new nurse: inner city hospital vrs suburb

[tracel1]

As a new nurse with just about 6 months nursing experince at a inner city small community hospital in baltimore md and i am stating to feel stress. For one, i feel there are some olders nurse there to set you up and hoping you make a mistake knowing you are a new grad. I work on the medsurg and there is always a shortage with the nurse/techs. One of my problems the techs do not pull their weight, they are lazy, they dont want to do pt care, they barely tell u abnormal/FS unless u ask them. They will sit there from 7p-10pm complaining there are so tired, when u are the on running around like a chicken. they take 2hr breaks when sometimes I dont eat. Then when i delegate, they want to ask questions or delagate back to u and say we will do it together. I am almost but scared to ask them to do something. When i complain they tell me it is the nurse overall responsiblity. then when you write them the techs up they hate you. I work wit a PA who seems upset that he is not a doctor yelling and screaming, i am to the point next time he yells, i am going to yell back- i should not have to take verbal abuse on a job. I am feeling like does this goes on at other hospitals, I have should i try a hospital where thet hold techs accountable for their actions/ also others. I am to the point med-surg is not for me, maybe more case mang. my mom is a nurse prat, and she tells me inner city hospital is the place to learn. also i feel like i am not learning a lot do to i feel like I am catering to the drug addicts in the city by pushing constant dilauidid/percocets. All they care about is eating/ and pain meds, not about they are killing their selves. I `have less time to spend with the elderly sick pt who need more attention.

[ne29]

OMG I have been on a med/surge floor of a large "magnet" hospital in Philadelphia and I hate it. I feel that I am not learning much either and it is very frustrating. Also all of the nurses on my unit are 1-2 years out of school themselves and only the experienced nurses work night shift. I am in the process of looking for a suburban hospital. I feel that the more experienced nurses are in those hospitals and from what I saw on my clinical rotations in school eager to teach the new grads. Sure there are always the ones that will "eat their young" as I have also seen, however after you prove yourself they are willing to teach you also. I am miserable where I work and I feel the same as you about my patients we get alot of them that don't take their meds and alot of them that do drugs I'm sick of it.

[jwilson9991]

Oh my goodness. I can feel the tense and frustration coming off the page. I'm a new LPN, but I have worked at my hospital for almost 2 years. I was what you call a tech, we call PCA (patient care attentendent), as i worked for my licences. I have a question. You said you feel like the older nurses set you up to make a mistake. Did they let you go through with it? Please don't be affended, they only reason I ask is because I know one of my precptors (a wonderful teacher) would tell me to do what I thought, think it through, get everything ready. At first this scared me, but as this continued i realized that as long as I had it correct she wouldn't stop me. If I didn't, she would let me finish what i was doing and right before we would get half way down the hall (she was giving me a little time to see if I was going to recognize my mistake) she would say something like," are you sure this is what you want to do?" I'm not saying that there are burned out nurses that has forgotton that they had to have a teacher too, But we've just got out of school. We can't lose our love for the profession (which is patient care) so soon.

Yes, i agree it is overwhelming thinking this person's life is in my hands, i'm new, i want to help them not hurt them, but if we are at the point of this level of tense and frustration the patient can see it, they can feel it, they will stay on the call light because they are thinking you don't want to be there and they aren't going to get cared for. So they'll stay on the light just to try to keep you in there so you have no choice but to care for them.

As for the techs. I've seen and known some that are there for a job and seen and known some that are there because they love what they do. You know which ones are which. and yes, ultimately it is our licenses that are on the line. So find a way around it and work your way up. EX: Suprise the tech by asking them to assist you with a job (when the tech is just sitting) and thank them afterwards. there are plenty of other EX's i could give but this is getting a little long.

My Fellow new nurse, Don't let a few attitudes keep you from your calling. Those attitudes are not the main focus. Pausing by a patients room to check on them while your rushing down the hall to get finshed with an admission, and opening the door just in time to catch them before they fall....that's a good focus. Druggy or not. We took an oath. yes, some pt might be more challenging than others, but your voice or patience might be the only thing that gets them thinking right in 5 years down the road, it just needed time to sink in.

One more thing, if all new nurses left their place of employment for a place that had more experienced nurses, i'm not quiet sure what that would say...Because, we became nurses to take of the sick, to help get them better, they dying, to comfort and give a little dignity, even the drug addicts, to find that moment of clarity to see it's a disease. If we all left, who would take care of them? It's not the nurses or the techs or pca's or even doctors the reason we became NURSES--it's the patients that need us, whether we know a little or alot (even if we have to ask someone or look it up. Patients love honesty, they know your doing your best to care for them).

Remember, somedays you'll be an hour behind, but try not to loose your focus or your love.