Nursing is becoming stupid

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I have had a horrible week and I have figured something out.

The people who make the rules are stupid.

Yes, my friends, stupid.

I have only been a nurse for four years, but in these four years I have noticed some things that lead me to question the sanity and the IQ of the powers that be.

I am working for an unnamed healthcare system who is a very large employer and the people that run it are morons. The people that work in it aren't much better. And the nurses, well, they have been beaten down to the point that they just put up with it.

We have lots of hospitals in the region, but we don't have specialist coverage consistently. So, I got a patient a couple of weeks ago that had an emergent condition that needed to be treated by a specialist. But, that specialty is only covered every other week. This patient happened to come in during the wrong week. So, what did they do? EMTALA the patient? No, they put the patient in OBS with a BP that was consistently in the 80's over 40's. How is this safe?

Needless to say, I had this patient transferred to the ICU in the first 10 minutes of my shift and put a burr up the butt of the House Supervisor to get this patient transferred somewhere they could actually be treated.

Recently, I had a patient that needed a stat ultrasound. So, I put the order in. Ultrasound calls me back and tells me that I have to call the provider back and get a consult from a more acute specialty, because my doc's order isn't good enough for them to call the night U/S team in. So, I had to call a consult, completely unnecessarily. On the phone, the consultant decided to get a CT Angio instead and we cancelled the U/S. However, thinking that the consult was emergent and not just to satisfy policy, the consultant actually came to see the patient at 10:00 at night and decided the CT Angio was overkill and to do the U/S, but it could wait until morning. He was also super angry that we had called him and I got the "Why did you even call me?" angry spiel and butt-chew.

I was tempted to say, "Because we work for morons." But, I didn't.

Sometimes I really hate what nursing is turning into in the hospital. It's basically throw meds at a patient and try your darnedest to keep the hospital's policies from killing them before you can get them home. I have spent hours on the phone with docs, supervisors, consultants, managers, and family members from these FUBARs, and many more besides.

I really feel like the powers that be are out to kill the patients and make the nurses' lives hell because they are so so focused on turning a profit.

Am I just working in a bad system, or are the powers that be really putting in so many barriers that we can't care for patients anymore?

It is sooo true. It is ALL about covering yourself and making sure that you don't violate the hospital policies. It really isn't about patient care or safety. The "higher ups" of management will say all the "right" things at the appropriate times but what they actually DO is completely the opposite.

Specializes in Med-surg, ltc, ltac, rehab.

I understand where you're coming from. I'm currently still working as a travel nurse, and the facility I'm at now has some crazy rules as well. For instance, suction is not available in the rooms. If we need suction, we have to order it from central supply and wait for it to be delivered. I had a situation the other night, where a patient was choking and vomiting, and I HAD NO SUCTION AVAILABLE. I was going crazy because I had to leave the patient to go order suction, and wait for it be delivered. That's totally insane to me. You also have to order IV pumps and scd machines. As other posters has commented, they are now focused on money and making sure the patient get charged for single thing. Healthcare isn't about caring anymore, it's about the mighty dollar. "The love of money is the root to all evil."

I worked with morons at my last hospital job, too, come to think of it. I had so many problems with the administrators, my unit management, the prima donna neurosurgeons... The only decent people were a couple of nurses, a few amazing CNAs, and the dude in the cafeteria who made my omelettes in the morning. Even housekeeping sucked at that place.

I think it's time to get out of acute care.

Healthcare is a business. Period. A nurse can either get on the bus and get an MBA (which interestingly, LOTS of hospitals are not only encouraging, but paying for in part or in whole) or be left at the bus stop to sweep up and take out the trash.

I LOVED acute care for the many years that I was able to work it. In the past 5 or so years, not so much. So I made a huge change out of acute care. It was the very best thing I ever did.

The amount of time that I had spent on bru-ha-ha that had absolutely nothing to do with the patient's best interests astounds me--looking back at it all, I ended my acute care career unbelievably jaded. Which was not my goal when I got into nursing.

And yes, there are those who look at the powers that be and think--WOW. Just WOW. Can we please do something so that this patient can function?! All the while the powers are hang wringing and thinking "if we turn a profit, I don't give a furry rats behind WHAT you do. Just do it for little or no monetary risk for us"

Take a look sometime at how much of a salary the CEO of your company makes. Your director. Add to that bonuses, PTO, and other carrots dangling in the wind, and it is FAR enough to pay multiple nurses to staff appropriately. (and they would STILL make out with a huge chunk of change in the end!!)

It is so very apparent in the very small community hospitals that get a take over by big business too. The only good part is the nurses who were there for so long that they have enough in their pension (that is no longer even a benefit now-a-days for many facilities for nurses) to retire and live reasonably. Which in the facility that I worked was a total of 4 of them. I was vested for 3 years until the day of reckoning. That will leave me with $10 a month....perhaps I can buy myself a cup of coffee on them.....

Specializes in Pharmaceutical Research, Operating Room.
And the minute you try to actually put your patient and their needs first, everybody jumps down your throat.

Can't begin to tell you how many times that's happened to me in the OR......

Specializes in Education.
Can't begin to tell you how many times that's happened to me in the OR......

Drives me up the wall. Why I left a job, once - I was over the unit culture of making assumptions that then would impact patient care. And the patient getting medical help in the future.

Healthcare is a business. Period. A nurse can either get on the bus and get an MBA (which interestingly, LOTS of hospitals are not only encouraging, but paying for in part or in whole) or be left at the bus stop to sweep up and take out the trash.

