"I don't want to do bed side nursing"...SAY WHAT!

[lauralassie]

had a couple different nursing students say: "well, i'm going to school so i don't have to do bed side nursing". one even told me she want to work in plastic surg. office, not at the bed side. o.k. , i'm an "old nurse...47 yrs old", but when i went to nursing school in the 80's , we knew we knew we would most likley have to work our way into other areas of nursing after some experience in an acute care facility or some other such place. i hate to sound like i want to eat my young but, a part of me wants to see these new nurses go through the ranks like many of us did. not because i want to see them go through he double thooth picks, but because i feel , taking care of pateints, hands on , learning orginizational skills, pt. asses. , are the best way to learn nursing skills. as a critical care nurse of 27 years, i continue to be amazed at how much i can find out about a pt. during a bath and bed change. we have beds that turn, vents that suction, monitors that alert a critical care team half way across the city, bells, beeps and whistles,,,,what ever happened to good old hands on. i think it is funny that a nursing student thinks if she goes to a plastic surg. office she will only see tummy tucks, face lifts and boob jobs. she's forgetting the big ugly draining wounds , burns, and amputations etc..these office settings see. would love to be a fly on the wall when she takes care of her first pt. with these things and says......"oh my gosh, a plastic surg. takes care of these people too...!" guess i'll go into dermatology.... ha , if you've been around the block you know what awaits her there too. hee heee....but i swear i don't like to eat my young ! :rotfl: :lol2:

[Nitngale]

And then get pages at three in the AM about someone who is sick, old, or injured.

No, if someone doesn't like sick, injured, or old people, they'll have to become a hermit crab, because those kinds of people are everywhere.

Yeah and then without ever getting out of bed, they phone the charge nurse, asking the nurse's assesment which means that the nurse is actually diagnosing. I witnessed this in the ICU (as a visitor).

If you mean "'those people are everywhere" in the hospital ---then you (generic) shouldn't work in medicine. If you mean 'they' are everywhere in society---that's not true. I can think of many areas where people are neither sick, injured or old.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

Sorry, don't mean to be rude, but I've been a nurse for 25 years and I've NEVER seen anybody RATIONAL do these things.

IMO, that's pretty much much like an oxymoron.

If people DO irrational things, how can you call them "rational"?

I have seen many, many new nurses have these kinds of ideas; seeming to think they want to be paper pushers.

I have been an nurse for 13 (and an aide before that), and I have seen plenty of patients do that...and yes, they were rational.

When the patient will be abusive to an aide or a nurse or a caregiver that appears "fragile -smaller or weaker" and yet be polite and suddenly behave to security, police, MDs and anyone less "fragile", they are obviously cognizant of their actions and rational enough to know what they think that they can get away with and what might seriously endanger them. Much like spoiled chidren that tries to push to see what they can get away with and pitch highly "irrational" tantrums.

While dementia/seriously mentally ill (seriously as in, unable to know the difference between right and wrong - the vast majority of mental illness does not fall in this category), may be excused some bad behavior, most of the population does not fall in this category.

(And before someone does the ever present" Well, you must have never been seriously ill, hospitalized or in pain" mantra, please remember that I have had chemo and have chronic IBD.)

And when we allow it to go on and make excuses, we promote it and cause problems farther done the line.

[blueiwahine]

I'm 43, and only been in nursing 6 months...I love bedside nursing...just hate all the other hospital B.S....especially love the graveyard shift...I'm stuck on days still in training...about to bail...if they don't put me on the shift and floor I signed up for. My only complaint is I don't have all the years to work my way up to where I want to work...I want to be there now. lol

[Maverick80]

I'm a nursing student with the attitude i'll try anything once!! So far I've done 2 med-surg rotations, the first one i hated, nurses not so nice and since it was our first rotation we didn't get to do much. Then i was off to GERO which i was at a nursing home. I can never work in a nursing home. I passed meds and played cards. Although at times fun, and getting to know the patients was nice i can't do that day in and day out. Then 3rd rotation back to advanced med surg. I still don't completely like it, but i felt more like a nurse giving IV meds and IVPB for the first time. Being able to actually know what i'm talking about and putting things together that i couldn't previously do. I've also done small out rotations in the OR which i love, PACU which was interesting and Endoscopy which i don't really like. But i use every opportunity to get a glimpse of what i really want to do when i'm out of school.

I however work as a tech in a local Level 1 trauma center. I've found a spot where i truly feel like i belong. I love the crazyness. I worked for 4 months trying to get this job, it's really hard to get into the ED and i was coming from the outside, not from a floor which makes it twice as hard. At least i wasn't going for a part or full time position, that would have been impossible. I think that no matter where you find your passion in nursing it's never going to be completely glamorous. Some days are better then others. But when you love what you do it makes it so much easier to deal with and going to work is actually fun. Some days i just wish i could do my clinical's at work!! But i can't so i drag myself to clinical.

[45alex]

The problem with the 'I only want to be a nurse in a plastic surgeon's office" attitude is that even those having reconstructive surgery have other health issues. I used to work on an in-patient dermatology unit....and you better be able to recognize sepsis or if a pt is having an MI or PE. Pts rarely have just one condition....many have co-existing conditions, and that means taking care of all conditions.

I am a psych nurse now and many psych meds have effects on blood sugars, heart function and kidney functions, not to mention negative neuro effects in some cases. If you don't know the basics of medical-surgery then you will be at a loss when something unexpected happens.

I can say that every type of nursing I have done (medical, cardiac, ICU, trauma, derm, occupational and school nursing) has all intertwined and built on the other. I don't know of any nursing that is in a 'vacuum'. That is why some basic experience is so important.

JMHO. :)

[smk1, LPN]

The problem with the 'I only want to be a nurse in a plastic surgeon's office" attitude is that even those having reconstructive surgery have other health issues. I used to work on an in-patient dermatology unit....and you better be able to recognize sepsis or if a pt is having an MI or PE. Pts rarely have just one condition....many have co-existing conditions, and that means taking care of all conditions.

I am a psych nurse now and many psych meds have effects on blood sugars, heart function and kidney functions, not to mention negative neuro effects in some cases. If you don't know the basics of medical-surgery then you will be at a loss when something unexpected happens.

I can say that every type of nursing I have done (medical, cardiac, ICU, trauma, derm, occupational and school nursing) has all intertwined and built on the other. I don't know of any nursing that is in a 'vacuum'. That is why some basic experience is so important.

JMHO. :)

This may be true, but i don't think that we should assume those that nurses/students who want to work in plastics or etc... don't have the basic skills of assesment and the nursing process that others do. The fact is that some don't want to do a lot of ADL's. Nothing wrong with that, as long as they pick a place where that isn't an integral part of their nursing duties. This does not in any way mean that they won't be able to key in on other conditions the patient may have.

[45alex]

This may be true, but i don't think that we should assume those that nurses/students who want to work in plastics or etc... don't have the basic skills of assesment and the nursing process that others do. The fact is that some don't want to do a lot of ADL's. Nothing wrong with that, as long as they pick a place where that isn't an integral part of their nursing duties. This does not in any way mean that they won't be able to key in on other conditions the patient may have.

I am not assuming that those who want to work in reconstructive or cosmetic surgery don't have the basic skills of assessment. No way. I am only saying that it is a good idea to have that good base of knowledge of all kind of body systems. Why it may not be a good idea to jump from nursing school right into a highly specialized field outside a hospital.

I haven't worked in a hospital in years, but I still learned volumes during those hospital years about disease processes that I am continually running up against in the outpatient world.

[Nitngale]

I have been an nurse for 13 (and an aide before that), and I have seen plenty of patients do that...and yes, they were rational.

When the patient will be abusive to an aide or a nurse or a caregiver that appears "fragile -smaller or weaker" and yet be polite and suddenly behave to security, police, MDs and anyone less "fragile", they are obviously cognizant of their actions and rational enough to know what they think that they can get away with and what might seriously endanger them. Much like spoiled chidren that tries to push to see what they can get away with and pitch highly "irrational" tantrums.

While dementia/seriously mentally ill (seriously as in, unable to know the difference between right and wrong - the vast majority of mental illness does not fall in this category), may be excused some bad behavior, most of the population does not fall in this category.

