What HARD truth have you learned once you became a nurse and/or CNA?

Nurses General Nursing

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Good or bad. About the field in general, humanity, or society? How does that truth effect you and how you do your job?

1) Death can be a good thing

2) Advanced directives can be ignored if family does not agree with them

3) There are plenty of organ donors but few viable organs actually donated

4) The sickest people are also the kindest and most selfless

5) I am much stronger than I thought

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Specializes in Hospitalist Medicine.

1. There are gut-wrenching situations that you can't fix, no matter how hard you try.

2. It will tear you apart to see the pt with young children pass away at an early age and yet the pickled old ETOHer a few doors down keeps getting re-admitted over & over again.

3. People can be willfully ignorant about their disease and managing their disease.

4. "Mean Girls" is a reality on some hospital units. Pray you don't have to work with "Regina George"

5. A good tech/CNA is worth his/her weight in gold

6. It is shocking how much responsibility is placed on first year medical residents, especially in July. It is even scarier to see them headed for an error and they won't listen to anyone.

7. It is incredible how long family members will insist we keep doing CPR when it is beyond futile to continue.

8. It is sad that I can nearly guarantee if my pt is in their 20s, they're either an OD, DKA or attempted suicide

9. Some days I love my job, some days I hate my job. I find the love/hate is directly proportional to the attitude of the pt and their family.

10. I dread calling a doctor during night shift. I have been chewed out so many times just for doing my job. And if I hadn't called, I would have been chewed out for that, too. It's a Catch-22 situation

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Specializes in Geriatircs/Rural Hospitals.

Burn out is hard to deal with.

Just because your a nurse does not mean when your child is diagnosed as bipolar at a young age you handle it any better.

Good C.N.A.'s are worth their weight in gold.

Going back to school in your forties is not easy.

Some days winging is only way to go.

Your grades are not who you are as a nurse.

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Specializes in ED.

1. You control you. You don't control anybody else.

2. Nobody owes you a thing. If you hate where you are, grow a pair and change it. Nobody's going to do it for you.

3. Get a dog. The best people you'll ever know.

4. Don't tell anyone a thing. EVER. I like to change it up a few times, wait for it to come back and then smile mysteriously when it dawns on people that they've been outed as a big mouthed gossip. Keeps interactions with the Nosy Nellies to a minimum after they look stupid enough times.

5. You'll get played. Whether it's by an obvious addict or a cool sweet grandma, someone will make you feel like a dumba** for trusting them. Don't be hard on yourself, it happens. Just learn from it.

And yeah. No employer is out for your best interests. Not ever. This is about money, and that's sad, and you might not like it, but it's the truth. Fortunately, the truth doesn't give a s***. Move on and protect yourself.

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I've learned that bedside is intolerable long term, and that many in the profession are miserable and desperately searching for ways out. Others are clinging to their area of specialty like a jail sentence they hope to escape upon retirement. I've learned that many nurses consider the profession an increasingly miserable place to be.... but that hasn't done anything to decrease enrolment in nursing programs. I've learned... if I knew then what I know now, I never would have become a nurse. The customer service angle is having deleterious effects on every facet of nursing culture.

I've learned that no matter how credentialed you are, you're still nothing more than a warm body” to be disposed of at the whim of an agency... so you have to collect versatile skillsets to be qualified across specialties and roles within the field. Specializing in one thing is a good way to become unemployable in the current job market.

I've learned that casual, contract, temporary, per diem work is sadly prevalent and here to stay :(

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Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.

I learned that even if someone is a co-worker you get along with, they might very well stab you in the back. And that will be something not work related.

Some nurses don't seem to understand that it's not a good idea to talk about patients on social media, even if said patient was a former co-worker, you don't make comments about their health/hospitalization. Good way to get fired. This needs to be drummed into nursing students heads.

Even if you are a nurse, if you have a catastrophic illness, you'll find out how hard it is to be a patient. You'll also realize how little you know about some diseases.

Some nurses don't believe that asthma if fatal, or very serious and will make stupid comments about it (see above about social media)

Even though nursing is a hard job, once you can't work, you might find yourself missing it.

Change is hard.

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A big one I've leaned that sometimes dying is not the worst thing that can happen to a person.

On the other hand, if a seemingly stable patient tells you something like I just don't feel right, I don't feel like I'm gonna make it out of the hospital...”. It's about to hit the fan. And it will always be that super sweet patient that you genuinely enjoy taking care of.

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Anybody who is over 60 yrs old should NEVER be allowed on a ladder!

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Patients and families say thank you a lot less than I thought they would.

I am surprised by how many patients tell me that they LOVE me, I am the best nurse, etc. but apparently they keep it to themselves because no one tells management and it does not turn up on those damn surveys.

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Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.

My "Spidey Senses" have saved MY LIFE many times over. They have also save the lives of my PATIENTS. Only when I've talked myself out of heeding them have I found myself in the deep doodie. Avoid the doodie. Nothing good happens in the doodie.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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There are things much worse than death.

Like Voldemort, and LTAC.

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That life is fragile.

Life can change in an instant.

Grief has no rules and does not discriminate.

Do not wait to do what matters; do not leave the important things unsaid, to those who matter to you; don't go to bed angry over trivial things; find reconciliation wherever possible.

:angel:

Also, plan. Get you **** together and keep it in order. I 100% mean this. Write a will. Do an advance directive/Healthcare POA. A consultation and basic prep with an estate attorney should cost less than a fairly nice handbag in most locations. If anything changes in your life (new job, new house, new family member/marriage, death in family, birth, inheritance) -- you UPDATE these documents. Check these yearly on your birthday for the need to update.

Make sure your beneficiary info is current on life insurance/retirement policies through work. Also, check your banking/investment accounts outside of work (you can check with an attorney on how to add a name to an account in the event of your death if this person may need access to these funds to immediately care for your loves without delay of probate if you die, or access in the event of serious illness)

All these documents spell out YOUR wishes for your healthcare and will in DETAIL name someone/and an alternate how YOU would like them to take care of your kids, pets, house, stuff, pics? Don't assume that everyone will just know.

I've seen a lot of bedside anguish. It's something that could be prevented. Prevent it, folks.

:angel:

And then live your best life. We get one go on this marble. Do it.

Don't wait if there is something you want to do.

Love like you mean it.

Forgive freely. Speak kindly.

Go hiking. Spend time in nature.

Advocate for those that cannot protect themselves - Children, animals, elderly.

Don't contribute to suffering.

Everyone struggles with something.

Smile more.

Pay it forward.

I just want to say, I LOVE ALL OF THIS!

And will be getting on my ish ASAP!

Thanks kind friend.

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