Student nurse dismayed by bedside nursing attitude

[new gal]

Hello all, I am a student nurse currently in my first year. Before this I was a paramedic for a about a year and then decided to go the nursing route and get my feet wet by working as a CNA. I am the type of person who likes to research all aspects of what my next adventure will be. So as I am researching different aspects of nursing, I was a bit floored by the amount of people that hated bedside nursing, in particular on the Med/Surge floor. I get that the work load is high and that can bring stress as well as all the intricate details about day to day nursing, but is that any reason to hate bedside nursing? I thought that is what the nursing profession was all about. Getting right in there, getting your hands dirty and providing the best patient care possible. What exactly are some students thinking nursing entails when they get into school?!

[talithalee]

I worked in hospital nursing as a student. What I found most problematic is that the younger nurses resented the fact that I actually wanted to understand the disease process, the reason for the specific medications and intended outcomes. I found that politics was more what turned me off to hospital nursing and by that I refer to the administrative politics. I frequently had a 10 to 1 ratio, far too high, in what was an effort to break me.” I took it as an opportunity to learn...and this was a Pediatric Neuro Endocrine floor in a Detroit inner city hospital. I have to agree that it was very difficult, though, again, mostly because of the politics involved. When I graduated, I went immediately into Home Care nursing, where it is 90% hands-on patient care and the rest was documentation, with less politics involved. I have been in Home Care for 25 years now, private duty with a single patient for the last 16 years.

Each of of us who go into this field originally do so with the intent of being of service to patients. That is what Nursing is. Some really do only want the Administrative and that is their niche. So, yes, hospital nursing has changed over the years. The patient care has decreased and the specialization of fields has increased. The politics has most definitely increased. This whole answer might sound a little off the track, but I assure you it isn't. You learn some skills as a student. You try to apply the skills, finding there is a lot more involved and with increasing acuity. The documentation is daunting. Your ability to think independently is increasingly quashed. Think of it, though, as an opportunity to learn. Find your niche. Stick out the unpleasantries and the lack of appreciation so often present by seasoned professionals. Ultimately remember why you wanted to do what you are striving to accomplish. Direct patient care, should you prefer that, as I do, is readily available. It just might not be hospital oriented, but that is your learning and experience field.

You can choose what YOU want to do after going through these rigors. I still adore what I do and making a difference is very rewarding for me. So, take a deep breath, plow through and find your place as you go. I have faith that you will. Follow your heart and you will find why you advanced into this under-appreciated field. Remember too...doctors take care of diseases. We take care of the whole human and doctors would be lost without us.

[Orthonurse25]

I have worked for 4 years on a busy medical/surgical orthopedic unit for 4 years. In that time we have gone through staffed and short handed times. When we are completely staffed our nurse patient ratio is 3-4 to one nurse. When this is the case, I am still busy but I am able to give my patients very good care and have time to look through the charts better and make sure we are doing everything that needs done. With the right ratio of patients I am able to have lunch and go to the bathroom. I am able to help other nurses and teach students. When we are short staffed with have 5-6 patients to one nurse. The most I have had is 7. When this happens and your patients are all fairly stable to are able to take care of basic needs and thats about it. Nurses become nurses to help people and take great care of them. When you feel like you aren't giving the best care because you have too many people to care for that wears on you. Also when you don't have enough nurses and not enough aides, you feel like sometimes you can even meet every patients basic needs like keeping them clean, dry, and turned. That frustrates me the most. So here you are exhausted and frustrated and then you go to a mandatory staff meeting on your first day off in ages and it's all about how can we do better and be better for the patients. That gets me frustrated and makes me want to leave but I am a nurse because I love my patients. So I keep showing up and working my behind off to help others. I always feel like, at least where I have worked, that med/surg nurses are not considered as good of nurses as ICU or ER nurses because our patients are less sick, we must not be as smart. I have multiple students every semester that have a preconceived idea that they have to work in the ICU to get a best experience. With hospitals so full, I take care of patients that are high acuity, that would probably benefit from being in an ICU but there are too many other people who are sicker and need the room. Add that to being understaffed and it just adds another layer to the frustrated and sometimes fear that nurses feel when working in bedside nursing. This is just my personal experience but I know a lot of my nurse friends would probably agree. Not enough nurses, too much pressure to satisfy everyone, and increasing acuity on the floor is the main reason I see people moving towards other specialties of nursing.