Sorry state of Nursing ...

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a Male RN with about 8 years of work experience in the ER, Prison, Acute PTSD/TBI @ the VA. I came from another Industry (Aviation/Airline), after 9/11 retrained into Nursing with the thought of doing something that "Matters" instead of making a corporation another pile of $$$$. After 8 years this has been my Observation of the current state of affairs within Nursing.

1) I have never been so poorly treated within a professional career as I have been with nursing, Managers MD's and Patients all use you as a human punching bag (I can tolerate some of this from a sick PT but not my peers and above). Unprofessionalism often rules and vengeful remarks and treatment are the norms..ie... I have heard the following from RN's,MD,managers..."shes a stupid ***** (MD), you need to find another line of work (MBA manager to new grad), "you need to pass those meds faster , whats wrong with you, cant hack it" (Charge RN).

2) Call offs and low pay...Name any other profession where you have to take hard earned leave or rotate to a totally different unit and are expected to perform (Board of nursing should demand changes to this its unsafe). BSN starting at 17 to 19 a hr nationwide avg...really...MSN with 5 years unless specially trained 60K...for real...(Bank of America pays a avg of 70 k to 100k for mid level MBA's)

I retired from USAirways in 2003, there were troubles galore with the company..but I was paid well, had exc healthcare...WAS TREATED AS A PROFESSIONAL...WHICH I WAS AND STILL AM.

Nursing as a profession.......only if you join the service as my wife did (CDR USN ret) ....to a hospital your a expenditure that they work like a dog, then throw away.

Its a sad state only getting worse as the economy is slow and Obama care will reshape the industry in pay and quality of care.

Good By Nursing.....it was a experience of a life ...time to do other things.

maybe it is whining but ....for me it's simply a fear of being terminated. i can deal with everything else.

Specializes in ER.

I am also a second career nurse. I am glad that there is increasing acceptance of criticism of the profession from those of us who are second career RNs. When I first started as an RN, people on Allnurses would tell me I am unrealistic or that people like me ruin this profession.

The truth is second career people bring a welcome perspective: the working conditions of an RN are DEPLORABLE.

I'm in grad school now and work part time as an RN.

Good luck howard hughes! Like you, I am amazed by the things I have seen and have become a better person for the things I have seen and done.

I'm worried that my money spent to climb higher will yield more pain. Pain is pain. We as a collective whole can make a difference with a union. If a union doesn't do what we need... we need to form a different union. This goes for all workers in the U.S. You can't have the top 1% taking it all while the people who actually do the work get substantially lower. period. I hate that I talk so negative here at AN. I need to vent and I'm grateful that I can. The best part of my day is taking care of my patients. The worse is dealing with the mismanagement, financial indecencies that are present. I think we nurses and MDs need to start our own hospitals. We aren't greedy and we don't have to go public. We just need to take care of ourselves. I personally don't need 2.5 million to get by. I'm a quite sure no person on the planet does enough in a year to justify that cost. Get real...

I so agree. I have tried to rally for change, but it seems to just get me into trouble. So sad, that we eventually learn to keep our head down and moths shut.

**There are over 740,000 allnurses.com members.

Nursing is the largest health care "profession" in the USA.

Just think what we could do if we ALL stood together?!

Amazing things!**

Yes, still an optimist.

I do wish there was a "I do not like" button for some of the comments. We are to support, not tear down.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I am a Male RN with about 8 years of work experience in the ER, Prison, Acute PTSD/TBI @ the VA. I came from another Industry (Aviation/Airline), after 9/11 retrained into Nursing with the thought of doing something that "Matters" instead of making a corporation another pile of $$$$. After 8 years this has been my Observation of the current state of affairs within Nursing.

1) I have never been so poorly treated within a professional career as I have been with nursing, Managers MD's and Patients all use you as a human punching bag (I can tolerate some of this from a sick PT but not my peers and above). Unprofessionalism often rules and vengeful remarks and treatment are the norms..ie... I have heard the following from RN's,MD,managers..."shes a stupid ***** (MD), you need to find another line of work (MBA manager to new grad), "you need to pass those meds faster , whats wrong with you, cant hack it" (Charge RN).

