I am going to be writing a paper for a communications class I am taking and have decided to focus on hospital nursing..after reading so many posts on here about the downside of hospital nursing and my own opinion ..I began to wonder - "Is hospital nursing really that bad or are our expectation too high?" I would like feedback from nurse who currently work in the hospital setting..preferably those with over a years experience ONLY because new Grads, obviously, have a tendency to feel overwhelmed anyway..My opinion is..hospital nursing has changed tremendously in the past decade and, for me, not in a good way. I know work is work but I do think there needs to be a certain level of satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment in ANY job we perform. We are exchanging time in our life we cannot get back for it..I have worked as an RN for over 20 yrs - mostly in the hospital setting until 2010...Though there are parts of the hospital I miss, I have to be honest...I don't miss the 12 hour shifts which end up being 13-14, getting up early, coming home to get straight to bed so I can get up early again, I don't miss the 6-7 patient load, emptying potty chairs, cleaning up vomit, the repetitive paperwork or going from being so-so busy you can't eat or use the bathroom for hours to sitting around with nothing to do as the hours drag on. I can't say I would never go back into a hospital setting but for now, right now..no.
But for those of you who are working in the hospital setting - has it gotten as bad as I think it has/was or was it just time for a change for me? Do you think working PRN or part-time makes it easier or worse than FT? I just don't recall so much unhappiness and dissatisfaction in the profession even 10 years ago..nor so many unhappy new grads -aside from the job market sucking...thanks in advance for input.
I guess it is important to realize every nurse has a niche. As everyone has said... it is common for nurses in the hospitals to not eat, not drink, no pee and be stuck at work for hours after the end fo the shift. But every nurse has the option to leave their position and go to an MD office, home health, public health, etc.... these are jobs where you get your lunch, breaks and have more control of your work enviornemnt. If you are unhappy with the "characteristics" of hospital nursing then find the area of nursing that meet your personal needs. I work on a small town, but very busy 20 bed med/surg floor and I know going in for my 12 hour shift may and often is 12 hours of on your feet, running, no meals and maybe one bathroom break if I am lucky. What do I do? Brings snacks that you can munch on on the run or while charting, limit fluid intake and wear good shoes :)
Is it all worth it at the end of the day? Absolutley! NO job is perfect. I do not do my work with the intent of eating delicious hospital food and taking coffee breaks... I work because I love what I do (patient care) and need the money. This is why I consider these "characteristics" of hospital nursing... not negatives. Any nursing students reading this... PLEASE talk to senior nurses about job characteristics of ALL branches of nurses.. learn about weekends, holidays, NIGHTSHIFTS and job expectations of each job: home health, LTC, hospital, etc.
Gen Y right here....I am "entitled" to say that it is pretty horrible to me...
I guess my expectations are too high...
an uninterrupted 30minute break in a 12 hr shift....
to take a bathroom break if needed...
be free of lateral workplace bullying.......
have enough staffing...lower ratios...
across the board accountability for patient care in the interdisciplinary team, not just the nursing profession.
descent pay for responsibility....
getting rid of the saturated work load (you know its bad when some nurses have considered quiting jobs because of a few more sheets of documentation required or one more added responsibility, the straw that broke the camel's back)
And to answer one of your questions.....Prn is easier.
Prn pros: schedule what days you want to work. Higher pay rate.
Prn cons: possibility of being dumped on...No benefits..
Some work environments may be toxic and a human can only take so much abuse, so being prn is easier.
I guess it is important to realize every nurse has a niche. As everyone has said... it is common for nurses in the hospitals to not eat, not drink, no pee and be stuck at work for hours after the end fo the shift. But every nurse has the option to leave their position and go to an MD office, home health, public health, etc.... these are jobs where you get your lunch, breaks and have more control of your work enviornemnt. If you are unhappy with the "characteristics" of hospital nursing then find the area of nursing that meet your personal needs. I work on a small town, but very busy 20 bed med/surg floor and I know going in for my 12 hour shift may and often is 12 hours of on your feet, running, no meals and maybe one bathroom break if I am lucky. What do I do? Brings snacks that you can munch on on the run or while charting, limit fluid intake and wear good shoes :)
Is it all worth it at the end of the day? Absolutley! NO job is perfect. I do not do my work with the intent of eating delicious hospital food and taking coffee breaks... I work because I love what I do (patient care) and need the money. This is why I consider these "characteristics" of hospital nursing... not negatives. Any nursing students reading this... PLEASE talk to senior nurses about job characteristics of ALL branches of nurses.. learn about weekends, holidays, NIGHTSHIFTS and job expectations of each job: home health, LTC, hospital, etc.
