Where have all the experienced nurses gone?

Specialties Med-Surg

Published

On my floor, all the staff nurses have 5 yrs or less experience and are all about in the their late 20's. Has anyone else noticed this trend? Where do the med/surg nurses go after 5 yrs?

God you lot have put the fear into me as I start my medical placement in a few days. I'm male, not that that should matter but I actually joined nursing as I enjoy the caring profession plus I thought it would be a doss, being womans work and all. How wrong I was, six weeks placement on the surgical ward felt like an eternity. I was coming home from work and going straight back to bed. Life was hell and I was so glad to go back to university. I shall never take up a position on a surgical ward!

25 male Ireland

Specializes in Geriatrics/Oncology/Psych/College Health.

Oh, my. I'm sorry you were under the impression that nursing was easy. I'll refrain from comment on the "woman's work" aspect and desperately hope others will, too ;). Keep plugging away at it - while it may never be easy, you will get more proficient at your job, giving it the illusion of being easier. Best of luck.

I was a nurse on a med/surg floor for ten years after graduating and I loved it. I felt as if I had a real effect on peoples lives. I left because of administration, not the job. For the past 25 years I have been pursuing nursing in other areas. I recently started to think about going back to hospital nursing but after reading your posts, I think I will pass.

btw, it isn't just the cnas that leave the floor for extended breaks, I have seen plenty of nurses do it too. It isn't the category of people, it 's the quality.

btw, it isn't just the cnas that leave the floor for extended breaks, I have seen plenty of nurses do it too. It isn't the category of people, it 's the quality.

That is so true and I will acknowledge that.

Plenty of times I've been bombarded with patient call lights and family questions and concerns, only to find out that I'm the only licensed nurse on the entire floor at the time.

Sometimes the only warm body employee on the floor period.

I guess I expect more from the CNA's (and shouldn't) because in the case of the CNA/PCT assigned to my patients, it reflects on me when things aren't getting done.

If other RN's and LPN's are slacking off, then I shouldn't expect any more quality work from the PCT/CNA assigned to my patients because we are supposed to be setting a good example.

If the nurses themselves aren't up to par, then I guess we need to start there first, rather than having high expectations of CNA/PCT's that are either the same as, or perhaps even well beyond the performance levels of the nurses that they work with every day.

Specializes in Psych.
That is so true and I will acknowledge that.

Plenty of times I've been bombarded with patient call lights and family questions and concerns, only to find out that I'm the only licensed nurse on the entire floor at the time.

Sometimes the only warm body employee on the floor period.

I guess I expect more from the CNA's (and shouldn't) because in the case of the CNA/PCT assigned to my patients, it reflects on me when things aren't getting done.

If other RN's and LPN's are slacking off, then I shouldn't expect any more quality work from the PCT/CNA assigned to my patients because we are supposed to be setting a good example.

If the nurses themselves aren't up to par, then I guess we need to start there first, rather than having high expectations of CNA/PCT's that are either the same as, or perhaps even well beyond the performance levels of the nurses that they work with every day.

YES! EXACTLY!:)

Specializes in Psych.
God you lot have put the fear into me as I start my medical placement in a few days. I'm male, not that that should matter but I actually joined nursing as I enjoy the caring profession plus I thought it would be a doss, being womans work and all. How wrong I was, six weeks placement on the surgical ward felt like an eternity. I was coming home from work and going straight back to bed. Life was hell and I was so glad to go back to university. I shall never take up a position on a surgical ward!

25 male Ireland

Ignorant, here. What is a "doss"? Oh, and btw, most work traditionally considered a woman's domain DOES tend to be exhausting, never-ending and thankless. So you were right about that.

(couldn't resist):rotfl:

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

My feeling is, everyone who cares for patients is responsible for his or her own practice........that includes LPNs and CNAs as well. While we RNs do supervise them after a fashion, it's the state board of nursing that holds them to the standards of their licensure or certification---we are NOT responsible for their behavior or work ethic (or lack thereof). Furthermore, the employing facility has a responsibility to ensure they possess the knowledge and training to do the work correctly........ALSO not our job as RNs.

