Sunny68

All I can say is ditto. I have been a nurse for 13 years and I have worked in a step down unit and med surge. Will admit that I liked the step down unit way better, alas the hospital I am at now no such unit is found and the ICU is so cliche that getting in there will be awhile. It does not help I am new nurse on the floor and drive about an hour to get there unlike the other nurses there so I am out of the loop all the way around. I will add that it usually is not the patient but the family who can make all of our day go down hill in a heart beat. Most of the time I believe it would be best if they stayed at home and not advise us on how to do our jobs. Now if they want to help assist their loved one with feeding them, when they cant, sitting beside the ones who have dementia to keep them calm then that is great, but don t pull me out of another's patient's room while I am tending to them to tell me that so and so needs some ICE... please. Another pet peeve.... I treat all the patients the same no matter their back ground, so don't tell me so and so is the mayer or a family member of one of the city's so and so... all patients have needs and should be served in the same manor. Yes, there are alot more days now that a fake smile is there instead of the real one... tired as well.

Thank you all for your comments. I am working on something to get out of that position. I tried once before to transfer to a different floor that I have floated to and to which the nurses there and I are friends now and they like the way I work. The manager of the floor that I am on now blocked it once, maybe she will approve the transfer now. If not, then I will just take a break and do something different and step out of nursing for awhile until I can find a place and position that I like.

Have you tried working nights? Nights have fewer admits and discharges, new orders unlike days with all the doctors, surgeons, specialists that come through during the daylight hours. Not saying that the beginning of the shifts can not be hectic should the ER if wall to wall patients. That can happen. Working nights can sharpen your critical thinking skills and you can learn how to organize your time more effectivily. I know nights are not for everyone. I have done my share of them and finally went on days. As I have discovered being a introvet in nature I am thinking of wanting back on nights as my life changes will allow me to sleep during the day time hours. Just another idea for you to think about. I have done LTC and I loved it as a LVN. It is very very busy during the day time hours. You can have a whole wing to yourself for meds to pass. It can become easier as you learn how they like to take meds, thier routines, etc.

I hear you. Where I work I can count maybe 3 of the CNA's that I work with on days that hold their own and are available to the nurses on the floor who need help with clients lifting, etc.. Then there are those on days mind you, that do just as little as possible and then sit in the far corner either talking on the phone or reading a magazine. The sad thing is the manager sees her doing this. Call lights go off and the clerk instead of asking the aide to do the task within her scope of practice will stop a RN with her arm full for another client to get the call light. Crazy but true. I have gotten use to not really having CNA's on the floor as most hospitals are doing away with them as cost reduction. Makes since if they are not truly working anyway. I really do appreciate the ones who are the true team players out there with us. They are truly our eyes and ears for our clients.

That is true that I can get frustrated when they keep wanting me to repeat, which just makes my speech worse. Considering the obstacles that I have overcame in my life I should not let that beat me up. The depression does not help. I know one can not change how they are if one is introverted, I like helping everyone that I work with, but I feel that I have to say hey, I got so and so pain medication for pain, or off the BSC or helped 302 to the restroom and is now back in bed, just to let them know I am helping. I am not one for looking for rewards from others, I get that from the patients and from the surveys that come back with my name on them. Seems that is what they want me to do, it is enough that I do chart everything though. I am not the most bubbly of personalities, more like Eeyore and I don't expect to be everyone's friends and listen to gossip. I am working on a plan to try and just take a break from nursing and work with children at school as a substitute teacher next year and even drive the school bus, and just work prn if they will allow that with me. If not then I plan on just taking a break from there until I find something that my bothersome speech and my introverted self will fit.

I have been a nurse for several years and yes I have had to deal with depression for several of those years and it was bad when I lost my husband suddenly to a heart attack. Now I have come to a cross road in my life to where I am thinking about leaving the career I once enjoyed. I am just tired of fellow nurses reporting me to the manage saying that I am not a team player. I do help out on the floor and with all the patients, answer call lights, helping family members with requests and taking report for coming patients. What seems to keep me in trouble is my speech and the way I communicate with others. I have a speech problem and I am up front about it, it is stuttering. Sometimes it causes my words to get jumbled up, hard to explain, so instead of asking me what I meant they, fellow nurses that I work with reports that I can be rude, maybe I am. Maybe nursing is not for me anymore and I just need to quit trying. I feel like a failure to my family and to myself. I stay in therapy and I stay on my medication but when all I hear about is how bad I am and I know I am going to get terminated it really feeds the negativity in me and pushes me into a dark place that is not healthy. I am just glad that I am aware of this to meditate out of it. I love taking care of people, it makes me smile when I hear a thank you from them or the family. I know my patients were pleased with my care, just wish my co workers were. Sighs

I have to work with CNA's like that even in the hospital sitting. It is strange how they get by with ignoring lights, sitting on the phone talking thru out the shift, eating at the desk, and having the balls to deny requests to help when asked. Yes, they have been on the floor for several years. It just makes me cherish the ones who pitches in and are team players. Yes, when you do say something to management about them or fellow long time nurses, it is you that ends up with the write up. Yep, I finally quit before the termination happened, though not going to complain does no good.

I do understand.

Ditto, but that can lead you to be in the manager's office for not being a team player, though you are helping taking care of their patients due to them being in the break room on their phone... bla bla bla... yep been there, done that.

Yes, some co workers that I have had to deal with can make any day go sour in a hurry, fighting over the assignments, staying on their cell phones due to family drama, voicing out their family drama staying hidden during most of the shift. Yes, we all have family drama but keep it at home please. I have been nursing for over 15 years now, and I usually take the harder patients and the heavier load just to get the day started as I know others would whine about it. Plus, it keeps me busy. It just amazes me after getting to know them, that they have been at this hospital for several years with their drama and others come and go. Very Toxic at where I USE TO WORK.

Yes, I just quit the position that I held for 2 years due to management allowing patients and family members to be rude and the "Customer is always right!" policy. It is a sad day when family members can dictate the care of the patient, they should take care of them at home then and not bring them to the hospital. I have had to hold my tongue, take the hits, kicks, and verbal abuse as long as I can. I deal with depression like it is after the sudden loss of my spouse a couple of years ago, so after a long heart felt week and speaking to my therapist, to keep me in a better place I left. Sic of getting write ups for standing up for myself!

Yes, that can be reported to the BON if the employer chooses to go that route, they might of told her during the HR meeting or not. I have known nurses to be fired for much less though in the state that I work for and did okay for finding other work. I have also known nurses to fired for much worse and found work.

Sadly, I have decided to leave the profession that I once enjoyed doing. With the customer is always right, having to deal with rude family, patients and sometimes even fellow staff members I have decided that I have had enough. The one incident that made up my mind was when I over heard a QA nurse tell a surgeon how to treat his patient or he would be wrote up. Needless to say this well respected physician got very upset with her and the facility. I have not seen him since. I agree that nurses work hard to take care of the their patients today and should be respected and not mistreated by clients and management.