3/6 months... quitting the job...

[nichefinder]

Hello all... It's been little over 3 months since I started this medsurg job... very busy floor with 6 max load, no phlebotomy team, very slow system, horrendous meditech charting, very ghetto clientele, your regular run-around-crazy-head-cut-off MS floor...

I was going to soldier on 3 more months so I can internal transfer, but last night's shift sealed the deal for me. After finding out I had 2 fresh admissions beginning of my shift, then running around for 5-6 hrs straight working around the crappy, slow system, having to deal with all the non-compliant, demanding, complaining, ghetto pts, smiling at them even when I wanted to strangle them, and finally when the pt pulled out the IV, my sanity snapped, cartwheeled, double back flipped and my nose started bleeding with a migraine.....

After I started this job, my bp would skyrocket sometimes to 170/94 when my baseline used to be 120-130/80s. I would suffer from insomnia, not even getting 3 hrs sleep between shifts, dragging my feet to work, hating my life because I hate my job, and demanding, complaining pts just slowly chew me inside out while I have to calmly smile and explain to them because stupid healthcare industry turned RNs into damn hotel servants.

My father has HTN, grandma died of hemorrhagic stroke, and when that nose started bleeding, I immediately thought "I have got to get out of here." I am most likely present my 2 weeks notice early this week; I have no job lined yet, but for the health and sanity, I feel like I must quit. Good grief, I didn't hate nursing school this bad! I am willing to take pay cut to go to somewhere I can work with little more relaxation; fixing my resume and starting to look today at OR, cath, GI, day surg, endo, etc. "Nursing" Webster Dictionary definition: saving others while trying not to take your own. Amen to that. I am done, I want to live.

[NYbabyRN, BSN, RN]

Wow, us nurses can be so judgemental of one another and how we should express ourselves and feel. OP I hope you find a better place for your health and wellbeing. I work med/surg and it can be hard and grueling and I have had to care for rude and violent patients but the level of stress you are experiencing should not be a everyday experience.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Oh yes, I'm sure you were talking about the ghettos of Beverly Hills in your little tirade. You said Kalevra summed up what you meant by "ghetto" perfectly. That post certainly painted a picture of the clientele you are referring to, and it certainly wasn't Jews or Beverly Hills.

It's unfair and disingenuous to use a racially charged word and then lay the blame on the audience for misinterpreting your meaning. Everyone needs to take responsibility for the language they choose to use.

[nichefinder]

Oh yes, I'm sure you were talking about the ghettos of Beverly Hills in your little tirade. You said Kalevra summed up what you meant by "ghetto" perfectly. That post certainly painted a picture of the clientele you are referring to, and it certainly wasn't Jews or Beverly Hills.

It's unfair and disingenuous to use a racially charged word and then lay the blame on the audience for misinterpreting your meaning. Everyone needs to take responsibility for the language they choose to use.

my clientele range in race of all origins. again, klone, look at how you make assumption. you're reinforcing your own reinforcement. sigh... no one talked about race when i use the term ghetto. it was used in describing very uncanny behaviors and why are you interpreting it as being used against certain race? again, you are reinforcing your own reinforcement.

i am tired of defending my use of word. if you are going to take offense on that, do it by all means. I am here to share sad times with fellow nurses and encourage each other and it seems that some people completely missed the point because of their own hard-wired beliefs. It's like someone believing the word "fruit" refers to only oranges. Why you keep coming back accusing me of being color-biased when none of that is mentioned, I don't know, and certainly the use of the word "ghetto" has been explained throughly. Perhaps class of logistics might help in the rhetoric understanding and context comprehension.

i will not address this issue anymore.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Good luck to you.

[Oedgar]

I think you should get out before your health gets worse. I really can't believe the flap over the use of "ghetto." Was it totally politically correct? No. But it clearly stated the exact population she was referring to.... the non-compliant, dysfunctional, drug-seeking... I did not get a color biased feeling from it at all. Our clinic sees a lot of a similiar demographic... and I take each person as an individual. Some of the most pleasant pts I've had are the welfare/Medicaid people... and some of the most difficult are the private ins.... But the workload and pt population are clearly causing her a dangerous level of stress. Time to make a change. The easily offended should really lighten up.

