Negative feedback

diva rn, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2012

There are a number of posts from nurses who came over to the "people" side of medicine from the "pet" side.

Use the search function and you should be able to find them.

Personally, I would rather be in the pet side!!! I have been in nursing for 20years...and that's long enough.

My daughter is in the end of her second year of Vet school....I will be begging her for a job in about 2 years:)

Good luck with whatever you decide.

(nursing is not for the faint of heart )

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Apr 13, 2012

Staying till doctor is done will only apply to nurses in clinics. I had years of that and often worked overtime, but then got days when he was at conferences, vacation, in surgery that I could take off. In the hospital we work 3 12-hour shifts per week, but are often here longer than 12. The 4 days off are good for family but they generally are not all in one lump. You might work 1 day, skip one, then work 2 or any combination. Some people in our facility work 3 one week and 4 the next to get OT. Depends on need. Remember, though, hospitals are 24/7 so there are nights and weekends. You might like the 5-day/wk in a clinic or surgery area. Good luck!

GitanoRN, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 13, 2012

first of all congratulations!!! on your first born. in answer to your first question, i would say that i have witness many colleagues of mine that have left nursing in order to pursue other venues. consequently, a dear colleague of mine just recently inform me that she is leaving nursing after 10 years, to pursue her life dream of becoming a lawyer. on the other hand, a vet tech in the clinic where i take my min/pin decided to follow her dream in becoming an rn. having said that, during the first years after graduating from nursing it was a bit difficult for me, since i had the thirst to learn my new found career; this took time away from my immediate family. furthermore, i'm a firm believer that as a nurse you know the time when your shift begins however, the time you leave is unpredictable. however, there are positions like opc (out patient clinics) which are difficult to get into since they are so few and far in between, which you only work from 9-5pm with no weekends or holidays. needless to say, this allows you to spend more time with your loved ones. granted, these positions come once in a lifetime since every nurse would love to have such permanent schedule. wishing you the very best on all of your future endeavors...aloha~

allnurses Guide · Apr 13, 2012

1. if you ever entertained seriously quitting nursing, why? (or if you have stories of other who have quit)
everyday. i hate paperwork, coordinating care and doing anything that puts me on the wrong side of a desk. i feel tortured everyday and would rather change 500 soiled briefs than do one more med rec.
3. how much time do you get to spend with your family while working?
i was working full-time. my time was used up and i was wore out. i just changed my status to part-time. i would rather pinch pennies and have time for my kids.
is nursing a job that requires you to stay longer on a shift until your doctor is done? (we just had our first baby this year and i kind of like him, so would like to spend time with him (: )
that is a real possibility. while nursing is 24/7, there are some things that i cannot, in good conscience, leave for the nurse coming on the next shift. in my case, it has nothing to do with the docs, but usually a last minute admit or discharge.
thanks everyone!

i would say, if you are paid well, come home in time and have some schedule flexibility, then stay where you are, at least for now while you have a young child at home.

those are years you will never get back and i am grateful that i got to stay home with mine.

cheers.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2012

First of all...Welcome to AN! Second of all........Why nursing? Personally I'd rather deal with pets......they are always happy to see you, they growl before they bite, you can muzzle them if they're aggressive , they go to the bathroom when you walk them, and keep them in cages until they are feeling better.

There are many making the jump to nursing thinking it is recession proof....but it is NOT. Many new grads are getting out of school and NOT getting jobs.

Looking Out for Our New Nurse Grads

Be a Nurse...If You Can

A popular Website about the nursing profession claims, "there has never been a better time to be a nurse." "Be" a nurse? Perhaps, but "become" a nurse? Perhaps, that is less certain. In spite of continuing to rank among the best careers and best jobs in America, the nursing profession is struggling to welcome its newest members with open arms and paychecks. YOu have to register for medscape but it is free(no strings)

Medscape: Medscape Access

Nurses Are Talking About: Jobs for New Grads

The Big Lie?

Without a doubt, the main source of frustration experienced by recently graduated and licensed but still unemployed nurses is what could be called "the big lie."In other words, the television commercials that encourage young people to become nurses -- and then abandon them for months (or years) without employment; and the educators who tell them that the associate's degree is perfectly adequate to guarantee employment, that they will have their pick of jobs when they graduate, and that there is plenty of time to get a BSN later on. Who knows whether it is greed, ignorance, or wishful thinking that underlies the fairy tales told to nursing students about their future job prospects? Whatever the motivation, the disillusionment of our new grads is palpable. The jobs they expected after all of their hard work just haven't materialized, and some grads are getting pretty desperate.

Medscape: Medscape Access

Has the Nursing Shortage Disappeared?

It's that time of year again. Graduating nursing students are preparing to take the NCLEX and are looking for their first jobs. This year, many are finding those first jobs in short supply.

