is this all nursing is?

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as you all know from reading my posts I was in an RN program but didn't pass clinical. I'm doing cna work to gain experience in general. I will go to lpn school soon. i hated the first home i worked at because i was on this float schedule well i'd come to work and they would almost never have an assignment for me and for the first hour i would be running up and down the stairs trying to get my assingnment and then over to the other side. all four units, a big place with 240 beds. they would call me every single time i had a day off and then when i was there they tried to mandate me. even if i worked full time my benefits were based on my bid. also you had to have a bid on a floor and be full time to not get floated. and the staff was ignorant and so were the nurses. i did enjoy home care and was able to set my own schedule pretty much, it was more relaxed but it was too much traveling. Now i'm in a new place and getting disgusted once again. I finished college yesterday and my present was to go to work, get yelled at, and clean up poop. they had me going back and forth between the two units, then one girl left and my only partner left too to drive her home! so that left me for a good half hour to 45 minutes. i needed a pull up and of course it took me awhile to get help. then we get a new admit and i come in and offer to help. so they need a new o2 machine cause the one there didn't work. I go get it. the other aide is starting inventory on the women's things. she asked me while i was there could we get the weight and the nurse heard this!!! so i get the sling under her and set up the hoyer. right then he announces i'll just come back later and storms out like a weight was going to take soooooooo long! now i've always been taught that you get baseline data like weight, height, vitals BEFORE the assessment. Later he has the nerve to holler at me cause the weight wasn't written on the sheet and neither were the vitals. and I told him that he got mad when i went to weigh her and chased me away before i could do anything else. he rambled some more and the other aide told him to cool it. he was also upset because he had to help out the other night cause i missed. i've been sick this week plus i had a big paper and four tests. They knew i was a student when they hired me.this joker is younger than i am! also a woman was on fluid restriction and wanted tea. So i asked the nurse if she could have some.he said YES. So i gave it to her only to be yelled at by the rn and he weezled his way out of it. i feel like i'm being pushed around. it took me three hour to eat a sandwich in between charting, getting lights, and catching potential escapees. how do i stand up for myself without looking like an idiot and not getting in trouble for insubordination?After all these lpn's and rn's must be smarter than me and so deserve more respect right?

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as you all know from reading my posts I was in an RN program but didn't pass clinical. I'm doing cna work to gain experience in general. I will go to lpn school soon. i hated the first home i worked at because i was on this float schedule well i'd come to work and they would almost never have an assignment for me and for the first hour i would be running up and down the stairs trying to get my assingnment and then over to the other side. all four units, a big place with 240 beds. they would call me every single time i had a day off and then when i was there they tried to mandate me. even if i worked full time my benefits were based on my bid. also you had to have a bid on a floor and be full time to not get floated. and the staff was ignorant and so were the nurses. i did enjoy home care and was able to set my own schedule pretty much, it was more relaxed but it was too much traveling. Now i'm in a new place and getting disgusted once again. I finished college yesterday and my present was to go to work, get yelled at, and clean up poop. they had me going back and forth between the two units, then one girl left and my only partner left too to drive her home! so that left me for a good half hour to 45 minutes. i needed a pull up and of course it took me awhile to get help. then we get a new admit and i come in and offer to help. so they need a new o2 machine cause the one there didn't work. I go get it. the other aide is starting inventory on the women's things. she asked me while i was there could we get the weight and the nurse heard this!!! so i get the sling under her and set up the hoyer. right then he announces i'll just come back later and storms out like a weight was going to take soooooooo long! now i've always been taught that you get baseline data like weight, height, vitals BEFORE the assessment. Later he has the nerve to holler at me cause the weight wasn't written on the sheet and neither were the vitals. and I told him that he got mad when i went to weigh her and chased me away before i could do anything else. he rambled some more and the other aide told him to cool it. he was also upset because he had to help out the other night cause i missed. i've been sick this week plus i had a big paper and four tests. They knew i was a student when they hired me.this joker is younger than i am! also a woman was on fluid restriction and wanted tea. So i asked the nurse if she could have some.he said YES. So i gave it to her only to be yelled at by the rn and he weezled his way out of it. i feel like i'm being pushed around. it took me three hour to eat a sandwich in between charting, getting lights, and catching potential escapees. how do i stand up for myself without looking like an idiot and not getting in trouble for insubordination?After all these lpn's and rn's must be smarter than me and so deserve more respect right?

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Nursing can be really good and really bad. As far as respect it goes both ways. Nursing is hectic sounds like to me you had a typical day at work as a CNA. Sad I know but true.

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Nursing can be really good and really bad. As far as respect it goes both ways. Nursing is hectic sounds like to me you had a typical day at work as a CNA. Sad I know but true.

