What am I doing? Am I insane?

NCNocRN · Feb 10, 2001

Go to the post (just down from here) on "Nurses who love their jobs." I think this will be of great help. As for me, I am very, very thankful for the profession of nursing and the wealth of opportunities it has afforded me. I am very satisfied with my salary. I will never regret my God-directed decision to become a nurse. Sure there are problems, but so it is in any line of work, any profession (look at teachers, they only make 1/2 to 2/3rd's of our salary and often struggle under impossible circumstances, terrible). And after viewing yesterday's evocative Oprah show on the horrifying plight of women/girls in other countries, I am so, so thankful to have been born in the USA! In order to survive in today's corporate health-care environment, one has to be very savvy and proactive. Prayer makes a BIG difference for it is God who can make a way where there seems to be none! Also take advantage of every opportunity to learn, better yourself, make yourself more marketable, and network. If you have faith and are determined, you can and will find a very rewarding nursing career and make a big difference in this hurting world.

Tiara · Feb 10, 2001

I think you will find that nurses love their profession but are concerned with working conditions. When they discuss safety issues, lack of time for patient care and poor staffing, they are telling the truth. Nurses want to do their best for their patients. In many cases, they are not able to do their best. You can love nursing and find that the conditions in the workplace are horrendous. No nurse can safely care for ten patients for example. The problem is not with the nurses. They are often called "negative" because they want to change the status quo. The ANA and the Million Nurse March are trying to change these conditions. (www.ana.org) (www.millionnursemarch.org)

momangel29 · Feb 13, 2001

Let your heart guide you to nursing if that is your wish. Do it because you want to make a difference or because you love people.Think of all the benefits of helping others. I never regret being a nurse and I am furthering my nursing education right now. I wouldn't be anything else.Trust yourself to make the right decision for your life.

SUBQ · Feb 13, 2001

If your changing jobs because of job security, then??????????

On one hand, youl'll never run out of places to work. However, on the other hand, it is doubtful that you'll put in more than 5 yrs at one place d/t the b.s. that is involved in nursing.

Nsg is so lame because it is a mostly f/m dominated profession. ( ladies I don't mean to sound sexist--it's that I have to make my point.)

Women: Gossip, back stab, suck up, kiss a$$, complain about not having enough help, but b*tch when they get it.

I just quit a job as an LVN for a major rehab hospital that asked me to take a dangerous high ratio of pts.

All though most other nurses complained about being understaffed, only one f/m had the balls to turn in her 2 week notice.

I flat out refused the assignment.

A male RN quit for the same reason: being asked to compromise safety so the hospital can turn a buck. ::::::::~~~~>Go figure...A multibillion dollar institution can't afford to bring on a prn agency nurse--to get us thru the nsg shortage safely, but they can afford to pay some dumb a$$ CEO enough money to afford payments on a Mercedes.

So~~~~~~~~~~~~~>this is the bottom line::::~>

You will be asked at some point in your nsg career to compromise the very lives that you said that you would "DO NO HARM" by accepting pt ratios that are very unsafe.

You will work side by side w/ gossiping back stabbers.

You will get Sh!t on because you are in a f/m dominated industry and the females have not figured out how to stick up for themselves, their jobs and patients.

In a lot of ways the women that you work w/ are like co enablers of drug addicts and alcoholics: they enable the "system" to continue to run over them, so that the "system" can further manipulate the nurses into unsafe nurse to patient ratios, mandatory O.T., Mandatory CNA duty etc.

NOT ALL WOMEN IN NURSING ARE LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!

BUT A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT OF 'EM ARE!!!!!!!!

THERE ARE SOME VERY NICE AND COMPASSIONATE F/M NURSES...BUT THAT COMPASSION IS OFTEN MANIPULATED BY THE SYSTEM TO COMPROMISE PATIENT SAFETY AND BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS FOR ALL........

JennieBSN · Feb 13, 2001

My dear, please take with a grain of salt all of the negative comments people post on this site. Most of them are simply blowing off steam, which we need to do. Nursing is riddled with politics and problems, but this is true with any profession you pursue...except being the greeter at Wal-Mart. I personally love my job, despite the stress, and know plenty of other nurses who do. All the folks who constantly whine and complain and say how horrible their job as a nurse is simply need to find another profession, period. If they hate their job so much, it's time to get out. No job is a utopia, and you need to realize that fact first. If nursing is what you want and what your heart tells you to do, then do it. By the way, SUBQ, take your misogynist comments somewhere else. Your juvenile attitude and comments represent exactly the kind of people we DON'T need in nursing. Women are not all doormats, honey. It sounds like YOU are the one with the problem. Get over it or get the h*** out of nursing, baby.

