Now I understand why there is a nursing shortage

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I am a new nurse and I am on orientation now for almost 4 weeks at the hospital. I work on a med surge floor.

I am given 8 patients to give medications, assessments, etc etc.

The work is overwhelming and from what i am being told, its like that every where.

i work 12 hour shifts and i cant even eat my lunch for 30 minutes in peace , some one always needs me

I some times feel like walking out

i am starting to question my self.. what the hell did i get my self into

I personally like pt care but my god, you cant give good pt care with so much overwhelming paper work and every one pulling and tugging on you at the same time and try to be accurate about giving medications.

they want me to be the nurse, the secretary, the Aide, and much more.

when the pts need to be cleaned up and you try to find a nurses aide, they disappear so I clean up the pts my self.

what has nursing become

I see why nurses quit so fast

Good post. If college students really knew what nursing is like, there would be much fewer applicants to nursing school. I work only 12 hours a week because I dislike nursing. I am wasting my degree.

Mike-

What is it about nursing you don't like? Being a prenursing student, I'm interested.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds, GI, Home Health, Risk Mgmt.
I am a new nurse and I am on orientation now for almost 4 weeks at the hospital. I work on a med surge floor.

I am given 8 patients to give medications, assessments, etc etc.

The work is overwhelming and from what i am being told, its like that every where.

i work 12 hour shifts and i cant even eat my lunch for 30 minutes in peace , some one always needs me

I some times feel like walking out

i am starting to question my self.. what the hell did i get my self into

I personally like pt care but my god, you cant give good pt care with so much overwhelming paper work and every one pulling and tugging on you at the same time and try to be accurate about giving medications.

what has nursing become

I see why nurses quit so fast

It was apparent to me when I was in nursing school (30+ yrs ago) that adult floor nursing could be horrendous. So I worked NICU and peds. I've also worked GI Lab, pain clinic and minor surgery (local anesthetic/conscious sedation), as well as homecare. There are plenty of alternatives to the hell you're currently experiencing. As you get more experienced, your current hell will get easier as you become more efficient and knowledgable. But start plotting your exit strategy if it continues to be unbearable.

Good luck to you,

HollyVK RN, BSN, JD

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Mike-

What is it about nursing you don't like? Being a prenursing student, I'm interested.

Nursing is physically unhealthy and hazardous. My health is more important than money. Nurses also get a lot of verbal abuse and disrespect.

You have only one life. Try to choose an enjoyable career. If you hate going to work everyday, you picked the wrong career.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
California is the only state with ratio laws for nurses who are employed in acute care facilities. The remaining 49 states of the union do not have any ratio laws whatsoever. Relocating is easier said than done, especially when an individual is settled in life.

It is time to get the rest of the 49 states' butts in gear.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

What you are experincing is not the norm everywhere. I ave worked at three different hospitals on Med/Surg units and never was assigned more than 5 patients. Also had a charge nurse with no patients, one aide for every 7-10 patients and a unit secretary.

Keep looking at other hospitals, they do exist. If you need to stay at your current hospital, become involves in nursing committees/teams, practice council, unit councils and shared governance to support change in nursing practice and staffing to improve and support patient outcomes and safety.

As professionals, Nurses need to identify issues and than become active in seeking solutions. We ARE responsible for our profession and need to fiecerely be the advocates for our patients. Nurses don't give up they become part of the solution.

Some things to look at are looking at appraoch to practice, what other support do you need ie. More advanced equipment, location of supplies and equipment, Admisssion units, Discharge units, improved computer programs, easier access to MDs? More RNs may be the obivous answer but sometimes is the one most resisted by Adminsitration. Does you hospital particpate in NDNQI. a survey system that tracks outcomes of nursing actions?

Good Luck! Don't give up....Get involved!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Did the job hop, now in MS. Not Bad!!!!!.
California is the only state with ratio laws for nurses who are employed in acute care facilities. The remaining 49 states of the union do not have any ratio laws whatsoever. Relocating is easier said than done, especially when an individual is settled in life.

