The Cannibalism of Nursing

[ShelbyLPN1992]

I've been an LPN in New Orleans now for about a year and a half. I started out just OK with my career choice. Since I'm an LPN, the choices of work that I have are basically nursing home, clinic, doctors office, or if I get lucky, a hospital once I get some experience.

I ended up in a nursing home. I'm not going to lie, I've NEVER wanted to work in a nursing home. I almost quit nursing school in the middle of clinical because I had to go to a nursing home. That setting is just not for me. Well, after I graduated nursing school, hardly any place decent was hiring a new LPN with no experience. So, what did I do? I sucked up my pride, and applied at the closest nursing home that I could find. It was that, or make $14 an hour at a clinic. Besides, working at this particular nursing home saved me a lot of gas money. The pay was actually a lot better than what my other classmates were being paid. Most of my classmates did go to clinics, not for the money, but for the great hours.

Anyways, to get to my rant, the nursing home wasn't so bad. I actually was OK with it. The problems came with the employees. I worked with nothing but ratchet nurses that talk behind your back and CNAs that did half *** work due to their c/o "we gettin paid minimum wage so this place gunna get minimum wage work". The attitudes were horrible.

The CNA turn around rate was also horrible. Always working under staffed and under paid. My relief even started making a habit of calling in at the last minute, leaving me there till a new relief could come. Nobody has any body's back in nursing. I became friends with a CNA and we became kind of close. We were close until she stole something from me and lied about it. I get stolen from a lot on my unit. I guess that's normal, right? On top of that aggravation, The family of the residents are always complaining because their loved ones ADLs are hardly ever completed due to the staff's attitude and under staffment. It's just so much stress being a nurse.

After a year and a half, I feel like it's not necessarily the work load that makes me hate my job, it's the stress of managing my unit and accepting the things that I can't control. I've changed as a person; I think I've even lost hope for the human race like it's gotten that bad. I've never met so many rude, catty, backstabbing, selfish people in my life. I don't know if it's because nurses are all stressed out or if it's me. I don't even know how some of the nurses that I work with even passed high school, much less have a nursing license. One nurse that I work with had to write an incident about a resident that fell on the floor. She literally documented "res found on flow."

I just can't deal. I don't know whether to forward my career and become an RN, or work in a cemetery where there's no complaining. Did I mention that one of my older nursing co workers tried getting me to over dose my hospice patient. Oh his respirators are 9? Give him morphine he's going to die anyway. The saying that "nurses eat their young" is so accurate. Do you know what that makes nurses? Cannibals. Oh you passed your NCLEX? Congrats. Next step? Try not to cry too loud while your co workers eat you alive for their own amusement.

[BSN16]

Like a previous poster already said, it is COMPLETELY appropriate to give morphine to a hospice patient with a resp rate of 9, because the reality of it is, they are dying. As nurses we try to make that transition as easy as possible. Dont be afraid to medicate hospice patients! Like your "cannibal" co-worker said, he is dying and in pain. Maybe take time to listen to your co-workers and respect them because they are a wealth of knowledge and experience, especially to a new nurse.

[Julius Seizure]

What it sounds like is a horrible work environment and culture, sure, but not NETY.

It does sound like that. OP, I would ask you to contemplate this: Are you contributing to the horrible environment, or are you doing what you can to make it better?

[guest52816]

I am sorry that you work in such a bad environment. However, I feel worse about the residents who are forced to live there. They don't have the option to get up and leave. You do have that choice.

If you enjoy the nursing work, then you should pursue your RN. The RN behind your name will open up more job choices. Perhaps you can then find a more suitable work environment.

Nursing isn't easy. The job is tough, and you must work with all kinds of personalities and work ethics. As time goes on, you will become more comfortable learning when to assert yourself, versus when to let things slide. I have worked with nurses and techs with stellar work ethics, and some that are indeed questionable.

As for the conditions for residents at your facility, if you feel residents are in danger, and family members are complaining, encourage them to file a compliant with the state.

Nursing homes are regulated by the state, and should take such accusations seriously.

[BostonFNP, APRN]

There is a bit of irony when a rant about rude, catty, backstabbing, bad attitude coworkers is riddled with insults of the coworkers in question.

Its a bad work environment not NETY. NETY doesn't exist. Change jobs.

[chacha82, ADN, BSN]

I too would like to see this removed from the front page - it's not an article, it's a rant. Not trying to sound harsh, but 26K is expensive for an LPN program and it was your choice to take that debt on. I'm sure you're joking about thinking drug dealers have it better. You can pay that debt off if you get serious about it. I have no idea what your situation is, but if that's contributing to the stress, do what you need to and make a dent in it. I also think your welfare comments are inappropriate.

[Lacaza3]

I realize when you speak in absolutes you are not really meaning all nurses. At times when we are mad and frustrated the way we word things is really us being frustrated at our situation. You have a lot going on in your place of work. Yes, unfortunately there is people that judge, steal,are lazy etc... What I'm seeing is maybe you are not doing enough self care for you. I would sit down and make a plan of what I want to do. a paper of if I stay or if I leave. It sounds like your feeling out of control in your situation and without knowing the personal details of your background perhaps that is contributing also I do not know. Know that you are important to those patients. You are one person and you are doing your best. You do matter in the world of nursing we all matter. We are a team...

