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You have shown us the stuff of which heroes are made. Carry on!

Dear God, yes, we do need to stand up for one another. Sometimes the expectations that people have of nurses are insane, and that is a form of emotional violence that should no longer be permitted. I recently had an incident happen to me where that kind of guilt trip was dumped on me by a co-worker. I am 56 years old and have been an RN for 35 years. I went home that night in tears and spent an hour talking to the nursing supervisor and to my manager, and nearly resigned. The issue was about my "not spending enough time" with some patient who wanted to argue about her pain medication when I had another patient next door who was about to become unconscious due to a low blood sugar. Unfortunately for me, the patient wanting pain medication (which I'd rushed to bring) was related to the unit secretary and this made one of my nurse co-workers very mad, so she decided to rip me to pieces when I complained that the patient scratched me until I had welts on my hand and arm when I tried to take the narcotics back to the med cart because it is illegal to leave them at the bedside if someone won't take them. I am sick to death of things like this. It was my first day on our new computer system that had just recently gone live and I was overwhelmed by my assignment and by all that was happening. Luckily my charge nurse helped me out with my assignment or I never would have seen my other patients for about the first three hours of the busy afternoon shift. People may expect us to be Godlike and flawless and think that we can be in five places at once, but the reality is that we cannot. And if people cannot accept that reality, then that is THEIR problem, not ours. I am still hurt and angry about the incident and I am fearful every time I must return to work. I pray and meditate every day to try and deal with this nonsense. But when I spoke with my manager, I made it clear that I was not about to take the brunt for the feelings of whoever thinks they were so badly hurt in the situation I had to deal with BECAUSE I DID THE BEST I COULD AND WENT OUT OF MY WAY to be helpful. I could have just let that patient wait for her pain meds. But I tried to be there. We work in hostile and paranoid environments where family members and visitors who are uneducated and demanding are often present, holding their guns to our heads. We need to stand tall and walk tall because we are the licenscees who must determine what our priorities are, and no one else has that right, even though corporate medicine has tried to take it away from us by having unrestricted visiting hours etc...so that they can be more "competitive". But the art and science of nursing and medicine and the realities that go along with it are still alive, whether they like it or not. Thank you, my friend, for saying what needed to be said.

This thread is making me so, so sad. The person who was a nurse during the '50's....conditions were bad then and nobody complained. No one would dare. The nurses of the 21st century....conditions are bad and now, much of the time, still nobody complains. Why not? Corporate management intimidation. Now, hospitals are a competitive business and the customer is always right. Different reasons...same result. Nursing is the way it is because we have allowed it to be that way. IMO, that is nothing to self-righteously chirp about so proudly. I think it stinks for both the nursing profession, and the patients. I have done this job since 1974 and I am still doing it. By behaving like idiots, we have created the nursing shortage. Maybe if we lived in a society where personal responsibility was valued more than it is, people would take better care of themselves, care more about others, recognize real and necessary boundaries, and not treat those who try to help them like garbage. Under no circumstances should a nurse ever take physical or verbal abuse from anyone. All working people are, by law, entitled to the proper breaks, and to reasonably clean and ergonomic working conditions. I don't care if they're nurses or not...it is both romantic and naive to believe and hold on to the old idea of sacrificing your life and your health because you think you are giving "service". In a moral society, which we do not have, each person is responsible for his own life and health. Doctors and nurses can help, but they are not ultimately responsible. WE ALONE as individuals determine the outcome of our treatment. Health care professionals are just there to help. There is nothing more destructive than that "Look how tough I am and how much I have done" attitude. It has been like a cancer in both the nursing and the medical profession for far too long. It's insane and violent in a subtly and sneaky and manipulative way. It still exists, even in corporate medicine. It is useless, egoic, immature behavior and it needs to stop. I will celebrate its death, which I hope comes soon.

It isn't just the neediness...it's those who seem to have this sense of entitlement, like the entire Universe should kiss their ass. They're the worst. Neediness can be remedied by learning how to be strong. It's a lot harder to get rid of arrogance, I think.

You are not a cynic at all, you are simply realistic....in the profession of nursing, you see the worst in people. It helps to remember that the problems belong to the people that have them, not to you. There are many people in this world who are simply self-centered idiots. There is little you can do about it, so why take it on, or take it personally? The worst thing is when managements expect you to kiss their butts. This helps neither them, nor you, nor anyone. Corporations and business people do not now have, never had have, nor ever will have any business running hospitals and that is about 90% of the problem, right there. But remember...being a licensed nurse, there are more settings than just the hospital, so good luck in finding the one that suits you best.

I recently switched floors at the hospital where I work. I've found that, really, a lot of whether or not nursing is waitressing depends on management. I am finding (haven't been there long yet, though) that on my new floor, it's less about waitressing b/c mgmt on this floor lets you have some leeway in setting your nursing priorities as long as you explain yourself. The old floor did not, so much. Good management really does make a difference. Some managers are clueless, to the detriment of their units.

You know what the saddest thing of all here is, is that using this type of corporate, "customer" philosophy, we actually prevent people from healing and becoming whole again. Sometimes what people need are firm boundaries and sometimes what they need even more is a good, swift kick in the butt. Healing is hard work. You have to want it. You have to go for it. Nobody else can do it for you. Not even "that nurse".

To the ICU nurse who let them see the guy's eye.... Well done!

Just think of poop as a combination of chemicals, like anything else. It just smells really bad.