HATING MED/SURG

[pale_pilsen]

I just need to vent away my feelings today at work. It was so horrible that i feel like a walking robot that keeps on going and going and ignoring my time to eat lunch and bathroom because the workload is just too much to handle! I was literaly crying inside. Fast pacing my walk from one hallway to the other. In my head, i need to keep going because im still behind with everything. I hated it. I hate getting piled up with so much things to do. Do this, do that, phonecalls, labs, dr on hold, pain meds, family complain, admission is here, discharge in 10 minutes, pain meds again and again and again, etc. I asked my other co-worker whos been there for 1yr and she told me, just keep on going. Shes right. Even though the workload keep piling up every minute of the hour, i just have to keep going because otherwise, i would have to stay for god knows how long just to finish my unpaid charting. And you know what, no matter how hard i worked without any breaks today, i still ended up staying for 2 hours to chart! Why? I didnt get to chart properly all freaking day long because so many things would come up that its literally impossible to stay in one place without someone calling your name. Ugggghhhh!

Some of you would not understand this situation. But some of you whos been there and done that would understand. So please dont judge me right away. I love nursing. But this type of nursing is toxic and detrimental to someones health overall. I dont want to be in this type of work for so long. I would go nuts! With the economy being so bad, its impossible to find work asap, even as an rn. Yes, thats right, even as an rn. There is no nursing shortage, even as predicted couple of years ago. If they were right with their estimated nursing shortage (look in your nursing books) in 2020, there wouldn't been complains about nurses not finding a job left and right in this site. Its all crap. Its business, and its all about the profits. I just wish someone would do a documentary film about med/surg nurses and see the real nursing as it really is, live and raw! Not the edited ones by johnsons and johnson commercial where everyone is smiling, clean, and happy.

Oh by the way, im still waiting to get that o.r. Job. But i dont have the result yet. Thanks for reading my vent. Sorry its so long. This is my only way of releasing my stress. I love this site.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

Looking at the clock is require to administer meds on time....duh!!!

:chair::smackingf

Good point :) Just sounded like that was a primary focus of your day- and if you feel like all you do is pass meds, maybe it is :)

Best of luck getting through the time needed to get back to the ED. :)

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

I'm not a RN, however, I think that it's a "sentence" to see what you can handle. If you could handle not messing anything up under pressure there, then when you transfer to ER, they know you can the pressure and will be reliable for very few errors

Not really- for people new to the profession, med surg is a HUGE learning opportunity that will be beneficial to any type of nursing. OB patients still have other issues (HTN, diabetes, COPD, etc), psych patients get physically ill, pediatric patients need folks who can identify the "basics" (and some kids are pretty darn big!!), etc. It's not a test- it's an opportunity :)

[laughingtoe]

Pale, I'm sending hugs your way. I can totally relate to your situation. I'm a new grad & I've been working med/surg for about 6 months. Last night I had a horrible night. One pt getting blood, another with low blood sugars, a confused pt trying to get out of bed, another pt was super needy & called every 10 minutes. I left 1 1/2 hours after my shift ended. I felt dizzy & sick because I didn't have time to eat. Hang in there. We'll get through this.

[SoundofMusic]

Pale, you and me had the same day.

I've recently come back into a busy med/surg type tele unit from a six month hiatus. I've been working on my masters and taking care of kids ...but I knew I needed to work a bit and to keep up my skills.

I've been on my unit about six or seven weeks. I've been "on my own" for about a month now -- what do they do today? Slame me w/ a very impossible assignment w/ morbidly obese people, lung transplants, new admits, pain meds round the HOUR, gazillions of orders ... a tech who can't keep up, and just about anything that could go wrong did. I was at work until 9 p.m. last night, because I couldn't touch a chart all day.

I am just SICK because i truly felt for the first time that I could not adequately care for the people assigned to me ...there was simply a lack of ability on my part (mostly because, hell, I'm STILL new to the unit) and a total lack of time and support for all that was involved. I am up at 5 a.m., of course, today, unable to sleep, and just processing it all over and over.

I don't know the answer. Nursing jobs are just like this -- they are chronically short staffed, and it never changes. They refuse to hire enough techs to cover and the ones who have the jobs do whatever they feel like doing and seem to never get reprimanded for it. If they would just double the tech support and hire people who actually ran as fast as the nurses did ...well, it would be a lot different. Not a slam to all techs out there -- many are fine, but when you have a blistering lack of support like I did today, it really affects everything.

I am having thoughts of quitting already. I don't want to lose my license and I want to finish my degree. I hope this bad day was something rare ...i'm ok w/ being tested, but I also dont' want to lose a patient or my license.

[MEDICJOHN]

I agree, the days i am "team leading" i do NOT give good pt care cuz hanging 10 drips and keeping up with pain meds every 20 minutes is all encompasing. Its a horrible thing to do to patients who deserve good nursing care....and all to save money by not hiring another RN....sad...

[Reader007]

To the op, I would put a space (or two) between every 4 or 5 sentences.