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Nursing with pre-conceived notions and judgements does not a good practice make.

OP, your complaints seemingly are due to the fact of the patient population you deal with exclusively.

The point is that ALL patients, regardless of from whence they came can cause stress, can be demanding, can be over the top.

The offense for me is in the way that you use the "you know THOSE kind of people" tone.

"THOSE" kind of people are everywhere. And much like a nurse who is a nurse when she is working, and an alternate person outside of the job, patients are patients when they are ill, and can be completely different when well and outside of the hospital.

[mparker3kids]

This is ridiculous. We are in 2014 and racism is being confused with ghetto? Where I live there are just as much white trash and Hispanics than any other race in the government housing. So, to me, the word ghetto does not indicate any type of race, but it indicates a type of person. The type of person who will not help themselves. Not a person who cannot help themselves, but will not. Those who come in hacking up lungs begging for the nurse to help them breathe when they were putting out cigarettes in the parking lot. Those who use the ER for drugs, and the thugs (let me be clear - this can be ANY race) coming in to steal. if your mind goes straight to a race when the term ghetto or thug is used - You're the one not letting racism die. There are snobs of every race. Those who look down their noses at people, and those who wait for a moment to attack to prove others wrong. Just like there's ghetto of every race.

Dear OP, all the money in the world isn't worth your health & sanity.

[nichefinder]

I take every advices with grains of salt, and I thank all those who encourage me. To answer some posts previously, I applied to FNP program already, awaiting the answer. Even if I don't get in, I know for sure I will get my FNP in the future as higher autonomy and greater scope of practice for patients will make me more versatile healthcare provider.

I am very into health, nutrition and exercises, going to gym at least 3 times a week and more if I can. And as many said, I used to believe that I can do anything for money, but I will gladly take a pay cut to go where I can restore some health and be somewhat happy to go to work.

I am very militaristic person in nature and training; it's tough for me to see lack of any forms of discipline or decency even in tough times; there are sick people who retain their grace and discipline while some act in the opposite way, and my clientele seems to be the latter type, that's all.

To answer jadelpn, I believe that my health problems are derived not by this specific population but by the nature of work. MS is a hard place no matter who the population is, and I believe my personality (as mentioned above) dos not bode well in environments that frequently interact with sick, mad people.

My appreciation to those who understand that just because the term "ghetto" is used, that does not involve any colors. Since I won't address on this further, please refer to my previous post on this. I agree that the socioeconomic status of clientele doesn't affect the behaviors and attitudes of patients. I have personally seen well-to-dos act inappropriately while the indigent clients act with decency, but just it happens that current clientele does not.

Ended up applying 5-6 places, and rethought my decision to quit since being jobless is no good.

[EaglesWings21, ASN, RN]

If your family has a history of hemorrhagic stroke and your BP goes that high regularly I would speak with your doctor or practitioner. I am new to my job but work with the inner city poor and they have lots of medical and well as psychological problems but I will not blur the lines and let their problems become my problems. The saying is the grass is always greener but the truth is there will be conflict everywhere you go.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

You've had this job for three months and you have nine months of nursing experience. This is not a good resume to have. If you haven't already given your notice, I'd advise trying to stick it out. Med/Surg is very difficult, but job hopping isn't likely to make your eventual transition into an experienced nurse any easier (now delayed for another 12 months), either.

I'm going to have to co-sign with Ruby on this. Job-hopping as a very experienced nurse is one thing, but to have a third nursing job in a under a year is not going to look good in the eyes of future employers.

[canigraduate]

I work in a ghetto hospital. I have some experience with what you mean. I am sorry you are going through this. It sucks, doesn't it?

I would suggest going to your PCP or your employer's assistance program and try to get some treatment for your BP and maybe some counseling on stress relief and how to cope with difficult people. It may help you with the remaining three months and get you through it with less damage to your psyche.

I also suggest you ignore the martyr comments. You are not required to be a saint.

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

And for God sake's people, do your research. "Ghetto" is not a "racially-charged" word. In fact, the term ghetto was comes from the terrible living spaces that Jewish people were forced to live in during Hitler's reign/WW2. It is NOT a racial term. I hate it when people think that "ghetto" automatically refers to a certain race.