Cruzan_RN

I’d also like to add that I have no problem getting someone a drink of water or chasing meds, because I do care about my patients. The issue I have with all of this is that with increased patient acuities & complexity, even in 12 hours, certain tasks that could be handled by other staff, pull me away from nursing tasks that cannot be handled by other staff. This compromises the care I’m able to give and patient safety. Having to deal with CNA’s/PCTs who gripe about how they can do my job better than me and how the nurses are all lazy is also frustrating. You can’t ask for help, even when explaining that you have other more important things to attend to without the aide feeling like you think your above them or your lying to get out of doing work. Speaking as a former CNA, they don’t understand our role & while I have also encountered AMAZING CNAs/PCTs, many of the ones I have encountered provide little assistance or only focus on getting vitals, but don’t toilet patients, bathe patients, answer call bells, turn patients, etc. I do all of these things, but if more often, I had someone who could “assist” me in doing these things at times so I could have more time to chart & focus on my life saving nursing tasks it would be a huge help & help relieve at least some of the stress that comes along with the job. Nursing resiliency courses and preparation are great, but even with those things nurses are bound to get worn down as, & I think people tend to forget, we are ALSO HUMAN & not magical nurse machines. The environment is what really needs to change if the profession is to retain its professionals, both inexperienced & experienced.

Also when you do try to fight or speak up your blackballed.

New nurse here, second career. For me, yes school doesn’t adequately prepare you for the fact that your job is going to have these ever increasing, unrealistic expectations of you. When I left school, I thought that I’d be able to provide the care necessary to promote holistic health. The reality is that, in hospitals (I can’t speak for other places as this is my only experience) short staffing, reduction of ancillary staff, cost cutting, patient satisfaction scores, etc. make it difficult to get an adequate orientation as well as behind able to appropriately do your job as a nurse once you hit the floor. When I spoke to my manager(s) & mentor about why I was struggling, they all attributed it to me being new. However, after speaking to many nurses with 15-30 years of experience, I realized everything I was feeling was not only valid, but was not solely based on me being new. They tell me ”get an advanced degree & get out, nursing is only getting worse. I thought I’d do this forever but now I feel like I can’t leave, get out while you still can”. I’m not an idiot, yes nursing is new to me, but I also had another career. I have no issues with working hard, or changing environments, I’ve always adapted well. The difference now is that every additional month I am a nurse I feel like facilities are putting my license at risk & patients lives hang in the balance. The consensus I’ve gotten from my discussion with nurses of all experience levels is that we’re expected to do more and more and it leaves less and less time to focus on nursing things. I shouldn’t be spending so much of my day calling and recalling the pharmacy & chasing meds, having to call and recall doctors to place orders before being told to put the order in myself, searching and calling floors for supplies, answering and screening phone calls for the unit, chasing down food & dietary team members because someone didn’t get the right order, being a maid and personal punching/verbal dumping bag for disgruntled patients & other staff over minor things that they feel I should be doing, and so on, all while keeping up with my nursing tasks that only I as the nurse can do. To top it off, my generation is becoming more cognizant of personal health & bedside nursing is not healthy mentally or physically. 13-14 hours on you’re feet, barely getting a 30 minute break during that time (forget about 15 minute breaks), holding your pee because the second you try to go to the bathroom call bells start going off and no aide staff is in sight & you don’t want to risk a fall happening, not being able to even have a covered water bottle at your desk to grab sips between running around (hello dehydration), then after your emotionally, mentally, physically draining day, leaving frustrated, irritated, or crying & being so SPENT that you have nothing left to give your family or yourself?! Honestly, it’s a surprise that anyone does this job anymore to me. I plan on leaving as soon I level up my degree.

.. And I know I’m not alone in this sentiment. Many of my former classmates who are less than a year at bedside are already planning their exits. Many nurses who are more experienced than I have made remarks about needing something different about it becoming “too much”. All over nursing forums and social media I see people of all years experience trying to escape the bedside or people trying to tell others how to get away from it like they did. I am over it and that makes me sad, because I want to love it, I love the close interaction with the patients. I think there’s a lot wrong with bedside nursing that needs to be addressed. I often work twelves but end up st work for 13 hours or more trying to complete charting, then commute twenty minutes to pick up my toddler late, until finally reaching home st almost 10pm. Don’t think anyone, kids or no kids enjoys staying late after a twelve hour shift on a consistent basis. The way it functions now doesn’t promote good mental, physical or emotional health for the nurses who are expected to care for the patients and the stress sent frustrstion barges into home life. It also doesn’t promote safety for patients when their caregivers are stretched thin, floors are understaffed, ratios don’t promote safe patient care or even some of the basic care needed. A lot of information I see online about dealing with stress at the bedside and work life balance tells the nurse what they can do but doesn’t address policies, poor practices and how cheap healthcare acts when it comes to hiring adequate staff and how that impacts us. I don’t think it’s too much to want a rewarding career but to also want to be able to get home to family on time, take vacations when you want (at my hospital we can’t request weekends off so we have to schedule vacation around weekends) or have a reasonable work life balance. As as a new nurse I’m not sure what I can do outside of bedside at this time since a lot of jobs require experience but I’m just not very happy here.

Before I begin, let me just say I love my unit & my patients and the majority of the staff I work with is amazing. Idk if it's a first year thing or what, but I'm so exhausted. Bedside is very overwhelming and I often feel like I have to do my job tasks and then the tasks of other disciplines as well. It's really taking a toll and I'm not even 6 months in and I know I can't do this forever. I do feel like if staffing was better not just with nursing but with aides and other support staff/disciplines I would probably love bedside.

Hello everyone! I have JUST completed the ADN program at Delaware Tech & I graduate in two days. While I am thrilled to have made it through, I'm also very discouraged with the job market right now. I chose Del Tech for many reasons, but one of those was also because getting a job at local hospitals has historically been "easier" for the graduates. For my future career goals I want to work in an acute care settings. I know there are other employment options but of those available, none of them are where I truly want to be and I don't want to just take a job to have one and be not be fully in it or passionate about where I am. I know it's very soon, and I've only been looking a month, but after being told multiple times that the local places only want BSN's I'm just worried. I know that statistics show BSN's produce better patient outcomes, and I do plan to start a program in fall, I just am very disheartened right now. I didn't have the options, financially or with family support to go right into a BSN program, but now I'm worried after all the sacrifice I put into getting here, I won't have a chance at a job that'll help give me foundation for my long term goals. I also feel like the local hospitals and the ones in surrounding states feel like ADNs aren't worthy of anything, even if we are willing to go for our bachelors we just aren't good enough for them.

Currently I am on spring break, but once its over I will have 3 weeks of class & final week and then I will be done & hopefully on my way to graduation. I have completed my resume & I have a cover letter template ready, but a lot of the jobs in the area require a BSN or experience I don't have as someone presently in school or will even have as a new grad. I want to start applying & I'm wondering if I should just go ahead & apply to some of the jobs even if I don't have all of the experience.

Hello all, Currently I am located in Delaware and finishing my ADN in one more semester. I've been here for the majority of my life and I've been traveling more and I'm just ready to experience life in a new place. New York is on my list of possibilities but I just want to hear from current NYC nurses about salary and how you fair with the cost of living in the city. I will be moving with my son and fiancé. My fiancé is pre-med and attempting to get into medical school (hopefully in one of the places we choose to go) so we're looking to find something "manageable" since he may not be working as much. Any and all input is appreciated !

Thank You, I have one year left at DelTech so I've been trying to get in there. I really don't want to work in homehealth right out of school. I want to get on a medsurg floor and build my skills a bit before I venture off elsewhere. I may try to get licensed in PA as well and all ply to hospitals there if I can't get into to Christiana

Hi everyone, I'll be finishing up nursing school within the next year & I'm trying to land a job as a PCT or safety companion while I finish. I'm hoping to start off on a med surg floor at Christiana Care either with Christiana hospital or Wilmington once I pass the NCLEX but I was wondering how much the starting pay there is for a new grad. The other posts that talk about it are years old and I'm sure it's changed by now. I know it's a bit early and I don't have a job locked in, but I just want to get an idea of the starting pay. I'm really determined to work there because I loved the atmosphere during clinicals. Any updated info would be helpful; thanks!

Hey you guys I'm finishing second level at Del tech Stanton; if you have any questions feel free to message me

Yeah im about to finish second level now. They do offer night clinicals & 170 was a bit different, the offered morning, afternoon and night, after that it's just morning and night, but lecture is always during the day. Also so the schedule changes from semester to semester and day to day as far as your one day off during the week and times that you spend in class. For 170 and 180 expect to spend extra time in the lab outside of class practicing your skills for sign off. Personally I think 170 was the best time to work as long as you have a schedule and stay on top of your school work, but after that it gets more difficult because the courses are 8 weeks, there's a lot to cover, it's fast paced so you have to study a lot, and sometimes you're in lecture most of the day (for example 9am-2pm) sometimes later. recruit friends and family to help out with your son cuz you will definitely need it. Clinical is Monday and Tuesday and starts at 6:30 am and you have to be there on time; my mom drops my son off on those days. My best friend/his godmom picks him up from daycare Tuesday and Wednesday so I can get a break or stay at the library late to get some work done and when I come home he's in bed or ready for bed. you'll need the support! Good luck to you

That's what I'm trying to do because it seems like the best fit but the company I work for or got hired for is very disorganized. I've been trying to get scheduled with them but they only call on days I'm not available.

The main issue I have with workstudy is the pay, since I'm the only one providing for my son I need to make a little more than what work studies offer.

I got into the RN program at my school and I begin in August. I am a single mother of a 1.5 year old with pretty much no help when it comes to caring for him. After viewing the tentative schedule for the course (which is 4dats a week, 5 if we have an exam), getting advice from other RN grads & watching videos and reading articles, I sat down and developed a schedule to help me balance out my week and it was perfect until I realized that there isn't much room for work. I receive public assistance, but I hate being in this system. I also have bills that public assistance doesn't cover so not working isn't exactly an option. I got a job at a home health agency, which I thought would be great because of the flexibility, but the agency is crappy, they pay no attention to your availability, trying to get scheduled is a nightmare as no one returns emails or calls & I still have yet to receive pay for orientation (it's been a month). I thought I could work a few hours with them Saturday mornings and on the mornings of the set aside exam days when there is no exam, and still be out in time to pick up my son from daycare; but if it's going to be such a nightmare I feel like it's not worth it. I've read article after article about jobs for nursing students and searched and searched for jobs that'll fit, but companies want one year experience for HHAs/CNAs & I just was licensed so I don't have that. I'm becoming discouraged and have no idea what to do. My advisor only recommended working 8-10 hours of you really need to work but she really doesn't recommend working at all. are there any jobs anyone knows of that are flexible and don't require a ton of hours