I LOVED acute care for the many years that I was able to work it. In the past 5 or so years, not so much. So I made a huge change out of acute care. It was the very best thing I ever did.

The amount of time that I had spent on bru-ha-ha that had absolutely nothing to do with the patient's best interests astounds me--looking back at it all, I ended my acute care career unbelievably jaded. Which was not my goal when I got into nursing.

And yes, there are those who look at the powers that be and think--WOW. Just WOW. Can we please do something so that this patient can function?! All the while the powers are hang wringing and thinking "if we turn a profit, I don't give a furry rats behind WHAT you do. Just do it for little or no monetary risk for us"

Take a look sometime at how much of a salary the CEO of your company makes. Your director. Add to that bonuses, PTO, and other carrots dangling in the wind, and it is FAR enough to pay multiple nurses to staff appropriately. (and they would STILL make out with a huge chunk of change in the end!!)

It is so very apparent in the very small community hospitals that get a take over by big business too. The only good part is the nurses who were there for so long that they have enough in their pension (that is no longer even a benefit now-a-days for many facilities for nurses) to retire and live reasonably. Which in the facility that I worked was a total of 4 of them. I was vested for 3 years until the day of reckoning. That will leave me with $10 a month....perhaps I can buy myself a cup of coffee on them.....

There are many opportunities between MBA, and sweeping up ..to get out of acute care.

Feel your pain, my 14 years in a small community hospital earned a whopping 50 K. Can we split that cup of coffee?

I have had a horrible week and I have figured something out.

The people who make the rules are stupid.

Yes, my friends, stupid.

I have only been a nurse for four years, but in these four years I have noticed some things that lead me to question the sanity and the IQ of the powers that be.

I am working for an unnamed healthcare system who is a very large employer and the people that run it are morons. The people that work in it aren't much better. And the nurses, well, they have been beaten down to the point that they just put up with it.

We have lots of hospitals in the region, but we don't have specialist coverage consistently. So, I got a patient a couple of weeks ago that had an emergent condition that needed to be treated by a specialist. But, that specialty is only covered every other week. This patient happened to come in during the wrong week. So, what did they do? EMTALA the patient? No, they put the patient in OBS with a BP that was consistently in the 80's over 40's. How is this safe?

Needless to say, I had this patient transferred to the ICU in the first 10 minutes of my shift and put a burr up the butt of the House Supervisor to get this patient transferred somewhere they could actually be treated.

Recently, I had a patient that needed a stat ultrasound. So, I put the order in. Ultrasound calls me back and tells me that I have to call the provider back and get a consult from a more acute specialty, because my doc's order isn't good enough for them to call the night U/S team in. So, I had to call a consult, completely unnecessarily. On the phone, the consultant decided to get a CT Angio instead and we cancelled the U/S. However, thinking that the consult was emergent and not just to satisfy policy, the consultant actually came to see the patient at 10:00 at night and decided the CT Angio was overkill and to do the U/S, but it could wait until morning. He was also super angry that we had called him and I got the "Why did you even call me?" angry spiel and butt-chew.

I was tempted to say, "Because we work for morons." But, I didn't.

Sometimes I really hate what nursing is turning into in the hospital. It's basically throw meds at a patient and try your darnedest to keep the hospital's policies from killing them before you can get them home. I have spent hours on the phone with docs, supervisors, consultants, managers, and family members from these FUBARs, and many more besides.

I really feel like the powers that be are out to kill the patients and make the nurses' lives hell because they are so so focused on turning a profit.

Am I just working in a bad system, or are the powers that be really putting in so many barriers that we can't care for patients anymore?

And yet we still go to these jobs everyday...WHY? It is a question I ask myself everyday while sitting in my car trying to pep talk myself before I take a dreaded step towards my workplace.

I worked with morons at my last hospital job, too, come to think of it. I had so many problems with the administrators, my unit management, the prima donna neurosurgeons... The only decent people were a couple of nurses, a few amazing CNAs, and the dude in the cafeteria who made my omelettes in the morning. Even housekeeping sucked at that place.

I think it's time to get out of acute care.

You get a breakfast break? :roflmao: Sounds like you are working in heaven.

I remember that ,way back in the day.. I was in LOVE with the omelet cook.

Seriously, enjoy every bite! So many nurses, have no time to pee, let alone eat.

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
And yet we still go to these jobs everyday...WHY? It is a question I ask myself everyday while sitting in my car trying to pep talk myself before I take a dreaded step towards my workplace.

Because there aren't any other options in my area unless I want to make a specialty change and take a pay cut. So, until I win the lottery, I'm pretty much stuck.

Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.
I learned quickly in nursing that TPTB care very little about the quality of care being given.

They care about satisfaction surveys and dazzling the public with fancy lobbies.

We had a 5 million dollar expansion completed in the spring that involved the most visible areas of the hospital. Our lobby is gorgeous. Then they cut the hours of every nurse who punches a clock.

Management didn't take the hit.

You get a breakfast break? :roflmao: Sounds like you are working in heaven.

I remember that ,way back in the day.. I was in LOVE with the omelet cook.

Seriously, enjoy every bite! So many nurses, have no time to pee, let alone eat.

I wish. I was working nights and got an omelette AFTER shift.

It's not just hospitals, LTC is a mess also. I have worked in LTC for over 20 years, and what I have seen is very, very discouraging. Large Corporations buying up homes, cutting staff to the bone, the workload is insurmountable.

This sounds like the NH my Mom was in. The nurses at these places do care but when they have to look after 60 residents at a time things are going to happen.

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