Is bedside nursing still a lifelong career option?

[NicStrRN]

In an environment of increasing pressure to pursue BSN degrees, many forums and threads seem to include comments regarding the increased aspirations of younger nurses entering the field. There seems to be a perception that bedside nursing is being used as a "stepping stool" to management or leadership, or advanced practice nursing. In some of the comments, there is a sense of condemnation and wonder about why this change seems to be occurring, with many nurses somewhat put off by a perception that younger nurses don't value the bedside anymore. Just a pondering, but could it also be that an increase in pursuit of degrees above an ADN is also relative to a perception that bedside work is not realistic as a lifetime career choice? When considering the vast changes in nursing care, is it possible that increasing acuities, comorbidities, larger body habitus of the population, and increased violence against health care workers contribute to a conclusion that the physical ability to perform the work will be limited over time? When I personally consider how many coworkers have been injured moving patients, or as a result of patient violence/behaviors, it seems fairly reasonable to believe that sustaining a career at the bedside for 30 years in today's environment may be very difficult. That's not to say it was ever easy, but certainly things have, and will continue to change.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

I will not be at the bedside for my whole career. I work with many nurses who are in their sixties and still at the bedside (in psych) and I respect them.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

I've been in nursing twenty years, and I'm starting to have some back arthritis (no injuries, thank goodness) so I might have to move to a different specialty, but I plan on staying at the bedside.

[Ioreth, ADN, RN]

I'm a nursing student, but I do want to be at the bedside until I retire. The only thing that might take me away from the bedside might be an injury that prohibits me from the physical work of repositioning patients etc. I'm 35 and currently very fit, so I have hopes that my body won't wear out before I'm done working. My classmates are always surprised when they ask me what I want to specialize in and I answer, "I want to work on a Med Surg floor for at least 5 years, and then I'll decide if I'm ready for something new." In all honesty, I like that I can change to another specialty if I need a change, but right now I don't see myself moving away from Med Surg. No one from my cohort seems to be considering Med Surg as the goal. They all want to work in ED, Peds, OB, ICU, or in a clinic. Several are planning to start MSN NP classes immediately upon graduation. One of my classmates doesn't ever want to work at the bedside (though she does seem to be constantly surprised about what nursing is). Sure I find other areas of healthcare interesting also, but to me Med Surg is most interesting because I'll be seeing a wider variety of patients and conditions. So no, bedside Med Surg nursing is not merely a stepping stone to loftier goals - it IS the goal.

[Eastern RN]

I loved bedside nursing, but time restraints, shortage of staff and many other issues, made it impossible to perform bedside nursing the way I felt it should be done. Like in the "good old days". On night rounds you gave a backrub, spent an extra few minutes with a patient who was struggling, took the time to really have a chat with a patient who seemed to need it. Although I have spent the last 17 years in ER - prior to that, I did a lot of bedside nursing on the floors. The few times I have done some overtime on a patient floor in the recent past - it was getting in and getting out of patients rooms. Rarely did I enter a room unless I was summoned, or a med was due, or a drain check - you get the idea. Not very satisfying! So in my opinion, a lifelong option - yes, I do know some RN's who do it - but not this chick!

[LM NY]

I've worked with nurses that have retired after decades of bedside nursing and a few that are a few years from retirement. I love sucking out all the wisdom from them. They have stories for days. I think I want to get at least 15 years of bedside nursing, ranging in different specialties of course. I agree with one of the previous comments about not using proper body mechanics. I think if there were less injuries and adequate staffing, nurses might stick around longer at the bedside.

[Mississippi RN, MSN, NP]

My grandmother in 1976 at 45 years old, became one of the first pediatric nurse practitioners in the state of Mississippi. My grandmother even in 1976 understood that if the opportunity to increase your education, income, and improve your lifestyle presents itself you should take it. As a nurse and current NP student I think it only makes sense with the current increase in nurse to patient ratios, as well the increase in the number and complexity of patient comorbidities, that nurses in general are looking at advanced degrees such as NP, CRNA, MBA, Education, and Nurse Infomatics as a way out of the rat race of bedside side care.

[hawaiicarl, BSN, RN]

Gawd I hope so, I am too old to go back to school.

Cheers

[No Stars In My Eyes]

"Back when" . . . it was simply an option between being an LPN and an RN. No NP's, no FNP's, no RN Anesthesiologists (whatever those initials are).

Since I never aspired to get my RN ( no big push for BSN's then, either) I was perfectly content to be a bedside nurse.

And then the mien changed from Team Nursing to Primary Nursing. As originally conceived, Primary Nursing was not the bastardized version it became shortly after it was implemented.

Thereafter things got worse and worse: nurse/patient ratios got RIDICULOUS, insurance companies began dictating everything about patient care, Doctors were hobbled, reasonable staffing numbers were deemed unnecessary; though patient acuity increased, time spent in the hospital was drastically truncated; charting got redundant and then the redundancy was followed by records being computerized; the Business Template forced it's square peg into the practice of the ART of Medicine's round hole. Satisfaction surveys became a Holy Writ.

Bedside nursing in a facility is a race, with the length of shift hours going from a reasonable eight hours to a punishing twelve, and what with 2-3-4 of those in a row, an endurance contest.

Bah. To me, it is not bedside nursing anymore, even if that is where one works; it is not a handbasket I care to travel in.

[Tamster66]

Ive been a bedside nurse for 30 yrs and never wanted to do anything else. I spent 5 yrs on a neuro floor as a diploma grad and finished my BSN, 23 yrs in ICU where I earned my CCRN and now do wound/ostomy and am a certified CWOCN. My daughter is a senior in a BSN program and says the instructors act like there's something wrong with you if you dont want to be a CRNA or an NP. It shows a serious decline in our profession when instructors are making students feel like they cant be "just a nurse.".............Im damn proud to have spent 30 yrs at the bedside!

[AdobeRN]

I probably would have stayed at bedside nursing till the end of my career or at least as long as I could physically do the work if it hadn't been for all the changes the hospital I was working at was making at the time (Magnet Status, huge push for nurses to climb career ladder - raises were based on this, etc).

I became an RN at age 39. I had no desire to be in charge, to go back to school for my BSN etc - I just wanted/needed to work and make good money.

[sarose611]

Bedside nursing is fine, but generally it is too physical for aging nurses. Our bodies get destroyed by years of lifting, pulling, walking very fast(no running!) No breaks, starvation, abuse to kidneys and gut for inability to use the toilet until 12 hour shift is over. By around 50, many have arthritis, sciatica, severe varicose veins, and some have developed drinking problems, or drug problems affecting their livers. High blood problems from constant stress, resulting in CVD. I Remember seeing a woman in her 60s working nights because her husband was ill, and I thought "I don't want to be doing this in my 60s." I have a degree, but it didn't necessarily make alternatives available. The physicality of nursing has increased exponentially in the last 2 decades. I think fewer and fewer older nurses will continue at the bedside.

[Cola89]

Not for me, it's not. I can do the work, I like most patients, but the work load and stress levels are too high for me to continue with bedside nursing till I retire. Everybody's different. You might be noticing that the general public is getting tougher to deal with; and that might be pushing people away quicker. Also - people have learned that employers aren't loyal to them.