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Sorry you're having such a bad time Purple Princess (((hugzzzz)))

I guess I'm 'old school' and believe that everyone deserves respect, reguardless of what letters follow their name. What you think and feel are important, and you can get those across in a nice way without being "insubordinate"..and titles do NOT always make you smarter nor do they make you a better person...good luck hun ;)

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Sorry you're having such a bad time Purple Princess (((hugzzzz)))

I guess I'm 'old school' and believe that everyone deserves respect, reguardless of what letters follow their name. What you think and feel are important, and you can get those across in a nice way without being "insubordinate"..and titles do NOT always make you smarter nor do they make you a better person...good luck hun ;)

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

It sounds like you had a very bad day and I am certainly sorry to read that. I hope your work situation improves.

As to the question of whether or not it will be similar when you are a nurse ... that depends. If you choose to work in the same environment in which people seem to not treat each other very well, then ... yes ... you will probably have similar bad days. I'll bet the RN's you worked with didn't enjoy the shift you described either.

However, being an RN gives you lots of options. You can choose a different specialty, a different role, a different employer, etc. and have a very different experience from the one you described above. Your choices are up to you.

You might want to take a serious look at all the different types of nursing positions out there and start thinking about which types might be the ones for you. It sounds like you don't enjoy the type of unit you currently work on. So that might not be the right type of unit for you as a nurse.

Why do you want to become a nurse? What type of nursing experiences are attractive to you? Is it possible for you to change jobs and see some other types of nursing up close to help you decide? It might be worth doing that before you invest much more time, effort, and money into a nursing education.

Good luck,

llg

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

It sounds like you had a very bad day and I am certainly sorry to read that. I hope your work situation improves.

As to the question of whether or not it will be similar when you are a nurse ... that depends. If you choose to work in the same environment in which people seem to not treat each other very well, then ... yes ... you will probably have similar bad days. I'll bet the RN's you worked with didn't enjoy the shift you described either.

However, being an RN gives you lots of options. You can choose a different specialty, a different role, a different employer, etc. and have a very different experience from the one you described above. Your choices are up to you.

You might want to take a serious look at all the different types of nursing positions out there and start thinking about which types might be the ones for you. It sounds like you don't enjoy the type of unit you currently work on. So that might not be the right type of unit for you as a nurse.

Why do you want to become a nurse? What type of nursing experiences are attractive to you? Is it possible for you to change jobs and see some other types of nursing up close to help you decide? It might be worth doing that before you invest much more time, effort, and money into a nursing education.

Good luck,

llg

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the unit i'm on is skilled. I worked skilled and also the alzheimer's unit when i was at the other place. I've been interested in either occupational or physical therapy as a career but still would like to be a nurse. I've heard of a program at the home i'm at called restorative nursing and it sounds interesting. it pains me so bad to see these people just whither away after a stroke and never be able to walk much or anything. i know a girl that was a cna at our place but resigned to get a job closer to her house. so they might need help i don't know. i haven't had much luck getting in at the hospitals around here because they feel i don't have enough experience. so yes maybe at some point i should really talk to the don and mention my interest in this program. i did enjoy clinical cause we did vitals, assessments, shots, ivs, medication but as an aide i'm very limited. i felt like i was playing a part in getting the person well. i'm 22 and i don't want to spend much more time in college. i want to get my own place and travel when i feel the need to. i want to be financially independent and happy with what i'm doing. i've got cold feet about lpn school cause my biggest fear is not passing again and either spending more time and money in college to " try" something else or be an aide or go back to deli work. i like my residents and tend to stake out my list, the other aides hate it when i do that but heck they all do it and give me the hard ones. thanks for listening. but i just have to be mature enough to figure this out on my own.

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the unit i'm on is skilled. I worked skilled and also the alzheimer's unit when i was at the other place. I've been interested in either occupational or physical therapy as a career but still would like to be a nurse. I've heard of a program at the home i'm at called restorative nursing and it sounds interesting. it pains me so bad to see these people just whither away after a stroke and never be able to walk much or anything. i know a girl that was a cna at our place but resigned to get a job closer to her house. so they might need help i don't know. i haven't had much luck getting in at the hospitals around here because they feel i don't have enough experience. so yes maybe at some point i should really talk to the don and mention my interest in this program. i did enjoy clinical cause we did vitals, assessments, shots, ivs, medication but as an aide i'm very limited. i felt like i was playing a part in getting the person well. i'm 22 and i don't want to spend much more time in college. i want to get my own place and travel when i feel the need to. i want to be financially independent and happy with what i'm doing. i've got cold feet about lpn school cause my biggest fear is not passing again and either spending more time and money in college to " try" something else or be an aide or go back to deli work. i like my residents and tend to stake out my list, the other aides hate it when i do that but heck they all do it and give me the hard ones. thanks for listening. but i just have to be mature enough to figure this out on my own.