(And before someone does the ever present" Well, you must have never been seriously ill, hospitalized or in pain" mantra, please remember that I have had chemo and have chronic IBD.)

And when we allow it to go on and make excuses, we promote it and cause problems farther done the line.

You can not be rational and do irrational things--just by definition alone. Unless it's the insanity defense. The patient was irrational at the moment of the outburst. There are many different types of patients just as there are many different types of humans. For WHATEVER reason someone acts out that is where your psychology training or experience should kick in and control the situation. I don't know what kind of places some of you work in but unless someone had a head injury I've never seen a patient react physically----verbally yes and that was usually from frustration. In any case management has always stepped in and in defense of the nurse. I think the relatives are harder to deal with. Anyway, that is the nature of the beast. That's like a welder saying he/she wanted to be a welder but not get dirty. If someone is "fragile", maybe they don't belong in nursing.

[arita2]

I worked with a lovely new nurse a couple of weeks ago that announced to me (I'm a tech - graduate in 2 weeks from NS) that she did not go to school to wipe butts, help people to the potty or change "nasty" dressings and that if my call lights went off and any of those things were needed - she wouldn't help the patient so I better get my crap together and get those call lights answered promptly. There were so many things wrong with that entire converstation, to numerous to even start discussing.

What disturbed me the most is I met a fellow classmate of hers later that day (mom was in the hospital) who shared her similar thoughts and beliefs about nursing and both told me they were taught in school that nursing is about meds and charting.....that the facility employs other people to deal with the poo, pee and nasty dressing changes. Both felt it was above them to do any sort of patient care outside of passing meds. Both of them stated they picked their particular fields of nursing (cardiac, peds) because those are the less "nasty" jobs with little to no patient care (other than to pass meds). Now, I will tell you the one on peds has already lost her job after 2.5 months (could it be the attitude?????).

Now I realize that bedside nursing is not for everyone and the beauty of nursing is that there is so much out there to choose from and explore....but if it's not your cup of tea - get out.

Oh and this lovely new nurse wants to work ICU now......she thinks it will be like TV (she actually said this) where the doctors will do all the dressing changes and replaces all the tubes, lines, etc.....She'll just have to sit and look pretty while she charts and passes meds.

Hi,

Guess i will throw my 2 cents in here. I am beginning nursing school in January. I have worked very hard to get there and will continue to work hard. However, I don't believe that I am to become an RN to change beds, wipe butts, or anything else that is a Techs job. There is nothing wrong with any of those things in patient care, and I will do it on occasion as needed, no doubt, but that is NOT why I am putting myself through the expense and effort of going to school.

I have been an Aid in the past, enjoyed it, but those days are done for me. While I have the ability to do some lifting, it's not what I envision for myself as primary duty for hours on end. If that were so, I would not bother to go on to school. You have your job description, and I will have mine. You certainly won't be filling out my reports or giving meds if I run behind helping you even if I have to work well beyond my shift, now will you? Then why expect BSNs or RNs to do your job and belittle them if they are not keen on it?

I agree that we are both in this to give our utmost to our patients and in the end, the patients well being is what counts. I believe that will have more chance of happening if we each stick to our own jobs and do it the best we can. If I am tied up doing a Techs job, my extended trainning beyond that of a Tech won't be used as effectively it should be. I am sure you would feel the same if the shoe were on the other foot. : )

:balloons:

[arita2]

Yep ... government pension is what I'm going for, definitely. Virtually all of the hospitals have cut pension benefits in my area. I am NOT going to be a pauper with no pension in my '60s.

No profession is worth that ... period.

:typing

At 54, I am with you on that! As an RN, I will look to work for the state or the fed in order to get some kind of pention for later. I have over 6 years with a state pention fund working in education and I will look to keep that growing or combine it with a fed pention. I have a lot of compassion and will give excellent patient care, but I need to get school loans paid off and take care of my golden years too.

[*RubySlippers*]

Hi,

Guess i will throw my 2 cents in here. I am beginning nursing school in January. I have worked very hard to get there and will continue to work hard. However, I don't believe that I am to become an RN to change beds, wipe butts, or anything else that is a Techs job. There is nothing wrong with any of those things in patient care, and I will do it on occasion as needed, no doubt, but that is NOT why I am putting myself through the expense and effort of going to school.

