Please define "bedside" Nursing.

Moogie · Jun 21, 2009

I pretty much expect to be miserably stressed out and on the verge of a nervous breakdown the first few years of nursing. After suffering it out a few years, I expect to become more comfortable and knowledgeable. However, I still assume the instense stress will still be present...along with "lovely" coworkers who make it that much better .

Bedside nursing is tough---and you're smart to have a realistic attitude---but I'm just concerned about your statements about "intense stress", "verge of a nervous breakdown" and "suffering it out a few years". I hope you realize that many nurses come to this forum to vent---mostly because we can't necessarily talk about these issues with our co-workers and because our families and significant others don't always understand. We don't always talk about the good times---but we do need to talk about the bad. We're here to support each other, to discuss, to sometimes (but respectfully) disagree.

Admittedly, some of the worst moments of my life have been spent as a bedside nurse. On the other hand, so have some of the most rewarding. After sixteen years, I still consider it a privilege to help with the birth of a baby or be present when someone makes the ultimate life transition into death. I've been a part of the healing process when someone has had a horrible wound: physical, emotional, and spiritual---sometimes all at once. I've witnessed extraordinary strength and perseverance in patients and families faced with life-threatening crises. I've seen kindness, humility, and generosity at the most unexpected times.

It isn't the glamour, it isn't the glory----and it certainly isn't the pay---that keep me in nursing. I went into nursing---stayed in nursing---went back to nursing after being a SAHM---because of the people. Because no matter how many psycho family members, how many butts I have to wipe, how many times I have to stay late to chart, no matter the latest stunt my manager or administration pull---what keeps me in nursing is the people.

If you want to know about bedside nursing, yes, shadow a nurse. Become a CNA and learn first hand what it's like to take care of sick people in a hospital or LTC facility. Granted, your experiences as an RN or LPN/LVN will be different from what you'll go through as a CNA but you'll get an idea if this is really the right profession for you. You have many questions and I commend you for asking. But sometimes you have to get the answer by experiencing it for yourself.

Hope all goes well for you in your journey as a student and in your eventual career.

Moogie · Jun 21, 2009

Bedside nursing has changed considerably over the past 30 years. Staffing and paperwork (computerized now) has made it even tougher. Acuity has geometrically increased while the skill level of the nursing staff and support staff has dropped dramatically. Attitudes have suffered due to the pressure to "do it all" with deliberately planned understaffing (quit calling it short staff, that applies it was accidental) so you can never deliver superior nursing care.

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and talk to myself as a new grad. I'd tell myself to stop stressing, to savor the good times and let go of the bad. Things really were different thirty years ago and if I could do it all over again, I would likely do many things differently. I'd tell my younger self to quit complaining, that things would change in the future---and not necessarily for the better---and to quit complaining until I had a little life experience under my belt and knew what stress REALLY was. Fifty years of living have taught me that being short staffed for eight or twelve hours is not as stressful as, say, divorce or major health scares or dealing with a family member going off to war.

But I agree. Things were different thirty years ago.

Doggone it. We're too young to get nostalgic!

momofqc · Jun 21, 2009

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and talk to myself as a new grad. I'd tell myself to stop stressing, to savor the good times and let go of the bad. Things really were different thirty years ago and if I could do it all over again, I would likely do many things differently. I'd tell my younger self to quit complaining, that things would change in the future---and not necessarily for the better---and to quit complaining until I had a little life experience under my belt and knew what stress REALLY was. Fifty years of living have taught me that being short staffed for eight or twelve hours is not as stressful as, say, divorce or major health scares or dealing with a family member going off to war.
But I agree. Things were different thirty years ago.
Doggone it. We're too young to get nostalgic!

so would you say that divorce, major health scares or dealing with a family member going off to war is harder or easier than bedside nursing today?

leslie :-D · Jun 21, 2009

Fifty years of living have taught me that being short staffed for eight or twelve hours is not as stressful as, say, divorce or major health scares or dealing with a family member going off to war.

so would you say that divorce, major health scares or dealing with a family member going off to war is harder or easier than bedside nursing today?

moogie is saying that divorce et al, is harder than bedside nursing today.

nursing is tremendously stressful.

divorce, major health scares, family member leaving for war, are all potentially devastating.

moogie, i hope you don't mind that i answered for you.:)

leslie

Di Deanna · Jun 21, 2009

Thanks Moogie. I thought I might open these threads so that other people can get the answers that they are looking for as well. It's all opinion really. I don't expect for anyone to come on here and give me the "secret" answer that will unlock it all . I just like to read the experiences and opinions of other nurses.

While I do appreciate the CNA suggestion, that I have heard from so many buy now, it's not a path that my life will be taking at the moment. I have volunteered in the ER and worked as a Patient Care Aide in a rehab/senior living community. Yes- this is NOT a Nurse..but it did give me a slight feel.

The only way for me to truly understand what it is to be a nurse- is to just do it! :) However, I think it's pretty smart to research a career BEFORE you jump into it..and WHILE you are jumping into it..so to speak lol.

I have been doing this for years....working lousy office jobs...saving...waiting for my chance to apply to the programs, etc. And well, here I am. I am FINALLY in a financial position to allow me to do just so.

