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.
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...
Most places don't even give you the 5 bucks :) All they owe you is the paycheck you agreed on when you got hired- sad, but true.
"Bonuses' are for heads of multimillion dollar corporations (those make me angry, as well)- not for those doing the work. If you get ANY recognition for your birthday- that's a big deal
I mentioned this on another thread- while everyone likes to feel appreciated, you will never get the validation you need by looking to others....if you feel good about how you do, everything anyone else has to say is second best- it saves on a lot of disappointment :) Management, and other staff are also making sacrifices- yours are not their problem . It's a hard job- but looking for outside validation will always leave you feeling unappreciated. :) Congrats for making the 2 year milestone- look at how much you've learned- not at what you didn't get from some other human:o:twocents: Best of luck finding what you really want to do :)
What disgusts me MOST in all of it are these administrators ..and many of them are former nurses who somehow made it into the Big Girl's ranks, and are the FIRST to backstab their former floor mates every single day. Watching them walk around in their heels and pearls, fresh steaming cups of coffees in their hands while YOU are elbow deep in poo and your phone is ringing off the hook ....well, I just can hardly stand it some days.
Something to consider- when a nurse gets to administration/management, they get a whole new set of headaches that people on the floor have no clue about. They get mandates from their new bosses, and they can't do floor work and their new job as well. And being in that position is difficult. The bosses I've had (where I've moved into management/administration- LTC, but still off the floor, and had that distance from those on the floor- or charge on the floor w/no patients of my own- but had to see everyone and document on all 27) have hated the limits they have in their jobs. Most would love to have budgets for more staff, and many other things.
If you don't like what they do-- become them :) Come up with solutions that meet budgets and staff 'wants' and 'needs' (some don't know the difference).
They really don't sit around all day coming up with ways to make floor life miserable- they have other things to do- especially if part of a company with brass over their heads. The higher up the chain, the closer to the dogs !! The ones between the floor and the higher brass are often mortified by the limits they have. At least the ones I've worked with/for.
NO based on my personal opinion ...wouldn't know what my team would say. I work in an ED in Northern California under CNA/NNOC where ratios are the law. The hospital i work for pretends to care but in real sense they would like to break rations. I work 8 hours where i have a 1 hour break(we combine the lunch + two 15 minute breaks) away from the desk. Rarely you may miss your break and the management goes crazy because they have to explain it to upper management plus the union plus you get paid almost triple for that hour.
I think all the problems in hospitals in other states start from the fact that there are no ratios. Then Nurses don't recognize that we work in 24 hours facility where nothing stops and the next person can take over a certain task. But that's a problem because nurses have gotten used to back stabbing each other instead of solving problems with each other. Sorry to say this but nurses are their worst enemies. We back stab, sell out, look down our co-workers. Looks like we compete to get brownie points from management. Always approach your co-worker with any problems you have with them regarding patient care(not personal problems) and always resolved them before escalation. Of course there are some sloppy people out there who don't care and with those you can always move the complaint to the chain of command but at least you tried.
Working without breaks sounds awful but i know many non-union places get away with it. Its dangerous for a nurse or any person to work for 12 hours without a break. I think as nurses we need to take action on this. if you have to go to the bathroom just go.....if your patients are stable just ask a fellow nurse to look out. There is now way i will walk around with a full bladder just because its busy...if no one is dying within the next 3 minutes sorry but i have to go pee.
And last but not least, shame to the managers who forget where they started. In my opinion it seems thatthe prerequisites for management include being a kiss-up and sloppiness. There are managers i worked with as fellow nurses and they left something to be desired. But suddenly they are managers and they don't care about the floor anymore and just want to push what the upper management says. We sell out or fellow nurses and never do we stand up for them.
I worked on a med-surg floor for 3 years (and continue to work per diem), and have lost my sanity. I feel emotionally, physically and psychologically drained.
