No More Bedside Nursing, I Quit!

allnurses Guide · Sep 15, 2005

I know exactly where you are. I am an 2004 grad, almost 7mo. in acute med-surg. I HAD to go part-time after 6 months. But it has been a good choice because I can call the shots now. The staffing office calls every day I don't work so I can have the kind of schedule I want, plus every shift outside of my normal is time and a half. Do you have that option? Sometimes the money just is not worth it...........you know, quality of life comes first? We gotta take care of ourselves............

Exactly why I went part-time. Family first.

steph

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2005

A stepdown unit is very intensive and busy. You have been working in one of the most stressful units of any hospital. Congratulations on surviving it in your first year out of nursing school! You've experienced about the worse you could. Try a regular med/surg floor. After working stepdown you will find it is a big difference. Or, even a general surgical unit. After working a stepdown unit for 5 years I was so bored on a surgical unit I thought I would die. One thing you can do is volunteer to float to these units to get an idea of what they are like. My experience as a supervisor was that staff nurses absolutely hated to be floated to stepdowns--now you know why.

Another suggestion I have for you is to get involved in one or two of the hospital committees that staff nurses are allowed on. It will broaden your knowledge of how the hospital works and also give you a chance to do something else at your workplace besides nursing care. It will also put you in the eye of management, so if you have any aspirations of getting into management or supervision. . .Another thing you can do is volunteer to be a preceptor to new employees. Your experience and insight can be invaluable to another new graduate trying to make it in the system. Home health might be an option also. HH nurses do a lot of evaluation and management of a patient as well as a little nursing care. They have mounds of paperwork though. However, they are case managers of a sort.

Your BSN also prepared you for management and supervision, so you might want to look for one of those positions. Nursing homes are great places to hone supervision and management skills (boy! are they ever!). You might also look for telephonic nursing positions. They are very laid back and pay pretty well. Problem is that positions are limited and don't open up as frequently as hospital jobs.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2005

diva4life,

I empathize with you. Your post shows exactly why there is a nursing "shortage". The powers that be think that cranking out more new grads is the answer. Your post shows that it isn't. The Dept of Labor website states that nurses are leaving nursing sooner, and in larger numbers than ever before, due to working conditions.

In 2002, I quit 5 jobs in one year, all due to poor staffing, lack of respect and overall crappy working conditions. I am now a traveler, and am much happier.

I do get more respect, better working conditions and staffing, and good pay, but I have work in another state, and be away from my husband and home to get it.

control · Sep 16, 2005

Out of idle curiosity...what does a consultant do in nursing? What qualifications do you have to have?

It depends on the company you work for. In my case, I work for an information processing company which has contracts internationally, but in my area the company has several contracts with the state department of health. kinda like working for the state, but not. I work in QA, reviewing files prior to submission to the state for approval or denial. Lots of interpreting acronyms and medical terminology for the "civilian" staff. I write policies for my department and allied departments regarding the contract I work on. I really enjoy it, as I said I feel respected and like my services are needed and appreciated. :)

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Sep 16, 2005

I just recently graduated with my BSN in '04. i will be completing my 1st year this october working as a Registered Nurse. After 1 year working on the floor i have decided i'm going to quit bedside nursing. I worked for 8months in Boston on an acute medical surgical floor(eve shift). We had extreme staff shortage and not enough nursing assistance on the floor. I'm currently in Georgia in a "prestigious" hospital, facing the same problem in a step-down surgical icu. On this floor they have 30 patients, 2 nursing assistance and 6 patients ( very sick patients) to a nurse. Nurses have to get report do their own vs and even do morning care, pass out meds, prep patients for OR, and each nurse usually gets an average of 3 admissions per day. I spent 4 years in college learning about the art of nursing and i can't practice 1/2 the things i learned. Talk about hypocracy. Hospitals don't care about their nurses well being. I'm extremely burned out and exhausted after each shift and underpaid. I thought the hard part was the nursing school, it seems as if it gets worst after you graduate. My friend was just telling me one time she was running back and forth on the floor, she fainted and she had a heart attack. I'm 23 years old i'm smart enought to realize this is not for me early on. My sister who is 25 w/ 1 year experience agreed with and said she can't do it anymore. She is actually going back to school to do Legal nursing. I love the act of caring in nursing but if i stay on the floor i will eventually hate nursing and i don't want that. So what are my options here, what can i do with a RN, BSN degree if i don't want bed side / hospital nursing. I'm already considering private duty nursing, anything else i can do?

I'm sorry you've had bad experiences in nursing. I'm a new RN (graduated in May) & I've been working for 2 months in a med/surg/tele floor in Worcester, MA. This is my 8th week of orientation & I've had some busy days on the day shift-but now I'm on evenings 3-11 PM & I like it a lot. It's not as crazy-& we have CNAs (1 CNA for every 8 pts) & I will eventually have up to 5 patients on the floor. I think it depends on where you work. I hope you find a job you love! :)

-Christine

NeoNurseTX, RN · Sep 16, 2005

I already know I DO NOT want to do med surg. There's no interest in that from me and I'm about to start acute med/surg clinicals and it's just going to be something I have to tough out. I don't have any advice, but good luck in whatever you end up doing!

cameroondiva · Sep 19, 2005

Thanks alot for all the responses. Sorry it took me a while to respond. But i think i finally decided what to do. i've been thinking i'm going back to school to get the MBA/MHA( masters in health admins) dual degree. This way i'm not limited to just clinical nursing. I'm burned out already as nurse after just 1year on the floor. Hopefully this will bring me some happiness.

