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

tokmom, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2014

Yep, that pretty much sounds like med-surg units all over the place.
What is the job market like where you are? Will you be able to find another job with only 3 months at your first one?

No, it's not. It is the FACILITY. Not med/surg. I have an amazing med/surg floor and am certified in med/surg. I had that ah-ha moment 5 years ago that it's not the specialty, it's the damn hospital.

Our max load is 5 on days and nights, with CNA support, lab, etc.. Usual load is 3-4 pt's.

tokmom, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2014

@ruby: thanks for the advice. i actually applied to couple spots but i'm not a kid, so quitting before a secured job is a bad idea,so i'm trooping on for 3 more months unless i find a job of course. but if you have no idea what i meant about the "ghetto clientele", considering the fact that you probably have a decade or two of experience, i am purely surprised to note that you seem to not have any kind of agreement or empathy (not that I need it :)) about working with "difficult" population. Like kalevra said, let's face it, we have all been there and worked with those types if you ever had to work in med surg. Or maybe you worked only in cushy environment with easy, outpatient only patients in rich neighborhood? That I don't know. But if you haven't worked in the so called "ghetto are hospitals", I think it might be too early for you to decide for me whether my opinion stink or not.
and amolucia, i would never mention about how stressful the current job is as anything negative about work during interview would cause bad looks.

I hate to tell you, but you will run across ghetto people in all walks of nursing. Even the registrar isn't spared. I guess the only place might be OR, because they will most likely be sedated quickly. Having worked in a variety of areas over the years, you get ghetto everywhere...

NOT JUST MED/SURG

NanikRN · Mar 24, 2014

@NanikRNl isten i do appreciate people who come in to listen to my rant and give me advices, but i am a very stand-firm type of character, and if something is on my mind, I WILL SAY IT in the least offensive way possible. I give seniority respect to RNs with experience, but that doesn't stop me from telling them why they have to say somethings they say to me as long as they are staff RNs like me (of course, I say it politely, and this happened in my work places where I stand ground and confront when I am met with unnecessary impoliteness; guess what, I gained respect from everyone on my unit because of that). Again, I am not sure of your work background or Rubys's but quickly judging me for terming the patients "ghetto" EVEN AFTER I apologized in my comment for misusing the term "ghetto"... I mean do you even read the whole post? Again, someone in earlier post has termed the word "ghetto" in perfect description for audiences such as yourselves, so I advise that you go read that please. I don't dislike their behavior because they are "ghetto." It's because they do things that normal people would not do, as mgngal explained, stealing narcotics from waste bins, lying to doctors for pain meds when all labs show normal, hitting staff, yelling, grabbing the doc by the headlock, etc. Seriously, please refrain from being overly judgmental before even throughley reading all the posts and without sufficient knowledge of the situation. Sincerely in regard to your harsh, but not-well processed opinion[/quote']
I work in one of the largest hospitals in Dallas with a very diverse reputation on one of our busiest med surg floors. And I have over 30 years nursing experience
Whether you leave your job or not is not where I got stuck on your post. Obviously you need to make the decision that's right for you, and only you know what that is.
Using ghetto the way you used it in your original post is a slur. I stand by my previous statements that I find it reprehensible to label patients as such

eCCU · Mar 24, 2014

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.

I empathize with you and hope you get a spot that works for you. On the other hand remember nursing is a stressful career it doesn't matter where you go. I have worked on each end from the low income community hospitals to the fab old money hospitals where they come in as unknown and there is a 1200 sq foot room with Egyptian cotton blah blah blah! and fire their doctors based on "I don't like his/her attitude" you think this is stressful, wait until you take care of their kids and their daddy is the who is who richest man that sends the attorney to look into his sons complaints! Oh...no venting here Nurse...they just donated the new building suck it up cupcake! Lol the demands are endless. ....and the top management couldn't care about you with this one!

My point is.....the "the grass is not always greener on the other side, its just covered with manure (s#&*)" hence the green color....#wink#

Take care of your health first then re evaluate your approach, find someone that doesn't get worked up over irate and demanding pts and learn from them.

Personally. ..I learned that early on...works great for your sanity and you end up being their best nurse ever! Wink#

AngiereeRN, ADN, BSN · Mar 24, 2014

mparker3kids

I don't know if you're a nurse, but if you are I'm worried. How in the world can you glean so much info about someone whom you don't really know? We are all human, we all make mistakes, do stupid things. People in this population are poor and many suffer from mental illness and/or addictions (which is a disease).

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.

