk, so when the 7th relative that day, of the same patient, asks for a full update and investigative report... you'll know how hard it is to always be so chipper.

I say this... but of course, i agree with you. Its just... you're probably preaching to the choir on this one. Not too many mediocre nurses, who hate their jobs, come to a nursing forum on their off time. =)

[augiebear]

you are correct, I have not been in their shoes yet, but I am prepared to. I know that I will have very trying days but you can bet that I will try my damndest to keep a positive and uplifting attitude. So yeah, maybe a nurse worked a long shift and has to repeat themselves over and over again, and still deal with his or her other patients, one of them who is very nasty etc., etc...should the patient that is battling cancer who is in the hospital for the sixth time this month not be treated well because of the work overload?? is this really their problem?...God Bless that 7th relative wanting an update, some people don't even have one that cares enough to ask...Speak for yourself..like I said..I know how it is to be on the other end..to be so worried about your loved ones..to wonder if they are being treated well or even just okay..have you ever walked in the shoes of a cancer patient..or stood side by side of a cancer patient in and out of the hospital four-five times a month??

Just becasue someone wants to be a nurse, does not mean they should..There is a lot of work..and it can be physically and emotionally exhausting..i just hope that people wanting to be a nurse will look at all of this before they become a nurse, and end up unhappy and unable to give people quality health care..that's all..

i did not say that it was not going to be hard..I'm sure it will..and I am sure it is not possible to be that way all the time..but all I can do is try..And I wrote this just to kind of vent, whoever reads it reads..if they don't, oh well.Thank you for your reply:)

[sing_anyway]

i feel for you.

I understand what you mean,

i agree, fake it!

When my little confused resident caught me clutching my back, which really really hurt from moving people all night by myself, she got so concerned, I stood right there, took my hand off my back (I was heading home, not walking around whining on the clock)

And smiled and lied and told of course I was fine sweetie, don't you worry about me, now what can I get you?

I cry in the car, not in front of my residents

[augiebear]

now that is what i am talkling about..God bless you for putting the people..the patients...that we are supposed to be there for..before yourself..that is what makes a great nurse..of course..you have make sure you are healthy as well..i hope your back turned out okay..thank you for your reply:)

[sing_anyway]

thanks for saying that.

I keep hearing that I will be a great nurse,

but I don't belive I have what it takes,

i thought I did,

but i see so much calousness, so much coldness, so much intolerance,

I never saw that when I was little and looked up to those nurses,

never saw it when I was in the hospital and looked at those smiling faces,

but here inLTC, i see it more often than not,

either I was made for this and I am needed because of what I am seeing,

or

I am not cut out for this because I can't be like that.

as for my back,

i just read the posting about nurses that are being made to do CNA work,

and I can see why they wouldn't want to go back,

I still have this dream that this is all temporary, and one day I too shall overcome,

yet I hate to put it that way, nurse aids are needed, ya know?

sorry to take so much space, I haven't actually figured out how to start a new post, think I might be venting here a little (LOT)

[Slobgob]

"now that is what i am talking about..God bless you for putting the people..the patients...that we are supposed to be there for..before yourself"

I'm gonna get flamed for this. Its okay, I like Devil's Advocate. =)

When I orient new grads to our cardiac floor (4:1 ratio), I always tell them: Take care of your fifth patient. In actuality, the fifth patient (yours truly) is more important than any other patient that day.

Just two days ago, I coded someone, I did the chest compressions, I shocked the patient... the patient lived. Three weeks before that... yep, I shocked someone from V-Fib before a single nurse got in the room. That's two.

How many lives did any of my 90yr old patients save in the same month? How many lives will they save from here on out?

You think this sounds cold? Ever see mouth-to-mouth in the hospital anymore? Nope. Because the cons (to the medical professional) outweigh the pros (to the patient).

You have two kidneys... why not donate one to your patient who doesn't even have one?

Do they really come first?

Nope. They come a very, very, very distant second.

That said... everything else comes in even further back in third. Yesterday, my lunch break (Start at 7am) was at 5:15pm... not one single break before that. My only food before that... two cookies that I ate in 5 seconds while charting at the nurses station. My only drink was 2 coffees, 1 soda, and not a sip of water. Oh yeah, my back hurt that day too.

Did I complain about the back? Yep. But I blame myself for poor priorities. I didn't take care of my fifth patient.

I'm doing okay now... but can I keep this up every day? Nope, I'll either quit or die.

What happens to my patients then?

The truth hurts.

[augiebear]

that is an interesting perspective and also very true...of course....you have to take care of yourself physically..to be able to do the job..as well as emotionally..At the rate your going..you have got to be exhausted...That is craziness that your only and first break was at 5 in the afternoon..after 10 hours of working..you say that it is your fault for poorly prioritizing, but in a way, you poorly prioritized because you were putting someone else, whoever it was, first...which is a very noble thing of you..No, I am not going to "flame you" :) I can see that by the way you described your day, you are probably a good and dedicated nurse..so take care of yourself..because patients could use a good nurse like you..You could have hid out and forgot about the patients or your other duties for 10 minutes and gobbled something down, but you didn't.Before anyone can do their job, they need to be healthy or else, you are right, you may not even be there to take care of them. The same goes emotionally, if you are a unhappy, depressed and bitter person, I cannot see how you would be effective either. That being said, who's job is it really to see that nurses are getting enough breaks? Yes, we take care of patients, and we must take care of ourselves, but the facility or hospital that we work for should be trying to take care of us well...seeing to it that people like you get enough breaks and such. Thank you for your reply:)