I recently switched to a desk position in IT working in informatics. Although 5 days a week really stinks when you're used to 3, the lack of stress compared to the stress I felt on the floors is invaluable.
A sad story - recently there has been 5! Yes, FIVE nurses on ONE med-surg floor who have unfortunately lost their pregnancy. I'm convinced this is related to the high-stress demands of the job and the lack of support from everyone around.
I'm currently 7 months pregnant, and was working the floor full-time for my first 3 months, in which I was bleeding furociously and had to go on bed rest. I will now take my chances on layoffs, and hope for the best. I never plan on going back f/t to floor nursing. I rather wait tables..or work at Shop Rite. Honestly.
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.
yes, but if no one is willing to watch your patients, then what are you to do?
i mean sometime on nites, we were only 3 nurses for 26 pts- and that is an intermediate care /stepdown floor
I'm kinda confused... because now the hospital has this thing where we have to AGREE that we got all of our breaks and lunches at work. It's a screen that comes up on the clock in/out machine... that's so nice. And if we say disagree, it's a BIG MESS... not as in you'll ever get the breaks you need, just lots of talking to.
Well that's just to protect them from the govt or a class action lawsuit that lunch and breaks were being missed and workers weren't getting paid for that time. They are just forcing you to lie, because if you admit you didn't get a break or lunch they will just target you and discipline you for not being organized and efficent with your time management. The only way you could do anything was if you had a strong union that would stand up for the workers and say we are NOT getting our breaks & lunches, you need to pay us, you need to hire more help! Otherwise if you complain they will just discipline you, downgrade your eval or outright fire you as an example to the other staff!
one of our older nurses was demoted from RN II to RN I simply because of her excessive overtime, she's near 60 and getting closer to retirement and has years of experience. I'm sorry she is slow and clocks lots of overtime, but I don't think that is a fair enough reason to demote someone to RN I which is essentially a new grad with no experience. Obviously this wasn't fair and she had no raise, obviously, on top of that she had a 4% reduction in pay for almost a year before they reinstated her back to RN II.
I know other nurses who were demoted from RN III or IV with the ever changing ladder system which every year gets made more difficult to maintain the RN III, RN IV levels. I know this is on purpose to cut the budget to force nurses down to a RN II and save the hospital money. Then they must take a pay cut of 4-8% for not being able to maintain the ladder criteria. Well the last point system apparently didn't dislodge enough RN III, RN IV's so this year they have increased the point requirements even more! If you stay RN II you basically have to show up and work. I like that, I never climbed the stupid ladder when I saw the threat of demotion always lurking. People say I'm too cynical, but how come I always end up being right in the end! I'd like to be proved wrong, but I never am It's very sad!
Yes, Johnny and Bugsy..because if you read my original posting I am writing a paper for a graduate communications class and need to incorporate views/opinions OTHER than my own and I have not worked soley in a hospital for the 20+ years.. So, umm...yeah..I wanted others to tell me their experience/opinion given the information would be pulled from different ages/sex/locations..
I worked medical floor nursing for almost 3 years. We were consistently short staffed yet slammed with admissions. We worked together to make sure we got breaks but even those weren't "real" breaks.
Nobody was happy coming in to work. The assignments weren't fair. It was high stress. So stressful that I RARELY ever did overtime. I just could not give that place a second more of life/time than I had to!
I'm working at another hospital now. It's larger..a teaching hospital and it's the same but more politics because it's huge. I come home exhausted. Everyone eats at the desk instead of going in a break room.
I think the saddest part about hospital nursing is how its bad ALL over the hospital. I don't even work on the floor of a hospital, I work in a whole other area that is supposed to be where those on the floor "aspire" to. We only get our 30 minute lunches because our director gets bonuses for coming in under budget. Even on days when it is just not possible to take one (because of the demands on us by doctors), we get chewed out if we don't take one. Our director in not qualified for her position, unfeeling, ununderstanding and completely clueless....and gets money if I take a lunch that she doesn't relieve me for. She just makes my colleagues work without me for 30 minutes.