RainbowSkye · Sep 19, 2005

WARNING: NEGATIVE NURSING POST (and these are my experiences only):

I've been an RN for 31 years. My experience has been that although hospitals pay great lip service to respecting nursing, they do not. And, unfortunately, I think this is true in even facilities who promote themselves as magnet hospitals.

I had only ever worked in the nursing field when I took a job in marketing. What an eye opener. I found that there is actually a place in the hospital where employees are respected, allowed to take their breaks (I mean, they actually got an hour break for lunch in their eight hour day), allowed to linger over coffee, had the supplies and staffing required to do the job; they did not have to punch a time clock. But, interestingly enough, when nursing positions were added under marketing, this respect did not extend to the nurses.

I'm now back to ER nursing in a rural facility. Here I work with one other nurse caring for over 30 patients a shift. In addition to my nursing responsibilities I am expected to perform the duties of: hospital operator, ward clerk, registration clerk, housekeeping (I mopped the entire ER last night after someone bled all over the place - this in addition to actually taking care of the bleeding patient), pharmacist, central supply clerk, sercurity officer, resp therapist, EKG tech, dietary, phelbotomist...

I think that many nurses try to get out of nursing by getting advanced degrees (myself included). Unfortunately, this is a cure that is not often effective.

Now, please understand that the only career I've ever considered in my life is nursing. And I don't think I'll ever leave. I just don't have any illlusions about its reality anymore. And I deal with it by working part-time. That way I get to enjoy the good parts of the job (and there are those) without being too overwhelmed by the bad.

And right now, I would never recommend anyone to go into nursing. Sad, but true.

control · Sep 19, 2005

WARNING: NEGATIVE NURSING POST (and these are my experiences only):
I've been an RN for 31 years. My experience has been that although hospitals pay great lip service to respecting nursing, they do not. And, unfortunately, I think this is true in even facilities who promote themselves as magnet hospitals.
I had only ever worked in the nursing field when I took a job in marketing. What an eye opener. I found that there is actually a place in the hospital where employees are respected, allowed to take their breaks (I mean, they actually got an hour break for lunch in their eight hour day), allowed to linger over coffee, had the supplies and staffing required to do the job; they did not have to punch a time clock.

ITA. When I switched from the floor to an office setting it was culture shock! The people in my office whine if the A/C is out or if they only get half an hour for lunch. I used to think they were spoiled. Now I just think I was used to being mistreated!

nelcoy4 · Sep 19, 2005

I was in your(threadstarter) same position except I have been a nurse for three years. I loved nursing at school and was so excited. When I got out everyday I wanted to quit. I even called my nursing school to complain that they should prepare nursing students for this. I recently resigned my last job from preigious (sp error) hospital. I feel like it was a good decision, because I'm no longter stressed. I work agency. I still dread going into hospitals and snfs (only because I know I will get the worst assignment) . I only work when I really need to. If I could go back to college i would major in maketing, technical enginering, or psych

amiconfused · Sep 19, 2005

where in Boston did you do your nursing? I know when I was there as a patient, it certainly is not nursing like it is here in Minnesota!! It could just be the hospital where you are at. I also know that I would not let any firends or fmaily go into nursing-- it is stressful!! These two hospitals may not be the top place to go. I was dumbfounded when I read the hospital that I was at in Boston was one of the top in United States. I heard through the nursing staff the large amount of the nurses were pool nurses, or first jobs. It was a stressful unit that was not staffed well.

I just recently graduated with my BSN in '04. i will be completing my 1st year this october working as a Registered Nurse. After 1 year working on the floor i have decided i'm going to quit bedside nursing. I worked for 8months in Boston on an acute medical surgical floor(eve shift). We had extreme staff shortage and not enough nursing assistance on the floor. I'm currently in Georgia in a "prestigious" hospital, facing the same problem in a step-down surgical icu. On this floor they have 30 patients, 2 nursing assistance and 6 patients ( very sick patients) to a nurse. Nurses have to get report do their own vs and even do morning care, pass out meds, prep patients for OR, and each nurse usually gets an average of 3 admissions per day. I spent 4 years in college learning about the art of nursing and i can't practice 1/2 the things i learned. Talk about hypocracy. Hospitals don't care about their nurses well being. I'm extremely burned out and exhausted after each shift and underpaid. I thought the hard part was the nursing school, it seems as if it gets worst after you graduate. My friend was just telling me one time she was running back and forth on the floor, she fainted and she had a heart attack. I'm 23 years old i'm smart enought to realize this is not for me early on. My sister who is 25 w/ 1 year experience agreed with and said she can't do it anymore. She is actually going back to school to do Legal nursing. I love the act of caring in nursing but if i stay on the floor i will eventually hate nursing and i don't want that. So what are my options here, what can i do with a RN, BSN degree if i don't want bed side / hospital nursing. I'm already considering private duty nursing, anything else i can do?

amiconfused · Sep 19, 2005

[

Wow there is hope!

=control]ITA. When I switched from the floor to an office setting it was culture shock! The people in my office whine if the A/C is out or if they only get half an hour for lunch. I used to think they were spoiled. Now I just think I was used to being mistreated!