So if you're out of hospital nursing what are you doing now?
I hate when nurses say I'm so busy I can't take a break, I can't eat, I can't pee, I can't get out on time 12hrs becomes 14+, I'm stressed and frustrated; but I LOVE my job!
Is that denial or what! Come on, when you obviously are overworked, overstressed, and not allowed the basic civilities and legal breaks, lunch, pee, go home on time; don't time me you LOVE it!
Be honest at least with yourself! It is not decent or fair or human to be worked like a dog, and not even have time to take a break, eat, pee and get out on time.
Why do nurses admit the truth in one breath (that hospital nursing sucks) and then in the next proclaim how they LOVE it and couldn't do anything else.
Am I the only one that's not a martyr around here.
Ok there are things that you may like or even LOVE about your job, but not admitting the poor working conditions that so many of us are forced to work under is wrong! If you don't admit the truth and only make excuses, it will never get any better.
We need time to think, time to breathe, time to pee, time to eat and time to take a break, and we need to get out at a reasonable hour. Please don't minimize these violations, yes violations, of our humanity, when we are expected to work in an inhuman environment where we are supposed to totally give up any needs of our own! That is insanity!
We need and deserve and must demand better working conditions. Taking a break, eating lunch without being rushed and being able to pee are basic human needs and why do nurses feel we have to give those up at work. Why does management and the hospital culture feel it is ok to overwork us to the point where we aren't allowed such basic needs.
They don't go without breaks, meals, the bathroom and if they work overtime it's by their choice and they are getting well compensated, whereas we are expected to drop everything and stay 16 hrs if they are short! That too is inhuman.
Please don't go on telling us how you love being abused and how wonderful it is to work under abusive conditions that are simply inhuman and actually illegal. We have a legal right to have a totally uninterrupted lunch away from the nursing station, otherwise we must be paid for that lunch. While that is commonly violated, on occasion the govt steps in and makes the hospitals provide back pay for not letting their staff take a real lunch break!
Look around, it seems only nursing and the PCA's are worked to death, but you never see the PCA's refusing to take a break or miss lunch; only the nurses. Everyone else in the hospital has time to take all their breaks and a leisurely lunch but the nurses.
Why is that! How come everyone else has the right and ability to get lunch, but we're too important to leave the floor. We're too important to actually be able to take a break; that is ridiculous.
I really believe we need national staffing ratios, like CA has and that includes swing nursing staff to relieve us so we can take a real break and relax and not just come back to more chaos! I don't understand why so few nurses admit this and fight for our basic rights as a human being!
I agree. Where I work most of the nurses look unhappy but will not say anything. I don't know of one hospital floor nurse who loves their job. Most just tolerate it.
I guess it is important to realize every nurse has a niche. As everyone has said... it is common for nurses in the hospitals to not eat, not drink, no pee and be stuck at work for hours after the end fo the shift. But every nurse has the option to leave their position and go to an MD office, home health, public health, etc.... these are jobs where you get your lunch, breaks and have more control of your work enviornemnt. If you are unhappy with the "characteristics" of hospital nursing then find the area of nursing that meet your personal needs. I work on a small town, but very busy 20 bed med/surg floor and I know going in for my 12 hour shift may and often is 12 hours of on your feet, running, no meals and maybe one bathroom break if I am lucky. What do I do? Brings snacks that you can munch on on the run or while charting, limit fluid intake and wear good shoes :)
Is it all worth it at the end of the day? Absolutley! NO job is perfect. I do not do my work with the intent of eating delicious hospital food and taking coffee breaks... I work because I love what I do (patient care) and need the money. This is why I consider these "characteristics" of hospital nursing... not negatives. Any nursing students reading this... PLEASE talk to senior nurses about job characteristics of ALL branches of nurses.. learn about weekends, holidays, NIGHTSHIFTS and job expectations of each job: home health, LTC, hospital, etc.
Do you really think that jobs are that plentiful or easy to get???
I do not care about how plentiful or easy jobs are to get. There is a LIMIT to the amount of ******** I can tolerate and I have hit the wall. I graduated in 1984. Very good at what I do and I can pretty much do it all. CCRN BSN blah blah
Does anyone appreciate my effort/level of skill-hell no!
I can not remember the last time that I had a 30 minute break free of all pt care responsibilities. Yet I donate a half an hour of time to this hospital every shift that I work. Why? There is no one to relieve me.
