I have been reading thread after thread on this forum and I have come to one conclusion. We are all a pathetic bunch. We take abuse that most other human beings would not put up with. We are physically, mentally and emotionally abused by doctors, managers, patients, and families. We work ungodly hours, skip our much needed breaks without pay for months and years on end. And this goes on and on and on. The stories are endless. Then we are all shocked when a nurse who has had enough finally cracks and administers 32 vials of Dilantin and kills a patient. Is this so different than any other human being who finally after years and years of this abuse, just cannot take it anymore? I think not. When are we all going to stand up and demand decent pay, decent working conditions, and respect? Well, the answer is never because we are not a solid group. We have no autonomy or solidarity because we are a weak profession. We pit one against another. We ***** and backstab. We deserve all the abuse that is dealt to us. In nursing school, we are taught to make beds, empty bedpans and clean dentures. Instead we should get vast lessons in how to deal with some of the real issues that face us today. We are understaffed, overworked, pushed to the breaking point. But yet, the martyr instinct kicks in, we get up and go back and endure more of the same. When is enough, enough? When are we all going to come together and and start shouting about our working conditions and wages? We make less than a crew on road construction or a plumber. And look what we do. We are responsible for peoples lives. I went to work down the road as my current employer is union and I felt that maybe the non union hospital down the road would be a better place. Well, it is not, it is worse. 13 nurses have quit in the 6 weeks I have worked there. I won't renew my contract. It is just too unsafe. The hospital is all about profit at the expense of some great nurses. They even charge for an individual bandaid. It is ridiculous. I have decided that as soon as I can afford to, I'm getting out. I will no longer be a member of a profession that eats its young while at the same time, taking unwarrented abuse from unapreciative doctors that we bend over backwards for. Its not about making a living any more, it is about retaining some self respect, free of abuse by doctors, managers and other nurses who have nothing better to do than put a knife in your back the minute you turn around. At least at walmart I won't have to worry about making a life threatening mistake because I'm overwhelmed by what is required of me each day.
No. Nursing is a calling. If it's just a job, do something else. No we're not angels or God gifted.....but we make a difference. Sorry u do not get ur props. Too bad! And be realistic. With a BSN u can get excellent pay and all the perks u want. Industry has a lot of respect for BSN prepared people and they have no fear that you could possibly be competition. Really, if u can't see why nursing is soooo cool..... try something else. You are qualified to do many other things.
Do we need to become a team? Yes! Yes! and uh... Yes! But I hate working with people who are just "doing a job." The nursing shortage would not matter so much without people who are "just doing a job." Ever heard of the 90/10 rule. 90% of the work is done by 10% of the work force. Please find another job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, for increasing health care costs without benefiting anyone except yourself. Sorry, I tend to understate my opinion. Please amplify my statements by a factor of 100. Oh, yeah, nurses don't do math.
Look, if u do not like people, get a degree in marketing or philosophy.
Have i been clear? U people who are just doing a job, find some other way to entertain yourself. I can, sincerely, help you to another profession.
Wow! I think nursing can be a calling too, I loved it for years. Now I don't. Even though I don't feel the same way anymore, I still can tell you I give 100%, because I still take pride in my work and care about my patients. I do try and address things that aren't right- not just take things and justify them by saying 'it's a calling' and 'get out of nursing', because that isn't fair to all of us frustrated nurses. By the way, the OP did say they were leaving, so I don't think your post accomplished anything. I do think that blaming all nurses is not appropriate but that doesn't mean we can ignore them. The OP has valid points. As far as being an angel, I think we all can be one at times, not always as just a nurse, but as a friend and neighbor. The world would be a better place if we all found opportunities to be 'angels' in our day to day lives!
This is not, in my opinion, the attitude that any nurse should have about his/her profession. I don't agree with all the statements in the OP's original post, but he/she makes an important point about abuse that many nurses face everyday. Yes, we should be thankful that we have a job, but it goes the other way, too. Doctors, patients, and hospitals should all be thankful that they have us. Unfortunately, some of them are not.
I understand exactly what the OP is talking about because I've seen it in just about every place where I've worked. I'm sure many of us here have seen it as well. I don't believe that leaving nursing is the answer though. If more and more people leave, then those of us who like what we do enough to stay are only going to find ourselves working with more challenging and stressful situations due to lack of adequate staffing. I've done quite a few agency gigs where every single nurse on the floor was an agency nurse, including the charge!
Walking away from the situation won't improve it. I agree with llg's point that its not a good thing to generalize. Some of us are working towards changing the bad conditions and abusive behaviors, and I've worked in hospitals where these efforts have made a difference.