Reports are rampant of new graduates being unable to find open positions in their specialty of choice, and even more shockingly, many are finding it tough to find any openings at all.

These new RNs entered school with the promise that nursing is a recession-proof career. They were told the nursing shortage would guarantee them employment whenever and wherever they wanted.

So what happened? Has the nursing shortage—that we've heard about incessantly for years—suddenly gone away?

The short term answer is clearly yes, although in the long term, unfortunately, the shortage will still be there.

The recession has brought a temporary reprieve to the shortage. Nurses who were close to retirement have seen their 401(k) portfolios plummet and their potential retirement income decline. They are postponing retirement a few more years until the economy—and their portfolios—pick up.

Many nurses have seen their spouses and partners lose their jobs and have increased their hours to make ends meet for their families. Some who left the profession to care for children or for other reasons have rejoined the workforce for similar reasons.

In addition, many hospitals are not hiring. The recession brought hiring freezes to healthcare facilities across the country, and many are still in effect. Help wanted ads for healthcare professionals dropped by 18,400 listings in July.

Has the Nursing Shortage Disappeared?

An article by Ruby Vee a AN contributor will be helpful to you.

For Those Considering A Career In Nursing

https://allnurses.com/nursing-career-advice/those-considering-career-653061.html

If you are still interested......the hospital are open 24/7, 365 days a year. You will work holidays and seekends as well as nights. There are no delayed openings or closures due to bad weather. Patients still need care whether it is a blizzard,tornado, or a hurricane. You may leave when you have been relieved and your work is complete. If you patients codes at shift change, before you are relieved, you will stay. You stay until your work is done and your patient is safe....the MD? They are already at home with their families...all snug in their beds.

I am not discouraging you from being a nurse....but I want you to have a realistic view of the profession. This is going to sound more harsh than intended.....but, It never ceases to amaze me the perception of people. "I'm tired of my job", "I love babies", "I need more time with my family"....I know I'll pick something easy, guaranteed employment and work in a doctors office.......I'll be a nurse. :idea: And they are all shocked when they realize after graduation that nursing is a hard job, that nurses are the whipping post of many situations. That we are the low man on the totem pole in pecking order but have the most responsibility.

Consider your choice carefully...nursing school is expensive and time consuming. It will absorb much free time to studying and paper/care plans. Nursing school is very time consuming and financially draining.

Congrats on the new baby!!!!!!! If you like insanity come and be a nurse...

WillyNilly · Apr 13, 2012

There are a lot of factors to look at when deciding. Most nurses work 12 hour shifts. For those who have kids, we dont see our kids on those days. I leave before they wake up and come home when they are in bed. There is a ton of paperwork to be done and the environment is go go go all day long most days. I work holidays, weekends, etc. I dont get to choose what ones I work. I have worked every Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Christmas or Christmas Eve, etc. If I work more than two days in a row it is hard to manage home life. Also, factor in day care costs, after school care costs, etc.

If I worked in a clinic, I would have a set schedule however I would have a different skill set required and possibly a paycut.

SurrenderDorothy · Apr 13, 2012

I was a large animal research tech and coordinator before nursing, so not really a vet tech even though I used a ton of clinical skills. The biggest challenge for me during the switch was that, with animals, I could do virtually anything. I have performed c-sections on cattle, injected anesthesia meds, euthanized animals - you name it.

I had issues initially with the nursing scope of practice. It just seemed silly to me that you needed an order to even apply oxygen. I get why the rules are there, but it feels so limiting coming from the other side of things. To top it off, I was an EMT-I also and could do everything within my scope of practice based on standing orders.

Basically, the autonomy is what I miss.

I was halfway through nursing school and started thinking it wasn't for me. I figured I would go ahead and finish and then figure something out. Fortunately, I found my niche in surgery and that is what I am going to focus on. I don't work right now because I stay at home with my son, but when I am ready, I will most likely be working 6 or 7 am until 2 or 3 pm so I will be able to be home when my boys get home from school.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Apr 13, 2012

Reasons I have wanted to quit, short staffing to the point where it is unsafe but you are still RESPONSIBLE AND ACCOUNTABLE FOR EVERYTHING, excpected to make all the patients your number 1 priority when your clinical skills/assessments indicate he/she is not, consant stress on the job because of this. Not getting breaks. It is also a depressing job sometimes and since I do not have any nursing friends I can't really talk about it with anyone irl. Also yes you will stay late many times, especially in the beginning. Things happen. If a pt has stat orders right at the end/change of your shift or something happens you can not just clock out and leave, or you may have never had a chance to chart and now have 12.5 hours worth of charting to do. You can spend time with your family because most staff nurse jobs are either 36 hours a week or 40. but you will work holidays and weekends and maybe nights and all of that can affect your family life GREATLY. esp if you celebrate holidays and have to work everyother weekend. you will be off, sitting at home, while your spouse/ kids are either sleeping or at work/school

