Is this nursing?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Psych/Med Surg/Teaching.

I'm in disbelief over how nurses are treated. I've worked in several areas and completed internships in many more as an lpn and RN. I've been licensed for 3 years and I'm already fed up.

Patients, doctors, and management treating me like nothing. And what is up with all this bureaucracy!? I dealt with it in a SNF, but hospital settings? Why aren't patients held accountable for attacking RN's to the same level as police officers? Where are the laws for safe staffing ratios?

I spent five years getting my license and Bachelors. You all know how hard nursing school was, even though we don't use the majority of things we were taught. Yet my friends with majors in engineering and computer science easily found first jobs that already pay significantly more than me even though I have experience. Don't even get me started about how hard it was for me to find a somewhat decently paying job. Seems near impossible to find work outside of low paying Ped Home Health companies or another SNF.

Venting aside, how do you put up with this? I'm already ready to hang up the stethoscope and go back to school for CS. I'm completely losing my flame to care for others at this point.

1 Votes

Catalin,

I totally understand where you're coming from and feel similarly. I think what keeps me in it is, frankly, financial stability and also support from coworkers and friends/family. Sure, nursing isn't the highest paying job compared to other fields, but some facilities/hospitals do offer good benefits. Also, when I work with nice patients who are appreciative of the care I give, I do feel like I'm making a difference. However, nursing (especially bedside care) can be a very difficult field because it is often taxing on one's physical/mental/emotional well-being. Having a good manager can also make or break your day. Is there something about nursing that you do enjoy or keeps you working another day? If bedside nursing is too stressful, maybe you can look into other nursing jobs like consulting or working with insurance/other health related companies that takes you away from direct contact with patients/their families. I must say that if you're really unhappy working as a nurse in various settings, I would consider looking into other fields that might interest you more/you might feel more content with. Best of luck with everything! ?

2 Votes

Catalin, I also get it and as the previous poster stated, Nursing does have its own unique rewards. With that said, having worked as an RN for many years, I don't know that, in good faith, I could recommend it as a career choice. As you noted, several other professions with the same level of educational preparedness, offer much better hours, work conditions, pay, respect.... Not to knock Nursing, but I somehow think that many people (especially young people), aren't presented the harsh realities and then enter into it without 'eyes wide open' only to regret their decision. Sorry this is happening to you and I can relate!

4 Votes
Specializes in Psych/Addiction.

Sorry to say...nursing really sucks in some places. In at will employment states your just a number. Your paid less, they don't care if your a good nurse or not. They just want you to punch in, do the work and punch out. Really is said. We become nurses because we want to help people and part of that is ongoing change to make thing better but some places just don't want that.

4 Votes
Specializes in Psych/Med Surg/Teaching.
12 hours ago, morelostthanfound said:

Catalin, I also get it and as the previous poster stated, Nursing does have its own unique rewards. With that said, having worked as an RN for many years, I don't know that, in good faith, I could recommend it as a career choice. As you noted, several other professions with the same level of educational preparedness, offer much better hours, work conditions, pay, respect.... Not to knock Nursing, but I somehow think that many people (especially young people), aren't presented the harsh realities and then enter into it without 'eyes wide open' only to regret their decision. Sorry this is happening to you and I can relate!

I'm so frustrated with this entire experience so far. I feel like once upon a time it wasn't this bad. I see you have a lot of experience, has it always been like this??

Nope. That is not nursing. It is, apparently, for some people, but certainly not all. My pay is reasonable for my level of education, and allows me to live a lifestyle I appreciate. And, yes, I feel I am worth more, but I knew what the pay was like before I started.

I am frequently thanked by patients and families. I sometimes get stopped in Walmart by a family member who thanks me and updates me on a family member I likely don't remember.

The docs I work with are collegial, and accept and appreciate my input.

I feel like management does a horrible job managing, but they are decent people, and we get along well.

I am not discounting your experience, but it is your experience. Maybe look at other specialties or consider moving.

7 Votes
3 hours ago, hherrn said:

Nope. That is not nursing. It is, apparently, for some people, but certainly not all. My pay is reasonable for my level of education, and allows me to live a lifestyle I appreciate. And, yes, I feel I am worth more, but I knew what the pay was like before I started.

I am frequently thanked by patients and families. I sometimes get stopped in Walmart by a family member who thanks me and updates me on a family member I likely don't remember.

The docs I work with are collegial, and accept and appreciate my input.

I feel like management does a horrible job managing, but they are decent people, and we get along well.

I am not discounting your experience, but it is your experience. Maybe look at other specialties or consider moving.

