Negative Threads

It's a shame that people don't feel more positively about having a license and a job that allows them to earn a decent wage. .

So basically you are telling everyone to just "get over it". That doesn't help.

It's a shame that people don't feel more positively about having a license and a job that allows them to earn a decent wage. Maybe if they stopped and became aware how little some people in the world earn and what their working conditions are like it would make them feel more thankful.

I hope I am merely misreading your comment here.

The main things that people complain about here are

-Not always having time for basic necessities like a lunch break, and pressure to postpone bathroom breaks

-Pressure from management to basically work off the clock

-Management understaffing to the point that it is dangerous for the patient.

-Random unimportant things that take time away from the beside

The reason we don't still have child laborers in mines working 16 hour shifts these days in the US are because of people standing up and fighting for better and safer working conditions. I WELCOME discussion and vents about what is wrong with the profession so that hopefully, one day, we can stand together for change and make things better for the next generation of nurses (and patients)!

Sitting complacently and being happy we aren't starving to death is one thing, but you will be martyring yourself for the greed of management only, and ensuring the status quo stays only that. We are talking about the bad to each other because we know a better way for things to be done to ensure the greater good for the community, instead of money for the few.

Yes, I am happy I am in a land of opportunity, and that I was able to have publicly paid 12 years of school, and was able to afford college on my own. I am glad I am not a refugee. But stifling criticism also stifles change. I won't sit back when I can see ways to make things better. My kids deserve no less from me, and I hope you won't look down on those trying to voice what is wrong for the sake of change.

I love the stuff from: http://despair.com/

Thanks for that cool link. Just my kind of humor!

And now that Seagate (the OP-remember him/her) has garnered 4 pages or replies to a fairly irresponsible and unthought out question perhaps they would like to reply themselves with a cogent argument for their case.

Although I must admit, if anyone made me go mountain biking, or do anything more with my car than drive it to the shops/lunch etc etc, then I'd be ranting about it.

negative threades???

with what we nurses go through???

you betcha!!

:angryfire

"r - e - s - p -e c - t

don't know what it means to me

r - e - s - p -e c - t

take carin'---

t - c - b!!!

oowwww.

just a little respect!!!"

we want it!

we vent it!

Sorry but if your job is so bad that there is nothing you can do to make it better I'd look for work elsewhere.

And that is the kind of attitude that is pushing some very, very good nurses out of nursing. Like I have said in other threads, nurses should have compassion and empathy for each other, not just for patients.

Venting is necessary and sometimes helpful. But there is such a thing as destructive venting. We all may be anonymous here but this blog is open to the public. A significant number of people outside the medical profession read these threads. Some post occasionally. Some get blasted off here if they present even some constructive criticism. It's understandable. You deal with patients all day and don't want to deal with them on blogs like this. Granted, this is for allnurses. But unless you find a system to keep non nurses off here they'll be on and read your venting.

I don't think some of this destructive venting is harmless. I think it hurts the profession. It makes people wonder what's really going on inside the minds of nurses when patients are being cared for. Maybe that's a good thing, to some extent. People need to know how stressful the job can be. But all this technology is so new we really don't have a gage on how it will affect public perceptions and attitudes.

I'm not saying nurses don't need a place to vent among others who understand what they go through. Frankly, many professions need that. But we can't pretend that blogs like this are private. It's not like the old days, when you vented in the break room privately with other nurses. People think of the web as somehow personal and even private. It's not. Notice how some kids today are getting into trouble for posting suggestive and naked photos of themselves on social web sites; or how they send these photos back and forth via cell phones as if this is a private. It's not. How would you feel, for example, if you went to a blog like this for teachers, and you read all kinds negative comments about students. What if you knew some of your children's teachers posted on the site but you didn't who they were. Think about it. Teachers need to vent, too, and sometimes they get negative feelings about the kids they teach and the parents of the kids. Frankly, some of this stuff is best left off the web and better relegated to private conversations or staff meetings.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be venting on sites like this. Perhaps what I'm saying is that you can't assume it's all harmless. There may be a price to pay for this. And the price may be more than we want to pay as a society or as a profession. I don't think the research or data is in on this yet.

Personally, jmo, I don't see much value in just complaining about things without seeking a solution. Sorry but if your job is so bad that there is nothing you can do to make it better I'd look for work elsewhere.

i think it depends on what type of complaining is going on.

if it's a bad shift, (or even a bad week) but overall, is a decent place to work, then venting (w/o a solution) is absolutely understandable, and even beneficial.

but if they're the type of complaints where the workplace is on a downward spiral w/no end in sight, then merely complaining seems rather futile...

in that, hopefully one would be seeking a solution.

if folks need to chronically complain w/o trying to improve the situation, then yes, i agree w/you jules.

i think we're likely on the same page.:)

leslie

NO job is great all the time. And people who think we shouldn't complain because we should be thankful to have a job are the folks who perpetuate the horrible working conditions that drive nurses out of this profession. I saw the same thing happen in computers after the dotcom/y2k crash --shut up and take any job at any price with any conditions just so you keep a paycheck. And you know what? Now we can't get people to stay in the field because the pay's less than half what it used to be and conditions are horrible. Is that what we want for nursing? Our conditions to get even worse and pay to decrease because people are telling us to just be grateful for whatever pittance we're thrown?? It's a recipe for disaster.

If a person labels a thread "vent" and you don't want to see vent threads, DON'T READ IT. Give those of us who need a place to vent a place to do it.