nsmith_rn

that is way to much money...... for that kind of money you could go to state university of New York where I finsihed my second undergrad degree in Psych

I think that nurses have very little autonomy. THe fact is that we all answe rot someone at the end of the day and in certian areas we are expected to know more than others but when it boils down to it.... we all answer to the almighty nursing director, board or other liscnesing venue of the state in which you are in. If autonomy is what you are after i think that this is the wrong field to look in

SbRN2002 sorry about that typo I meant to KEEP POSTING IT will help you allot there are many mroe experienced nurses out there that can give you allot of good advice and are great sounding boards :)

SbRN2002 I was not attacking you personally I was simply pointing out the problems that we have. While you have worked on entry level nursing and that will be helpful to you it is a whole new ball game when you get out there Today I saw 14 patients with a very good LVN. Fact of the matter is This was a Med/ surg floor and it was not safe. DO I refuse patients yes I refused two today that was to much and it was not safe Where they pissed " hell yes" the other reality is that it is not the managers liscense it is mine. As long as they keep milling nurses out of school that are willing to accpet high ratios then they do not care what the older nurses think. I was once as I call it " enchanted" with nursing but the reality is they are going to work you into the ground and if you intend on staying in nursing you had better develop a strong spine and a mouth do not keep posting I think that it is important that everyone has their say I want nurses to say what is on their minds..... we do not enough of that having six years in nursing I am on my way out. I do not want to work like this for the rest of my life...... sad thing is I love what I do

SbRN2002 This one is for you I had the same ideals when I was in nursing school and I wanted the same for my patients but when the demands of taking care of more patients then you can come to a relaity and administration says they will no longer use agency nurses you begin to not be able to do the things for a patient that you could in nursing school and you had one patient. I love to take care , listen to and be the support that my patients need. However I did not become a nurse to be run into the ground, worked harder then we should be and constantly have administration dump more responsibility one me becasue they insist that we do not need people like physical therapists on an ortho floor. Honestly work two years in the trenches of Med/ Surg and let me know how you feel. It is not that we are a bunch of caloused mean nurses. It is that we are underpaid in comparasion to other professions and educational levels, that we are OVERWORKED and that we do get little respect. Complied with all of that... it is hard to keep a chin up attitude. Also Never would I ever want to work with a nurse who became a nurse out of charity. One that says " we becames nurses not for the money but for love of patients" Nor would I want one of those sappy Nightengale leftovers taking care of me. The reason for that is becasue that is a person that will take all the crap and bad working conditions and just keep working for the sake of the patients... what you do not know is that nurses like that undermine our profession and make conditions worse for patients. They are not willing to stand up and make things better. They are not the ones that are willing to say hey this is ok and demand something better for the patients that are trusted into their care. I want a nurse that stands up for herself becasue then he? she will stand up for me. We are not asking for the world When nurses complain usually they want a few things and that is it Safer staffing Being able to take breaks More money and overall better working conditions. :)

Not my cup of tea Can be great if you have a good team but how often does that happen.... not very often where I am at. Therefore I end up taking more patients and doing allot more

Never I would encourage soemthing like computers or engineering not enough pay and respect. In fact I so much as would not even halep them attend college for nursing.

I do the same thing..... not even a saline bottle will I use after someone else

I try to aviod useing vials that others have used I do not know where they have been nor what has been done to them Insulin however cannot be avoided however things like compazine, Zofran I only give it if I am the one to open the vial never know what happened before you

AM I PROUD.... YES AND NO YES ON THE DAYS WHERE I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE... AND HELP SOMEONE... ON THE DAYS THAT STAFFING IS SO BAD AND THE FACILITY THAT I WORK FOR REFUSES TO CALL IN OUTSIDE AGENCY OR SHUT DOWN THE HOSPITAL TO ADMITS THEN NO I AM NOT. IT IS THEN THAT MY PATIENTS ARE IN MORE DANGER... THAT IS NOT NURSING TO ME... THAT IS LININGTHE CEO'S POCKET THAT IS NOT WHAT I GOT INTO NURSING FOR..