EGKB also made a good point. You're going to find politics, stress, and BS in any profession. Nasty people are EVERYWHERE! What makes the most important difference is our own attitude. I've learned that any not-so-good situation is always a much worse experience if I allow myself to get caught up in negativity. I don't tolerate abuse from anyone, and I refuse to give anyone the power to make me feel bad about myself or my career. Instead of focusing on negative people and their behavior I tactfully redirect them to the matter at hand. One they realize that I'm not going to be lead into their foolishness they usually calm down and give me what I want to get the job done.
before reading this please beware that i am a new nurse and my apologies if i ramble, sometimes it takes me awhile to make my point in front of a lot of people / members .
i am not pathetic. i am happy to be a nurse and have found it to be the most rewarding thing i have ever done (previous jobs military, emt, construction, office work). i am new but i hope i keep the attitude that i have and that is: i can handle a grouchy pt, and the family members who you just cannot please because being sick in the hospital bites. plus, this is just the way some people are in life or how they react to stress. many more pt's / family's have voiced appreciation of the care they have recieved from myself or other nurses. with either type of pt / family i try to do my best and make them more comfortable. i pray alot for strength and to do and say the right thing as well as pray for my pt's. i don't worry about what my co-workers might be saying, and i stay away from gossip. i try to be polite, funny, and respect my cowokers as i want to be respected, and i leave work at work. i have had one run in with a doc who enjoys belittling (sp?) nurses. i am 6'2 240lbs, a former marine, and gave the doc a look that he wasn't going to treat me in the manner that he treats others when he started to open up on me (and he didn't) and was able to tell me what it was that i had done wrong in a polite manner. please don't read this as me thinking i am billy bob bad a** because that is far from the case, and i prefer to be gentle which is a phrase more than one patient has used describing me. the point i hope to make is this; stand up for yourselves whether you are 5'2" and 100 pounds soaking wet or bigger in size than me. y'all have worked hard to get where you are, have probably forgotten more knowledge than i will gain, and have experience i hope master. you can stand up for yourself and still be respectful...........and thus not pathetic.
i truly hope this post comes across in the manner i intended it to. to be positive and motivating. i see the same things going on at work that y'all do, i just choose to react, think, and believe differently than some of the posters.
Maybe YOU did not read my post. I said I DO MY JOB TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY. My patients LOVE me. I get asked all the time to do home health for my patients. My patients ask for me by name and I meet all their family's. The family bring me cards and cookies and other treats.
By the way, I was refering to the person who thinks they are an angle because they get treated like crap. If you think I need to get a new job than I suppose you are talking about all those people who said they would not work for 11 bucks an hour.
NURSING IS NOT A CALLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did read your posts
nursing can be a calling for some
I went into it decades ago, easy work, meet a lot of those good looking young nurses, Thats true, yes I was a shallow young man, now Im a shallow old man. I still like those good looking young nurses. But thats me.
It isnt a calling, its a job for me anyway. I happen to enjoy it. I work so I can afford to golf and I golf so Im mentally prepared to work. A little quid pro quo or something like that. Im a good nurse, I give 75 percent of myself at work. More than good. Ive been staff nurse, OR nurse, LD nurse, Supervisor nurse, Department head. In fact at one point I was department head for 3 departments. Surgery, OB, ER. thats is the Department head of S.O.B.E.R.
true but a little joke now. Was a very sobering experience. But Im still shallow old Tom, I like shallow, I like shallow graves, I like shallow divots, I like shallow politicians, thats why I like GWB.:trout:
Calling versus work interesting debate. Me Im just a shallow golfer making ends and green fees meet. All 7 of my kids are grown, I dont raise my grandkids, they have their parents for that.
Now I am very sure your patients love you, but a little advice from this old golfer. Learn to relax a little. Play some golf.
I think there are many nurses on here that have felt like I do at many times and just for some odd reason, can't admit it. You know, it is ok to not like your job at times. My beef is the way we are treated and that we keep taking it. I've been yelled at, hung up on, had charts thrown at me, been humiliated in front of patients, families, staff members and other doctors. And like many nurses out there, I have stood their and just taken it. Some one on here suggested the nurses getting together and circling the doctor that is creating the scene. That is a great idea. Wish I would have thought of that, but honestly, I was three weeks into this job, had no idea what these nurses were all about. But I did observe that they reacted no differently than the nurses here at home. So it must be a universal reaction amongst all of us to just cower instead of speaking up and telling the doctor to "bite me". I'm just not sure there is any way to "fix" this profession. We have this certain image that is hard to change. It is not the image of a professional but rather the image of a caretaker, a codependent. Sorry, but there is nothing professional about our profession. We act like many of the same people who we call dysfunctional. We have old school nurses teaching us that we should still be wearing hats and white nylons and following the doctors around with clip board in hand. Doctors do not communicate with us, doctors don't even communicate with eachother. And the reason they don't communicate with us is because they simply don't respect us. Some days, I get most of my information on what is going on, from the patient who really does not understand most of what the doctor told him/her. The only way things are going to get better is if our profession changes its image. I live in a one hospital town where the hospital owns most of the big clinics. No competition. They can treat us any way they like to because they are the only game in town. Some of you are extemely lucky to have jobs where communication is good, doctors attitudes are good, there is good teamwork. Sorry to say, it is not pleasantville everywhere.