I think therein lies the problem y'all. It's not that NS didn't properly inform us. My own only let us have 2-3 pts max on a 4-6 hour shift only 2 days a week. That is NOT enough training when all we were responsible was PCT work and passing meds along w/ a RN or our instructor.

Yes, if your NS was like mine, the technical skills were overlooked for more critical thinking skills and assessments and gearing you to go into advanced nursing and research. But then there is the even bigger issue of safe ratios. And where does this stem from? Budgets! And who is in charge of budgets?

The fact that CA was able to enact laws that allow for safe nurse/pt safety ratios is HUGE!! Why are the rest of our states not hopping on that bandwagon? We all need to get politically motivated and involved. This is something that is in the news almost nightly. And it's election year !!!

Hopping down off my soapbox now. :spbox:

(I'm not sure I could have handled 8 pts either. I was going crazy with 5...Way to Go !! :up:)

Chloe

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Behavioral Health, Show Biz.

I think that our colleagues will agree that BOTH working on a MED-SURG unit and the transition from novice to expert in bedside nursing are difficult.

But your situation is HORRENDOUS.

There's no legitmaite excuse for unfair nurse-to-patient ratios and abusive treatment from senior nurse co-workers---especially if your health is declining as a result of it.

GET OUT OF THERE!

Look for other facilities or specialities that could fulfill you. The Nursing profession has too much more to offer you---DON'T BAIL OUT NOW.

As far as Nursing Schools being responsible for training students in real-life nurse-patient ratios...under whose license?

The ONLY problem I have with the above scenario is that the unlicensed nursing students should attain a RN license (maybe a temporoarary license) before practicing at this level--- something similar but not the same as the training of INTERNS and RESIDENTS in Medical school.

I do agree that the education of RN-sttudents would be greatly enhanced with real-life situations but as a faculty member, NOT ON MY LICENSE! I'd be more than willing to supervise newly-attained licensed RNs in real-life situations.

I wish you much success in your strive for happiness, health and wealth in the nursing profession.;)

["www.showbizrn.com"]

Uh-hmmmm. Just for the record, I did start my practice on a MED-SURG unit with hopes of becomimg a MED-SURG Instructor but burnout caused that dream to fade and another to blossom in PSYCH NURSING. And again, for the record, I practice full-time as a Psych Nurse on an Adult Unit and per-diem faculty in college universiites.

Just FYI...I hate things to get twisted.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

after all the demands and every thing else, one nurse came up to me and accused and blamed me for not telling her the chest tube was leaking after giving report the day before. I had done my assessment in the morning and there was no leak i was aware of but who knows... maybe it started leaking later... maybe not but i was accused of not telling her.

I am just learning about a chest tube now as it is the first time since i have ever realy seen one in real life and not book work plus i was running around all day long how the hell can i keep track of every body all at once .

i am getting ready to quit and try some where else.

i felt like telling that nurse off but oh nooooo i have to be professional. so i held my cool and tried to ignore it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Obs & gynae theatres.

Med/Surg ratio's in the UK are more like 14:1. 12:1 if you're lucky!

Edit: Nightshift last week was 28:1 plus 2 hcsw/aides!!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.

Get out of there, Kendel, before this unit sucks the life out of you and totally burns you out on nursing. There are better work environments - you just have to look hard to find them.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Tele/ICU/MedSurg/Peds/SubAcute/LTC/Alz.

Talking about ratios I have had 7:1. This last place sometimes you had an aid and sometimes you didn't. That made is difficult.

From reading all the responces there seem to be some great places to work at, where you don't have to deal with all of the other BS...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Get out of there, Kendel, before this unit sucks the life out of you and totally burns you out on nursing. There are better work environments - you just have to look hard to find them.

vicky rn,

thanks for the support.

I called today and told them i am not coming back.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment