Nursing Is No Longer Worth It

[AnonymousSuper]

I'd Like To Tell You A Story

I've been a member of Allnurses for nearly a decade. It's a little surreal to contemplate that amount of time but I vividly recall writing posts in the pre-nursing students section pleading for help in Anatomy and Physiology.

A decade! Time really flies.

Given my involvement in this forum over the years, I created this new username to remain anonymous and to speak freely about my opinions and feelings about nursing.

In the beginning, nursing was an exciting, interesting, and thrilling career. As a student, I would spend extra hours delving into extra readings about A&P and care plans. I would tutor students and help anyone that I could. I even volunteered in a local hospital to get more exposure.

I was addicted to the idea of becoming a nurse!

As a newly minted nurse, I loved connecting the pathophysiological dots at the bedside and helping the providers make well-informed decisions by providing them with valuable assessments and up-to-date patient data.

I've worked in many specialties over the past 7 years but my primary focus has been pulmonary step down. I've traveled all over the country and worked in a variety of hospital systems big and small.

I've helped save lives through rapid responses, code blues, administered vital medications and important treatments. I've teamed up with fellow nurses to help them catch up on meds or other tasks, then find ourselves at a local diner for an early morning post-shift breakfast.

Those are the best!

I've also experienced a significant amount of pain and agony. I've seen more patients die than a I care to count. I've listened to hearts stop. I've seen heart die on monitors. I've watched people take their last breath completely and utterly alone in this world.

I've laughed, cried, and been stunned. A host of emotions over the years.

When I was done working acute care, I transitioned to ambulatory nursing and started triaging patients in a variety of specialty clinics. This was a weird shift because I thought ambulatory nursing where were lazy nurses go or older nurses go to finish out their career. I found that outpatient nurses were just as hard but simply in a different way.

I even found myself in a nursing supervisor position where I currently reside. Something I never would have thought I would have found myself in. I even tried to talk my boss out of it when she first approached me about it because I thought to myself, "You must be crazy! Why would you consider me?" I am grateful for the opportunity ultimately.

Something Has Changed

There was a time where I absolutely loved the nursing profession and my place in it. But, something changed along the way. Burn out? I have my doubts it's that simple. This feels more definitive than the insidiousness of Burn out. This feels more permanent than burn out.

Over the past couple years, I've really questioned my place in nursing. Is this profession for me? Was it ever? Is it worth it anymore? I think Covid 19 really pushed me over the edge and was the straw that finally broke the camel's back.

Here's The Bottom Line To Me

• If I had to do it over again, I would not choose nursing as a profession.
• Nursing is no longer a profession that is worth pursuing and if a person would ask, I would recommend they choose something else.
• While there was a time when the love of the patient was what did it for me, ultimately, at this time in my life, nursing is no longer worth it because we are completely undervalued, underpaid, underappreciated, and understaffed.
• We are forced into dangerous scenarios with massive liability with compensation that doesn't match the risk we take as professionals and individuals.

Hospitals Just Do Not Care

While they give the facade of caring, healthcare organizations and hospitals ultimately don't care about you and your well being as a professional nurse.

Hospitals don't want quality. They want the appearance of quality but in actuality they want quantity. They want more with less in even lesser time. More patients. More calls. More responsibilities. More liability for you. More destruction on your physical and emotional well being. You are treated like a disposable piece of equipment with a short shelf life.

And, when it comes down to it, your professional and personal butt is totally on the line and if you screw up, there will be every effort to blame you, avoid organizational liability, and throw you under the bus.

Don't ever believe your hospital is there to back you. Consider yourself fortunate if you happen to find a manager that will stick their neck out for you and back you when the **** really hits the fan.

The PPE Crisis We're Facing Is Unbelievable

It's shocking to me that our hospital "leaders" didn't have the wisdom or foresight to have massive stockpiles in place. Now, nurses and providers are force to buy PPE on-line (impossible currently), wear the same PPE over and over, or not have any at all. This is a clear example of the failure of leadership all over the country and the clear lack of consideration for the front line worker's safety. Of course, nurses aren't the only one feeling this pain.

Nurses Are Severely Undervalued And Underpaid

We take massive liability when we're administering medications and implementing the plan of care. Yet, where's the pay? When you try to negotiate your pay with HR, you're going to get a giant middle finger. Organizations have standardized pay scales and there is zero room for negotiation. Nurses have zero pull when it comes to pay negotiation.