I have been reading thread after thread on this forum and I have come to one conclusion. We are all a pathetic bunch. We take abuse that most other human beings would not put up with. We are physically, mentally and emotionally abused by doctors, managers, patients, and families. We work ungodly hours, skip our much needed breaks without pay for months and years on end. And this goes on and on and on. The stories are endless. Then we are all shocked when a nurse who has had enough finally cracks and administers 32 vials of Dilantin and kills a patient. Is this so different than any other human being who finally after years and years of this abuse, just cannot take it anymore? I think not. When are we all going to stand up and demand decent pay, decent working conditions, and respect? Well, the answer is never because we are not a solid group. We have no autonomy or solidarity because we are a weak profession. We pit one against another. We ***** and backstab. We deserve all the abuse that is dealt to us. In nursing school, we are taught to make beds, empty bedpans and clean dentures. Instead we should get vast lessons in how to deal with some of the real issues that face us today. We are understaffed, overworked, pushed to the breaking point. But yet, the martyr instinct kicks in, we get up and go back and endure more of the same. When is enough, enough? When are we all going to come together and and start shouting about our working conditions and wages? We make less than a crew on road construction or a plumber. And look what we do. We are responsible for peoples lives. I went to work down the road as my current employer is union and I felt that maybe the non union hospital down the road would be a better place. Well, it is not, it is worse. 13 nurses have quit in the 6 weeks I have worked there. I won't renew my contract. It is just too unsafe. The hospital is all about profit at the expense of some great nurses. They even charge for an individual bandaid. It is ridiculous. I have decided that as soon as I can afford to, I'm getting out. I will no longer be a member of a profession that eats its young while at the same time, taking unwarrented abuse from unapreciative doctors that we bend over backwards for. Its not about making a living any more, it is about retaining some self respect, free of abuse by doctors, managers and other nurses who have nothing better to do than put a knife in your back the minute you turn around. At least at walmart I won't have to worry about making a life threatening mistake because I'm overwhelmed by what is required of me each day.
Please do not lump all nurses in with your little tirade. I am neither pathetic nor dysfunctional. I am certainly not codependent, nor am I an angel or a martyr. Nursing is a career to me - the way I make my living. That does not mean that I am not good at what I do, it simply means that I expect to be treated as a professional. I do not work for free. I always take my breaks (notice, I don't wait for them to be offered to me - I take them). If you think the grass is greener elsewhere, go for it. Everyone has the right to be happy. But do not do it because you equate nursing with being the world's doormat. It does not have to be that way. It certainly can be if you allow it. You have to be assertive for your own interests, but that is true in any career, it is not unique to nursing.
When people say, "you are really burned out you- should just leave, then."
I can't help but think that these are the people who perpetuate the bullS$%T on the floor.
IF ANYONE IN ANY OF THESE THREADS TELLS SOMEONE TO "JUST QUIT" YOU ARE WITHOUT A DOUBT AN INTOLERANT ENABLER AND PART OF THE PROBLEM.
Nurses have been taking it for years, now it is time to grow up, join the 21st century and realize this profession has a serious problem that quite conceivably will destroy it.
If it's too hot it's time to get out of the kitchen. Perhaps you went into nursing thinking it was something that it is not. Yes they teach us in nursing school to empty bedpans , clean dentures etc. because that is what we do. I've had more yelling and ***** sessions from other nurses than doctors but that is like yelling with your sister..we've worked together long enough that the yelling is really just being emotional and talking loudly.
If you want change to happen start with the man (person) in the mirror, you will be more convincing than just insulting everyone calling them pathetic.
Why do you take it? What do you do when the doc. is "yelling" ? . I ususally 1. walk away from them 2. look at him like "are you through dumb ***" 3.hang up the phone on him. Don't lay down and be passive take some responsiblity in the situation , don't let it happen. There is no knight in shining armour to save you. Stand up for yourself then you will get what you want...respect.
Dude.... if you a going to bail, you should set your sights a little higher that Wal-mart.
Trust me I know... I use to work there. But, alas, I got fired... just because I refused to remove the "Wal-mart your source for cheap plastic crap" bumper sticker from my car. Huh... how unfair is that?
While I understand your frustration, nurses are neither pathetic or angels.
What nurses are: Highly educated; hard workers; knowledge seekers; experts in their practice; exhibit clinical expertise.
And last, but certainly not least, many of the nurses I know work diligently at elevating their profession.
To call them pathetic is sad. To call them angels makes them etheral beings and minimizes their skills.
Certainly you are underpaid and in many cases underappreciated. Your strength is that no matter what, you are desperately needed and every hospital knows this. There is a certain power in that knowledge.
withasmilelpn
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