massrn116

I have been an ICU nurse the majority of my 30 years in nursing. I started out and am still a diploma RN. I learned "old school" but have kept up with technology and have always felt that at the bedside one did not know if I had a degree or not. My employer has been actively at war with nursing for the past few years. Making cuts in the name of lack of medicare reimbursement. I have watched the nursing numbers dwindle, have seen ancillary staff done away with. We are now facing cuts in our hours to save the hospital on having to pay benefits. I am sad, very sad that nursing is dying. I have always been the type of nurse that has frequently, on an almost daily basis been sincerely thanked by my patients or their families, have frequently had a patient say "you have taken such good care of me." Have frequently gotten a smile out of the sickest or most nervous patients with my "humor." But now I am afraid. I am afraid that nursing is dying and I am afraid I will lose my job and won't get another because I lack a BSN and I am in my 50's. I am sad that I devoted so many years to a heartless hospital system that does not appreciate my years of service and the fact that I am not a bump on a log. I am mainly sad because nursing is dying and all those "nurses" with advanced degrees are not acting as nurses and being proactive in trying to save nursing. Instead they are siding with management big wigs, ceo's with big salaries and allowing nursing to die. You are the ones that never stayed too long at the bedside and realizes there was a real, live person who was depending on you to give excellent patient care, to be an ear, to give hope to the hopeless, to crack a whip on those that were giving up, to hold the hand of the dying. I would have to think if you had stayed just a little while at the bedside you would realize the value of a nurse, the value of me and would not contribute to the death of nursing.

We used to get vented patients up to chairs, these days patients are overly sedated with fentanyl and versed. One cough and some of the nurses will up the drugs. The intensivists promote a RASS of -2. Patient's will be a -3 or -4 and still the drugs will be tanked. The result...an overly sedated, deconditioned patient that will take weeks to get moving again if not months.

I have found the articles very helpful in making me realize I am not "paranoid" and my complaints are not petty. My current nurse manager is SO threatened by my confidence and my ability. She can never "get me" on my patient care so she has targeted me by saying "people" have called me rude (other colleagues) or "you don't seem very happy" etc. All little vague accusations that at times take their toll. The "problem" with me though is I refuse to be her victim. I stand up to her any way I can, I challenge her vague complaints and I am just waiting for my next evaluation. I am possibly thinking of attaching a copy of the bullying articles for her review.

I am finding that lately after 25+years I am also hating the bedside. Mainly because of the backstabbers I work with, a nurse manager that plays favorites and interprets the "rules" based on the person in front of her. Mostly because of a day like yesterday. I busted my a@@ from 7am to 3pm getting a critically ill patient tubed, lined, ct'd, a-lined, med titrations, no bathroom, no lunch and today one of the docs questioned today why an abx went up later than he expected. Do doctors really get "it" ? After all these years I still see some write an order and forget the process/s it takes to carry out the order.

I work 12 hour shifts in an ICU, I make sure I get at least a 30min. break in that 12 hour period. We used to have the mentality that we were too busy to take breaks or lunch....when I am booked resource I make sure to assign lunch to give people a bench mark to shoot for. In nursing school I was fortunate enough to learn that in order to take care of others I needed to take care of myself. The norm for our unit now is for people to sign off to each other and take a break. Put your patients aside and plan for lunch, they will survive 30 minutes without you, no need for martyrdom, which a lot of nurses seem to give in to.

Not nice Noahsmama.....anyway...I have worked 25+years in MA and with OT my current gross income is 120,000 at a small community hospital...in it for the long haul I guess........

I too am one that many staff turn to for answers and advice....is that why??

I got severely ill about 5 years back post flu shot. Could not sit up without getting a severe headache. One thing led to another, neuro visits, CTs, MRIs, LP, being told it was stress, "tight neck muscles" went to chiropractor, sustained a subdural hematoma, had to switch nursing jobs, EMG hygromas by MRI,....needless to say I am more than hesitant to get a flu shot but I will get one if my employer will cover any adverse reactions/loss of income if I should have any type of reaction.

I have been a nurse a lot of years. I opposed my former peer becoming our nurse manager. It has been about 4 years she has been in the position. Most recently she is forming her "inner circle." It is composed of nurses that she deems "worthy" of the charge role, preceptors, committee members etc. Then there is the "middle circle" nurses that will just go along with things though they know there is favoritism and just sit back and take it. I am one of maybe five outcasts. I do not go out of my way to cause trouble but I do tend to speak up. What I have found is that I am not able to express myself as freely as my peers about every day nursing frustrations because then I am called into the "principals office" I am not allowed to have a bad day, it becomes a personal issue with the charge nurse or nurse manager and another reason to find fault with me. Although I see many worse behaviours in my peers that never get "noticed." It bothers me but I also don't sit back and take it. I call my manager on it and remind her of our past and the fact that she may simply not like me.

I like it when a patient sends a letter with my name included to management.

Good luck you will develop a routine, give yourself a few weeks and it will become second nature.

Nursing now for 28 years, many patients have touched my heart. This week I got to care for a patient for a full week +. 88 years old and the first thing he said was "she's a lefty, I'm in good hands." He told me day after day that he appreciated my care but the one thing he said which I treasure is..."you were meant to be a nurse."

In MA it is labor law that after every 6 hours you get 30min. We clock in 15 min before and out 15 min after our shift change. Typically we are lucky to get 30 min, and I must say because it was due to my insistence on being given at least assigned 30min lunch . Worst enemy against breaks are the nurses I work with. I believe it is called martyrdom

Thanks for the shoe tip...one other tip for back pain and stiffness The sleep number bed. I suffered all the time from stiffness and back pain my husband talked me into a sleep number bed and I have to say I wake up every morning and can actually bend over to make the bed........

i am an "old" nurse. it use to be that dnr/dni did mean do not treat. in this day and age, even when a patient is alert and oriented, able to make their own decisions, have made their decisions known in the past, several practioners and family members will try to insert their opinion and their beliefs when the end of life is coming. they totally bypass the expressed wishes of the patient and in my opinion, "when the co2 rises" will then assault the patient with an oxygen mask/bipap/ventilator. a physcian can always find one weak family member that cannot let go because they are put in the position to decide life and death of a much loved family member. instead of encouraging the family that the patient has already decided and the right thing to do would be to provide comfort, the family member is talked into treatment, "just for 24-48" because we can treat the pneumonia, we can treat the uti, we can treat whatever one organ is in trouble at the time but we are not looking at the patient as a whole. so you know what, we do treat, we are good at what we do. the patient gets discharged to the nursing home and we will see them in a couple of weeks, again starting the assault until someone steps up and says no, we need to honor the patients wishes.