[This message has been edited by kday (edited February 12, 2001).]

TracyRN · Feb 13, 2001

zdjoe, I have to say that the posts on this site tempering your enthusiasm for nursing isn't all bad. Too many start nursing school with unrealistic ideas about what nursing is. Maybe that's why so many quit before graduating. Its a very demanding field and you have to really be dedicated, for whatever reason works for you, in order to succeed and prosper.

One of the things I love about the field of nursing is that it offers so much variety... from OB to Hospice and everything in between. Its just a matter of finding your niche.

Remember, too, that this site provides us with an opportunity to vent our frustrations and seek others' opinions. We spend so much time at work caring and giving to others that we need someplace to get rid of frustrations instead of taking it out on our spouses & families who can't always understand.

SubQ, I'm wondering... you are very proud of the solution you came up with at the institution you just left. What was it again? Oh, yes... you are manly super nurse because you solved the problem of short staffing by RUNNING AWAY, excuse me, QUITTING. Could you please clarify for me how you, standing up only for yourself and leaving the rest of your coworkers in an even tighter lurch by refusing assignment, solved the problem? I, too, have refused assignment due to short staffing but I did not abandon my coworkers. We stayed together (yes, even though we are all f/m's) and got better staffing before we hit the floor 25 minutes late. The shift we were relieving (also all f/m's) was supportive of us and noone's back was stabbed. There wasn't an overnite miraculous change, but, within 4 months, our primary load decreased from 6 or 7 to 4 or 5 on days with an equivalent improvement on the other shifts. Even though we're merely, what did you call us?... Gossiping, back stabbing, suck up, kiss... well, females.

Be sure to list on your resume how much testosterone it took to abandon your last post: I know I am sure impressed.

TXERRN · Feb 13, 2001

Originally posted by SUBQ:
If your changing jobs because of job security, then??????????

On one hand, youl'll never run out of places to work. However, on the other hand, it is doubtful that you'll put in more than 5 yrs at one place d/t the b.s. that is involved in nursing.

Nsg is so lame because it is a mostly f/m dominated profession. ( ladies I don't mean to sound sexist--it's that I have to make my point.)

Women: Gossip, back stab, suck up, kiss a$$, complain about not having enough help, but b*tch when they get it.

I just quit a job as an LVN for a major rehab hospital that asked me to take a dangerous high ratio of pts.

All though most other nurses complained about being understaffed, only one f/m had the balls to turn in her 2 week notice.

I flat out refused the assignment.

A male RN quit for the same reason: being asked to compromise safety so the hospital can turn a buck. ::::::::~~~~>Go figure...A multibillion dollar institution can't afford to bring on a prn agency nurse--to get us thru the nsg shortage safely, but they can afford to pay some dumb a$$ CEO enough money to afford payments on a Mercedes.

So~~~~~~~~~~~~~>this is the bottom line::::~>

You will be asked at some point in your nsg career to compromise the very lives that you said that you would "DO NO HARM" by accepting pt ratios that are very unsafe.

You will work side by side w/ gossiping back stabbers.

You will get Sh!t on because you are in a f/m dominated industry and the females have not figured out how to stick up for themselves, their jobs and patients.

In a lot of ways the women that you work w/ are like co enablers of drug addicts and alcoholics: they enable the "system" to continue to run over them, so that the "system" can further manipulate the nurses into unsafe nurse to patient ratios, mandatory O.T., Mandatory CNA duty etc.

NOT ALL WOMEN IN NURSING ARE LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!

BUT A WHOLE HELL OF A LOT OF 'EM ARE!!!!!!!!

THERE ARE SOME VERY NICE AND COMPASSIONATE F/M NURSES...BUT THAT COMPASSION IS OFTEN MANIPULATED BY THE SYSTEM TO COMPROMISE PATIENT SAFETY AND BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS FOR ALL........

Do you hate nursing or just women?

TXERRN · Feb 13, 2001

Do what YOU want to do. Don't listen to us. We get frustrated just like every other profession. We just have a place to publish our frustrations. Nursing is long hours, no thanks, poor pay. Nursing is warm fuzzies, a pat on the back, a feeling of job well done. It goes both ways. Just like any other job. I hate it. I love it. And the nice thing is, there are so many avenues to take, if you don't like one part, go to another part. And we all aren't back-stabbers. You can see that by this site. We are here to support one another. Good luck.

SUBQ · Feb 13, 2001

Ok, I knew that someone would misinterpret what I had to say.