I could handle that and I have, but the level of corruption and deceit on the part of so called administrators and other management officials is enough to make me want to go wait tables, and I probably will.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
It seems as if every one of us has brought salient points to the conversation here. We have each identified what our challenges are day to day.
So now what? How do we CHANGE this?
I am asking honestly, because I do not know the answer. I have gone so far as to dissect out the challenges on my unit, met with surgeons on my own time to get suggestions on how to make our unit more efficient (since they gripe the loudest, I figured they should have some input on how to affect change). I then took the data I had, researched how other hospitals implemented a more streamlined workplace, spent hours verifying facts, reading journals, editing and re-writing my findings to develop a proposal for submission. I submitted it to my boss. She looked at the cover, nodded, put it down on her desk, and launched into a story about how much fun she had hosting a party last weekend for a friend of hers. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.
I KNOW that nurses want to see some positive changes, and most of the nurses that I work with have EXCELLENT ideas to foster these changes. Many of the ideas require no money, but do require time to organize.
How can we effectuate change without being seen by management as a PITA? I have hit this brick wall so many times; yet I still persist in the hope that one day, the person with the authority to make changes LISTENS.
I have known some wonderful pro nurse VPs of pt care. And they were all forced out of their jobs by unscrupulous hospital administators. It was ugly and brutal. I wish that I could name names and hospitals but I can't.
We have to band together. Get rid of the petty divisiveness that exists between women and say no these working conditions are unacceptable, or just move to California.
In the last six months or so I have had several people come to me and say this hospital needs a union. What other choice do we have?
canesdukegirl, I have racked my brain too on this issue. The only thing I could come up with, which has a reasonable chance to work, was to support NNOC/CNA for ratio laws in additional states.
Do any of you who work without taking a lunch break realize that you are doing charity work for the hospital? That half hour is unpaid and is YOUR time. If you don't get a lunch then you should be paid for that half hour. Don't do charity work for the hospital. If you like doing charity work then do it for an organization that deserves it.
It is really that bad. Started out on an ortho/surgical floor just b/c i know my patients are going to get better and that there was a little bit of med/surg involved. My first year was hell (constantly running with pain meds, being yelled at by MD's, making mistakes that were totally unavoidable, being yelled at by patients/family members, etc.). Then after working 6 mos- I was required to float to other floors where most of the floors that I floated on would just dump you with the worst patient load. In addition to having to deal with the patients that the charge RN's would dumped me with when I floated- I had to deal with RN's that were just pure evil beings...I HATED WORKING WITH THEM SO MUCH! THEY WERE JUST PURE EVIL. Even with all the floating I had to do to other departments- I still haven't found my niche. I made it through my first year and wanted to quit, but when I came on to this forum and read some posts on how most jobs wanted at least 2 years of acute care experience- I decided to go ahead for another year. Last week is my 2-year anniversary working on ortho/surg. I love the staff I worked with and I have good rapport with them- I just don't feel I am being appreciated at all from management for all the work and sacrifices that I have to make... The only thing I get from them is like a $5 gift certificate when it is my birthday ::gag:: Now that I'm browsing through this forum, some RN's are saying to have at least 3 years experience....pffttt.. I'm going back to school to get my Bachelors in something else b/c I'm really burned out...
RyanRNBSN
5 Posts
I guess it is important to realize every nurse has a niche. As everyone has said... it is common for nurses in the hospitals to not eat, not drink, no pee and be stuck at work for hours after the end fo the shift. But every nurse has the option to leave their position and go to an MD office, home health, public health, etc.... these are jobs where you get your lunch, breaks and have more control of your work enviornemnt. If you are unhappy with the "characteristics" of hospital nursing then find the area of nursing that meet your personal needs. I work on a small town, but very busy 20 bed med/surg floor and I know going in for my 12 hour shift may and often is 12 hours of on your feet, running, no meals and maybe one bathroom break if I am lucky. What do I do? Brings snacks that you can munch on on the run or while charting, limit fluid intake and wear good shoes :)
Is it all worth it at the end of the day? Absolutley! NO job is perfect. I do not do my work with the intent of eating delicious hospital food and taking coffee breaks... I work because I love what I do (patient care) and need the money. This is why I consider these "characteristics" of hospital nursing... not negatives. Any nursing students reading this... PLEASE talk to senior nurses about job characteristics of ALL branches of nurses.. learn about weekends, holidays, NIGHTSHIFTS and job expectations of each job: home health, LTC, hospital, etc.