I am probably going to offend some of you and I apologize in advance for that.
However I really need a safe place to vent my frustrations about nursing and
this is the place.
A little background:
I have a Bachelors in Business. I worked in that field for just under 8 years. I liked it but it was starting to get boring and I felt I needed a challenge. I got my BSN and started working as a nurse for a big hospital. I didn't expect it to be all roses however I have to say what I have found in this profession has quickly turned me negative. I have been in this profession for over 2 years now and while I know that isn't long I have to be HONEST and say that I don't feel that I can honestly make it in this job.
Here is what I have noticed about the roles a nurse plays:
to administration: cogs (yet they don't want to pay the price required to keep us
so they keep increasing our task list, Responsibilites, documentation requirements,
etc while not increasing our pay)
to Dr: waitress/slave
to families: waitress/slave
Every job I have done went by satisfactory meaning I have never been written up or even had a verbal warning given. In this job people get written up for stupid stuff and no one thinks to give verbal warnings. The amount of demoralization that takes place on new grads is profound and now I understand why the smiles on new grad faces quickly turn sour. Every Dr I have s/w told me the same thing which is "get out of nursing or go higher fast . . . but do not stay in it"
Thus the message is clear that this profession needs a Major rehaul. Policies change on a daily basis (No Joke) and there is no effective means of getting the information across to all employees such that NO ONE has any idea what is the proper way of doing anything anymore. Everyone I've asked has a different idea and the new policy is not always on the intranet. The more nurses I talk to the more I realize they are not leaving this profession only because they do not have another option. The ones that do take it QUICK!
I keep hearing people tell me that nurses make such great money at the bedside but I have to say Nurses earn every single $ they make NO JOKE. We are expected to work tirelessly without taking bathroom breaks, lunches, etc. There is no regard for our healthy while all focus is given to patient safety. Now I know why nurses burn out at the rate that they do.
And after all is said and done the amount of responsibility and liability that a nurse carries is starting to increase. We live in such an age of Entitlement where people want the best care and they do NOT understand the stressors that are forged upon nurses such that if you don't bring them their cup of tea on time they get upset with you. I thought about pursuing my MSN in the clinical arena however after much deliberation I realized despite the fact that my desire to help people is strong I don't want the amount of liability that comes with it. I am working on getting out of it. Although I do feel like a failure because I will always remember that I wasn't able to make it in nursing.
I have spoken to other new grads about this and they feel the same way in fact a lot of them didn't even finish 1 year bedside nursing before they turned around and enrolled themselves in NP programs to get out of this dreary profession.
Where the F is anyone making $70000/year as a new grad? I want to go to there.
Minneapolis, MN. A good deal of that is overtime and shift bonuses. Even though I pick up shifts every pay period, I am working far fewer hours than I worked in my previous salaried career.
People are being overly PC/sensitive about the use of "slavery." Clearly she wasn't being literal. Substitute "indentured servant" and get over the nomenclature and consider the actual context of her post.
OP, my advice is to look for a new area to work and see if you can rekindle whatever it was that initially drew you to nursing.
I wish there was a character limit on this site. I quit reading every post after about 100 words. Brevity people, brevity!
Nursing is NOTHING like slavery. No one is forcing you to do anything against your will. I do take offense to this comment. I bet if Jews, African-americans, and indians who were slaves would agree as well.
If you cannot cope maybe you either need a new specialty or to get out of nursing.
Yes, some of us have felt this way but I would never compare it to slavery. Just my two cents.
WHile I agree...I will say, if you're going to be politically correct and say something about the misuse of slavery...please..it's Native American.
For those of you who object to the term "slavery", please look it up in the dictionary, where you will see that the word has more than one definition, at least one of which is fitting for what the OP describes.
OP, I get where you are coming from.
I worked in a union shop, and what I saw happening around me disturbed me so greatly that I got out. I still work for the same company, but in a different department and capacity, and am much, much happier.
Some of the things I saw happening were some of the things you mentioned:
*Nurses working their entire shift with no break, because there was too much to do with too little help, and because the buddy system does not work because it is not safe to leave your group of patients with your break buddy when your break buddy also has their own full load of equally sick patients.
*Layoffs by attrition, minimal staffing levels, relying on people to pick up extra shifts instead of filling vacant positions.
*Laying off support staff who are not protected by a union, then increasing the workload of the nurses.
*Punitive policies on incremental overtime, resulting in nurses working off the clock.
*Nurses failing to use the union implemented feedback system to report missed breaks or working conditions that compromise patient safety, because they're so used up at the end of their shift that they don't want to stay an extra half an hour to navigate through the intranet just to find the online form, then fill it out and file it.
*Pressure from managers and other nurses on the unit to just "suck it up" and be a "team player", and being singled out as a whiner/complainer if they speak up about what they're experiencing.
All the while, the hospital claims they're in the red and must cut costs, yet the CEOs are still receiving their multi-million dollar bonuses.