I have been an Aid in the past, enjoyed it, but those days are done for me. While I have the ability to do some lifting, it's not what I envision for myself as primary duty for hours on end. If that were so, I would not bother to go on to school. You have your job description, and I will have mine. You certainly won't be filling out my reports or giving meds if I run behind helping you even if I have to work well beyond my shift, now will you? Then why expect BSNs or RNs to do your job and belittle them if they are not keen on it?

I agree that we are both in this to give our utmost to our patients and in the end, the patients well being is what counts. I believe that will have more chance of happening if we each stick to our own jobs and do it the best we can. If I am tied up doing a Techs job, my extended trainning beyond that of a Tech won't be used as effectively it should be. I am sure you would feel the same if the shoe were on the other foot. : )

:balloons:

First of all I am not trying to step on anyones toes, or down play what nurses did in the past, or tech jobs, CNA, etc. I am stating facts & my own personal feelings which I think everyone on this board is entitled to, especially if it is different than mine, variety is what makes this world go around, other wise we would all be doing the same job, then where would we be?

I totally agree with the above statement, I am not going through all of these technical procedures in school and paying all of this money and having to learn all of this critical care information, to be a tech/aid, again nothing wrong with that, my mother is a tech and has been for years, she is the one who has encouraged me to go back to school for my RN, so I don't have to do the job she does. By the way she is a excellent CNA/tech and has great respect at the Hospital and in the community.:)

I agree if I am spending all of my time making beds, changing bed pans, bathing & feeding patients, who is going to hang the meds, hang the blood, put in foleys, put in feeding tubes, the list goes on and on, it sure won't be the tech, so then not only am I doing my job, I am doing their job too and they can't help me with my job. Its called the ladder everyone has a certain job, and at my local hospital there are CNA's, LPNs, RNs, & docs, they all have diff jobs, do they help each other when they can? sure, will I help when I can, of course, am I going to do it all? NO Way, I have not suffered throught the hectic schedule, the instructor abuse and torture tests to do something I am already certified to do as a CNA. Sorry.

And, also, if you think about it "traditional nursing" that everyone is talking about or so keen on nurses today suffering through or starting at the bottom (whatever that means), is not like, it used to be, it was a lot different in the past, they were not required to know the things we have to know now, or do the procedures we have to do now, most of their job was total physical patient care, the docs, did alot of the procedures we have to do now in school, also, alot of nurses years ago did not even have to go to school as long as we do, I am talking moons ago, that is where the traditional nurse started (Ms. Nightingale), that is why now we have Techs, LPNs, & RNs, each is to learn a different step in Nursing, not one person is required to do it all.

When I worked as an CNA I liked it, I worked on Oncology and loved the patients, it was the CNAs I worked with that were awful, they hated RNs, all they did was talk about them, how they never did anything or they make all that money and don't do the labor, or they would not ever go to school to be an RN, and they would complain and gripe about their job all the time and how it was unfair what they had to do and get paid less. I just wanted to look at them and say "Then why are you here? Why are you a CNA, Why didn't you go to school to be a RN? Go to Walmart and work. I had a bad experience with those CNA's, I just stayed away from them.

So to end my soap box, if you want to be a RN, be one, if you want to be a CNa be one, but don't gripe because you have to do your job. And yes, when you get out of school as an RN you do have opportunites where you don't have to do patient care, or bedside care, who said that was what you went Nursing School to do anyway? Some people call it a "calling" but for some it is a way of feeding their families and putting their children through school. The ones that don't want to do patient care should not be judged I am sorry but that is not the definition of Registered Nursing anymore, people really need to deal with it.

[tridil2000, MSN, RN]

whenever someone acts like bedpans etc are below them with me, i say, "imagine you were ill and scared in the hospital with let's say, cancer, and the dr was in your room with you, and you all of a sudden had to have diarrhea. what would you think if the dr put your chart down and quickly offered you a bedpan? would you think that was "below" her? or would you think the dr really cares about you as a person, and didn't want you to have an accident on yourself?"

it's not about the task, it's about treating people with dignity when they are at the lowest point in their entire lives.