Nurse Abuse? Need help!

[Davis1989]

My mother has been an RN for over 20 years. She truly loves caring for patients.

But she has had increasing problems with her job. It’s the worst at her current hospital. It’s not the hard work or the busyness, she says she can do that. She says it’s the system she has to work with. It is inefficient; coworkers don’t help; nurses’ aids don’t do their job and are entirely disrespectful to the RNs; the managers don’t care about the problems and do little to help the nurses.

Even worse, she says she sees numerous violations of codes and acts that are immoral. Patients are getting horrible care; she says she knows that many people have died that didn’t have to as a result of people not doing their jobs.

She relishes the days when, though things were busy, there was a cooperative and helpful environment where she could focus and giving patients the best care she could.

I know that the industry has certain problems and many nurses are overworked, but what she describes is an outright abusive and inappropriate environment that results in serious maltreatment of patients. Though this is the worst, she has had similar problems at the last couple of institutions she has been at.

How can this be? How common is this? Are you familiar with things like this going on? Are there better places to work? Though I know she has to work hard as a nurse, she should not be subject to these “atrocities” and I wish to help her. She is not optimistic about finding a better environment to work in and is reluctant to leave. But I wonder if and how I should advise her to leave because I figure there has to be a place that cares for and respects its nurses.

We live in the US in a metropolitan area. I hope some of you can help me gain some insight and perspective on this problem.

[Midwest4me]

... How common is this? Are you familiar with things like this going on? Are there better places to work?

Sadly, in my experience, this IS common. One would think there are better places to work--there really HAS to be--so your mom just has to keep searching---but more often than not, there have been nasty, know-it-all CNAs who literally run the place, poor managers.

When complaints have been brought up about abusive situations, sometimes it reverts back to the nurse(or complaintant); he/she is deemed to have "misunderstood" or "misinterpreted" the situation in question or "not be a team player." A valuable lesson I learned years ago:"shut up, paste a smile on your face, and do YOUR job the best you can." I am NOT suggesting turning a deaf ear or blind eye to abuse but it's been made clear at my current workplace that one gets termed a "narc" and problems can surely follow you. Yes, by all means, be an advocate for your patients, but do it quietly.

[ASSEDO]

i have been a nurse for 40 years. nurses have lost their rights to run a floor without hurting “feeling”. once upon a time nurses had authority to run the floor, get the work done and still give a good back rub. now with increase documentation, technical demands, being politically correct (yes, you can bring your baby into icu where uncle joe has mrsa, forget visiting hours), poor staffing and wearing apparel to blending in with non-professions, we have somehow lost respect.

in many cases, nurses hit the high spots to nursing care as the demands for services have increased and staffing has not increased. we are reactive instead of proactive. the patient suffers. i see it every day. good patient care is a thing of the past. when i walk off the floor ever day, i think of dozens of things i could do for a patient if i had the time.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I hope some of you can help me gain some insight and perspective on this problem.

The problems you've described are rather widespread and systemic. If you do a quick search, you'll find hundreds of threads and posts that discuss the abusive environments in which many of us work.

Unfortunately, change cannot occur within a vacuum. We must unite to bring about positive changes. After all: united we stand, divided we fall.

[caliotter3]

The conditions your Mom describes are rampant and not about to change overnight. If her current job is getting under her skin, and starting to affect her own health, I think she is due for a new job, a very good vacation, early retirement, or possibly she could consider home health. Home health is a good haven for those who have had it with hospital nursing. Particularly if one does shift care, there is ample opportunity to provide excellent nursing care for only one patient at a time and many nurses find satisfaction in this fact. She should strongly consider trying hh. Not trying to say that there aren't problems in this area of nursing, but it is easier to get around any systemic problems and concentrate on patient care.

[nyapa, RN]

I really think that some of your mum's problems may be specific to where she works. Not all aides are disrespectful. The particular hospital she is in may be inefficient.

You are saying that there is abuse of patients by nurses?

I find this pretty offensive actually. That comment indicates that nurses intentionally hurt ppl.

I like your comment though about supporting nurses. See, nurses are also abused, and not just by their place of work. Read some of these forums, and it may give you an idea of what we have to put up with from patients and their relatives. Verbal and physical abuse. I tell you, that was not so common years ago. I have been working as long as your mum.

As someone else has already said, in twenty years, things have become different as nursing has become legally orientated. You can't just go and care for a patient anymore, you have to write about what you see, what you plan to do, what you did, and whether it worked! And that takes up essential time.

Your mum sounds like she is a hard worker and a caring person and is expressing what we all feel. In order for us to do what we know needs doing, the system needs to support nurses more, ensure there are more staff on the floor, and also support those who work with us such as aides etc. That would create a better morale - there would be more time for us to care for our patients...

:paw:

[RainDreamer, BSN, RN]

I've heard of things like that.

That's not how it is where I work .... so I can tell you it's not like that everywhere. She needs to find a new place of employment. The hospital will never change if people keep putting up with it.

[txRN07]

This is SO common, I am experiencing firsthand at work, unfortunately. I am a new RN and there are so many things that I was not taught during my orientation time, so the only way I learn them is by getting rude comments by other nurses that I didn't do something right, or that I missed something that I didn't realize because I was never taught to look for that something in the first place! Now I understand why there is a shortage, this is the first time I ever questioned if I chose the right profession.

[Katie82, RN]

I've heard of things like that.

That's not how it is where I work .... so I can tell you it's not like that everywhere. She needs to find a new place of employment. The hospital will never change if people keep putting up with it.

I think you hit the nail on the head here... Where is everyone when the JAHCO (sorry if I mispelled this, they keep changing their name)team comes through? For all the agony that these inspections cause, they are also an opportunity to vent if someone chooses. Your mom has 20 years of combat experience, any hospital would be happy to have her.

[marie-francoise]

And, hence, the nursing shortage...

[Jo Dirt]

The problems you've described are rather widespread and systemic. If you do a quick search, you'll find hundreds of threads and posts that discuss the abusive environments in which many of us work.

Unfortunately, change cannot occur within a vacuum. We must unite to bring about positive changes. After all: united we stand, divided we fall.

I'm afraid nurses wouldn't stick together if you stuck them in a bucket of glue.

[pagandeva2000, LPN]

Yeah, this is about the size of it. I have seen the transformation from where nurses actually did have more autonomy, ran the floors, did not have to document so much junk and actually focus on patient care when I was a CNA. Now, being an LPN...goodness, it was an eye-opener that just wasn't nice.