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Anyways, to get to my rant, the nursing home wasn't so bad. I actually was OK with it. The problems came with the employees. I worked with nothing but ratchet nurses that talk behind your back and CNAs that did half ass work due to their c/o "we gettin paid minimum wage so this place gunna get minimum wage work". The attitudes were horrible.

What is a "ratchet nurse?" It sounds like a putdown. With your nasty attitude toward them, I'm not surprised that they talk about you behind your back. Your rant about the CNAs is horrible. I don't know your workplace or your colleagues, but you're complaining about THEIR horrible attitudes makes you look pretty toxic yourself. Surely there must be some nice folks there, some people you can respect even if you don't actually like them. And almost everyone has some likable aspect to their personality. If you have to work with these folks, it would behoove you to find something to like about them, then focus on that.

The CNA turn around rate was also horrible. Always working under staffed and under paid. My relief even started making a habit of calling in at the last minute, leaving me there till a new relief could come. Nobody has any body's back in nursing. I became friends with a CNA and we became kind of close. We were close until she stole something from me and lied about it. I get stolen from a lot on my unit. I guess that's normal, right? On top of that aggravation, The family of the residents are always complaining because their loved ones ADLs are hardly ever completed due to the staff's attitude and under staffment. It's just so much stress being a nurse.

The turnover rate for CNAs in general is horrible. They have a very difficult job and they get very little respect and the pay is inadequate. I've found that when I genuinely LIKE the CNAs I work with (and some of them ARE harder to like than others) and appreciate their contributions, they work harder and our teamwork improves. Maybe it isn't "fair", but it's up to the RN to show a little appreciation to the CNAs and strive to improve your relationship with them. If you're unwilling to do that, teamwork will suffer.

As far as someone stealing from you, that's not right. But are you SURE that the person you're accusing is the one who actually IS stealing from you? If you leave your stuff unattended in the workplace, it does sometimes get stolen. I've been in workplaces where the thief was fellow nurses, janitors, bio-engineering, pharmacy techs, physical therapists, patients and visitors. At one job, the manager was stealing and at another, I swear it was the chaplain. And of course stethoscopes are constantly being lifted by the medical residents and even an attending or two. (OK, "constantly" is a slight exaggeration.) Perhaps since your relationships with all your co-workers are so negative, that is why you're finding so many of your things going missing. People are apt to catch on to how you REALLY feel about them.

After a year and a half, I feel like it's not necessarily the work load that makes me hate my job, it's the stress of managing my unit and accepting the things that I can't control. I've changed as a person; I think I've even lost hope for the human race like it's gotten that bad. I've never met so many rude, catty, backstabbing, selfish people in my life. I don't know if it's because nurses are all stressed out or if it's me. I don't even know how some of the nurses that I work with even passed high school, much less have a nursing license. One nurse that I work with had to write an incident about a resident that fell on the floor. She literally documented "res found on flow."

If you run into one rude, catty, backstabbing, selfish person in your day, that person is a jerk. If EVERYONE you run into is rude, catty, backstabbing and selfish, the jerk is you. Please do some self-examination to determine what you are bringing to all of these negative interactions. You cannot change the people you meet, but you can change yourself and how you interact with them.

I just can't deal. I don't know whether to forward my career and become an RN, or work in a cemetery where there's no complaining. Did I mention that one of my older nursing co workers tried getting me to over dose my hospice patient. Oh his respirators are 9? Give him morphine he's going to die anyway. The saying that "nurses eat their young" is so accurate. Do you know what that makes nurses? Cannibals. Oh you passed your NCLEX? Congrats. Next step? Try not to cry too loud while your co workers eat you alive for their own amusement.

Your attitude toward your colleagues is completely toxic. Nurses don't eat their young; nurses aren't cannibals. But it seems as if you have some real problems in getting along with your colleagues in your work environment. That's on you. You can change jobs if you like, but wherever you go, there you are.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

There is a bit of irony when a rant about rude, catty, backstabbing, bad attitude coworkers is riddled with insults of the coworkers in question.

Its a bad work environment not NETY. NETY doesn't exist. Change jobs.

Succinctly stated!

[SmilingBluEyes]

Hmmmm. This hardly qualified as an article, but I hope you feel better now. Now here is my 0.02:

If EVERYONE and EVERYTHING around me is a problem, the common denominator may, just may be, ME. Have you ever thought about that? That maybe, at least part of the problem is, YOU? (if not a lot of it)

Look: You can only fix YOU. So now that you got that off your chest, quit your complaining and do something positive. Like the old saying goes, "nothing changes if nothing changes"... Fix the situation you are in, clean up your attitude, or move on. And take a hard look at what you are projecting that is contributing to your misery.

Good luck.

[LessValuableNinja]

I hope that one day I have accurate enough self-reflection to realize my circumstances and problems are the fault of everyone else.

[JoannieO]

Why not further your education? Rise above the place. Not all SNFs are horrible. It sounds to me like you are burning out and need to leave your workplace. It's up to you. Life is about choices. So start now to look for other opportunities AND get your BSN. It will open doors. I earned up to a MS before I retired after 45 + years as a RN, and was all worth it. Godspeed on your journey.

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

No one said nursing would be easy. Maybe you need a change in your environment, skill set or to get out of it completely. I am going back to school to become an MD. I am not saying you should get out of nursing. I like nursing but my real passion is in the role of an MD. I want to have my own business one day. Maybe you should come see me and vent in the privacy of an office, just kidding.