Whenever I start missing bedside nursing. . .

Nurses General Nursing

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. . .all I have to do is spend 10 minutes reading posts on allnurses and suddenly my boring, work at home UR job doesn't seem that bad anymore lol.

Thanks for keeping it real, nurses!

Seriously though, I wonder how many nurses would love bedside with proper ratios, support, respect, equipment, management and time? Makes me sad to think about what healthcare could be like.

Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I wonder sometimes if I could have continued in my career if it hadn't been so incredibly stressful. I am on disability for my mental health issues and working in such difficult environments helped to push me over the edge of the cliff. It's a shame, because I loved being a nurse and probably would have worked till age 70 if I could have. I came to nursing relatively late in life (graduated from my ASN program at 38) and wish I'd had supportive supervisors and not been so overworked, both physically and mentally. I hope someday things will turn around so nurses can work in relative peace and prosperity.

Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

Oh, I just need to wait for another call about INR 2.5 (target 2 to 3, stable coumadin dose) dutifully reported to me at 4 AM because "it is a critical value and iamjustdoingmyjob".

Night hospital calls and 50+ hours week is nothing when compared with having to do THAT.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I can totally relate, Camino-- I spent years in clinics and doctors offices. I loved the hours, and to me the stress of those jobs never equaled working as a staff nurse on an acute care unit. I always missed bedside nursing, though. Private duty nursing with a high-acuity client relieved that feeling somewhat, but yes if things were different I would not have left the hospital.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.

I have to say I am often shocked and can not relate at all to many of the posts here since I've worked in pediatric world my whole career. While there are some bad, unsafe systems in pediatric world, it is a safe generalization that the patient ratios and staffing tend to be better than those in adult land. I am very much thankful for that.

. . .all I have to do is spend 10 minutes reading posts on allnurses and suddenly my boring, work at home UR job doesn't seem that bad anymore lol.

Thanks for keeping it real, nurses!

Seriously though, I wonder how many nurses would love bedside with proper ratios, support, respect, equipment, management and time? Makes me sad to think about what healthcare could be like.

Took ya 10 minutes? Probably on company time ;) I feel for any bedside nurse, it's a jungle out there.

Specializes in ED, Pedi Vasc access, Paramedic serving 6 towns.

This post made me laugh out loud!! I too read the posts an am thankful i work as an IV nurse and not as a primary nurse for floor patients!! I am heading off to urgent care soon for a new role, and am hoping it is a good job. At least a majority of those folks, if not all, should be fairly independent.

Annie

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Whenever I start missing bedside nursing I try to recall the feeling of ice-cold leather seats of my car as I plopped my ample scrub-clad behind down to begin my rush hour commute. Then I pour myself another cup of coffee, 'commute' the 15 stairs up to my home office in my clothing of choice (NONE of it royal blue) and settle in for a day of running a nursing program.

I've earned it.

When I was a nursing student, I did my clinical on a med surg floor and the ratio was 1:4 (nights). I liked it. I became an RN and started working on another hospital's med surg. The ratio was 1:7 (nights) and the hourly wage was about $24. Say, having 7 patients with a wage of $24 is equivalent to having 4 patients with a wage of $13.71.... ($24/7*4) This is just a rough calculation, but it made me think twice if I wanted to keep doing that job (also, on the unit where I worked, necessary equipments were broken, the nurse manager required nurses to falsify documentation, nurse aids were doing nothing).

I think nurses may go back to bedside if the job is not that awful with proper ratio (I don't know if they trust though).

Specializes in public health, women's health, reproductive health.

I never start missing bedside nursing...

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