Med/surg nurses: whats normal anymore re working conditions?

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Specializes in vascular, med surg, home health , rehab,.

Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read. In a nutshell, came over from the UK after having worked 5 years on a very busy surgical floor. First job here was in home health, evenually as a supervisor. Got laid off after company closed. Worked in a in hospital SNU. After moving 6 months ago, wanted to "get back into the swing of things" took a 3-11 job on a 30bed med/surg floor. From my first shift to date, been a totally negative experience. I have left on time on 2 shifts to date. Rarely get any break and leave routinely at 1-3am. Everyone who works there is unhappy. The only nurses who leave on time are the ones who don't handle anything. Eg. a fellow newbie got a taped report from her nurse who left on time, reporting a patient complaining of chest pain for several hours. She thought it wasn't "real" chest pain. I the same shift inherited a beligerent, patient, in pain, uncooperative etc. On taking the time to look at her chart, found a pain management consult order, several days old, never followed up:angryfire . Result of me dealing with it, pages of orders, lots of work and again, not being able to leave until 1.30am. Oh and if not exactly Miss Manners, a much more comfortable, relaxed and cooperative patient. My question is this; sometimes I think it must be me; I have been an RN for 17 years, but out of acute care for a long time. Is this just this particular hospital, or is this normal? I have never hated a job so much, even flipping burgers at 16, lol. I am totally exhausted and frustrated and burned out. It seems you just can't do anything right. I have also noticed a change in patients; rudeness, aggression, etc, just the norm. I used to love nursing, even being busy, you worked together as a team; here, hell, its every man for himself. You never have the time to get to know your co-workers. Anyway, about to throw in the towel, but first need to know what the rest of you feel about your jobs etc. Whats "normal" anymore?:uhoh21:

thanks for your time.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

That environment does sound bad. Sounds like it has a management problem, with the negative attitudes and the people getting away with poor, downright dangerous nursing.

But it's pretty bad here on med-surg as well. High ratios, coupled with sicker patients, coupled with burned out staff, coupled with more demanding patients, makes for rarely getting out on time. That's why so many people do their time in med-surg and leave.

But where you're working sounds a bit worse than the norm. Good luck in finding peace and a good job. :)

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Hi all, thanks for taking the time to read. In a nutshell, came over from the UK after having worked 5 years on a very busy surgical floor. First job here was in home health, evenually as a supervisor. Got laid off after company closed. Worked in a in hospital SNU. After moving 6 months ago, wanted to "get back into the swing of things" took a 3-11 job on a 30bed med/surg floor. From my first shift to date, been a totally negative experience. I have left on time on 2 shifts to date. Rarely get any break and leave routinely at 1-3am. Everyone who works there is unhappy. The only nurses who leave on time are the ones who don't handle anything. Eg. a fellow newbie got a taped report from her nurse who left on time, reporting a patient complaining of chest pain for several hours. She thought it wasn't "real" chest pain. I the same shift inherited a beligerent, patient, in pain, uncooperative etc. On taking the time to look at her chart, found a pain management consult order, several days old, never followed up:angryfire . Result of me dealing with it, pages of orders, lots of work and again, not being able to leave until 1.30am. Oh and if not exactly Miss Manners, a much more comfortable, relaxed and cooperative patient. My question is this; sometimes I think it must be me; I have been an RN for 17 years, but out of acute care for a long time. Is this just this particular hospital, or is this normal? I have never hated a job so much, even flipping burgers at 16, lol. I am totally exhausted and frustrated and burned out. It seems you just can't do anything right. I have also noticed a change in patients; rudeness, aggression, etc, just the norm. I used to love nursing, even being busy, you worked together as a team; here, hell, its every man for himself. You never have the time to get to know your co-workers. Anyway, about to throw in the towel, but first need to know what the rest of you feel about your jobs etc. Whats "normal" anymore?:uhoh21:

thanks for your time.

It sounds about par for the course, in my experience.

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