How does this happen??

[mustlovepoodles]

I'm sitting here musing on some posts I've read from young nurses who say they just graduated and NOW they realize they hate nursing. How does that work? I mean, don't they go to class, have clinicals? Don't they know they're going to be taking care of sick people? I just don't get how you can go through 4 years of nursing school and not know what you're getting into.

I've been a nurse 32+ years. Back in the day, we were not allowed to choose "specialties." You worked where they told you to work. It might be peds, ICU, med/surg, oncology--no choice. You passed meds, gave shots, started IVs, debrided burns, cleaned wounds, and did all your own vital signs & assessments. I understand that patient acuity is higher today(in general) but our patient acuity was pretty high back then, too. By the time I graduated we were taking a full assignment on the floor.

So, what do you think? Is it just me?

[Lovely_RN, MSN]

Thank you! It really burns my buns when hospitals act like working in a LTC experience counts for nothing.

I'm a relatively new grad from an ADN program in December 2008. From what I've seen of my classmates so far, those of us who had previous healthcare experience have fared somewhat better than those who didn't. I myself did a year as a CNA while getting the first year of the program done and then my last year of the ADN program I worked as an LPN. That last year was priceless in my book. I worked at a nursing home and became proficient and comfortable with passing meds, giving insulin and other injections, respiratory treatments, doing wound care, caths, charting and time organization. You have to be when responsible for 30 residents on the floor! When I graduated and accepted a staff nurse position on a ortho/neuro/general surgery floor at one of the local hospitals, I wasn't completely terrified of the basic stuff because I'd been doing it for the last year. And after being a CNA as well, I didn't feel that I needed to go track down a patient care tech to take my patient to the bathroom or change the bed linens or give a bed bath. I'm not saying that I wasn't stressed after getting off orientation and being on my own, but my previous experience made it so much easier.

I think there is a lot to be said for a new grad these days who was a CNA or PCT previously. Besides, what better way to assess an elderly person's butt for skin breakdown when you're wiping it for them!

[Psilant]

I'm in school now. I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed in the fact that we only have clinical ONE day a week and it is only an 8 hour day. I still hear classmates complaining about how exhausting clinicals are. HELLO?! This is nothing compared to what it will be like after we graduate and get REAL jobs!!!!

[NeoNurseTX, RN]

When I was in nursing school (I graduated in 1978, Texas Womans University) we had clinical 2 days a week. But I got my experience from my part time job as a cna at one of Houstons largest medical center hospitals. That is where I learned my organizational skills. When I graduated I went to work at that hospital on a 42 bed post op cardiovascular floor. I was the only RN with one LPN and 2 CNA's. We ran our butts off. But for the most part I was ready. We did not have a paper work requirements back then that we have now but we made up for that in numbers of patients. When you have 21 patients assigend to you, you better get organized! I really feel for people who have not worked in hospitals before they go into nursing or while in school.

Yay, TWU alum here!

By the end of school, we took on a full patient load, too. Mine was in the NICU and now I work in a NICU and I LOVE it. I could never do med/surg nursing. For me, I only ever see myself in NICU or maybe a plastics center. I also worked in a CCU and cardiac step down unit as a "student nurse associate" and that really helped to open my eyes to 'real nursing'.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I think that there are two primary reasons for this. I attended a BSN program, graduated 5 years ago. We only had clinical one day a week for 8 hours or 2 days a week for 4 hours (peds/OB). That included postconference for an hour, so it really was a grand total of maybe 80 hours of clinical per class. For the vast majority of those, we only had one patient, sometimes two. It wasn't until our last semester that we took a full team of patients, and the RN was right there, so we were never truly on our own. It was the same with senior practicum- full team, but not alone.

On the other hand, things have undergone major changes in my lifetime. I can remember, back when I was 6, not being allowed to visit my great-grandmother, dying of a stroke in the hospital because the maternitiy ward was the only place someone under the age of 12 was allowed to visit (and that was only if they were a sibling). Visiting hours were limited and enforced, and families were much more respectful. It seemed too that nurses were able to concentrate more on patient care and less on redundant charting.

[nursel56]

Only one person in our small group left. I believe it was a decision not entirely in her hands due to some problems she had adapting to stressful situations, but they encouraged her to try again at a better time in her life. Some continued their education. Unfortunately, I've lost track of most of them.

At my first job I started with one of the last diploma grads of Los Angeles County Hospital School of Nursing. They may even have had dorms then!! Even though we had a lot of clinical, I actually envied her because I knew she could hit the ground running. I think I began to romanticize the really old "old school" schools. I was fascinated by the movie "Night Nurse" with Barbara Stanwyck. I shudder to think what Miss Dillon would say to a student who chose not to deal with poop. I'm sure people who actually lived in a Student Nurse dorm could easily burst my nostalgia bubble, though!