My theory about pay is that nurses are a cost to the healthcare system. You are not a financial asset like a provider who has billable treatments and procedures. We don't bring in revenue to the organization. Therefore, nurses don't have negotiation power. Yet, we're somehow sooo "valuable?"

Don't buy us pizza, baked goods, and crappy nurse's day prizes. Give us better pay and better benefits. That is the way to create loyalty. Yes, nursing is also about providing a service to the patient but if you're a valuable, highly trained, highly skilled, and highly knowledgeable professional, you should be paid adequately. Period.

Here's a current representation of the pay issue. I'm seeing travel nursing contracts for $4,000-$8000 per week in some parts of the country. That's crazy money! The organization I presently work for is "volun-telling" ambulatory staff to either "go acute care or use PTO/unpaid leave." However, when these staff to go in-patient, they don't receive temporary differentials or hazard pay.

Furthermore, the acute care nurses taking care of Covid patients aren't receiving hazard pay either even though they are reusing PPE and taking care of dangerous patient populations. So we're going to pay travel nurses six figures? But, when you force nurses back into acute care or not adequately pay acute care nurses, that's supposed to be okay? Think again.

Nursing Isn't Worth It Because Of The Liability

I've traveled in certain locations where nurses were taking care of 10 patients at night on an acute cardiac unit.

Unbelievable. Talk about liability.

I'm not going to go into it now but if you practice nursing without professional Liability Insurance, you're basically having unprotected sex but expecting not to get pregnant.

Why do you think providers have professional malpractice insurance? Yes, nurses get sued to and remember what I said above about hospitals throwing nurses under the bus? It's literally pennies a day for peace of mind. If you have any valuables or assets in your life you wouldn't want to be taken away, you need professional liability insurance.

Nurses Are Part Of The Problem As Well

The nursing culture is full of malignant toxicity, backstabbing, and bullying people. It's vial and toxic and incredibly hard thrive in.

I have rarely seen a unit or clinic act in a cohesive, team-based manner. My professional career has only been in nursing so I'm not sure how other professions are. However, most places I have been to, have been the same.

There are many nurses that bring their contagious negativity to the bedside and to the clinics. It's distracting and disturbing to be around and it has taken a toll on myself and I know it has on others around me. I'm speaking in generalities of course because not ALL nurses are like this but it's fairly common. Just spend a half a day on a nursing unit and you'll quickly notice who those problematic people are.

I once had hope for the nursing profession that someday they would come together and help change it for the better. There's what, about 3 million nurses in the country? That's a lot of voices. We're too busy bickering amongst ourselves to ever truly come together and create meaningful change.

Bickering, backstabbing, and bullying is easy. Coming together with a cohesive voice to promote real change in the nursing profession is hard and it will never happen in my opinion.

I guess I could go on and on about the failings of the nursing profession but I'll leave you with this:

Quote

Nurses are treated as expendable pieces of meat that are readily replaced like a disposable dead battery. You are severely under paid for the skills and knowledge you bring to the table. Hospitals don't give a crap about your well being even though they say the do.

Nursing Is No Longer About The Art Of Nursing

• It's about the numbers.
• The output.
• Doing more with less in less time.
• The satisfaction scores.

You only live once in this life. If you happen to discover this article and you're considering nursing, I would urge you to turn around and look elsewhere.

Nursing isn't worth the risk and the personal effects it has on your life.

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

On 7/5/2020 at 4:39 AM, Daniel Baneni said:

If the author of this piece thinks nursing is not worth pursuing anymore because of some challenges he/she faced, he or she was not made for nursing in the first place. Nursing is not about You being cared for. Nursing is about you caring for others, even at the cost of your life. It is not about the whole world caring for you. I get sick of people crying the good old days. The past is gone and there is nothing you can do about that. The future is our gift. And that future is shaped in the present and not by people complaining about gravity and God knows what, but by people taking charge and making their dream a reality. A man becomes an adult when he faces obstacles and overcomes them or perishes in the process. A man does not become and adult by crying and abdicating when the first obstacle shows up. There are basically two kind of people in the world, those with an external locus of control. Such people think that they are valuable when the world external to them validate them. When they cannot see such validation, they collapse into depression and become pathetic. There are, however, those whose locus of control is internal. They know who they are and what they are worth. They need no one to tell them their level of worthiness. They need not be given a pat on the back to perform their duties. When they are complimented, it is icing on the cake. These are true nurses.