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Apr 14, 2012

1. If you ever entertained seriously quitting nursing, why? (Or if you have stories of other who have quit)

Before I left my hospital job, I used to leave there every day thinking I should quit nursing to go work at a grocery store. Why? Because hospital nursing is brutal. Hit the ground running at 7am and don't stop- if you're lucky- until 7:30 pm. Get stuck at work for an extra 2 hours because your patient decided to code at change of shift? Too bad, you've just worked 2 hrs for free and you still have to be back at 7am the next morning and take 2 buses to get home which, of course, are now only running once every 1/2 hr because it's after 9pm so it's going to take you at least an hour to get home. (Note, most places do pay their staff nurses if this happens, my former hospital didn't.) Oh, and btw, even though you went above and beyond by not passing off an unstable patient to the next shift and seeing the transfer through yourself, don't expect to get any credit for it. Tomorrow you'll be yelled at because you didn't scan the stat med you administered while your patient was coding.

2. If any one else has made the transition to nursing from veterinary medicine, how did it go/what are the major differences to expect?

Can't answer this question for you, sorry. I went straight to nursing school from high school. Esme made some good points as to why working with pets may be preferable though. Working with animals, if your patient bites you you just put them in a muzzle. Working with people, if your patient bites you, your boss may very well tell you it was your own fault.

3. How much time do you get to spend with your family while working? Is nursing a job that requires you to stay longer on a shift until your doctor is done? (We just had our first baby this year and I kind of like him, so would like to spend time with him (: )

Whether or not the doctor is "done" has little to do with why you- as a nurse- get stuck at work late unless you work in a clinic or doing something like outpatient procedures. If you work in a hospital, it's usually something like you've been running around all day, have transferred 2 patients and admitted another 2 and the computers completely crashed because it's raining. Then they decide to come back up at 6:30 pm and, because they've been down for less than 4 hours, your hospital's policy mandates that you go back and back-chart everything in the computer despite the fact that you've been charting on paper as a back-up since they went down. So now you're going to be stuck at work catching up on 12 hrs worth of charting.

I honestly didn't realize how much 12 hr shifts negatively affected my life until I stopped doing them. 12 hr shifts seem great when you think "I only have to work 3 days a week". In reality, you can do nothing else on those 3 days so it actually only leaves you 4 days to do ANY of the things you have to do. I have worked every day this week and feel like I have infinitely more time than I did when I was working 12s. For example, today I woke up at 7:30 am, had time to shower and watch old episodes of Will and Grace before heading in to work at 9am. Left work on time at 5pm, headed out to do an errand before meeting a friend for dinner. Was home by 7:30pm. If it was a 12 hr work day, I would have been up at 5:15 am, out the door by 5:50 am and, if I was lucky, home by 9pm. There was no possibility of doing anything on a work day. Not to mention you were so exhausted that you slept most of the days that you weren't working away. Working nights, I'd often be on one, off one, on two and would do NOTHING but work and sleep, work and sleep, work and sleep. I know I had colleagues who wouldn't see their kids for days at a time working in the hospital.

diamond823 · Apr 14, 2012

Thank you to everyone for replying! It's nice to get a realistic view of what I'd be looking at. I think I'm going to take the advice of staying with my job for now and spending time with my family. Maybe I'll reevaluate things once my son starts school. I'll probably still peruse the forum to confirm my decision/live vicariously through your stories

Thanks again!

wanderlust99 · Apr 14, 2012

Negative nursing stuff -

overworked

unappreciated

management

stupidity

being treated like crap by patients, physcians, fellow nurses

tough schedule

stereotypes

poor staffing

being treated like a number, rather than a person

management - did i mention that already?

not having enough time to use the restroom and holding it in for 4 hours

breaking other nurses and taking care of 4 icu patients or 8 tele patients which is against the mandated CA state laws but management doesn't care about that

poor team work

being treated like a maid or a waitress at times

derogatory statements made by phsycians about nurses in general

sexist view by patients, say i walk in the door i am ignored but let's say a man in a white coat walks in and the patient's eyes perk up and all the family stops and gives him his immediate attention...when he's the respiratory therapist but they think he's the doctor

c-diff

abusive patients, who whether it be verbal or phsycial abuse towards you, are really draining

not having the time to care for your patient the way you want to

sometimes acting like a secretary coordinating various things, this isn't my job

you take the responsibility for EVERYTHING that happens, everything. if the lab messes up it's your fault, if someone forgot to do a test on your patient it's your fault. everything is the nurses fault. everything. that gets old.

sometimes my fellow nurses really bother me to be honest. it's probably just the particular hospital I'm at, but I've been getting pretty annoyed by some of the nurses I work with lately.