2) Call offs and low pay...Name any other profession where you have to take hard earned leave or rotate to a totally different unit and are expected to perform (Board of nursing should demand changes to this its unsafe). BSN starting at 17 to 19 a hr nationwide avg...really...MSN with 5 years unless specially trained 60K...for real...(Bank of America pays a avg of 70 k to 100k for mid level MBA's)

I retired from USAirways in 2003, there were troubles galore with the company..but I was paid well, had exc healthcare...WAS TREATED AS A PROFESSIONAL...WHICH I WAS AND STILL AM.

Nursing as a profession.......only if you join the service as my wife did (CDR USN ret) ....to a hospital your a expenditure that they work like a dog, then throw away.

Its a sad state only getting worse as the economy is slow and Obama care will reshape the industry in pay and quality of care.

Good By Nursing.....it was a experience of a life ...time to do other things.

I'm sorry you feel you've been ill-treated. I cannot imagine why you'd be OK with ill-treatment from a Physical Therapist but not from your peers, but OK. However it has not been my experience that everyone from charge nurses to management to MDs treat me "like a human punching bag." I've had the occaisional bad experience with visitors, but everyone else I encounter in the course of my work as a nurse treats me as the professional that I am.

My pay is not princely, but I have a nice life and I'm happy. Since you seem to be a nurse with less than a decade of experience, perhaps you're paid much less than me. And if you came from another industry where you were paid more, paycuts are difficult. If you're truly that unhappy with your job, your colleagues and your pay, perhaps you'd be happier in your former industry. Or another that might suit you better.

Call-offs -- are you saying you're being called and asked not to come to work because the census is low, and you're using your benefit time to make up for the lost hours? That's a fact of life in some smaller hospitals, I know, but not in any of the large teaching hospitals where I've been working. Perhaps you need a better job. Or perhaps, since you seem to be unhappy with everything about nursing, you need a bigger change.

I've had a long nursing career that has afforded me a nice life, and I've been very happy. I'm sorry you're not..

Specializes in Critical Care.
*** Being called off is unacceptable. When I went looking for a new job I decided I simply wasn't going to tolerate being called off anymore. I found a job where I never get called off. Even if there are hardly any patients in the hospital I get to work and am paid, unless I choose to go home or stay home.

I had to work in a diffrent state to find such a job. The reason it is acceptable to be laid off for 4 hours each shift in nursing is because nurses tolerate it. I simply refuse to tolerate it anymore. I think none of us should.

WELL SAID...Do police get pulled on a slow night. Fire Dept...hay... Thing were slow some times at USAIRWAYS...we went to the Training Dept and brushed up on systems

and Sim time.... Call off's are another way senior management (that MBA making well over 600k...yes they make that figure and more) make their numbers.

YOU ARE 100% CORRECT...we hold the power for change...ever heard the phrase "We hang tougher or we hang separately"...it apply s.

I think there a plenty of good criticisms of Nursing, but this one isn't legit. It's like working holidays; it's a necessary part of the job. Police and firefighters don't get called off because their staffing needs are fixed, Nursing needs are not just variable, but exponentially variable. Using LC time for training and other purposes only goes so far. To handle these variable staffing needs, Hospitals need to plan for when it's busy, and call off for when their not, which is totally reasonable and responsible on their part. The other option is for Hospitals to staff for when it's slow and use mandatory OT to cover when it's busy, would you prefer that?

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I find the OPs observations on nursing a generalization of his own experiences. I have experienced none of the degrading treatment that he complains of.My coworkers and superiors treat each other just fine.MDs are usually pleasant to deal with, civil if not down right friendly.I don't feel disrespected as a nurse.Abuse from AXO patients is very minimal and certainly not treated as the norm.I didn't recognize his description of nursing at all.

Thank you. It seems like it's the fashion to bash nursing and nurses these days, all in the name of "venting." I, too found the OP's observations a generalization of his own experiences and not at all a reflection of mine.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
A little cheese with that whine?