That is the distressing part of the hospital. The rewards are bestowed upon those that deserve it least. I have seen our CEO in the cafeteria 50 times and he just smiles and goes "Now, what do you do here?" every time. I make you a crapload of money so you can drive your AMG, sir. That is what I do....and get hunted down by the director when I take time to pee.
Some I work with LOVE it. They are content to get beat in the face daily by administration and JCAHO and beg for more. They have come to deal with it expect it and just learn complacency. They have gotten themselves into high end cars, large expensive homes and kids in private schools so there is no leaving for them....just tap dancing. I am not one of those people and I never will be. I have never seen people that think they are the kings of the hospital and literally COWER and "yes ma'am!" when confronted. It's sad. I am actually sad for them and now I find them laughable. I have a plan in place to be out of this in less than a year. I have made sure that I paid off all my debts in full and never got caught up in nursing money and have kept a pretty low key lifestyle. I know the hospital has a bottom line and they have every right to try to reach it, but I have made the conscious decision not to be apart of this anymore. I will make less and be happy at home, with my husband at 5 pm every night. And I will not have the half cocked care I gave a patient earlier in the day in order to hurry him out of the room on my conscience. I am sad about this, nursing is a second career for me and I thought I would be more fulfilled...and I find out it is exactly the same as my previous career; greedy, corrupt and unappreciative...WITH call.
I'd have to say yes. I'm NOT a fan of the hospitality aspect that management has been drilling into us as of late! I am there to take care of a patient NOT make sure his girlfriend has a comfy pillow and blankie to sleep with while she's keeping vigil over her loved one. And really, do you NEED to stay glued to his side while he's in ICU??? I have to ask you to move so that I may empty his drainage bags, thereby waking you up and making you angry. There goes my HCAPS score!!!!
Sorry but unless the patient is actively dying or a minor, families do NOT need to be at the bedside 24-7! I've had patients tell me they were relieved when their wife/daughter/sister etc went home because they were exhausted but don't have the nerve to tell them to leave so as not to hurt anyone's feelings....I used to be able to be the bad guy...now I can't or I'll get reported to management for being mean to the family members. I had one report me because she didn't like my 'tone' when I told her for the 5th time that she could NOT stay with her husband at his bedside but was more than welcome to stay in our waiting room and sleep. She'd even been told this by the nursing supervisor on duty but apparently it was only ME she had an issue with!!
Plus there are more and more things we have to chart against. Now our VP of Patient Care Services wants us to chart an "hourly rounds' on patients in the computer. Um..I work ICU. I'm generally in my patients room at LEAST once an hour to tip their foley if not more! I don't get a lunch break. Heck, on nights, I don't even have a respiratory therapist and had the nursing supervisor give me grief when I asked her to call the on-call RT to come in to run the vent and draw ABG's on a s/p cardiac/resp arrest patient! Respiratory therapy goes home at 11pm! Nor is there housekeeping, they leave at 10pm.
So, yeah, the hospital environment has gotten worse since I became an RN in 1997.
xtxrn, ASN, RN
4,267 Posts
Most places don't even give you the 5 bucks :) All they owe you is the paycheck you agreed on when you got hired- sad, but true.
"Bonuses' are for heads of multimillion dollar corporations (those make me angry, as well)- not for those doing the work. If you get ANY recognition for your birthday- that's a big deal
I mentioned this on another thread- while everyone likes to feel appreciated, you will never get the validation you need by looking to others....if you feel good about how you do, everything anyone else has to say is second best- it saves on a lot of disappointment :) Management, and other staff are also making sacrifices- yours are not their problem . It's a hard job- but looking for outside validation will always leave you feeling unappreciated. :) Congrats for making the 2 year milestone- look at how much you've learned- not at what you didn't get from some other human:o:twocents: Best of luck finding what you really want to do :)