What we are responsible for is delegating properly and following through to make sure that things are done. We can't just yell to the aide, "Grab a set of vitals for me in 223, will ya?" and not check up on it. But we also can't assume responsibility for all members of the team, nor should we let someone else's poor work ethic reflect on us---that's the facility's job. I know it's frustrating to work with ANYONE who sits around while everyone else is running, takes extra breaks, doesn't do what they say they're going to do and so on; however, bad work habits aren't unique to any one category of healthcare providers.....there are good and bad on ALL rungs of the ladder.

Just my $.02 worth.:)

Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.
My feeling is, everyone who cares for patients is responsible for his or her own practice........that includes LPNs and CNAs as well. While we RNs do supervise them after a fashion, it's the state board of nursing that holds them to the standards of their licensure or certification---we are NOT responsible for their behavior or work ethic (or lack thereof). Furthermore, the employing facility has a responsibility to ensure they possess the knowledge and training to do the work correctly........ALSO not our job as RNs.

What we are responsible for is delegating properly and following through to make sure that things are done. We can't just yell to the aide, "Grab a set of vitals for me in 223, will ya?" and not check up on it. But we also can't assume responsibility for all members of the team, nor should we let someone else's poor work ethic reflect on us---that's the facility's job. I know it's frustrating to work with ANYONE who sits around while everyone else is running, takes extra breaks, doesn't do what they say they're going to do and so on; however, bad work habits aren't unique to any one category of healthcare providers.....there are good and bad on ALL rungs of the ladder.

Just my $.02 worth.:)

I echo this.

I know it's frustrating to work with ANYONE who sits around while everyone else is running, takes extra breaks, doesn't do what they say they're going to do and so on; however, bad work habits aren't unique to any one category of healthcare providers.....there are good and bad on ALL rungs of the ladder.

Just my $.02 worth.:)

I think we all agree on good and bad workers existing on all "rungs of the ladder."

The OP was asking "where have all of the experienced nurses gone" and I answered it, as a former med/surg nurse who plans to never go back to it, mostly because of bad CNA's, not because of bad nurses.

That doesn't mean that I don't think that bad nurses exist, I'd be a fool to not have seen plenty of that in my time, but I thought that the topic was about why us experienced nurses left med/surg, not an all inclusive summary of which category or title has the worst workers.

As a floor nurse, a bad or disappearing fellow RN or LPN has caused me to have to take care of their patients more than I should have to, no doubt.

But a bad and/or disappearing CNA/PCT that shares my patients can be downright crippling and affects my ability to provide good care to my patients to a much higher extent than a fellow RN/LPN who has their own group of patients.

I don't have to rely on a CNA/PCT for help in ICU or PACU the way that I did as a med/surg nurse. There are bad/lazy nurses here too, but my patients are still well taken care of, regardless of who my co-workers are on a given day.

As a floor nurse with a large patient assignment, you need a good CNA/PCT because you can't take care of that many patients by yourself. If you don't get a good one, you are doomed from the beginning.

Too often, I didn't get a good one, so I left med/surg floor nursing altogether.

And that IS the topic at hand here.

A doss means very easy.

Ps you missed out poorly paid :o)

I totally agree, I was offerred a job at a smaller hospital and they were not willing to bargain, eventhough I had more experience that most who were applying. They are a level 2 now and plan to go to a leve 3 soon, scary when there are new grads ( who have NO NICU experience) and some mother baby nurses ( who are oriented in the NICU). Not sure I would have my infant in there. But my other job, yes is mostly people in their early to late 20's. I am on the brink of 30, so do I still count??

Being on a med/surg unit is hard labor, physically exhausting, emotionally draining, back breaking work. The RNs, LVNs, CNAs, & WCTs I worked with were great.

I lasted about 5 years as a staff nurse & moved on to administration. I hated being in an administrative position more than bedside nursing. The politics in that position is worse than working at the bedside. The physical labor was easier but the mental labor was awful!

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