ModernRN

YOU are a true caring nurse..all you others that feel the need to belittle my situation should listen and learn! Im outta here.

I forgot to mention that you will be working with a ton of vicious, ruthless, and egotistical folks you will have as coworker... :-)

Just as a reminder, I wasn't asking for anyones opinion or discussion. I am aware that not everyone will feel the way I do. I am only a portion of many perspectives out there and I just wanted to share *MY* experiences with others who may be considering nursing as a career. Just because you guys feel different does not mean my perspective shouldn't be treated with any less value.

I don't think the answer realistically is to leave as I have worked very hard to be where I am today and have spent a lot of time and money to go to school. I know I am just one life but its mine and I am not about to flush everything down the drain. Where is the compassion for the people who are expected to be the most compassionate people in the world so to speak? "If we don't like it then just get out"?. If I took that approach with a patient I'd be fired. Why can't someone understand us as we are to be sooo understanding of others? I know for a fact that I am not the only one who feels the way I do. Why doesn't the system improve? I guess since we clean crap, others think we can just eat crap too.

If your thinking of going to school to become a nurse please take a moment to reflect on my experiences during the 17 years I have been in nursing. To be honest up front, nurses are treated like dogs. If you have the compassion to take care of others then thats awesome but I must warn you that no one is going to foster that compassion once your in the real world. You will be expected to never make a single error and even to the point as having to consistently correct a physicians mistake. Oh yea, thats right. You must tell the physicians what needs to be done all the time and catch all their errors or else you the nurse will be punished or scolded. Most of you who are not a nurse probably think nursing is very rewarding. Wrong again. Nurses are not commended for a good job done because it is expected even when you correct errors there is no special recognition. Also the attitudes of todays patients aren't very grateful but can be downright mean and hateful towards nurses. Furthermore, physicians hardy even assess their patients adequately leaving you to wonder if the doctor really saw everything with the patient that needs to be assessed. For instants any skin issues or wounds. Most of what is the duty of the MD the nurses wind up doing. Look, I can go on and on but here is some helpful info to help you decide if you wanna be a nurse for the rest of your lives. Do a google search for "the truth about nursing" and see what comes up. This is a great way to see just how awful the nursing profession is. Thank you, and good luck choosing a career.

I just looked up the definition for "sweet cheeks" and opps..Honestly didn't know it meant that so I apologize for who ever I offended.

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A nurse has the right to refuse putting ANY order in if they do not feel it is safe.. Verbal orders are deemed UNSAFE by JCAHO...Smile! :-)

Yea, avoid the topic content and aim at the "sweet cheeks" comment. LOL.

Guess what? Get the verbal order and initiate it but the physician must put in the order himself/herself eventually otherwise you leave room for error. Its not rocket science Ma'am! That better for you?

Yes you are BSN16! The goal is to eliminate ALL verbal order entry by nurses! ALL!! The doc can put in the Levophed order himself when he takes his ass to a computer or chart. Stop kissing ass and keeping us from getting physicians on board with the system and technology where they should be sweet cheeks!

Thank you for this response. I must say that I am a travel nurse working in a hospital full of travel nurses because they can't keep any full time staff..I have worked at much better facilities where workflow is awesome! After being a nurse for 17 years its very difficult not to let these things get to me. Everyone of us nurses know that if something can be pinned on the nurse it will be done and we will take the heat...On the other hand I see physicians make errors and its like "oh well"...Just doesn't seem fair but hey Life isn't fair right? I think I am looking for boundaries between the nurses and physicians so I will feel more confident and not always be made to feel like we are the bad guys. I love what I do and have no clue how to do any other job...just wish I could better process these things that bother me. Thanks again!

Your practicing outside of the scope of nursing and risking the pt's safety and your license. When a nurse catches a physicians error the docs just say oh ok thanks and keep on rolling. But if a physician catches a nursing error he or she is liable to write you up or tell your manager and the nurse is scolded. Id like to see physician scolded for their errors as well. Just my opinion and frustration I suppose.. With todays age and time, I feel it is important to define the boundaries between nurses and physicians as I am the only one looking out for my license. Healthcare is a team effort but I promise when your in court it you WILL be examined on a individual basis.

Just because YOU are ok putting in the verbal orders, YOU are putting the patients safety at risk! Plus you are enabling the physicians to continue to exercise bad habits in healthcare!

What I am saying is that the physician should know their patients and write the orders accordingly. We have enough on our plates keeping the sick alive and having to question the physicians orders is absurd in my opinion.

This is the kind of unprofessional dangerous scenarios I am talking about. No one disciplines the physicians or they would straighten up their act! Physicians should be directing the nurses on what to do and not the nurse telling the freaking doctors what needs to be done!