Is that to say that nurses should suffer in silence when they find themselves working in a toxic environment? Absolutely not! Toxic environments come from management. If the facility you work in is more interested in politics than the well being of its patients, they will fail eventually. Knowing what you are worth, quit immediately and offer your services to a facility that will appreciate the skill set you bring forth. In my experience, however, nurses with strong characters are successful even in the most toxic environments because they do not make a bad situation worse by complaining and gossiping. They tend to radiate positive energy. As MLK so well put it, darkness cannot overcome darkness, light does.

Nursing is a great profession, but it is not for everyone and not particularly for the fainthearted. Good nurses are made to function in the most stressful environment and yet, be the source of calm and reassurance for patients going through life and death situations.

Thank you! I mostly agree. Suffering in silence is not good for anyone. When we were already short staffed and the for-profit management announce they would lay off 25% of RNs and replace them with former dietary workers AND lay off half the pharmacists closing the satellite pharmacy we did not quit immediately and offer your services to another facility.

WE met with our state nurses association and began learning about patient advocacy. We met a each other's homes for the weeks between the announcements and their layoffs. Many of us had worked together for many years. We carried on the kindness with which we were welcomed and mentored when we were new. On the first day of layoffs we were ready with bright pink flyers explaining to the public about the layoff and what fewer nurses and pharmacists could mean. Starting at 4:30 am people scheduled to work that day put those flyers on all vehicles parked on public streets for several blocks around the hospital. After they went to work more of us continued flyering cars in town. We were ready to talk with reporters when they came up to us. I flyered a couple hours, slept, and worked that night.

It was discovered that there were MANY medication errors due to giving meds late. Day shift and nights stayed over to fill out incident reports. We put in for over time. When patients or family members complained about their late medications we told them the truth.

Long story short we won a union election and achieved a contract. Fourteen years later we and nurses across the state won safe staffing standard in the law. Lots of details, but our hospital provides wonderful patient care. Twice my husband's life has been saved there.

I understand why nurses choose to resign and go elsewhere, but we had a long tradition of working together, all staff of every department, physicians, and volunteers who wanted to save our hospital.

[nottheproblem]

After reading the Baneni comment, I becoming more convinced nursing needs to be turned over to only Priests and Nuns.

Your post comes across as very toxic.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

On 5/24/2020 at 12:48 AM, kmhlpn30 said:

I once had a nursing instructor tell me that nursing is not a job, it is a life calling.

Said nursing instructor is the type that makes it bad for the rest of us. Like we are not working at a job. Since she doesn't feel like it's a job, she could forfeit her pay as an example

[amoLucia]

16 minutes ago, Hoosier_RN said:

Said nursing instructor is the type that makes it bad for the rest of us. Like we are not working at a job. Since she doesn't feel like it's a job, she could forfeit her pay as an example

LOVE IT !!

[Daniel Baneni]

Nottheproblem,

Chemotherapy can be quite toxic but no one will dispute its necessity.

[BeenThere2012, ASN, RN]

I too loved and still love being a nurse. However, after many years and many different experiences and employers, I feel it is the same everywhere now as most hospitals are corporate owned.

I do not go to work expecting to “relax” and “enjoy myself”. I work hard and always have. I've always been helpful to coworkers. I’ve never subscribed to the “well my work is done so I’ll just relax while others are drowning”. I keep in mind the well-being (If you will) of my employers also. But the amount of responsibility, and the importance of my action’s effects on my patients with ever present pressure to do more with less has been taking its toll on me and my practice.

Having been through burnout cycles over the years (normal and expected by the nature of a giving profession), I agree it’s not a matter of burnout just as you said.

The fact that we are held accountable for so many other’s actions on top of our own as “nurses are the last defense for the patient” before an incorrect or potentially dangerous order or wrong medication is prepared by pharmacy for example, just Infuriates me because the administrators don’t want the expense of hiring more people or lessoning the work load in ANY department. They just make the nurse responsible for protecting the patient and then take zero accountability when errors occur and as you said, throw us under the bus. Then our BONs ruin our careers.

