hs276009

I have been a nurse for 3 years. I worked in neuro ICU and then switched to PACU in hopes of being happier. I am also 1 year into NP school. I have good weeks and bad weeks but it seems like the bad weeks are getting harder and harder to get through. I feel like I am often yelled at, berated, harassed and abused by my patients. Belittled by doctors and torn down by my own colleagues. I understand that some of this may be the type of place that I work and who I work with but I feel like a big part of this is just nursing culture across the board. Nurses are treated as servants, nurse-to-nurse bullying is a huge problem, nurses are overworked and understaffed....I hate to regret becoming a nurse because I really do love taking care of people. This is definitely not what I thought nursing was going to be like and according to the older nurses the profession has changed for the worse. I do realize I am a little thin skinned but I don't want to change who I am in order to survive, that quality in me might make me a little sensitive but it also makes my empathetic and capable of emotional connection. I worked really hard in college to become the best nurse I could be and feel like, what was the point? I get treated like I am unintelligent, replaceable, and inhuman... I decided to go back to school in hopes of being a little more respected and to able to use my brain a bit more instead of feeling like a trained monkey...

Thank you so much for responding. Have you worked anywhere else other than PACU? How do they compare? What made you leave?

Help! I am currently working night in a neuro ICU and am hating life. The patients are crazy, the families are mean, doctors rude, tragic cases and keeping people alive against their wishes due to families. I am starting in PACU in July with a day shift position. I am hoping this job switch makes me love nursing again. Let me know your experiences.