Reading the forum in the past few months, a common thread I have seen is the anger. It does not seem to matter what the discussion is about or the level of nurses discussing it, anger is a common denominator. All of us have random days of extremes, anger, disillusionment, panic, sadness, and a host of other feelings. But anger sticks out and the need to place this anger on others. We need to vent, but why is anger a constant?
In a recent thread, nurses discuss the dealings with combative pts with drug/etoh backrounds. So much fault placed on the pt. I am more then understanding of the difficulties in dealing with these people, but do ya think they do it on purpose?
When a professional nurse becomes so immersed in anger, it is time to change your specialty or take a break. We are not a perfect group by no means, but we get paid to deal with the best of the best and worst of the worst. It is not always easy, fun, or safe. We should not be abused or taken advantage of by our clients. We should be protected by our employers. We need to be proactive in getting our needs met and the needs of those in our care met.
When I see such young professionals so angry and disillusioned already, I have to wonder at the future of our profession.
It is not a profession one should enter to get rich, have great hours, vacations or benifits. It is one that is entered to care for others, teach and mentor. We have come such a long, long way in the past few decades, and we have far to go.
So, I guess my question to the population here, is how do we grow as a profession without all the constant anger towards each other, our clients and employers? Or can we?
