I feel like a glorified maid

CaffeinePOQ4HPRN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Apr 12, 2014

I fully understand where you and the other posters are coming from. The one thing I would like to add is the one thing that is great about nursing are the diverse options in how or where to use our skills. I've worked in private duty nursing as well as acute care. Unfortunately, private duty as a staff nurse did not pay well enough for me, but the experience was for more rewarding. Sometimes it takes trialing a few patients before you find the family you best fit in with, but when you do it can be great. I found one quickly and stayed with them for about 18 months. Our cases were pediatric with varying levels of acuity. One on one patient care. I worked 3-12s in the home and could provide all of my attention to the patient as well as educate the family and participate in treatment options with the physicians at appointments. Plenty of down time throughout the day for charting, etc. The stress level was non existent. The pay varies greatly by state and ir is hourly pay based on mostly Medicaid reimbursement rates so it's definitely a pay cut, but if you can afford that it's far worth it for the sanity and the opportunity to provide the type of care that drove us to become nurses. With the right companies there are also salaried positions more similar to hospital pay in which you work half in the field and half at home doing case management visits. You see 25-30 patients a week (5-6 per day) for an average of 45 minutes each and an hour or two compcompleting the rest of your documentation at home. Your time is devoted to educating the patients and ensuring they are referred for any services they may need. Senior Bridge is a Humana company that is one of the best examples. They pay well, reimburse mileage, reimburse a cell phone allotment and provide laptops or ipads for charting. I have a friend that works for them and loved it. Obviously, there are several other environments as well. My opinion is do not allow this situation to destroy what you once had a passion for. You are definitely not alone in how you feel. Take a look at other options in nursing and see if you can't find one that will be a better fit for you. No matter what you choose to do I wish you happiness and just remember you're not alone, there are many that have the same concerns and understand exactly where you are coming from!

Thank you very much for trying to be helpful and offering your opinion, but if it was really that easy to turn my situation around by getting another nursing job (in a more tolerable environment with better working conditions) I would have done that already.

I have been trying for over a year to no avail. The only call-backs/responses I get are for the exact work environments I am trying to avoid (LTC and nursing homes), even though I have recent acute care experience and a resume of diverse clinical experiences. I have conferred with every nursing career adviser for every nursing association I belong to... and they all say the same thing to the effect of 'Your resume is great. You're very qualified. You're already doing everything we would have advised any nurse to do in job hunting. Job market sucks right now. Just keep plugging away and sending out resumes. Something should come up eventually'.

Problem is I can't wait for "eventually", I am about ready to burst. There are no employment options beyond back-breaking bedside (a few hospital postings, but mainly in LTC and nursing homes), and that is the problem.

What you're saying sounds like good advice, and I remember being fed the same story in nursing school about "diverse options and career flexibility" and it gave me so much hope for my nursing career. But in the reality of the current job market these "diverse options" either don't exist, are inaccessible OR are extremely hard to come-by... especially for a diploma nurse. In the meantime, I'm really fading away in terms of hope and energy. I am so close to giving up on completing my BScN degree and nursing in general... maybe I'll feel different after a hiatus from the profession for a year or two or several. You spoke so highly of your experience as a private duty nurse. How do you find those jobs? Maybe I 'll give that a try once I've recovered from burnout & if I ever decide to stay in nursing.

RN3339 · Apr 12, 2014

I'm sorry to hear that, I wasn't really thinking about how much things vary from one area to another. Where I am in FL home health, private duty, and case management jobs are always hiring and hospitals are hard to get in to. In any event, companies I'm familiar with that offer PDN positions are Maxim, PSA, and Healthforce. PSA probably has the best website for information If you wanted to see more about it or if there any in your area/hiring, etc. Nursecore is an agency that has all types of positions across the board depending on their clients at the time.

