Nurse2001

I know this is old but I came upon this article and I agree with the writer. Bully managers are the worst but I have not had a good manager so far. When your manager is a bully there is no way but to leave. When your preceptor is a bully when your clinical instructor on orientation is a bully it is just the worst. Most nurses leave because of working conditions not because they don’t like their nursing responsibilities. So please don’t try to blame high turnover rate on nurses who can’t handle the stressful job, it’s not the exposure to patients that drives nurses to quit it is the environment that lacks support staff/lazy support staff, supply shortages, under staffed environment, overworked residents who don’t want to be bothered, favoritism by nurse managers, residents who have no respect for hospital policies that were created for patient safety and management who won’t defend nurses in their journey to adhere to hospital policies. When you want to help your patients but you can’t because of all reasons I mentioned it hurts your soul.

Part time hours, doing the best you can at work so when you go home you can sleep because you are tired, I miss my breaks a lot but when I leave the shift I feel I did best I could so my mind can calm down, I don’t do favors or try to be liked by management, I advocate for my patients even if I get in trouble for it, my manager is trying to get rid of me now because I am just too proper with calling rapid responses. And changing jobs often helps. Everytime time I change a job I have a small feeling of excitement and that spark of small fire doesn’t last and that’s when it’s time to move on to the next gig. I think of my job as my exercise time, I work hard I run I don’t eat and at the end I don’t need to waste time on exercise on my time off. I ignore bullies, I don’t talk to people at work about work, I only concentrate on my patients, I only ask for help when it is absolutely necessary. It is still hard and I feel I want to quit, but doing all of the above helps a little bit. Oh and Amazon Prime! Absolute must.

If nurses were heroes than I would not be getting in trouble for calling too many rapids. If nurses are suppose to advocate for patients than please explain to my manager who is trying to get rid of me because she believes I don’t have critical thinking skills due to too many rapids called. Nurses are not heroes we are just humans who got into this profession believing we will be making a difference and being rewarded with a steady job for it. Not the case anymore. There are no more steady jobs. If you ask too many questions, advocate for patients or step onto the wrong foot one day you will be framed and humiliated. Yes in hospitals the employees are connected they are friends and if you don’t know anyone you will be humiliated and burned in a fire like Salem witches were. this is the kind of professions we are all in. I don’t regret for a moment all the patients I helped but I regret to be a nurse because I didn’t know healthcare system was operating on a cold stone heart.

You will find another job. Just have a very good speech when they ask you what happened? Been there, done that many times in my career. As a matter of fact I just walked out on a job 2 weeks ago. LOL. And it was my dream job. Sometimes it just doesn't fit from both sides, you will find your place in the nursing world, I am still looking after three years in med surge to find that unit where I fit in. I noticed a lot of units keep nurses or hire nurses based on personality and not really our clinical skills. It is all about connections, who you know, where your friends work, and how wide your smile comes up to your ears. LOL. If someone doesn't like you they will bad mouth you and before you know it your dream job turns into a nightmare. Nurses are not compassionate human beings as they should be, nurses are survivors, and those that adapt well to a jungle environment survive. And now that they have so many applicants, and huge at hand available workforce, employers do take advantage; as they are very picky, many nurses fail orientation just because one person in the unit just has something against the nurse. So be careful. Keep looking and don’t be afraid to ask about the culture of the company during the interview? As you have the right to know. I know I will ask on my next interview.