I don’t blame you for your position on not recommending nursing as a career. When I started, it truly was about caring for the patients and the best ways to do that.

So for those of you who say the administrators are supposed to help the hospitals/corporations be profitable, have lost the broader picture and the reason MOST of us go into this profession. I certainly did not become a nurse for a business career and THIS is not the the primary role we should take on. I refuse to provide sub-optimal care for my patients in order to support the bottom line for corporations. I’m on my way out and it saddens me to end all the years of the most wonderful, awesome, growth inducing, fulfilling experiences I’ve had with this negative and resentful attitude I now have.

Yes, I can always focus on how I’ve helped, comforted patients and their families, shared knowledge, taught and supported new nurses (and new doctors for that matter) and saved lives for so many. I focus on these things daily, but at the cost of my adrenal glands, my back and knees and my emotional well-being, I can’t do it much longer.

I can relate to everything you stated in your post.

[keldorn, BSN, RN]

18 hours ago, Daniel Baneni said:

Nursing is about you caring for others, even at the cost of your life.

You first.

[nottheproblem]

keldorn, love the response

Baneni, with your chemotherapy post you then admit your response to OP was toxic. You come across as aggressive and like your preaching. It’s just the type of stuff that starts lateral violence so prevalent in healthcare. Your telling nurses with a heck of a lot of experience how they should be not just expressing your views. Talking about not growing up until you have obstacles in your way? The OP has a lot of experience and many of us on here do and therefore have had many obstacles in the way. So, that remark was just demeaning.

The one about nurses is about caring for others even at the cost of your life? If someone does that then they definitely deserve a medal because that’s going WAY beyond the call of duty in this profession. I did not see giving your life for another part of the job when I signed up.

Wish you the best.

[Asystole RN]

Nursing is not a homogeneous profession where the experiences or individual jobs are uniform. There is more to nursing than the bedside in a hospital.

The profession of nursing is composed of a myriad of jobs of varying levels of risk and reward. If someone does not like their job then change it, there are nearly an infinite amount of jobs within the profession.

I personally find nursing, the profession, a calling but the individual jobs I take are just that, jobs.

[rockchickrn, BSN]

Very good point. There are a lot of different opportunities within the profession.

[BeenThere2012, ASN, RN]

36 minutes ago, Asystole RN said:

Nursing is not a homogeneous profession where the experiences or individual jobs are uniform. There is more to nursing than the bedside in a hospital.

The profession of nursing is composed of a myriad of jobs of varying levels of risk and reward. If someone does not like their job then change it, there are nearly an infinite amount of jobs within the profession.

I personally find nursing, the profession, a calling but the individual jobs I take are just that, jobs.

Excellent! Well said! I’ve posted some quite negative things here out of needed support and venting too!

However...I agree with Asystole.

[BeenThere2012, ASN, RN]

On 7/2/2020 at 8:59 AM, STEMIRN said:

WOW! Can I just say, that I am glad that I am NOT the only nurse that feels the way you do??!! I have zero motivation, and absolutely zero pride in what I do for a living. Nursing is no longer a career to me, it's just a job and it pays the bills. I can't afford to go back to college, so I just suck it up, and go to work. People get away with murder in the ER where I work! I keep my nose clean, and try to lay low. It really is sad, just how many nurses feel this way. I wanted to be a nurse since I was 5 yrs old, and now I find myself constantly thinking "What if." Bottom line, money runs the world, and there are plenty of greedy people out there!

As some may have noticed from my postings, I feel the same at this point. I wonder where the disconnect comes in? So many of us feel this way.

Is it unrealistic/fantasy images of the Nursing profession causing false expectations?

Do the nursing schools/instructors mislead or withhold important teachings in preparing students? I mean, we have “safety” drilled into us and the importance of proper time management and prioritization but then in reality, we find it so difficult to uphold (even come close at times) what we are taught.

For those of us who’ve been in this awhile, have “things” changed over the years from where we started? (I’m not speaking to “good ole days” mentality). Obviously they’ve changed a lot with medical knowledge, technology etc...I still think the corporate world has changed the medical profession globally. Not just for nurses.

After 35+ years and personal maturity, I hope I’m not just a weak weenie. ?