That being said, I even further understand your frustration at this point. I went nearly a year when I first graduated before getting any call backs because of the surplus of new grads here. Then I found out about the PDN and it was 1, 2, 3! The Job market it's garbage and the nursing shortage they claim still exists is long gone in the majority of the country. At the end of the day you have to make the best decision for you because you deserve to be happy. What ever path you choose, I wish you the best!

nissalyn · Apr 13, 2014

I agree 100% with what you say. I feel the same way. A lot of the issues here also aren't about a "nursing shortage" but rather the company I work for wanting to widen their profit margin by putting the nurse to patient ratio at dangerous levels. Then when something goes wrong they refuse to back up the employee who is busting their tail to keep these people safe. I love my patients but hate the company I work for and the rules that in my opinion keep me from giving adequate care to my patients. I have tried lots of different work places and they all seem the same. I often regret even becoming a nurse because my mind is never at rest. I constantly obsess over what I am doing wrong and why the system doesn't see what is plainly in front of them.

jrbl77, RN · Apr 13, 2014

I have been there and done that!

kalevra, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2014

I know how you feel, I was there a few months ago.

Best advice I can tell you is move to another unit. Get off the med-surge/telemetry floor. I work with critically ill patients. They are sedated, intubated, foleyed and rectal tube attached. I have not had to deal with piddly details such as "my food doesnt taste good" or "get me a can of soda NOW!" issues since I transfered.

I actually have job satisfaction now, turning people back from death with lactic of 19 and mottling. When you get right down to it, the "maid" aspects of nursing is what sucks the most. The actual medical management of patients disease process is the satisfying part.

There is hope, you DO NOT have to put up with it. . You are NOT a servant. You did NOT just spend years of education to be a glorified MAID.

Get off that floor. This is from my own personal experience.

FrancescaMurch · Apr 13, 2014

The way that I keep going is by focusing on the patients. If at the end of the day I can say to myself " I did the best job I could do" then I know (regardless of admin. ) it's all going to be okay. My job is not to satisfy anyone but myself by knowing I did my best!

Brekka, ADN, RN · Apr 13, 2014

I completely know the feeling. I went into nursing because I love helping people, and I genuinely care about them. That's all we heard in nursing school - how wonderful nurses are respected, and how much they're there for their patients. Unfortunately I learned that that isn't anywhere near the truth.

I work days in a rehabilitation center, and I'm responsible for between 24-28 patients (depending on our census, though never less than 24). I work with doctors who think I'm an idiot, and belittle my suggestions and input, and then turn around weeks later and implement what I had already suggested as their own idea. It's commonplace for management to bad-mouth us floor nurses, insinuating that we're lazy because we can't care for 28 patients, answer phones, deliver meals, fix coffee, chart, finish admits, and handle various fires that ignite over an 8 hour shift.

Recently we've been having difficulty filling empty beds, so without any thought to the capabilities of the staff, they admit anyone and everyone who can pay. In a 2 week period we received 3 patients who all passed within 4 hours of admission, before some of the paperwork was even complete. Another patient we bounced back to the hospital within the first hour of being admitted, after we had discovered that they were septic, and they were admitted to ICU. Another was boasted as an easy patient, though we soon discovered after admit that they required a 24/7 sitter, and we struggled losing one of the few CNA's we had to watching them.

Some days the doctors come in and scold us if we didn't know that they had a cough over the weekend, or a scratch on their belly. Some days I feel bad not being able to answer the health questions the doctors have for me, but by God I can tell you what they like to eat, that their biscuit was too cold this morning, that they wanted corn flakes instead of rice krispies, how they like their coffee, and that they mask their 10/10 pain with a relaxed expression, smiles and laughter. I can explain to the doctors why the patient isn't making any improvements, not participating with therapy, and be accused of lying, "That's not what the patient tells me."

Any concerns my coworkers and I bring to the attention of management is met with, "Well, that's the way corporate wants it, so that's the way we have to do it."

