People in it only for the quick hire

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I hate how I see nurses in my hospital who I KNOW from the bottom of their heart, only went to nursing school because they wanted to get hired quickly and have a guaranteed job. To be in this profession you have to have compassion and empathy. I work as a nurse extender in my hospital and I see nurses who are there that don't give a rats @$$ about anything. They point their fingers and give orders, they don't have that quality that most other nurses have. People should be on a very massive probation when they get hired because the NCC needs to be aware of these idiot nurses who don't care about human emotions. I am so sick of it.

Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

"She told me that she watched those nurses for three hours sitting around the ER eating, talking on the phone and gossiping while her patient sat there wet."

WHAT HOSPITAL IS THAT? I'm lucky I get to the bathroom or have a break in my ER! I have seen that type of attitude during my clinicals, but never with my coworkers, we don't have that kind of bs time. I do agree that sometimes in our department wet diapers, or emptying urinals/bedpans are not the priority, but to be sitting around and not do it is criminal! A patient deserves dignity.

Maisy;)

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
"She told me that she watched those nurses for three hours sitting around the ER eating, talking on the phone and gossiping while her patient sat there wet."

WHAT HOSPITAL IS THAT? I'm lucky I get to the bathroom or have a break in my ER! I have seen that type of attitude during my clinicals, but never with my coworkers, we don't have that kind of bs time. I do agree that sometimes in our department wet diapers, or emptying urinals/bedpans are not the priority, but to be sitting around and not do it is criminal! A patient deserves dignity.

Maisy;)

Amazing, isn't it??. I work in a city hospital; most times, it is crowded, but, I have noticed some down time lately (although not often). But, I have seen downright COLD behavior towards the patients that is totally uncalled for.

I can certainly understand the frequent flyers...they are a pain in the rear and they usually bring on their own problems, but, there IS the dignity issue. This is usually why, again, even if I do not want to be bothered, I will try my best because it may be me. But, yesterday, was one of those days where I really wanted to enjoy each of my moments of peace and the job of nursing usually doesn't allow that.

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Specializes in Hospice.

Check out a book by Susan M. Reverby: Ordered to Care: The Dilemma of American Nursing 1850-1945. Warning, it's political and, specifically, feminist ... but she has an interesting take on this business of work that requires a particular emotional response.

For myself, I've never understood the demand that, as a nurse, I must respond with a particular set of emotions to my clients, patients, whatever. I see emotional responses as being the same as weather ... they happen. I think we do ourselves great damage in trying to force or control our feelings to fit some "image" of what makes nurses tick. To me, being able to provide care regardless of one's personal feelings about a particular person is what separates the amateurs from the professionals!

As for doing it for the money ... if nursing only paid minimum wage, I wouldn't be doing it!!! I raised my son as a single mom with no family help available at all. Without the nursing license with the pay and flexibility it offered, I may well have wound up on public assistance ... and we've all read here how folks view "welfare moms".

As others here have pointed out, nursing can be a true vocation ... IMHO it's nice to have that but it's not necessary to be "called" to be a competent professional.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
Wow, so judgemental! There are some shoes you never want to walk in....

There are many areas of nursing which don't require emotional involvement-just like real life- nursing has many facets. A hospice nurse many not like the detached feeling of the OR(HD or others) and visa versa. I returned to school after being in business for many years-my classmates were like me former managers who'd been downsized. They have all chosen different directions based on their personalities. I am not sure nursing is what it used to be-it's hectic-lots of paperwork-tasks-responsibilities. My med surg friends tell me they barely have time to chart and have their meds administered on time. Who has time to do bedside nursing? Some people are always into their jobs for the money-but if you are not happy with what you do-you won't last.

During my rotations I actually had nurses tell me they didn't like people or want to be involved with "patient care" Many of these nurses were in OR, HD, Radiology, Lab, ID or others. They were pleasant with the patients, but truly had no responsiblity other than the task to be performed. It doesn't make them bad nurses-they were all proficient and the patients never knew how they felt. They perform a nursing service that they are suited to perform.

