I hate what's happening to nursing...

mentalhealthRN · Mar 10, 2011

I hear ya...... it is a very unappreciated job thats for sure and some places are worse then others.

Stuart1962 · Mar 10, 2011

Its the same in the UK as well.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

youre not the only one- but unfortunately where are we going to find a job that pays better? we have the option of customer service for minimum wage.

Bye Bye to the middle class :-(

I like you was proud of accomplishing being able to wear the whites.I remember being excited starting out. that's all gone now.

I thought I was good at what I do as a nurse. But if things go the way you theorize, yep, all it takes is one irate bleep to give you a bad score.

I guess take it day by day. :-(

netglow, ASN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

YES. As a second career nurse, I find it amazing how bad it is often in nursing. It a mind-****, to be required to be so on top of the intricacies of medical care, yet... have a sort of job environment that really is in many ways worse than working at a fast food place or retail - actually, half said in jest on this site, posters have commented that while waiting in line at Target, or McDonalds, they ponder that people who work there probably have a better work environment than they do. It's true, you find yourself pondering.

Most nurses somehow seem required to give up worth as a professional, and a person. Maybe some never had self-worth or grew up in a country where having pride in who you are is discouraged... I've had a few MDs tell me that it seems these traits are what the big networks staff for, some have found ways to hire lots of nurses with "desireable traits" - that to me is sick. They see more and more, the absence of nurses from the good old USA at work who have a sense of "self", and say never will a child of theirs go to school for nursing, it's that bad.

OldNurseEducator · Mar 10, 2011

Eight years.
That is how long I’ve been in nursing. Just eight years. I haven’t been on AN in a while. I used to frequent the site a lot to vent with others, and help others with advice. Well, today is a ranting kind of day, so here it goes…
I hate what nursing is becoming. It is become overrun with elite folks who have forgotten what it’s like to just get through your shift. It’s being taken over by money hungry CEOs that are finding neat little ways to package “customer service” with healthcare. Our intelligence is being insulted here! What exactly do I mean by this? Well, what professional do you know gets “scripts” to regurgitate at patients? Why is it that we are not trusted to do our job or say the right thing?
I understand that healthcare is indeed a business. It has to be. If it weren’t, we’d all be working for free. I got that. I do my job. I put my all into my shift. I advocate for my patients. I’ve gone above and beyond…all without recognition.
But, I’m deeply saddened…Now I’m being told that isn’t good enough. All I see for the future of healthcare is walking into a patient’s room at the end of my shift saying, “My name is______, if you felt I gave excellent care call 888-tell-them, and rate me a 10.” Heaven forbid you score less than 10 three times…
Eight years ago, I felt so proud in my whites on graduation day. I felt professional, neat, knowledgeable, and respected. Now, I feel burned up, and abused. For now, I stay in nursing…patients still smile, and thank me at the end of my shift. They cannot detect how I feel under the surface.
But, I am seriously considering leaving healthcare altogether.

So true. Big (way too big) hospital systems (like the 2 big ones we have in NE Ohio) are trying to make more and more money. It's all about money. And patients are angry because patients are paying more and more out of pocket for less than acceptable health care (to them) . Patient demands have become way out of line! Nursing is caught in the middle. And because we do not unionize in hospitals in NE Ohio, we can get fired for not keeping patients happy and spending their insurance money in their hospital. I've been in nursing for 30+ years...things have drastically changed in that time. That's why I got into education instead of floor nursing. Nurses work darn hard for little money (compared to teachers) and no respect. Really a shame. (I in no way mean to offend anyone by this post!) Just my :twocents: !

NewTexasRN · Mar 10, 2011

It took me all these years to finally conclude, "Some things in life are just NOT worth the money." Anyone who thinks they are getting into nursing JUST to simply help people or thinks it's a calling is sadly mistaken. The nobility of our profession has changed. Those days are gone. I feel that I work in a factory and pts are on the assembly line. Fix em up and send them back out only take a fresh new batch with a fresh set of issues. The cycle continues. Just give me my 3 twelve hour shifts and let me go home and forget what I do for a living. I think nursing school forgot to teach me about customer service. Or maybe I just skipped that class when nursing became all about customer service. (Oh yea don't forget the VIP's too!) Sorry, you put up with being yelled at and if you stand up for yourself you are at risk for getting written up or possibly losing your job no matter how many years of service have put in at your institution.