Actually, studies have shown that there is no quantifiable difference in quality or safety between those with the Magnet credential and those without. - See more at: 400 Bad Request

Magnet status is an advertising gimmick! After 13 years I am finally working in a non-magnet status hospital and I love it!! Check out this site regarding Magnet status.. Magnet status: What it is, what it is not, and what ... - Truth About Nursing

The push is for ADN nurses to go back and earn a higher degree in order to help protect and save lives is before us today. Threats of our careers being over if we do not advance our degrees. How about this concept. Police officers are killing innocent people and are violating laws themselves on a daily basis. If you higher ups are so concerned about the public health and safety, why are police officers not being required to have degrees themselves? They do not even have a degree and are ruining people lives and killing others. How about start with them and leave us innocent nurses alone. Make police officers go to college or else...pressure them as we have been pressured!

Yea just more restrictions on our outside personal life. Only Nun's should be nurses these days!

Because we are nurses we can't have the same rights as any other non healthcare individual? What a crock!

Please nurses, stand up for yourselves and the patients! Healthcare is evolving to the physicians doing hardly anything and putting all responsibility on the nurse. I feel the shift is for the doctor to spend less time with patients so they can see more pt's which only equals more money for doctors. Conflict of interest in my opinion. You have the right to say no to physicians and point out why certain situations require action from the MD and not the nurse. I will make a list and if you have something else to add please do. 1. Physicians still giving verbal orders - this has been noted as a national patient safety issue. So why can't the physicians protect patients safety? Are doctors truly concerned with pt's safety? If they are ignoring pt safety goals then I'd say no they aren't. 2. Why are nurses now responsible to make sure certain medications or therapies ordered such as Metoprolol or VTE prophylaxis? Nurses are getting burned because physicians aren't capable of being thorough enough to make sure they have ordered what is appropriate for their patient. This is just lousy of physicians in my opinion. 3. Nurses having to get physicians to renew 24 hour restraint orders and foley cath orders. If your physician does not know the pt is in restraints or has a foley catheter that requires a new order then they are not fully aware of the pt they are managing care for and is not professional. 4. Physicians are not giving report of their patients when another physician is taking over call. Calling a physician for help with a pt issue and the MD has no clue who you are talking about is poor physician management in my opinion and is a safety issue. If you want to elaborate on what I've mentioned or have some of your own similar situations please add as I'm interested in others opinions. Thank you, RN

I am a nurse and chose to go to nursing school for my career. I have no desire to be a physician otherwise I would have gone to med school. I agree that going above and beyond is nice and feels great to be able to provide quality nursing care. But what about those nurses who stress that their license is gonna be taken away and or be disciplined at work over issues that the physician is dropping the ball on? Its not fair as this can cause increased nursing anxiety which can lower the nurses threshold to stress and decrease the ability to provide quality nursing care and may even be a big cause of nursing burnout. Why is no one supporting boundaries between the professions?

I am having trouble understanding why an ADN RN needs to go back to college for a BSN? I've heard because there is a lower mortality rate with BSN nurses because they have higher critical thinking skills...Really? Basic RN's, wether ADN or BSN, were trained the necessary skills to perform at the bedside and to pass the NCLEX required to become and RN. So why all the critical thinking skills that are required all of a sudden? The duty of the bedside registered nurse is to assess and prove assessment feedback to the physician. He or she said physician is to analyze the data provided by the RN and give further direction from that point. There is no further obligation in the nursing process that states we must recommend to the physician what medication the patient needs to be prescribed as we have absolutely NO prescriptive authority OR obligation. We nurses are furthermore not obligated to formulate a diagnosis for the physician which would be beyond the scope of practice also. The scope of nursing actually ends with assessment and reporting to the ultimate responsible authority. The nurse then is to carry out the specific orders provided by the physician. I can already hear you diva's saying, "but your the pt advocate", and yes we are but we have limitations. Once we hit our limitations it is the responsibility of the physician to do his or her job and stop trying to force everything on the nurses. Nurses are not here to take up the slack of the physician. The physicians need to become the professionals they claim to be and stop forgetting orders and hospitals stop forcing the nurses to catch the mistakes of a physician because the hospital can't get the physician to comply. All in all, there seems to be a stretch of nursing to become the physicians...well where is the pay and title change? Every order that a nurse corrects should be noted and send to the medical board. If a nurse was to make mistakes it can be reported to the board...Physicians should be held accountable at the same level. So my take on the BSN requirement is BS. Anyone else know why we must have a BSN? Why is it that a ADN can no longer fit the position?