I wish all the washed out tired nurses would retire.

[NC Girl BSN]

I started a job as a nurse in a nursing home about a month ago and there are about 3-4 nurses that I take report from that are run down, negative, desensitized and really could give a rats a** about the patients. It makes me so freaking mad to hear the patients say "Oh shes so mean because she refuses to give me my PRN MOM because she says all I will do is mess all in my diapers." Just the other day, one of my patients said "My nurse would not give me my Nitroglycerin when I was having chest pain, She said I should try to tough it out. Boy did I have a terrible night." ***. I know in my heart I will never get so worn out and complacent in my job that I will treat my patients like that. I was a CNA for 14 years and had the best attitude. The nurses in my facility have been there for 15- 25+ year and are lazy, rude and just worn out. They even look Ragged. All their clothing are faded and and dull and their hair looks dull and unkept. I wish they would all retire and stop making their patients lives H***. Just my two cents, Vent is over.

Overall I really like my new job. Its tough but very doable. So much better than being a CNA and the money is great. I love my residents. When I come on they treat me like I'm the next best thing to sliced bread. One of my patients said to me "I like you because you really seem like you care." That really made my day.

[NC Girl BSN]

No but a professional can vent their concerns without profanity and using stars in the place of bad words is still profanity. See the Terms of Service.

Sorry if you don't like it but you agree to them when you signed up. :trout:

Tweety, I apologize for all the implied profanity. At the time I was not thinking very well.

[Scrubby]

To the OP: I understand where your coming from. I have worked with a lot of nurses who are really really angry, they are aggressive with patients and complain non stop. It's scary working with people like this and I worry non-stop about the patients.

But have you ever experienced job burnout? You may at some point in your career. It's not a nice thing it's horrible to go through, perhaps the nurses your describing are burned out rather than just like that all the time. It's not a true reflection on someone's ability to care, it's when you've reached breaking point and need time off work to recuperate. Most nurses I know have, I'm going through burnout at the moment and lucky for me I have supportive friends at work.

[AngelaLPN08]

Age does not matter about "worn out nurses". I had one that was not even 50 at my place of employment when I was a CNA. She never wanted to do charting, and would do every shortcut she could. A patient fell and she said not to report it, she did not want to "deal" with it. Cover up med errors, and ignored paitent complaints. She had been a Nurse since a young age and I think was just burnt out. I know the responsible nurse was there but she just did not seem to care. She told me that when I am a nurse for a few years I will see her way of things. I hope I never do!

[graysonret]

I've been a nurse now, going on 21 years. I'm 59 shortly. Of course there are days when you want to just give it all up and get a nice desk job somewhere, pushing papers, and not having someone's life in your hands. But, whenever I'm on duty, work and patients always are priority. There are days I just drag myself in, but as soon as I'm working, it's all business. I hope it is that way for a long time to come. But, if I see myself, short-cutting, skipping treatments/meds, or just being "lazy", I have my own "standing orders"....quit. The only one who benefits from that type of work is the trial lawyer.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Well, when all of the "run down, negative, desensitized" nurses retire, we will definitely have a nursing shortage on our hands....

UHHH, the rundown, negative, desensitized are the ones doing all the work - who would take care of the patients?

After all, all the cute young, chirpy, "sensitive" ones areway too busy, comparing their cutsy new Itune ringtones, having hour long phone calls to their baby Daddy's, or shopping the Internet for cheap Bling or the fab new Dolce&Gabbana purse.

[Fiona59]

I'm old, I'm tired, and yes I get cranky.

But I also get some of the most difficult patients on my unit because of my experience. Do I really enjoy having to deal with Alzheimers patients post op? Does anyone? The new grads don't get them but us old crankies always do. We know how to work with the families, we try our best not physically or chemically restrain them.

But at the end of the day, I'm tired of getting punched, slapped, scratched, hair pulled, and breast grabbed because new grads are often very quick to say "I don't think I have enough experience to work with room 23".

[AngelaLPN08]

UHHH, the rundown, negative, desensitized are the ones doing all the work - who would take care of the patients?

After all, all the cute young, chirpy, "sensitive" ones areway too busy, comparing their cutsy new Itune ringtones, having hour long phone calls to their baby Daddy's, or shopping the Internet for cheap Bling or the fab new Dolce&Gabbana purse.

This has nothing to do with age, nurses get run down. Sad true fact...the only time they should re-think their job is when they no longer are putting patient safety/needs first.

I just wanted to say as a young nurse, I don't bring my cell phone on the floor, my baby daddy is my husband, and I don't call him unless we have an emergency, and yeah... I am happy with my Walmart Purse :)

[CseMgr1, ASN, RN]

But have you ever experienced job burnout? You may at some point in your career. It's not a nice thing it's horrible to go through, perhaps the nurses your describing are burned out rather than just like that all the time. It's not a true reflection on someone's ability to care, it's when you've reached breaking point and need time off work to recuperate. Most nurses I know have, I'm going through burnout at the moment and lucky for me I have supportive friends at work.

I wish I did. Most of my co-workers are just as burned out as I am....and we are not receiving any support from Management. They want us to do our work and keep our mouths shut. Period. I got into trouble because I could not keep mine shut any longer and was not allowed to defend myself, when I was called onto the carpet. Their attitude is: "Well, there are people around here with worse problems than yours, and they're always 'cheerful'. Why can't you be like them?"

If everyone is so "cheerful", then why did our Executive Director find it necessary to pay retention bonuses in order to discourage what was left of her staff from leaving after two of her three nurses quit back-to-back? And, what was your Lead CC's excuse for screaming so loudly into the phone at her kids for over fifteen minutes, that we had to close the doors to our offices? And, last (but not least), if YOU'RE so "cheerful", then WHY were YOU heard yelling at one of the CC's the other day? WHY?

That is what I want to say to my Supervisor tomorrow morning, when I have to turn in my "Plan". But I know I can't....not if I want to keep my job. The problem is, I can't (and with a clear conscience), think of anything that she wants to hear.

[missourigirl53]

I've been an LPN for 33 years...and I'm probably the kind of nurse you want to have taking care of you if you are ill. Am I tiredand washed out-looking at times - YOU BET. Am I EVER not caring about my patients - NEVER!

The best advice I can give you is to never judge a book by it's cover. If you think a nurse is speaking ill of patients while they are reporting off to you, then redirect them. The patients AND YOU deserve to get an accurate picture of what has transpired...and what needs to transpire. Personal opinion is for pollsters - not nursing reports.

Good luck to you. :redbeathe

[hadenuf]

All Us Washed Out,burned Out Nurses Wish We Could Retire!!!