I applied/interviewed for a Nursing program and I am waiting on my letter in the mail to determine my acceptance. Cross your fingers for me!

momofqc · Jun 21, 2009

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and talk to myself as a new grad. I'd tell myself to stop stressing, to savor the good times and let go of the bad. Things really were different thirty years ago and if I could do it all over again, I would likely do many things differently. I'd tell my younger self to quit complaining, that things would change in the future---and not necessarily for the better---and to quit complaining until I had a little life experience under my belt and knew what stress REALLY was. Fifty years of living have taught me that being short staffed for eight or twelve hours is not as stressful as, say, divorce or major health scares or dealing with a family member going off to war.
But I agree. Things were different thirty years ago.
Doggone it. We're too young to get nostalgic!

moogie is saying that divorce et al, is harder than bedside nursing today.
nursing is tremendously stressful.
divorce, major health scares, family member leaving for war, are all potentially devastating.
moogie, i hope you don't mind that i answered for you.:)
leslie

well I have been through a nasty divorce with 2 small babies while starting nursing school so maybe being a nurse won't seem so horrible comparatively. :crying2:

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2009

*guest*,

Your attitude is a breath of fresh air. Some pre-nurses are very judgemental about nurses when they have no clue about real nursing.

Bedside nursing is very, very difficult. It's not the pts or the work itself- it's rediculous mgmt, clueless idiotic administrators who have no idea what we really do and no idea how valuable we are. It's rediculous computer charting systems, stupid JACHO regs, and tons of other things that get in our way, slow us down and make it soooo hard for us to do our jobs.

Sometimes, I hate nursing, and sometimes I think it will be the death of me... but for some reason that I do not understand nursing and being a nurse are very important and meaningful to me.

Good luck, and I'm glad you're going into it with your eyes open, and with an earnest desire to know and understand what real nursing is, and what it's all about.

RN1982 · Jun 21, 2009

Oh, here's my other definition of bedside nursing: you are at the side of the bed.

Moogie · Jun 21, 2009

moogie is saying that divorce et al, is harder than bedside nursing today.
nursing is tremendously stressful.
divorce, major health scares, family member leaving for war, are all potentially devastating.
moogie, i hope you don't mind that i answered for you.:)
leslie

Not at all, Leslie!

I guess it's a matter of putting things into perspective. When I was in my twenties, I would get incredibly stressed out at work---especially if we were understaffed, got unexpected admissions, etc. I thought my stress was the worst thing in the world. From my then-limited perspective, it probably was. I'd never lost a parent---though two grandparents passed away when I was very young. I was healthy and, other than a couple of injuries and PMS, was never really sick much. I'd never known anyone who struggled with cancer or progressive neurological disease. And, other than a high school classmate died in an accident after graduation, I never knew anyone my age who died.

Fast forward to a few years ago...

When I returned to bedside nursing, I got back up to speed in my nursing knowledge, thanks to an excellent RN refresher course. I quickly became familiar with equipment and even enjoyed computerized charting! (It's okay---I'm a geek.) On the downside, I lacked the stamina I had in my twenties. (In my twenties, I was a workhorse! I could go to aerobics in the morning, work a PM shift---charge plus full patient load---then go dancing at the clubs until they closed. The next day, I'd do it all over again!) Now, with age and fibromyalgia, I don't have that strength or stamina. Bummer, but that's how life is.

But what I lacked in stamina, I made up for through life experience and understanding. Quick autobiography here: I was married to an abusive man for sixteen years before we divorced. His abuse toward me was non-physical but the abuse toward the kids escalated to physical violence. I had to pick up the pieces of my life---and my kids' lives---after the divorce. We had to rebuild our family and make sure that we broke the patterns of abuse so none of us would end up as abusers or victims in future relationships. My parents developed serious health issues, macular degeneration on my dad's part, NIDDM on my mom's. A friend narrowly escaped being in the Twin Towers on 9/11 but this survivor guilt led to an estrangement from his wife, a dear friend of mine. It wasn't just the marriage---many other issues as well---but the wife killed herself one winter day. I lost my grandmother to complications of the flu---she hadn't gotten her flu vaccine that year. I was in an auto accident that eventually landed me in a hospital bed for a cervical laminectomy.

By that point in my life, I realized what REAL stress was. Okay, so I can get annoyed at work if my nurse manager yells at me or if a patient is overly demanding or we're short staffed again. But it's situational stress. Once you're out of the situation and go home for the day, you do have a break. Global stress, the kind you can't escape, is insidious and will harm your soul and psyche.

I suppose that if there's a continuum for stress, I would place devastating life stress like divorce, widowhood, natural disaster, loss of home, loss of child----all at one extreme, say, 10. Bedside nursing stress, for me, ranges from a 2 to a 6 at the worst. Never a ten. When I was younger, I would have said 10 but I didn't have much life experience to compare with the stress I was feeling from work.

Does this make sense or have I drifted into a fibro fog again?

Moogie · Jun 21, 2009

well I have been through a nasty divorce with 2 small babies while starting nursing school so maybe being a nurse won't seem so horrible comparatively.

It won't be easy but you can succeed. Which kind of program will you be attending?

I think you will find that your experiences have added depth and maturity to your soul and you might be more empathetic to others who are hurting. And you might not get stressed out so much, say, from studying for a test as you might have dealing with your nasty ex.

You can do it!

SteffersRN87, BSN, RN · Jun 21, 2009

I HIGHLY recommend working as a nurse aide while you are going to school. The experience helps tremendously with clinicals and your future career as an RN. I worked as a multiskilled health tech for 3 years on a cardiac unit and the experience really helped.

As for actually knowing the stress of an RN and what it is like to be one... you will not know how that goes until you are graduated and off orientation. It can be difficult and stressful. Yes, there are days when I do not eat lunch or pee. And, there are days I do not leave until 8:30 or 9 off of a 12-hour shift because I had to chart. You must have the ability to be committed to your profession and license.

If you have the feeling that you are in over your head or will be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, I suggest you think very hard about your decision.

NeoNurseTX, RN · Jun 21, 2009

we are deliberately understaffed...hah i love it! i think it's true. seriously, trying to squeak by with as high ratios as possible ..