I read the forum discussions often, 98% I am not signed in or do not comment. It seems to me there is great caring and understanding for truly sick people-but repeat offenders, underinsured, complainers(basically pain in the a.... patients) are not tolerated. Sometimes that bugs me more!!! Don't worry about competent nurses, worry about patient generalization-that is truly more dangerous!

;) Love to all-The New, old nurse who likes the job, patients and the money! SO FAR....[/quote

This is not a flame(honestly) but I have to defend my fellow OR nurses and say that the majority of us like patients just fine, and have way more responsibility than just "tasks". We advocate for that patient..we have had to advocate for a woman who was booked for a tubal ligation and was sobbing in pre-op because she had had a change of heart. Anesthesia was unsympathetic and wanted to just wheel her down to the room.(they were putting lots of pressure on her and were making her feel bad because she had second thoughts..). We do patient teaching, we hold the hands of patients who are petrified of their pending surgery. The most important part of the job is we advocate for them when they are asleep and helpless(making sure the time-out is done, counts are correct, sterility is maintained).

Sorry if I'm ranting LOL. I had a professor in nursing school that used to slam OR nurses(made us sound like we were trained monkeys!) so I'm a wee bit sensitive. I wasn't trying to attack the poster I quoted. Hmmm, guess this means that my heart and passion is more in my job than I thought!:lol2:

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

Too many people have an unrealistic point of view on nurses. They expect us to be compassionate 24/7, forgetting that we, in fact, are human. I find it is a bit better to disconnect some of the emotion at times in order to practice proficently.

I keep the word empathy in my head as often as I can so that I do not neglect the basic needs of the patients, but I did remember one major point discussed in fundamentals; we need to also admit how we feel about certain things and face them in order to practice. It helps me focus. There are certain folks that frequent my hospital and the minute I see them, I cringe. I have to face that feeling before I interact with them, so that I am conscious of it and try not to display it, or limit care to them because of my personal feelings. At times, I realized that I may have displayed more than I intended to, and attempt to change that for the next time.

Part of being a nurse to me is constantly learning about ourselves and witnessing our own evolvement.

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Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

Only love to the OR, my best nursing friend is in the OR. I used this as an example of an area with limited patient contact. I am sure patients come scared all the time to OR, sometimes I bring them there from ER. The truth is that unless they are someone who will have repeated operations, you may never see them again. Several friends chose OR so they would not have to deal with the families and long term patient issues. Do they love nursing? You bet! Are they nice and understanding? Absolutely! Is their patience tested by family and patient 13 hours a day. NOPE!

I had considered working in Oncology after being in a nursing externship for 16 weeks. I loved the patients, families and nurses. I maintain relationships with those nurses and some families, but losing those patients after so many had rebounded during their struggles with cancer made me realize that I just couldn't give that much. I don't think it makes me a terrible nurse to realize my limitations, I can, and do, offer support in the ER, along with counseling and information, but I don't think I could do it long term. For me, emotionally, this is a better fit. I realized I had made the right choice when a patient whom I thought had passed, came in with her family. I had become very fond of them during my time on Oncology-I cried when I saw her and her family-they did the same. Yet, I was relieved that she wasn't my patient when she was in the ER. I was able to give her extra and ask her nurse to be extra special, yet, I didn't want to know her prognosis. It would be too painful to lose her again. Does that make sense?

Perhaps, the nurses that don't seem caring don't belong in certain environments and just haven't tried on different hats to find their perfect fit. I hope for their sakes they do.

Nurses are like the colors of the rainbow, sometimes colors clash-sometimes they blend beatifully. Maybe we just have to help the colorblind.

Maisy;)

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Specializes in NICU Someday, I Hope.

I don't know...What makes a good nurse?

I suppose I'd answer something like, "Someone with sufficient knowledge, skills, and experience to promote optimal patient outcomes while minimizing duration, discomfort, and cost" (How's that for meaningless MBA-talk?)