Don't mourn, organize! Of course it's possible. How many of you whiners will step up and put what it takes into unionizing, put their livelihood on the line for the betterment of others? Show of hands? Anyone? :: peering into the ether :: Anyone? (And yes, I have been present at the beginning of a nurses' union, and yes, I have been out on strike. So there.) Anyone here ever do that? Risk something more than a few whiny electrons? No? OK.

Ok then. I don't care what you do. Just this: Stop whining.

I am so tired of this attitude. Whining proves nothing, does nothing, solves nothing. Go get another certification or education that will get you a better paying position you'll like. Start your own business and be your own boss. Go live in the woods and haul your own water. Volunteer your time and treasure towards effective unionizing and collective bargaining. Join the Peace Corps and do something for somebody else-- I hear they have three-12 month tours available now. Take up bungee jumping or yoga. Go visit every Major League Baseball park. Learn to make beer. Do something. I really don't care what you do.

But just ... stop coming here and whining. All of you. It makes my hair hurt. Go do something.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! ::runs screaming off into the distance::

WAIT GrnTea...I'm coming too!!!!! :roflmao:

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I find the OPs observations on nursing a generalization of his own experiences. I have experienced none of the degrading treatment that he complains of.My coworkers and superiors treat each other just fine.MDs are usually pleasant to deal with civil if not down right friendly.I don't feel disrespected as a nurse.Abuse from AXO patients is very minimal and certainly not treated as the norm.I didn't recognize his description of nursing at all.[/quote']

Agree. :yes:

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I've been in nursing for almost 30 years now, almost a decade as a staff nurse, and in advanced practice since then. I find as I go through life that most people, in most situations, will treat you the way you act like you expect to get treated. I've been assertive and professional throughout my career, and I've found myself in v. few situations over the years in which I've felt significantly mistreated, let alone abused. I've taken a few jobs in which I've ended up "voting with my feet" and finding another job after finding the overall culture not to my liking. I've made a few compromises that suited my needs and purposes at the time. But I've never put up (for long) with working in a setting with which I wasn't reasonably satisfied.

I guess that all of this is to say I'm a member of the "quit whining" club. Nursing is, IMO, the ultimate "big tent" -- there's something for everyone, and, if you are dissatisfied with one job/employer, there are plenty of others. You can make of your career in nursing whatever you want it to be.

Yes!!! Well said. :yes:

I've worked my way up in nursing...as a CNA, LPN, an now RN...I have had ALWAYS been in control of my career; even in this "dark moment in nursing" :wacky:, I have been able to enjoy my work and peers; the whole healthcare team.

Cast your net wide OP...be the change that you seek, as many others have, as GrnTea has shared, or feel free to hang it up...whatever makes you happy. :yes:

You betcha marcos, not only have I seen it over and over in my 30 years,

I was married to a male nurse. Actually a little shocked to hear and see first hand the difrerence in treatment between male and female nurses. But I digress... will check out previous threads on THIS topic.

Specializes in Critical Care.
I think there a plenty of good criticisms of Nursing, but this one isn't legit. It's like working holidays; it's a necessary part of the job. Police and firefighters don't get called off because their staffing needs are fixed, Nursing needs are not just variable, but exponentially variable. Using LC time for training and other purposes only goes so far. To handle these variable staffing needs, Hospitals need to plan for when it's busy, and call off for when their not, which is totally reasonable and responsible on their part. The other option is for Hospitals to staff for when it's slow and use mandatory OT to cover when it's busy, would you prefer that?

I forgot to add there is one other option, which is for hospitals to plan staffing for it's busiest potential and keep us there when it's not. The problem with this is that the total amount of money going to Nursing won't change with this plan so we'd trade the guarantee not to be called off for less pay per hour, which means either way we might make $1000 per week, the only difference is that we'd be at work 40 hours a week instead of 32. If you're making $1000/week either way, why would you want to be there 40 hours awake instead of 32?

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