You would probably be taken more seriously, by the people who should be giving you advice.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

Totally understand. My days are more like this than not. And then you get told that your time management skills suck. And throw in the customer service " Do you have to go potty?"No wonder we dont get anything done. I am so sorry others have to deal with this crap too. You know, some of you guys say " oh back in the day we had 20 patients etc and managed. I bet back in the day there were quiet zones, that only one or 2 patient family members were allowed in a room- no kids under 18, mmmm, how bout VISITING HOURS??? nooooooo, none of this anymore.Since now families can do whatever the hell they want, we are at their beck and call. Patient care????? We arent takingg care of "8" patients , we are taking care of throwing cheese and crackers and sodas at their 5 or 6 family member each. No wonder we have no time.

So I sympathize with OP. I am trying to figure out a way to return to school and find something NOT nursing related. My odds are bad due to age, but if I stay doing this crap , I will have to go jump off a bridge.

[martymoose, BSN, RN]

To the op, I would put a space (or two) between every 4 or 5 sentences.

You would probably be taken more seriously, by the people who should be giving you advice.

Seriously??? Well, since you don't want to take the OP seriously due to their ability/inability to format a proper complaint/vent session, why do you bother answering?

I am sure everyone reading this gets the jist of what the op is saying.I do note that op said that some of us would not understand. Obviously that's true.

[BeenThereDoneThat74, MSN, RN]

As a former MS nurse (many years ago) your post brings me back to some dismal days. For the most part, I was miserable in Med Surg. I worked on a surgical (mostly ortho) floor, but of course there were medicine patients (or the surgical patients became medical patients). It was a neverending battle to beat the clock; get everything done by the end of the shift, while not getting into any trouble. I moved on after a year and a half, beginning my career in Peds.

Then I got to peds, and at first it was the same, as far as the workload. It was just as hard. Granted, staffing was better, and I worked for a very good manager. But there were still patients to please, night shift with no secretary, support staff who were less than supportive, doctors who gave you a hard time about what you deemed a pressing issue, etc.

Now I am teaching, mostly med surg clinicals, with a few days (per semester) of Peds thrown in. Now I can definitely see the difference. While there are less patients (and much less meds to pass) in Peds, you still need to be "on" at all times. However, the chaos is much more controlled. The docs seem to have a better handle on things. So, I get what you're saying. But what I do see, after all these years, is that Med Surg gives you an amazing foundation to build on, no matter where you end up. It's a crash course, and yes, I do maintain now, that it is harder than the majority of other specialties.

I too, do not agree that anyone can do it; it is real nursing, as real as it gets. It is every specialty rolled into one. It is a tremendous challenge for new nurses. But this is the way it is; this is where new nurses are expected to go, to hone their skill. If staffing was better, and the conditions were overall better, I would say it is the best place to be for new grads. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere :)

[Sl1011]

I completely understand!!! I've been doing this less than a year and it's awful The patients, the families, constant need for pain medicines from everyone at the same time (and being called if you don't come in less than 5 minutes!!), everyone else needing you at the same time (transport, doctor, charge nurse, tech, lab, etc, etc, etc). The morale of the until is pretty low/poor, and even very experienced nurses are looking to leave the unit asap.

There are some nurses that do love med surg and that's their niche and they are certified in it, and GOOD FOR THEM!!! We need nurses like that, but I'm not one of them. I may have the opportunity to leave, and I hope HOPE HOPE I get to. My husband hates where I work, mostly because of the hours and how I am when I get home.

Anyway, I guess I had to vent a little too

[I<3H2O, BSN, RN]

I'm a fairly new nurse also and, of course, got sentenced to med surg. This is NOT nursing..its just looking at the clock and throw pills and antibiotics at patients. Anyone could do this. There is no assessment, intervention, nothing, just delivering meds. And u mess one tiny thing up, even setting a normal saline rate at 75 when it should be 80 and someone is writing you up! Two more months and I can transfer to ER.

I wouldn't wish for someone with this attitude as the nurse for myself or a loved one.

To the OP, Med Surg is definately a fast paced, environment. Do you feel like you received adequate orientation? You should befriend the other nurses on your unit. Make sure you are delagating when appropriate. If you truly hate med-surg then perhaps you should try to find a job elsewhere because I have found that most nurses either love it or hate it. There are none that I have met that are mediocre about their feelings for MS nursing.

What do you think is causing your problems? Is it the med pass, is it the assessments, is it the charting, etc? If you would like to visit via private message, I would be glad to try to point you towards things that may help you learn to LOVE Med surg!

[David13, MSN, RN]

If you have time to look at the clock, you have too much free time.

In my opinion, this type of comment that implies that the nurse is at fault for their inability to manage an inherently unmanageable situation, is harmful to the nursing profession.

Yes, time management is extremely important; however, so is proper staffing. Putting profit ahead of safety by not staffing appropriately is not acceptable, and blaming the nurse for the situation that evolves from this inadequate staffing is not, in my opinion, helpful.