PS: Remember this, no matter what, "The customer is always right!" Wink wink...

jammin246RN · Mar 10, 2011

This reminds me of the time when CEOs came up with the great idea that to drop all titles. Your name said Hi My Name is..... But refused to let you display your title. This allowed them to staff one RN as charge, everyone else was LPNs or CNAs. So the patient never knew if they were being taken care of by a nurse or an aid.... That didn't last long. Then the CEOs came up with a brilliant idea of "over" staffing the CNAs and having them do the housekeeping. It ammounted to keeping the same 10:1 ratios of patients to CNAs and firing all the housekeeping, then blaming the CNAs and charge nurses for a dirty floor. And lets not forget that for the last 50 years they have been preaching about doing away with LPNs and getting rid of associate level RNs.... With the temporary nursing glut... CEOs are looking to cherry pick RNs and get rid of LPNs. In many areas new grad RNs are being told not to bother applying. This will last until either the economy returns, the stock market increases, or the older nurses that are getting ready to retire decide to. Or a combination of all 3. The math says our next nursing shortage will be the worst we have ever seen. Keep your chin up :) :jester:

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

I have been a nurse for a really LONG time. I too am very disappointed on where the profession has landed.

As the OP said It is become overrun with elite folks who have forgotten what it’s like to just get through your shift. It’s being taken over by money hungry CEOs that are finding neat little ways to package “customer service” with healthcare. We are no longer respected as professionals, even though there is more education, we at the are just the hired help. I think the utilization of the "business" model has damaged how we treat people and how we are treated by people.

As much as I love being a nurse.........my disappointment in where it has gone to and where it maybe going has prompted me to tell my daughter to be a veterinarian. It's cash up front, very little midnight oil, you are your own boss, they are always happy to see you, you can keep them on a short leash and you can muzzle them before they bite!!!!!!!..........

OldNurseEducator · Mar 10, 2011

I have been a nurse for a really LONG time. I too am very disappointed on where the profession has landed.
As the OP said It is become overrun with elite folks who have forgotten what it’s like to just get through your shift. It’s being taken over by money hungry CEOs that are finding neat little ways to package “customer service” with healthcare. We are no longer respected as professionals, even though there is more education, we at the are just the hired help. I think the utilization of the "business" model has damaged how we treat people and how we are treated by people.
As much as I love being a nurse.........my disappointment in where it has gone to and where it maybe going has prompted me to tell my daughter to be a veterinarian. It's cash up front, very little midnight oil, you are your own boss, they are always happy to see you, you can keep them on a short leash and you can muzzle them before they bite!!!!!!!..........

:clown: :clown: :lol2: :lol2: :uhoh3: :uhoh3::jester: Love your post!

pedicurn, LPN, RN · Mar 10, 2011

Most nurses somehow seem required to give up worth as a professional, and a person. Maybe some never had self-worth or grew up in a country where having pride in who you are is discouraged... I've had a few MDs tell me that it seems these traits are what the big networks staff for, some have found ways to hire lots of nurses with "desireable traits" .

And what's really sad ...is that nurses often do this to other nurses.

These traits are often the result of numerous negative dynamics within our 'profession'.

Then a lack of self-esteem results and the nurse has been successfully beaten down.

They employ a whole lot of nurses who have been beaten down and /or 'trained' and also a whole lot of nurses who really believe that they will be unable to find other employment.

And voila .... the stage is set.

ponytailman · Mar 10, 2011

As CEO's pursue their job of improving the bottom line it has become quite apparent that to accomplish this goal nursing in general has been the target. When people whose minds have been trained to dehumanize all their lists,charts,graphs,budgets etc. to accomplish their goals, we as nurses arent treated with the respect due us but as another line in a column. Administrators are very good at what they trained for just as nurses can and are very good at dealing with something they the administration often cannot relate to: providing quality care and empathy to those entrusted to us. There is no easy answer because money rules all at the majority of our worksites, until we can get management away from their computers and start interacting with us instead of putting up more walls i fear we will become no more relevant than the cashier at BK instead of what we are: professionel nurses