I'm Over It, Already!

[The Hated Consultant]

I've been nursing for 20 years now, and I've about had it up to here (indicates area somewhere above my head).

I'm worn out, aggravated, disgusted, disillusioned, fed up, dried up, and over it all in general.

I'm a consultant (hence the handle), so usually I'm about as welcome as a skunk at a church picnic in the facilities I visit. I love my job, because it entails a lot of teaching in long term care, and if I can help an individual or a facility do well on their state survey, I'm a happy nurse.

Here lately, though, I'm asking myself if the stress is worth it. Last week I had a DON tell an outright lie to a family and my boss and insist that they were doing what they did because *I* told them that they had to. What pisses me off the most about it is that I *know* what I've told her and her nurses; I've handed them printed material pretty much every visit and have pointed out pages in the P&P manual detailing the policy on the incident, as well as discussed it individually with her and some staff nurses. I've been going there for about five years now, so it adds up. What I've given them and told them is all documented, of course, but it chaps my ass that a fellow professional would tell a bald faced lie like that.

I'm sick of the apathy among the nurses I meet every day. I can instruct a group of nurses or an individual nurse on the same thing 20 times, and if I sprouted antlers and started speaking Russian they wouldn't look more surprised when I do it for the 21st time. I've tried different methods, different words...I'm over the "maybe it's me" aspect of the whole thing. You can't make somebody care.

I understand the frustrations, believe me; too little staff, too little pay, too much work, too little appreciation. I've BTDT, too.

I'm an LPN. Most other nurses assume I'm an RN automatically; guess it's too much for them to imagine that a lowly LPN like me would know more about medications and their administration than they do (I work for a pharmacy). The shock on their faces is priceless, but it's beside the point. I have learned what I know through years of hands on experience and hard work, just like most other nurses. The lack of respect and lack of pay is very discouraging, especially when I see others with supposedly more education who can't administer oral medications correctly or give an injection safely making more and doing less.

I'm in school to get my degree, but here lately I've been asking myself why. Why knock my brains out when I can go sweep floors at Mercedes and make more money with better benefits and less stress. I'm sure most everybody here has asked themselves that question at least once, though. Maybe I'm just not a quitter; I dunno.

Anyway, thank you for listening to my rantings. I keep reminding myself: One day at a time, one day at a time, one day at a time...

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Hey, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel!

Hang in there.

[mauxtav8r]

hang in there.

My background is in the legal field, but I hesitate to share that fact among my nursing buddies (I'm still in school for BSN) because some in the past have jumped to the (wrong) conclusion that I intend to work for an ambulance chaser or wrongful death outfit one day.

Well, ___ bells, even if I was planning on doing that, which I'm not, it would be to help those people who need help, not to backstab my fellow professional.

Again, I say, hang in there. You are actually helping these facilities and their pts.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I'm a DON in an assisted living facility, and I can't for the life of me imagine why LTC staff in need of consulting services would turn up their noses at those who are there to help them! The consultant who helped me pull my building together was worth her weight in PLATINUM---I don't know where we'd be right now if she hadn't taught me what I needed to know about how to do my job properly. I'd thought I was doing fine, until a mock survey revealed horrendous gaps in our documentation, inconsistent infection control practices, and poor staff training...........well, when that consultant came in I was all ears. And I don't hesitate to say that I owe no less than my continuing employment---and perhaps even my career---to her.

To the OP: Please hang in there. You perform an incredibly valuable service, and it's only fools who think they know all they need to know.........don't let 'em get you down.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

More power to an LPN that is doing more than bedside care. Your work is for something...don't let what the fools do identify your place in this career.

[rnmomtobe2010]

I love the honesty. I wish there were more people like the OP!!!Good luck and hang in there.

[RN1989]

Preaching to the choir! Feel your pain! Go get some chocolate so at least you can have a few endorphins running around in your body to help you deal with all the crap!

[barefootlady, ADN, RN]

I am so glad you took the time to vent here. I know and understand how you feel. I just try to remember, some days you get the bear and some days the bear gets you. These people do not value you right now, perhaps they never will, but be assured many others will value your skill and knowledge. Hang in there.