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hello, i have worked in long term care for 8 years going on 9years. Geriatrics and long term care is very difficult, fast paced, it is easy to get overwhelmed and stressed. each dicipline has different responsabilities that need to coienside with the other diciplines responsabilities. Like a machine. every one deals with stress in different ways, as im shure you'll agree, and we all have it, their are situations always popping up that need addressed, and as rude as that nurse was to you, it sounds like he was busy and stressed, if he is an approachable person, i would suggest talking with him about it, maybe approaching the situation from a student standpoint will help you to understand what nurses go through in situations with admissions ontop of the other 50 million task that they are responsible for. and inturn promote communication (which is vital)which will remind him to be cogniszent and professional in those situations also. i know you learned how it affects subordnant staff when nurses are stressed.and dont handel it well

this is how i deal with those situations, i think . if i were the one doing that, and letting my stress impact those around me i would hope someone would ask me about it and help me calm down. i wouldnt want my residents or coworkers to feed or be negatively affected by my presence. on the other hand the line we cross that turns into insubordination is determined by our DON's i would ask her how she would handel a situation like that, if it occures again.

at this point ," no use beating a dead horse" id let it go.

always remember in long term care to follow the chain of command .

if you remain professional and act as an advocate for the residents then'll do fine.

as for the restorative program i think that if thats something your intrested in then you might want to talk to the pt ot and st personel at your work place, find out what they have learned about restorative programs and what makes them successfull and unsuccessfull. if your still intrested (be a professional) walk up to your don and hand her a resume and coverletter . even if your more casual than that. show her your serious. tell her and show her your interested.

think outside the box. dont let your coworkers effect your attitude negatively , and the best way to do that ,, vomit sunshine. alot:-)

you can't teach compassion, but you can lead by example.

i know im windy, it just looked like your lookin for advice so this is mine.

and i read the post from the person that says long term care might not be for you, and its true, there are all kinds of speciality areas out there,

i dont know if you have any staffing agencys where your from but you can work as a cna through a pool.. and discover all kinds of options from hospital settings, nursing home, home health/ private duty,ect.may help you find your perfict fit, not only in the field but may also allow you to determine what group of people you can be at your best with.

i hope you find the answers your looking for. Good Luck.

LPN,unit manager for LTC facility

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hello, i have worked in long term care for 8 years going on 9years. Geriatrics and long term care is very difficult, fast paced, it is easy to get overwhelmed and stressed. each dicipline has different responsabilities that need to coienside with the other diciplines responsabilities. Like a machine. every one deals with stress in different ways, as im shure you'll agree, and we all have it, their are situations always popping up that need addressed, and as rude as that nurse was to you, it sounds like he was busy and stressed, if he is an approachable person, i would suggest talking with him about it, maybe approaching the situation from a student standpoint will help you to understand what nurses go through in situations with admissions ontop of the other 50 million task that they are responsible for. and inturn promote communication (which is vital)which will remind him to be cogniszent and professional in those situations also. i know you learned how it affects subordnant staff when nurses are stressed.and dont handel it well

this is how i deal with those situations, i think . if i were the one doing that, and letting my stress impact those around me i would hope someone would ask me about it and help me calm down. i wouldnt want my residents or coworkers to feed or be negatively affected by my presence. on the other hand the line we cross that turns into insubordination is determined by our DON's i would ask her how she would handel a situation like that, if it occures again.

at this point ," no use beating a dead horse" id let it go.

always remember in long term care to follow the chain of command .

if you remain professional and act as an advocate for the residents then'll do fine.

as for the restorative program i think that if thats something your intrested in then you might want to talk to the pt ot and st personel at your work place, find out what they have learned about restorative programs and what makes them successfull and unsuccessfull. if your still intrested (be a professional) walk up to your don and hand her a resume and coverletter . even if your more casual than that. show her your serious. tell her and show her your interested.

think outside the box. dont let your coworkers effect your attitude negatively , and the best way to do that ,, vomit sunshine. alot:-)

you can't teach compassion, but you can lead by example.

i know im windy, it just looked like your lookin for advice so this is mine.

and i read the post from the person that says long term care might not be for you, and its true, there are all kinds of speciality areas out there,

i dont know if you have any staffing agencys where your from but you can work as a cna through a pool.. and discover all kinds of options from hospital settings, nursing home, home health/ private duty,ect.may help you find your perfict fit, not only in the field but may also allow you to determine what group of people you can be at your best with.

i hope you find the answers your looking for. Good Luck.

LPN,unit manager for LTC facility

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