Nursing certainly isn't what it used to be. It's a business, unfortunately. I've decided that unfortunately my mornings will be spent bringing my patients percocet, and coffee with 2 creams and one sugar.

msfb · Apr 13, 2014

I am certainly appreciating my place of work more and more.

Fix what you can, live with what you can and continue looking for a new job, change specialties and consider relocation if you cant find anything local. If you want a desk job you are most likely going to need more schooling. It's a fact of life now that hospitals want BSN's at entry level. It's a magnet requirement. My hospital only hires BSN's now.

We are the front lines to the patient, the face they see the most. Yes, we are the ones that get the complaints about the kitchen. Who else are they going to tell? The thread count complaint is ridiculous but you will find those people everywhere you go. I find Trauma patients to be the worst, the most demanding and the most unappreciative. But it is what it is.

Lastly, how many of you are 20 somethings and this is your first real job? Job = work. Not 12 hours for socializing with you buddies. You have to earn the respect of the doctors and PA's. Just because you went to nursing school doesnt mean your opinion automatically holds weight. I know a lot of idiots with RN after their name and I wonder how they make it home from work each morning.

You get out what you put into it. I'm tired of people complaining about how much works sucks when they arent making any effort. LIfe isnt greener on the other side. I came from corporate america. Nursing is my 2nd career and it is worth it everyday.

ajw49886 · Apr 14, 2014

I felt the same way on my inpatient med/surg floor. Every five seconds people would ring for the silliest things in the middle of the night. Our aides would always be tied up in 1:1's do to staffing shortages so we would be running for chicken broth and ice cream all night long. I had one patient who would call me in every half hour to turn his fan on and off. It was frustrating especially with charge responsibilities added to it. I lucked out and an position in the endoscopy clinic opened up. We typically aren't with the patients long enough and they are npo so we are not waiting on them hand and foot. Our doctor's are fantastic and typically treat us very well. The inpatient doctor's would treat us like we didn't exist. Keep trying, try the outpatient world.

jacksonvillelpn · Apr 14, 2014

Dear fellow nurses, I too, experience all the frustrations of the corporate climate, so here's what I do: I continue to remind myself that, in the end, I do not work for them, but for The One who called me to be a nurse in the first place. He expects me to love my patients and serve Him. While you are enjoying your Heavenly Hot tub in the Mansion that you have built for yourself every day that you toughed your way through the mess, "they" will be answering to The Boss! I hope this helps someone.

bedwards6 · Apr 14, 2014

I've been an RN for 32 years now. Though I've never worked the floor, I've done NICU, Cath Lab, ER/trauma, Air/Ground transport, Flight nursing, and PACU/POCU. The push for patient satisfaction is prevalent in the specialty units as well. There is nothing worse than a "poor" marked on the "How did we do?" card when you've had 4 trauma's in an hour, a hot MI and a back pain (for the past 2 months) and the back pain is ****** because he didn't get a script for Percocet like he wanted. I've been verbally and physically assaulted. A few times I went home with a bruise or two. I also had the misfortune of being stuck with an IV needle coming out of an HIV/Hep C patient because he wouldn't be still while I was starting it. I had the further misfortune of contracting Hep C after that and a year long treatment for it. The hospital I worked for rewarded me by trying to terminate me because I had exhausted my 12 weeks of FMLA even though it was a work comp. issue. (The only one I filed in the 20 years I had been there at the time).

Nursing is a thankless job. The only reason I still do it is because I know that I do make a difference in people's lives whether they appreciate it or not. The responsibility we carry is unprecedented. Unfortunately, the compensation is worse than a unionized aircraft worker. I now work in occupational health in an aircraft plant. The unskilled, unionized workers are paid more, have regular breaks, lunches, vacations. I have 2 degrees. What the hell was I thinking???

Ratsgirl1387 · Apr 14, 2014

BSN with a desk job and find that demoralization of staff is rampant across job titles. Hate seeing nurses treated this way when we really have so much to give, if we don't leave the profession first!