I think you can be a good nurse and go a long way toward meeting my criteria without being particularly compassionate. You can be attentive to someone's needs and expeditiously meet those needs without particularly caring about them.

When DD was in the NICU, some of her nurses did not even try to act compassionately but they did tend to her needs. I slept well during those nights when they were on duty.

However, they could have provided so much more if they had cared about her and her parents. The ones that did that are the ones that we remember to this day.

Here's a good example: While my wife was in L&D trying to buy our baby time, we had a nurse who was very compassionate and caring. She had a great bedside manner and a soothing disposition. The problem is, she was also incompetent (to me). She hung a bag of MgSO3 on the IV pump and clearly didn't know how to use the device. When I asked her about it, she very compassionately informed me that it was fine. After watching it for about 20 minutes, I concluded that it wasn't fine (keep in mind, I'm an engineer, not a nurse {August '09 baby!!}) and worked up the courage to go find help. Somebody came and fixed the situation without any evident compassion but the drip resumed.

So, which would I rather have? I'll take competent and compassionless over compassionate and lame, any day.

FYI, I'm leaving engineering and going into nursing to a large part because of practical considerations. Yes, I also feeling a calling to the NICU but wouldn't pursue it without the money/stability considerations.

I don't begrudge at all any technically competent and attentive nurse who's doing a good job primarily for promotion opportunities. I feel a little bit sorry for them but if they achieve good patient outcomes, I'm fine with it.

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I see you've worked with my crew!! :lol2:

We didn't really hate people, we just hated people.

On particularly frustrating nights, we'd sit around and plot about how we were all going to move to a large, fenced compound in Montana and shoot anyone who came within 1000 yards of the property.

Occasionally, a few of the newer nurses wouldn't 'get' our humor, and would be like ---> :eek:

*sigh*

So we'd have to tell them, nooooo, we really wouldn't shoot anyone.

Way too much paperwork.

Some people don't get it when I say I've had enough and I feel like moving to a cabin in Montana and riding a bicycle.

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Occasionally, a few of the newer nurses wouldn't 'get' our humor, and would be like ---> :eek:

'our' humor is one of my favorite parts of nsg.

i can't tell you how many times i've keeled over laughing, all in the name of dark and sick humor.

i don't think i could share this type of humor with anyone other than another nurse.

leslie

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I haven't run into any people on their death beds (I do Hospice) who have said that they wished they had worked more during their lifetime. I think we get so caught up on some idea that we should all be personally fulfilled by a job, that sometimes we fail to realize that working is a means to survive and enjoy the really important parts of our lives. My family always takes precedence over my job. I do happen to feel very fulfilled by my job, but I won't choose it over my family. Am I caring and compassionate? I like to think so. But I think one can be a good nurse and still view the job as simply a job.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
So which would I rather have? I'll take competent and compassionless over compassionate and lame, any day.[/quote']

Is there anything wrong with wanting to be surrounded by nurses that have it all? That are clinically competent and have more than the personality and compassion of a toad?

I don't know about you but I set the standards very high for myself and my coworkers. Do I fall short and make errors...yes I'm human. Do I have days when my empathy and compassion have disappeared. Yes I do. But overall I demand it all from myself and as a charge nurse my coworkers as well. I try to role model this. I understand that with high ratios, blah blah blah it's tough and I try not to judge anyone. But I don't want to settle for someone compassionless that has book smarts and technical skills.

I'm not talking about the burned out nurse who is having a bad day and doesn't deserve to be judged.

Fortunately I work with a great team of nurses and only one that's a toad. I recieved yet another complaint from a family about her last week. Technically and clinically she knows her stuff. But she needs to be fired. She'll be out the door if I'm charge nurse for much longer.

Anyway, all points well taken in this thread, however, I'm still going to keep the bar high.

If I'm sounding judgemental of others, I really don't care.

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Specializes in NICU Someday, I Hope.
Is there anything wrong with wanting to be surrounded by nurses that have it all?

Nope, nothing at all. That's what I'd want for myself and mine.

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