Seriously? Who are you to know or judge this? Do you know them, have you lived with them? How can you adequately care for someone with all that judgement and assumption? Are you perfect? Judgement like this serves no one, not the patient, not the nurse. I go to work and care for my patients to the best of my ability, what they do or don't do in their lives is not my business. I've dealt with rude patients, patients who've treated me like a servant and been rude to me. We've all had patients who were difficult because that's not just in nursing, it's life. Everyone deserves care when they are sick regardless of what you might "think" you know about them. It's called empathy and it's an important part of giving care.

chare · Mar 24, 2014

And for God sake's people, do your research

The primary definition of ghetto, as defined by Dictionary.com:

1. a section of a city, especially a thickly populated slum area, inhabited predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority group, often as a result of social or economic restrictions, pressures, or hardships.

The second and third definitions refer to the use of the word regarding the Jewish community, however from a much earlier time than WW II. Dictionary.com includes the following regarding the origin of the term:

Italian, orig. the name of an island near Venice where Jews were forced to reside in the 16th century.

Also, Dictionary.com assigns the following slang definition:

Often Disparaging and Offensive. Noting something that is considered to be unrefined, low-class, cheap, or inferior: Her furniture is so ghetto!

Lastly,

"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.

Even if this were the origin of the term, how can you say that it isn't "racially-charged?"

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Mar 24, 2014

The primary definition of ghetto, as defined by Dictionary.com:
The second and third definitions refer to the use of the word regarding the Jewish community, however from a much earlier time than WW II. Dictionary.com includes the following regarding the origin of the term:
Also, Dictionary.com assigns the following slang definition:
Lastly,
Even if this were the origin of the term, how can you say that it isn't "racially-charged?"

To add: economically charged??? Racism and classicism, are just as polarizing and are to be left out of our judgments when we practice as nurses; and that's not being a martyr. :no:

To the OP, if you decide to stay in this business, even as a FNP, you will be faced with challenging pts; most people who need us and keep us in. Business are the low income ones; the gap to health disparities are to be filled by NPs-so the reality is that people are people; you will have to learn to embrace that grey area of nursing assertively; keeping it inside will do you no good wherever your travels are; we deal with the most train-wreck vulnerable and at times the undesirables you will have to find a good to appropriately interact with people who have the worst inappropriate behavior, even sometimes walking away so that your health is not affected-but FIRST get you health in order, even if using EAP or a professional when talking about coping mechanisms for your stress; a good way to help manage emotions when dealing with anyone as well as from your familial history.

Also, keep pounding the pavement-it sounds like it's the hospital, not the

specialty; you also have to give yourself time to hone your practice-give yourself that time and dedication as well after you get your health in order.

Best wishes.

alrighThen · Mar 24, 2014

OP, I know med surg is demanding and full of endless tasks, but I encourage to practice letting the callous ignorance of certain patients bounce off of you as if you have a firewall. Laugh at it instead, and thank God you are not them. I have to practice this on a regular basis and at one point I even had a piece of gauze in my mouth as a kind of bite block to keep me from clenching my teeth so hard. Haha. And get on meds for your BP if your doc says so. You can do this. The next three months will be easier as you know what to expect. Then go to ICU, where you can sedate them and kick the family out of the room.

tokmom, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2014

OP, I know med surg is demanding and full of endless tasks, but I encourage to practice letting the callous ignorance of certain patients bounce off of you as if you have a firewall. Laugh at it instead, and thank God you are not them. I have to practice this on a regular basis and at one point I even had a piece of gauze in my mouth as a kind of bite block to keep me from clenching my teeth so hard. Haha. And get on meds for your BP if your doc says so. You can do this. The next three months will be easier as you know what to expect. Then go to ICU, where you can sedate them and kick the family out of the room.

ALL nursing has a list of endless tasks. ICU included.

wooh, BSN, RN · Mar 24, 2014

No matter where you go in nursing, you'll have to deal with people not as "disciplined" as you think they should be. After all, if everyone had perfect health habits, the only nurses of us working would be the few needed for oncology and hereditary disorders.

alrighThen · Mar 25, 2014

Tokmom,

I definitely agree. It's just easier to manage with 2 pts

Susie2310 · Mar 25, 2014

OP, I know med surg is demanding and full of endless tasks, but I encourage to practice letting the callous ignorance of certain patients bounce off of you as if you have a firewall. Laugh at it instead, and thank God you are not them. I have to practice this on a regular basis and at one point I even had a piece of gauze in my mouth as a kind of bite block to keep me from clenching my teeth so hard. Haha. And get on meds for your BP if your doc says so. You can do this. The next three months will be easier as you know what to expect. Then go to ICU, where you can sedate them and kick the family out of the room.

I'm glad you won't be taking care of me or my family as I would refuse nursing care from you for myself or my family.