What do you hate most about your job?

NotAllWhoWandeRN, ASN, RN · Jun 4, 2016

I'm a little weirded out by OP saying she is a therapist and this is research for a video series (curious if she plans to charge money for it); nevertheless, any post asking about what's rough on nurses is sure to get a lot of replies :woot:

MikeyT-c-IV · Jun 4, 2016

just showing up... rather be at the lake. Otherwise a happy camper.

dlp0223 · Jun 4, 2016

Amen to that, I feel the same way. After 28 years, I go to work, do what I need to do to keep my job, my license and collect my check.

Cmanursestudenta · Jun 5, 2016

I hate pts that think the rules don't apply to them and they are somehow special. I don't mind getting ice, fluffing pillows, closing blinds, reasonable requests from family but honestly I can't selectively follow state law or facility policy

NotYourMamasRN · Jun 5, 2016

Unsafe nurse to patient ratios!

BeenThere2012, ASN, RN · Jun 6, 2016

Absolutely, the single biggest problem for me is the constant short-staffing. On most in-patient units, we nurses run around crazily trying to get everything done and only can say we had a "good" shift when we gave all the meds on time, no errors, no one died and we got our breaks. The last unit I worked on, it was not uncommon for nurses to find a hidden spot and do their charting while on their breaks. OT was not allowed for charting. And as critically important as it is, it often was left last as everything else was more important at the time. The times I stayed over without pay in order to finish charting, I was chastised by the ANM for not organizing my time better. She also stated that technically, the patients were no longer in my care and therefore I should not be in their charts.

To actually fulfill all the aspects of our profession in a manner that is not rushing though the task, is rarely possible. Advocacy, comfort, education done well (not just skimming the surface), a "good" bath, and supporting family members are the areas most often not done as they don't rate in the priority scale of "must do" on so many occasions. I mean of course we manage to squeeze a few of those things in here and there, but do all our patients receive all of them on a consistent basis? No.

How many times have I been rushing all shift because of unexpected issues and multiple interruptions? Practically every shift. Missing meds and the chase that ensues, an unexpected admission, something goes wrong with a patient and all of a sudden you have 10 new things to do that you couldn't plan for, replacing IV's that go bad, chasing down a doctor who doesn't return pages, and on and on... The fact that we rush is to me, the single most risk for errors being made.

BeenThere2012, ASN, RN · Jun 6, 2016

I've been a traveler a few times. We still run short on a lot of occasions. The staffers are madly calling everyone to see if they want to work extra, stay over from a previous shift, etc... It doesn't mean you will get the help. Except in OR's, I've never worked on a unit that had Nurses on call. Why not? The time it takes for everyone to scramble, pay OT for those who are willing to come in extra, etc... All seems to make up for the cost involved. Plus, they would end up working most of the time, so the call pay would not be wasted anyway. The problem comes in when management doesn't want to pay for the help needed....pay OT, pay On call, pay for additional nurses on staff....never want to pay period!

BeenThere2012, ASN, RN · Jun 6, 2016

As a traveler a few times, I didn't like these things either. When management refused to train us on certain equipment, we had to go to the staff nurses for help all the time. This makes us look bad and annoying to the regular staff. I was asked many times if I would switch shifts with folks, agreed to, then told I wasn't allowed to. The travelers themselves don't make the rules. We are just as frustrated at times.

BeenThere2012, ASN, RN · Jun 6, 2016

Even the answers on other topics are often related to short-staffing in one way or another.

dec2007 · Jun 6, 2016

Absolutely, the single biggest problem for me is the constant short-staffing. On most in-patient units, we nurses run around crazily trying to get everything done and only can say we had a "good" shift when we gave all the meds on time, no errors, no one died and we got our breaks. The last unit I worked on, it was not uncommon for nurses to find a hidden spot and do their charting while on their breaks. OT was not allowed for charting. And as critically important as it is, it often was left last as everything else was more important at the time. The times I stayed over without pay in order to finish charting, I was chastised by the ANM for not organizing my time better. She also stated that technically, the patients were no longer in my care and therefore I should not be in their charts.
To actually fulfill all the aspects of our profession in a manner that is not rushing though the task, is rarely possible. Advocacy, comfort, education done well (not just skimming the surface), a "good" bath, and supporting family members are the areas most often not done as they don't rate in the priority scale of "must do" on so many occasions. I mean of course we manage to squeeze a few of those things in here and there, but do all our patients receive all of them on a consistent basis? No.
How many times have I been rushing all shift because of unexpected issues and multiple interruptions? Practically every shift. Missing meds and the chase that ensues, an unexpected admission, something goes wrong with a patient and all of a sudden you have 10 new things to do that you couldn't plan for, replacing IV's that go bad, chasing down a doctor who doesn't return pages, and on and on... The fact that we rush is to me, the single most risk for errors being made.

This is a very well-written post, and it sums up the stress and emotions many of us feel daily. It explains why many young people entering the field chose to further their education so they will not spend their careers at the bedside. Fewer and fewer nurses wish to stay bedside nurses each year, and I fear eventually the only nurses working at the bedside will be newer graduates as they transition into non-bedside rolls. Who could fault ANY nurse for choosing not to stay at the bedside, given the conditions we work under?

pookashellz · Jun 6, 2016

I'm a little weirded out by OP saying she is a therapist and this is research for a video series (curious if she plans to charge money for it); nevertheless, any post asking about what's rough on nurses is sure to get a lot of replies

i'm a little weirded out by the fact her responses sound like cringe-worthy corporate training manual 'empathetic scripting', but hey.

SarahJ08 · Jun 6, 2016

Poop [emoji90]