So, I'll respond to each comment:

By the way, SUBQ, take your misogynist comments somewhere else. Your juvenile attitude and comments represent exactly the kind of people we DON'T need in nursing. Women are not all doormats, honey. It sounds like YOU are the one with the problem. Get over it or get the h*** out of nursing, baby.

Ok, I'm the one who is sexist? Who is calling me "Honey" and "baby". Those are sexist remarks.

Juvenile attitude? I don't think so. My attitude is not the problem. The nsg industry is the problem.

It is a FACT:

That nurses gossip?

Do men at the work place gossip?

No! How many doctors do you hear spreading gossip? None, or very few.

It is a FACT: That f/m nurses whine and complain about not getting any help when they are short staffed.

But what do they do when a new hire comes in?

They try to stir up gossip and strife.

Do men do this at the workplace?

No!

It is a fact:

That nurses are constantly being sh!tted on by upper management. They are MANDATED to work as CNA's, MANDATED to work O.T. And often MANDATED to work understaffed.

The last three issues realy piss me off, especially the one about mandating a nurse to work understaffed.

You people just don't seem to get it. That when you work understaffed, you are compromising patient safety. More errors are likely to happen, more incidents involving falls, and the likleyhood of being at greater risk to be SUED is greatly increased.

But what are some of the remarks that I hear?

"I'm running away? I'm abbondoning my co-workers?"

Your damn straight, I walked out! I gave my facility 3 chances to correct the situation and they did not.

Furthermore, asking me to handle 12 BEDRIDDEN, CONFUSED patients and to do complete nsg care as described in the NURSING PROCESS would have been impossible.

You see, all of these patients are over 65, they all have bladder and bowel problems, and all are at great risk for falls. All have to be supervised one on one while they are using the bathroom and I have one CNA to help me to manage this group of patients.

So how in the hell do I give medications on time, check my charts for stat orders, check for incoming lab reports, give insulin, check for insulin reactions, what if someone has an anyphlatic reaction, what if someone falls, what if someone codes, etc?????

Accepting an assingment like this is like walking into a LAWSUIT!

Not to mention the fact that I am not SUPER NURSE. I do have limitations and as of yet, I do not have the power of being omnipresent. Therefore, knowing that I can't safely manage that many patients that have a high co-morbidity factor(s), do I abandon my co-workers as someone previously stated, and make a statement that I am not tolerating an un-safe assignment, or do I accept the assignment and not only risk my license, but risk not being able to proplerly care for the individuals that I am responsible for and bound by law to care for in a manner that is deemed safe?

You don't seem to get the picture. I guess that years of accepting the unacceptaible assignments has jaded your judgement.

I will not accept a pt load that is dangerously high.

I would accept a high pt load in the event of an unforseen crisis such as a major disater.

But accepting a high pt load because the hospital, by the way is a multibillion dollar institution, is too damn cheap to hire an out-side prn agency nurse--that is stupid.

But you know what?

My coworkers, GOD BLESS THEM ALL, can not insure the safety of my pts. No matter how close we band together, there is no way in hell that they could have helped me manage my group that shift. Hell, they were in the same mess!

My co-workers can not ensure the safety of my license.The hospital that you and I work for can not ensure the safety of my license.

The only one that can do that is me!

I know a lot of people who have been discredited by working for hospitals and nsg homes that were unsafe. But they have the mentality that they are somehow gonna make a difference by accepting being overburden overworked and understaffed.

All that they do is continue to ENABLE a CORRUPT SYSTEM.

By showing up for work when sh!t ain't right in a facility that ain't right, ain't safe!

By showing up for work in a situation like that you continue to allow the injustice to prevail.

You send a message that is loud and clear:

WE ARE DOOR MATS, WALK ALL OVER US!!!

And all that crap about being sexist is just that--crap!

I am trying to be as honest as I can about the profession that I work in. The poster wanted some input; he did not ask for someone to blow sunshine up his a$$.

I know just how rewarding that nsg can be. And if the system will allow us to pactice nursing in the realm and scope of the ENTIRE NURSING PROCESS--than we and the patients will all be better off.

And another thing, go ahead and tell me that my remarks about the gossip, about accepting unacceptible assignments, about nurses being decietful to one another is not true.

It is a fact.

You are right every job has its ups and downs; however, not every job requires someone to be held accountable for someone elses life and safety.

If you want to risk your license, that's your bussiness. But risking mine is not an option.

Would you knowingly hire on at someplace that you knew provided substandard care?

If you do, then you risk your license.

And anytime someone asks you to provide less than adequate nsg care, you risk not only your license but the lifes of the people that you are to be the advocate of.

So who is an advocate?

