Nursing is slavery Period!!!

[sonia211]

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.

Please feel free to comment on this post. . .

[SweetPEI]

This is the title of this post, in case you missed it

[h=1]"Nursing is slavery Period!!! "[/h]

[sonia211, BSN]

~*Stargazer*~ Thank you for understanding the context of my post. Well said!

[Hoozdo, ADN]

I'm interested in research but I thought you had to have a MSN or PhD to do research?

That's what I though too until a recruiter called me one day and asked if I had any interest. RNs are needed to take care of all the study participants! An ICU background seems to be golden.

[OnlybyHisgraceRN, ASN, RN]

My turn to say something that will be interpreted as rude, so here goes.

If you feel this way about beside nursing, then get out. It is not going to get any better. Honestly it takes a certain type of person to cut it at the bedside and the sad fact is that a lot of people have gone into nursing because they think want a "recession proof" job. Sorry but not everyone is cut out to be a bedside nurse, just like not everyone is cut out to be a fire fighter or a police officer etc.

No one every promised me a bed of roses when I started nursing. It is HARD work, with huge mental and physical demands, if you feel this negatively towards it then get out now before you begin to turn out to be that sour nurse. The blessing with nursing is that there are many avenues to take, community healthy, private practice etc. Find one that works for you and get away from the bedside, you are not happy and just trying to swallow it is going to affect your attitude at work.

I am a new Grad RN and have been an LPN. I have worked in a LTC facility that was so bad that it was nearly shut down by the State and I STILL loved being a nurse. I now work in a very unglamorous local hospital and I couldn't be happier. Sure I have bad days when I want to kill the family members or admin but I still walk out saying I love what I do.

If you are that unhappy, you need to decide if it is nursing in general, where you work or floor nursing in general that you hate and get out. Yes we work hard for our money but in the end we get paid pretty decently. I don't know too many other jobs where a nurse can have an Associates and still make what we make. My husband has a Bachelors and a Masters and recently changed careers like I did and I make a fair bit more than he does WITH better benefits. And he is just as stressed as I am. I know factory workers that work 12 hour shifts with just as physically demanding jobs who make half of what I make, so I do not complain.

Anyhow, nursing is not slavery, no one is forcing you into that job so if you really feel that it is that bad I suggest that you look for other fields and let those who truely love it move in

Wish there was a love button. I totally agree.

[PacoUSA, BSN, RN]

No wonder new grads are having a hard time finding jobs in the New York area, its because everyone outside the state is finding out they start out making almost $80K a year ... who knew? And what about San Francisco? I think their starting salaries are even higher. Pretty well-paid "slaves" if you ask me!

Sent from my Samsung Stratosphere using allnurses.com

[angel337, MSN, RN]

I made 70k my first year as a nurse because i worked at least 16hrs overtime and worked nights with a 6hr differential. that was 9 years ago. Hospitals are not as desperate as they used to be so ot can be hard to get and they have cut the pay diff in some areas. Also keep in mind what part of the country the nurse works in.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

No wonder new grads are having a hard time finding jobs in the New York area, its because everyone outside the state is finding out they start out making almost $80K a year ... who knew? And what about San Francisco? I think their starting salaries are even higher. Pretty well-paid "slaves" if you ask me!

Sent from my Samsung Stratosphere using allnurses.com

Yeah and cost of living is also higher in those areas.....

[angel337, MSN, RN]

I made 70k my first year as a nurse because i worked at least 16hrs overtime and worked nights with a 6hr differential. that was 9 years ago. Hospitals are not as desperate as they used to be so ot can be hard to get and they have cut the pay diff in some areas. Also keep in mind what part of the country the nurse works in.

I mean to actually respond to posts and I keep pressing the reply button instead of the quote button. this is in response to "where are new grads making 70k"

[NayRN]

Where the F is anyone making $70000/year as a new grad? I want to go to there.

Me too! Take me! After 3 years, my base pay is about $36,500. With my 2% raise this year, I might make it to about $37! Just think, I could make $70K in about 10,000 years! What is the inflation rate again?

[Havin' A Party!, ASN, RN]

Agree with ya Sonia that work has gotten tougher and tougher... including 2012.

And many of us have their rates frozen due to the biz situation.

Of course, not really good for patients, the organization, or staff.

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

~*Stargazer*~ Thank you for understanding the context of my post. Well said!

You're welcome. While this is a labor issue that affects workers across the spectrum of occupations today, what is unique about nursing is that lives are at stake. If I'm working at a paper mill and get tired and careless, yes, I could get my arm caught in a piece of machinery. But as a nurse, if I get tired and careless, I could kill somebody's mother, father, sister, or brother. I could kill somebody's child. There is a difference! And, this is a forum for nurses to talk about nursing, not a forum for police officers to talk about policework or factory workers to talk about factory work.

The current healthcare model is the assembly line model, much like factory work. But we're talking about PEOPLE here, people's lives! It just feels wrong on a gut level to me, to provide health care to human beings the same way we would assemble a car or an appliance, the same way we would package processed food, or electronic gizmos and gadgets. Nurses are not simply assembly line workers, and yet that's what I see happening right in front of me today.

And instead of supporting each other, instead of backing each other up and fighting back against this, we pick each other apart over things like semantics and how much worse other people have it.

Nice.

[SweetPEI]

I completely agree. When I look at it from a personal view, I would not want to be a patient at certain facilities I've worked at because of how the staff were treated. I still think its is about standing up for oneself. Sometimes people don't because they feel it might cost them their job, but that only sends the message that you are ok with poor. treatment, this leads to bitter, uncaring workers who deliver minimal care. We have to stand up for us. My mom has never been out of a job and one thing she has always told me is that she hates being taken advantage of and she would respectfully set her demands. Administration always complies with them too because they are in need of her skills, not the other way around. Everyone responds to the same type of stress differently. If a situation makes one feel like a slave and they can't stand up for self or they feel like there is nothing they can do about, it would only be right to move on. Unhealthy work atmosphere leads to unhealthy nursing care