PintheD

I don't have any advice for you. Just want to say I am sorry that this has been your experience. Keep your head up! Any wise COB's have any advice for our fellow nurse?

Study Healthcare Policy. A nursing degree would not be the most advantageous for your goals.

CNA as your only clinical experience to an advanced nursing degree? Reputable program? Who is going to hire you? I am afraid for your patients. Im afraid to get old.

I walked away from the bedside in 2011 after coming to the realization that this insufferable Patient Satisfaction nonsense wasn't going away. After fourteen years as an ICU nurse from New York to San Francisco I had learned a thing or two. All that experience now benefits no one, neither the critically ill patient or the less experienced nurses. Think of how many, like me, who walked away from the dysfunction. What a tragedy. So, OP, while I agree that maximizing reimbursement and playing to the patient satisfaction scores are the rules of the game, we don't have to play by those rules. Some of us have chosen to walk away. There is life after bedside nursing!

Not surprised at all, OP, to read that you are a Nursing Director. I knew that before I finished your post. How? Your voice is so out of touch with a nurses reality. The disconnect hurts my head.

I am a second degree/second career nurse. Next year it will be 20 years since I graduated from nursing school, seventeen of which were spent at the bedside. I wish I could get those years back. Nursing crushed me emotionally and has practically destroyed my self esteem. I always worked in very high acuity, challenging environments because I did thrive on the intensity, for a while. Some years ago I had a patient found dead on the floor next to his bed when his alarms registered asystole. I have worked very few shifts since that day as I suffer from PTSD related to that patient's death. Even after all this time I remain emotional, feel responsible and feel as though a part of me has died. All of this never would have happened if I had been, say, working in a department store at the mall. I have friends that are also second degree/second career nurses and have enjoyed very fulfilling careers. I am not the rule. My intention here is to give you food for thought. The potential for unfortunate consequences for a bedside nurse are very much reality. A day in the life of a nurse can impact that nurses life tremendously and for a very long time. Good luck to you.

I have seen the same. Enough of being treated like a naughty child while shouldering the huge responsibility of fellow human beings' welfare. How did this happen? The current acceptable treatment of nurses in the US is healthcare's dirty little secret. Overburdened nurses who are denied autonomy equate to patients' overexposure to harm. Nurses and their patients have become pawns in the business of healthcare. I respect myself and my abilities too much to be a part of this sickness. Off to graduate school in a non nursing major.

A lot of patients suffer from "comprehension" issues. Could be the stress of illness or could be a general inability to process information. The trouble (clearly stated in my post) stemmed from me sharing with a patient what the MD should have explained. Hence, the physician is the one who "skim(med) by on the job". This patient was not receptive to any explanation, and was quite hostile toward me in his demeanor. As nurses we are faced with, on a daily basis, the intellectually challenged, those who are just plain angry, and those with no self control. Often it is all of the above. Good luck to you in your pursuit of a nursing career.

Congratulations!!

No interest. I'm done, totally defeated. It's been a long time coming, now I am a nursing cautionary tale. I'm going to concentrate my energy on finding a job outside of the hospital and ideally out of nursing altogether. Sorry everyone for spewing negativity. I appreciate all the comments and interesting discussion.

Why do you teach them this? In the real world I have never seen this done and we were taught the same nonsense in nursing school. I'm not going to waste time fiddling around with a poop filled washcloth - it's disgusting, unnecessary, and a colossal time waster. I, too, like those hot pack peri wipes.

Oh, Altra, I read the first sentence of your reply and started feeling all warm and fuzzy. Then I read the paragragh that followed... Why are you offended by my mindset in approaching my job? Are you a bedside nurse? Specifically do you work med/surg, tele currently? The reason I ask is the job is all about tasks. In fact, the EMR generates a "TASK LIST" for each patient strictly for nursing use. By the time one completes all those tasks, passes meds and puts out a few fires guess what? It's time to go home. My background is ICU where the nurse must have a clear clinical picture of his/her patients in order to do their job safely and effectively. Not so in this environment. Time does not allow and no one expects the nurse to think critically. The expectation begins and ends with completion of tasks - expectation of management, MD's, and based on my experience yesterday, I'm lumping patient's in there too. I have not arrived at this mindset out of apathy. It's survival. Does that make sense? Anyway, apology accepted. I, too, am sorry for my rude reply.

"It just makes me cringe to hear someone say that they will stop communicating and reduce him/herself to a task monkey." - ALTRA AllNurses GUIDE Monkey? Who said anything about being a monkey? Oh, you did. The cheerleader for communication is a name caller! Perfect. You might want to subscribe to my limited communication approach because you suck at communicating.

Be the bigger person, move your stuff. We're blue collar shift workers. Some of us have awful manners.

Pinkfluffybunny i agree. This is why I'm going forward as the nurse who smiles and nods, as if I can't read or understand English. Limited communication is my new motto. Here is my new work model: safety, complete charting, figure it out/that's not my job/I'll call someone who can help you mentality all while saying as little as possible RN.