Tell me there isn't something wrong with this picture.
And yeah, I care about the patients. That's why it's so frustrating, precisely because I care. All of the above negatively impacts patient care and safety. When I can't provide the care my patients deserve because I'm stretched so thin that I can't even take the time to empty my bladder, how is that good for patient care? How is that safe?
When was the last time I took the time to listen to a patient? With WHAT TIME? I can't just magically pull more time out of my behind.
I saw the writing on the wall and saw a sentinel event coming, and I didn't want it to be on my watch. And that's what it's going to take before anything changes and the pendulum swings back the other way to where we have decent staffing levels, decent patient to nurse ratios, and adequate resources.
Even though we are union and there is no doubt in my mind that things would be worse if we weren't, there are no state mandated nurse to patient ratios, nor are there any ratios in the contract. Also, we do not staff by acuity; the staffing matrix is a mathematical formula that does not take into account how sick the patients are or how much care they need. The only mandated ratio that I am aware of is our ICU, for the hospital to be able to maintain its trauma designation, but I have no doubts that ratio is violated all the time.
Those of you that work in facilities where this isn't happening, I am happy for you, but please don't discount the OP's experience just because you haven't experienced it. And just because some people have it worse, does not make the OP's feelings any less real, or their experiences any less valid. That's one way survivors of trauma and abuse are denied healing, is that kind of thinking, that "Hey, a lot of people have had worse experiences than me, so I shouldn't feel the way I do", and they swallow up their feelings and deny they exist, and healing never happens. It's invalidating and unsupportive to attempt to make a person feel like their concerns are small because someone else has it worse.
And before you ask what I've done to change things instead of just running away, now that I am in a job that doesn't suck me completely dry, I am getting involved with the union. Whenever I speak with my colleagues who still work in the hospital and tell me their horror stories about near sentinel events, and how they're just hanging on by the skin of their teeth, afraid they're going to kill someone because they're spread so thin that they make a mistake or overlook something important, I urge them to please, please fill out the reporting forms (they DO make a difference!), please, please, either take their breaks or take the overtime, but DO NOT work off the clock. If they're made to take an unsafe assignment, REPORT IT!
I have worked healthcare for over 10 years, starting when I was 17 yrs old. I have been a CNA, nurse tech, ekg, tech, phlebotomist, mental health associate, I have wanted to be a nurse for many years, just never really had the time to stay long enough in school. My mom is a nurse, many other family members are nurses. I have witnessed and somewhat experienced some... most of the rough days a nurse goes through. I have cried with nurses, fought for nurses, and stil I have no doubt in my mind about becoming a nurse. I have been down in the trenches with nurses and it only caused my desire to grow stronger. Being a nurse requires one to have tough skin, a strong mind and an empathetic heart all in one package. I hear you OP, however nursing is nothing like slavery, as the other posters have pointed out. I don't know if you have had to take care of a sick loved one. If so, you know how that can drain you, leave you feeling unappreciated, how demanding it is and how you feel like your work is never done. Well in nursing you are taking care of many many "loved ones" even though they are not directly related to you. You take on the burden of their familial care givers. That is why nursing is considered a "special" career field. you deal with heart wrenching depressing upsetting crap everyday!!! Somebody's gotta do it!!!!!!!! I will be at least one of those someobody's because at the end of the day, that is my calling. My mom really made me understand that. She sometimes came home drained and agitated becasue of work , but up and READY and WILLING and HAPPY to do it all over again the next day. Nursing is full of crap, from patients, doctors, families, co-workers, but once you get over that fact and stand up for you, it gets easier.
I worked many countries from developed counties to developing. I found the similar situation no matter whether it is advanced world or just developing countries. It is so true particularly in private sector and particularly when we are new in the hospital/nursing home. started my new job just a month ago and i do not have time to go to toilet. when i said that to manager, she would not excuse me, instead she said why other nurses have time then? its depresing.
Oh, good grief. The word "slavery" in this context simply means "working under harsh conditions for little pay."
The OP vented about their situation, however knowingly used a word that may hit a nerve with some people, which is why she " apologized in advance." Considering there may be some who can be offended by the word, apologizing in advance didn't really cut it. Slavery is not just about working, its about how they were/are treated, things that were done to women, children, husbands, families. And it would cost thier lives to just leave. There was no option to change jobs. So, in that context there is no reason to downplay the word that was used. Were some people snarky? Yes, however one should not put themselves out there like that. Nursing as tough as it is, is a career CHOICE. You can make a different choice or move to a different subfield within nursing. When you have choices it's quite hard to sell a story of slavery to people. Especially considering the OP was in a different career field and chose to come into nursing.
MN-Nurse, ASN, RN
1,398 Posts
Minneapolis, MN. A good deal of that is overtime and shift bonuses. Even though I pick up shifts every pay period, I am working far fewer hours than I worked in my previous salaried career.