Unfortunately, I respectfully disagree. It can hardly be disputed that there has been an erosion of civility in todays' society and to me, people just don't seem to be very kind to each other anymore! It has also been my impression that consumers (including healthcare), are often just downright rude, unreasonable, demanding, and with an inflated sense of entitlement when dealing with those in the service industry. Adding to this has been the ever popular HCAHPS surveys and well, I'll stop there. With that said, I think there are areas (as hherrn as suggested) where this is not necessarily the rule-one area of nursing that comes to mind and which may appeal to you is, the OR. In that arena, your 'awake' patient interaction is minimum and there is usually limited family involvement, other than periodic updates. My advice is to hang in there and not toss aside all of that hard work and money spent on an education that will not serve you.

4 Votes
Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.
13 hours ago, Catalin said:

I'm so frustrated with this entire experience so far. I feel like once upon a time it wasn't this bad. I see you have a lot of experience, has it always been like this??

I think "nurse leaders" kept trying to have staff nurses take on more and more (higher level of skills, more assessments and interventions), and I think that led to more accountability/liability on the RNs' part without proportional compensation or reduction in patient count. And of course, you have those customer satisfaction surveys.

1 Votes

I agree with morelostthanfound's statement about a lack of civility. I am so burned out with the public. I am a very caring nurse and I enjoy taking good care of people; but I have found that there are just too many "entitled-never gonna please em people" in todays society for any service industry employee. I try to be extra kind to anyone who deals with the public when I am a consumer just because I know how it feels to give your all and have people be complete jerks. I never want to make anyone feel like some of my patient's families have made me feel. I am so tired of over inflated, guilt ridden family members beating me up to make themselves feel good about being in charge. I am tired of people putting the same priority on nurses being servants as performing complex drug calculations. The same patients families who take up 45 minutes of my med pass with ridiculous questions then complain that their family members meds are late. And they want to ask questions while you are trying to figure out dosages; but boy you better not make a mistake on the drug calculation or the drink order they just gave you. Also if administrators want accuracy and patient pampering then why don't they staff the floor with people who can help with simple tasks or information while the nurse is trying to accurately give medications? Believe me I don't mind fetching drinks or cleaning up messes, but I am also responsible for doing a very important job without making a mistake.

11 Votes

I can relate totally. And you know what? I currently work as an RN part time and go to school for my master's degree (in a STEM field). One of a few good things about nursing is that many nursing jobs are flexible. I'm quite happy with my decision of going back to school. Cutting back hours of work definitely improved my quality of life.
I have been a nurse for 3+ years, and I am quite ready to get out. Once I get my master's, I will never work as an RN again. If things go as planned, I will be completely out of nursing in about a year. Exciting.
Good luck to you.

7 Votes

I have yet to become an RN but I am more cognizant of the harsh realities of nursing than my peers. My mother is an LPN, two of my uncles are RN's, and two of my closest friends are RN's. I have seen their quality of life have its ups and downs. Although many of you may treat this as a naive issue on my part I have and always will say this. The grass is always greener on the other side. Yes, there are other fields that "statistically" have equal or better pay for less or the same education and "improved working conditions" but numbers won't equate to your individual experience. I have seen too many computer science majors tank in the job market due to not wanting to relocate to larger cities where the jobs are actually at. I have known plenty of accountants who hate their lives because they are basically punching numbers in a cubicle for hours on end, so on and so forth. Every job has its downsides. I don't choose this field for any sense of glory or respect. I understand that should I make it through nursing school I may work very odd and grueling hours, with little to no praise, or even support sometimes from my peers. The work is hard and sometimes seems impossible to maintain long term. Bureaucracy and politics exist in every work environment and that's just, unfortunately, an aspect of the working world. Bedside nursing has the highest turn over rate. I know from my uncle's experience that often times people who become burned out at the bedside to find their work much more satisfying when they become some sort of specialty outside of acute care. I have yet to even make it to my preceptorship, let alone work a regular schedule as a floor nurse but I don't anticipate my first job to be a pleasant one. I know myself and from what I have seen I don't see myself doing it for long (bedside that is), but I do enjoy a lot of aspects of nursing. Coming from a guy who has worked a variety of service roles I would rather not get praise for pushing medications and saving someone's life for decent pay, than wait and buss tables for dollars and pennies. If you actually have a genuine love for computers and technology and are willing to chase down jobs then, by all means, change your career. Hell, I may do the same thing when I inevitably face the same situation as you. But don't completely switch careers because you feel stuck in the area you are at or the facility you work in. Try different things in nursing. Don't put all of that time and education to waste (even if in reality you never used the majority of it). You chose nursing for a reason beyond praise and recognition (I hope). Don't let that be the reason you quit.

3 Votes

I’m sorry to see you feel this way. I was trying to decide between computer science and nursing.

I’m a hands on person and I love running around. I like that in nursing no 2 days are the same. I tried to sit down and learn programming languages but it bores me to tears. I don’t know if I can sit at a desk all day staring at code 40+ hours a week.

But hearing nurses vent about under staffing and how much they hate their jobs really scares me. I eventually wanted to pursue being a pediatric primary care nurse practitioner. I just don’t know. Now I feel like I will be unhappy if I choose either field.

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