Taken for granted by nurses...

[PD82]

I need to vent!!

Nothing against nurses personally; I am a nursing student and work at a fantastic hospital with some great people. But sometimes the nurses just drive me insane!!!! I work on a postpartum unit with 17 beds--I am the only dayshift PCT with up to 4 nurses. I get to work and get started on the morning vitals- which of course isn't just vitals, its bathroom assistance, water, help with baby, spending time with each patient. Then I chart all those vitals for the nurses and do them all over again at noon. I pass linen, and make everyone's beds. I set up and break down all the rooms, I wheel patients out when they discharge--and of course the patient is rarely ready or doesn't have the car seat installed or the car pulled up to the front doors, etc. In between everything I am helping moms into the shower, or to the bathroom, answering call lights, and the door bell (we are a locked unit), telephones, transferring pt's and putting in orders.....did I mention Im also the unit secretary??

What irks me the most is when Im running my ass off in the morning and look over at the nurses station to see certain nurses just sitting there doing nothing, or having a fun filled conversation, or shopping on the internet, checking their phone. There are some that will even wait for me to go wake up and see their patients before they do. Or I love it when a nurse will leave a pt's room to seek me out and ask me to make that pt's bed in the room they were just in; Ive been called on the telephone from a pt's room by a nurse asking me to come in there and finish the bed. Many days I will take out several discharges in a row while that patients nurse sits at the nurses station watching.

Then I get asked if I will come in on my day off because its busy....ummm hell NO. Why? So you can sit on your ass and have me do all the work? Not all of the nurses I work with do this, there are a FEW who do their own linens and beds, or who actually say "thank you". Listen, I enjoy my job and working with the patients and I am more than happy to help who needs it, but stop taking advantage of "the help"!!

Thanks for listening. Feel free to vent also :)

[runsalot]

It's a tough job. The only advise is treat your tech better when u are a nurse.

[Nalon1 RN/EMT-P, BSN, RN]

yup, remember your tech days when your a nurse. Some nurses forget that unfortunately.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

Or think that because they put their time in, they have the right to not do any tech work.

[Nolli]

Oh my gosh it almost sounds like you are in my old unit as it was locked and was a women's health unit and no unit secretary in sight so I had to do both jobs, but if you have 17 beds I know it's not. Sounds like you are having a rough day. From one nursing student to another: *Internet hugs!*

I had a hard time too with the constant back and forth and everyone wanting me to do things at the exact same time when I can only be in one place at a time. I finally had to put my foot down one day and say no. I phrased it in a way that they could not take offense as I really was busy. I told them I'd be happy to do it after I was done the other tasks I had to do, but at the moment I could not do it. If they pushed back and said, "no, now!" I would politely tell them that they would need to inform Nurse X that I was unable to perform the task they had asked me to do or explain why their task was a lower priority due to acuity of nurse X's patient. I still had moments when I wanted to pull my hair out over the interactions, but ultimately majority of the people I worked were appreciative and supportive in the end. Focus on the people who do care about you and do say good things if you can and if all else fails focus on the patients themselves. Some days I repeated to myself, "I'm doing this for the patient, she needs my help, she is the reason I am here and have a job."

It can be really rough though. Treat yourself to something good or vent on the bad days and let it all out. Take a hot shower and let the day and all the problems wash away. Have some comfort food put on some PJs and watch some tv. Ultimately, while you should focus on the praise you received, don't forget how they treat you and don't be like them when you become the nurse. It is far to easy to forget where you came from or get burnt out.

[hollyspiller0253]

O.M.G. Just know you are NOT alone. /preach

[schnookimz]

God I remember when my sister in law had her baby. She got up for the first time to go to the bathroom and had bled on the sheets so they needed to be changed. The RN was in the room with us as were the clean new sheets. The RN said we needed to wait for the CNA to finish bathing the baby next door and then she would come in and change the sheets!!! REALLY? And where should my sister in law sit in the mean time? In the bathroom? I told her I was a nurse too and I wasn't too good to change them so she didn't need to ask the CNA to come in. I changed them myself while she stood in the room getting the meds ready.

[j2mp79]

I don't understand nurses who do this. I was never a PCT but if I walk a patient to the bathroom in the morning I make their bed then - why would I take time to find someone else to do it? I'm never going to ask someone else to do something I'm not willing to do myself.

[PD82]

God I remember when my sister in law had her baby. She got up for the first time to go to the bathroom and had bled on the sheets so they needed to be changed. The RN was in the room with us as were the clean new sheets. The RN said we needed to wait for the CNA to finish bathing the baby next door and then she would come in and change the sheets!!! REALLY? And where should my sister in law sit in the mean time? In the bathroom? I told her I was a nurse too and I wasn't too good to change them so she didn't need to ask the CNA to come in. I changed them myself while she stood in the room getting the meds ready.

I can not believe the nurse did not change her sheets, even after you volunteered to do it!!! That is a nurse who doesn't believe in doing things "that aren't her job". That's awful guest service. Some of the nurses I work with will go look for me or wait until they see me so I can make their patients bed, but I know they would never let a patients guest go ahead and do it (or at least I hope they would not!!). Im sorry you had that experience!

[PD82]

Thanks for the support you guys!!

Nolli- you are right. I will need to start chanting to myself on rough days lol

[funtimes]

What irks me the most is when Im running my ass off in the morning and look over at the nurses station to see certain nurses just sitting there doing nothing, or having a fun filled conversation, or shopping on the internet, checking their phone.

THIS.

Whats even worse is when these same nurses have an arrogant know it all attitude and will complain about how lazy or incompetent some of the techs are. But to me nothing is worse than when a tech tries to interrupt one of these BS conversations because they need help boosting or turning or cleaning up a patient, or a patient wants some meds, or some vital signs are way outside normal limits, and the RNs continue on with their conversation without even acknowledging the tech waiting to get a word in. I've even seen a few occasionaly ignore the tech even after they say "I hate to interrupt, but". Its a sign of complete lack of respect.

I don't know if this is something particular to my current workplace, but it seems to be common and it drives me nuts just as a principle. I'm not saying an RN has to drop everything at a moments notice whenever a tech asks for something, and if I do need something I will always be polite and phrase it like "when you have a chance could you?". But if it was a Doctor, PA, or some other health care member, even a phlebotomist, I'm pretty sure the same RNs dont just carry on like they aren't standing there. Its something they do to techs though.

[roseonye]

I loved all my aides when I was working LTC. I learnt a lot from them too. We had this NP that will say they are just aides and it made so mad that I corrected him. We still keep in touch on fb