A nurse who accepts a dangerous pt load?

Or a nurse who only accepts a safe pt load?

Once, you accept a dangerous load, you are all on your own!!!!!!!! You can not back out, for if you do, you can have charges brought against you for abondonment.

However, not accepting a dangerous load and refusing the assignment sends a very clear message: Don't ask me to compromise patient care and safety; Don't ask me to put my licesne at an unacceptible risk.

I won't do it.

And my remarks about women in nursing stand not to discredit them, but to highlight the majority of problems related to the field.

And, by the way, this perspective was not thought up by me but was brought to my attention several years ago by a FEMALE UNIT MANAGER who was trying to get nurses to work cohesively and not counterproductively.

I'll give some of HER illustrations:

Police is a male dominated industry, do they constantly write each other up? Do they constantly gossip about one another?

No!

Do MD's?

No!

She was merely illustrating that women d/t pms,their nature or whatever, unduly inflict harm on each other by constant bickering, back biting, gossip etc. That this industry screws itself d/t to the very nature of its employees.

However, I'm sure that some one will MIS READ my post and call me a sexist.

glcas · Feb 13, 2001

I forgot to see what the actual topic is on this thread, but I have comments that I hope are pertinent.

First, I graduated in '69 (the dark ages), worked a short year, then did not work in the field for 22 years. I returned 9 years ago.

My, how things had changed, and how they continue to change! I think I changed even more. I returned with a vengence, determined to be my own person. (So it took me a long time to get there ) I found that unless I chose to be stuck in a particular role, I could make a difference. I chose to be educated, not necessarily with a degree, but with all the knowledge I can find. I share it with those I work with, be they doctors, nurses, or techs. If it will help them think in another direction, hone a skill, or just plain grow a bit, I share. In the long run the little things we share enhance our patient care, build a better bond between staff, encourage others to learn. It is a positive thing.

I try to do other positive things, such as looking for solutions instead of being a part of the problem. When I find myself slipping into the catty stuff, I kick myself back to reality. At least I try to do so..... I'm still female and think it must be genetic

Instead of complaining about staff shortage on the unit, I speak out to all above me about just why it is dangerous, or unreasonable, then I go help the ones who need help.

Somehow, just being different seems to help change the atmosphere. Laugh a little, encourage rather than tear down, help instead of hinder, smile and make them wonder what you are up to.

It doesn't change things overnight, but it does create changes.

One caveat... I have the luxury of being able to work prn and I can take chances some others cannot. On the other hand, no one is going to fire anyone for being cooperative, helpful, and supportive. Try it.

Thought number two:

There was a time when I had to suddenly return to the workforce. I did everything from secretarial to bookkeeping. Typical female dominated positions. It is the same in the business world as in nursing. Women are expected to do more with less and do it better for less pay. Fortunately, we are also the best equipped to do so. Unfortunately, we are the best equipped to do so.

Bottom line, live with the status quo or do your part to change it. It is your choice.

Do the job you like and you will do what you can to make it what it should be. Look at the problems as being challenges. Give those around you a boost instead of a stab in the back. Smile.

My last thought: If you think nursing is where you want to be, then go for it. There are a multitude of areas you can specialize in if you don't find med-surg to be your thing. Nursing today is very different than 30 some years ago, but still needs a boost up the ladder. Come on in and help us get up another rung.

p.s.

Yes, I hate my pay and the dangers of my job as much as anyone here. And, no, I am not really a Pollyanna. BUT, I removed the welcome mat from my back to discourage people from walking all over me.

JennieBSN · Feb 14, 2001

I must respond one last time to this immature jerk who calls himself a professional nurse.

Ok, I'm the one who is sexist? Who is calling me "Honey" and "baby". Those are sexist remarks.

"Honey" and "baby" aren't sexist, they're simply returning the same disrespectful, condescending tone you used.

Juvenile attitude? I don't think so. My attitude is not the problem. The nsg industry is the problem.

If the nursing industry is such a problem, again, deal with it, or get the h*** out. And of course you don't think your attitude is juvenile, the classic attitude of an immature, juvenile jerk. I expected as much.

Do men at the work place gossip?

No! How many doctors do you hear spreading gossip? None, or very few.

Uh, what planet are you on?

Ahh. I see. Men never gossip, are always professional, and do exactly what's right every time. You keep making these ignorant, false, blanket statements and then get defensive when others say you're wrong. In fact, almost every post on this SITE from you is defensive and hostile. I wonder...why is that?? You need to check your attitude. Oh, and please spare your co-workers and patients by leaving nursing. Go to work for the police force or some other male-dominated utopia. Good riddance.