Is this what it's all about? (VENT!)

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this will probably be long...so i apologize in advance!! it's just me venting, so if you don't want to hear it...stop now! lol

anyways...

i am a relatively new nurse (i graduated in may of '07) and immediately began working on a tele unit. i worked there as a tech first for a year and they offered me a job upon my graduation. i had 12 very short (i seemed that way!!) weeks of orientation and i was put on my own. i did fine. with a 4-1 ratio, the transition was smooth for me. i won't lie, in the beginning there were those days that overwhelmed me and i dealt with them. the bottom line, i went home happy! i felt like i was truly making a difference.

only a short time later, we lost quite a bit of staff. to numerous sick leaves, some quit, some transferred....honestly i don't quite know what the story was. regardless, it left us short in the worst way. we are always taking 5 patients now, with constant movement and expected to ship a new patient in the room before the bed is cold. case mgmt is super aggressive with 'pushing' people out, even when i as a nurse, know in my heart they are not ready. i really love patient education...but with what time? i always had that happy balance of time but now with 5 (sometimes even 6) patients, i can't even remember who is who anymore. of course it's those days that someone needs blood, someone needs a drip initiated, someone needs to go to icu...etc etc etc....

on days like this, i feel like i cannot make a difference and what the heck am i even doing here? safety for the patients doesn't even seem to be a concern. move 'em in and out.....and quickly. i am not one to not help aides, but i truly don't have time to! everyone on our floor seems to be burnt-out. morale seems so low. they keep having us attend these 'customer satisfaction' seminars and they are really nice and i completely understand their point....but when employees are too unhappy...will it really make a difference?

i want to go, run away but i love where i work. it's a non-profit organization who accepts everyone, regardless of ability to pay. i know i make a difference here. these people, the ones most look down upon, are the ones that need our help the most! perhaps this is the root of the whole problem...but i do like the population we serve. most are truly grateful for the care we provide.

not to mention everyone says 'it's like this everywhere." is this true? is this what nursing is?? endless charting (or you'll get sued), constant 'customer' satisfaction (whatever happened to just being a good nurse?? ), short staffing...the list goes on and on....

is this how it is everywhere your first year??

sorry guys...i just had to vent

i really love being a nurse though!

:nurse::uhoh3::bugeyes:

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Specializes in Day Surgery, Agency, Cath Lab, LTC/Psych.

I'm sorry you are having such a hard time. Your unit sounds like it is going to the dogs. No wonder so many nurses are leaving. In my minds eye I can picture your tele floor staffed with 90% travelers in about one year if they keep this up.

If you believe you are no longer safe working at this job then you should quit. It is so sad when hospitals push "customer satisfaction" when they don't even realize that "customer" safety should be the #1 priority. You cannot have safe patient care when you are understaffed--it is just not possible.

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Specializes in Onco, palliative care, PCU, HH, hospice.

Hmm, do we work on the same tele unit? lol I completely hear you I graduated this past May and due to short staffing, constant endless ridiculous policies, endless paperwork, and customer service bull I hate my job more and more with each passing night.... love nursing, love taking care of people, just hate where I'm at. I just keep telling myself it will get better.

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I think it waxes and wanes. My floor goes through a staffing crunch where we are all working overtime, sometimes 2-3 OT shifts a week (and yes, they are 12 hour shifts). Then we go through a phase where all our new nurses are trained, no one is transferring out, no sickness comes through and takes out half the staff, and the staffing supervisor is calling people asking if they want to stay home because we are overstaffed.

I've been on my floor long enough to have seen this cycle several times. In my experience, that's just how it is. I mean, when a nurse puts in notice, let's say she gives 2-4 weeks--it often takes 2-4 weeks just to get someone interviewed. Then they have to go through the hospital and floor orientation; at the minimum they are out on the floor functioning independently as the quitting nurse's replacement 4 months after he/she put out her notice. When you have several move/transfer/quit at once, it really takes time to bring your floor back up to speed. And as a new nurse, it takes about a year before you really hit your stride, some sooner than others.

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Specializes in icu/ccu,med/surg,day surgery.

Do we work at the same hospital?

Except I work in that ICU unit that you'r patients get sent to...

We can't get the patients that are really "ICU" because we have all the tele because they are so short staffed.

I am so sorry that this is happening to you and your's.

I really do feel your pain.:banghead:

tex

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