What would you change about nursing?

What would you change about nursing or the healthcare system if you could?

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

Everything! No, just kidding. I would change the pay rate, politics, staffing, attitudes. Thats it in a nutshell.

[mystory, BSN, RN]

I would clarify the poorly defined (even nonexistent) boundaries that our role encompasses. ESPN has fuzzy reception? Trash needs emptying? Patient wants lime jello instead of lemon? A visitor wants an extra pillow? It's all the nurse's fault/responsibility. I often clock out feeling more like a servant than a professional..it's numbing.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Health care system: disparities in access, change focus from treatment to prevention, the fact that hospitals/healthcare corporations are being run more as businesses rather than focusing on healthcare

Nursing: the absurd ratio of administrative pay to nursing pay (hey, it's our work that makes it possible for them to get those insane paychecks and bonuses), better nurse patient ratios, decreased triple/quadruple/quintuple documentation (really, do we need to document an assessment in three different areas of the chart?), actually providing patient care instead of being tethered to a computer, getting rid of the whole "the customer is right" philosophy, and stop making the nurse the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong (don't like the food? it's the nurse's fault! TV doesn't work? it's the nurse's fault! ad nauseum)

[DoeRN]

There is so much that needs to change I could write a novel. Actually it would have to be a series of novels.

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

[RNforLongTime]

I would make it less about customer service and bring it back to being patient care. Too much having to bend over backwards to please patients and their families. Back in the day, there was NO arguing with the bedside nurse...now we pretty much have to let them do whatever they please.

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

Mandated ratios across all states, streamline the documentation so we spent more time with the pts, and get rid of the satisfaction scores, reimbursement related to those scores and the customer is always right...I could add more but those are my top few.

[Sun0408, ASN, RN]

I would make it less about customer service and bring it back to being patient care. Too much having to bend over backwards to please patients and their families. Back in the day, there was NO arguing with the bedside nurse...now we pretty much have to let them do whatever they please.

This !!

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I would make it less about customer service and bring it back to being patient care. Too much having to bend over backwards to please patients and their families. Back in the day' date=' there was NO arguing with the bedside nurse...now we pretty much have to let them do whatever they please.[/quote']

^^^and the difficulties in access to healthcare, salary improvements (how's about six figures for EVERY bedside nurse with automatic COLA for ONE job!!), and a mandatory collaborative nursing model to decrease the "high school"/sorority clique attitude that affects some nursing teams, more understanding of nursing theory...if nurses understood the transformation model, novice to expert, caring, adaptation model, and the many theories of nursing care, and adopted a style or interest, maybe there would be a higher satisfaction of nurses' practice...the WHY of how they practice would be more fulfilling...(I LOVE Benner's novice to expert theory...helped me understand my patients, peers, and my own practice...helped me not feel "burnout" in this profession...7 years and going nurse strong! :)-yup, the nursing "geek in me...)

[noyesno, MSN, APRN, NP]

Get rid of unit managers.

I don't know how it is on most units, but when our manager is out of town, our unit functions better than when she's there. I'm seriously convinced we do not need our manager. We take care of the patients, we self schedule and when we're short, it's up to us (usually the charge nurse) to call staff to come in. She's completely hands off.

All she does is:

1. "round"

2. promote customer service

3. get in the way

Get rid of her and split her salary us amongst us.

[Caffeine_IV]

I was this question in a phone interview and I could not come up with an answer that would be appropriate lol.

The nurse would not be the catch all for everything. We follow physician order and manage all other care.

Patient wants their room clean, tv doesn't work, temp isn't right, food disgusting or not enough, etc. We make it happen.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Charge appropriately for professional nursing services. Discontinue the universal practice of lumping nursing services in with toilet paper, food service, dressing supplies and housekeeping.

That (not so) simple step would accomplish amazing things.