What I miss/don't miss about my previous nursing position

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Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..

I saw where someone posted "now that's one thing I don't miss about LTC!"

And I thought, hmm, we will more often say what we don't like about CURRENT jobs, but not say so much about our PREVIOUS jobs. (Pick one thing you miss, and one thing you don't miss).

My last job was on nights on a busy respiratory floor in the hospital.

What I don't miss is gowning/regowning/re-regowning, due to the number of MRSA, VRE or C-diff infections.

What I do miss is that there WERE things I COULD do to help people feel more comfortable, usually - it was nice to see them feeling better in the am than when I picked them up in the pm.

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Specializes in Home health, Med/Surg.

My last job was at a busy Los Angeles area teaching hospital

I don't miss resident MDs. Not even a little.

I don't miss "covering" for an LVNs patients so that I actually have 8-10 pts I am responsible for.

I don't miss being unable to speak to my patients-you can't spend all day on the language phone AND provide pt care.

I don't miss ER admits in the middle of the night with no temporary orders.

I don't miss being paid 1/2 what I make now for twice as much stress.

I don't miss psych med overflow pts.

I don't miss LA traffic. Not even a little.

I DO miss the hardworking nurses and aides there.

I am grateful that I could "vote with my feet" and found a better place for me.

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Specializes in Lie detection.

last job was sicu at a large hospital

i don't miss working nights,breaking my back, cleaning bottoms..

i do miss learning a lot and the social interaction (home health now so i'm alone a lot).

can't have it all i guess...

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Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..

I don't miss being unable to speak to my patients-you can't spend all day on the language phone AND provide pt care.

Now THAT sounds tough.

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Specializes in cardiac med-surg.

i don't miss trying to do miracles with four postop open heart patients in 12 hours

now my surgery/cardiology mix is a little more realistic

i miss some great knowledgeable people though

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LTC.

The inbred small-minded comfortable unwilling to learn all-related-to-one-another employees.

My old ones.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I Don't Miss being on call. No amount of money is worth it when doc's schedule routine procedures to be done during on call hours, so that you are there from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m., then get called back in at 1 a.m. for a true emergency case.

I Do Miss some of the autonomy I had when working as a Radiology nurse, the wide variety of cases we had with some excellent radiologists who were really into teaching.

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Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.

I worked ALF/LTC in a facility that was owned by a large fraturnal organization...and there is MUCH I don't miss!!!!!!

1. Having to go through a commitee of non medics just to post a memo to staff or implement a new idea...typically to have it shot down or changed to the point of insanity!

2. One nurse to 150 residents, and charting of that of more than a hospital nurse for even a 2cm bruise! This facility was all about CYA...and if anyone tried to sue them...they would have to go through a mound of paperwork and trails that would have any lawyer go 'never mind'! Yeah...that was fun...grrrrrrr!

3. Seeing pts pay upwards of 5 thou for their room, and being powerless to make any changes, and so many rules that they couldn't ever have it be 'their space'! The freedoms that were taken away from residents was beyond that of normal LTC/ALF's in my experience...down to what kind of picture they could hang in their rooms, or where they could sit in the halls and for how long! It was very depressing and very much a hot button for me!

4. Everyone was treated like a expendable employee! They WOULD take someone off the streets to do caregiving work, and would remind you of that!

5. The rule was if you saw anything wrong you had to report it or you are just as guilty as the person doing it. This went as far as someone forgetting to sign slips for bowel protocols (a little piece of paper that said you initiated it...not that you couldn't tell my looking at the MAR!!!). This caused lots of probelms, employees turning against others even if they were friends, and brought down moral to a hellish low!

6. The residents had care staff do EVERYTHING for them, and got so lazy that they were basically so out of shape they couldn't even do ADL's after a point. I am reminded of this big time now that I work hospital and see them...they can't do a single thing for themselves! Now who is that helping? Certainly not them when they have to be slapped with the realization that hospitals don't cater like that, or you have to wait...

7. You could never make a suggestion, or the administration would think you are trying to be 'too big for your britches' and would shoot you down fast and rudely!!!!

8. Having no administration support with unruley family's or patients! Being blamed if a pt was noncompliant (I guess we were to secretly force things so as not to be in trouble...grrrrrr).

9. Only nurses needed to know CPR! Okay that is 1 nurse for 150 pts...and the caregivers didn't have to know it???? Yeah okay that is smart..not!

10. Getting yelled at for sending in a resident for an emergency only to get a speach on "they are a DNR...or...They are dying anyway"! They learned quickly from me I didn't care about that...and if they are breathing and have a pulse...I treated PERIOD! (I got it once for a woman who fell and broke her hip...yeah she is a DNR...but what...just leave her in bed with a broken hip????? NOT!).

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Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
i don't miss trying to do miracles with four postop open heart patients in 12 hours

now my surgery/cardiology mix is a little more realistic

i miss some great knowledgeable people though

!!!!! That IS miraculous!

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Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
LTC.

The inbred small-minded comfortable unwilling to learn all-related-to-one-another employees.

My old ones.

Woooo.... scary

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Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
...

10. Getting yelled at for sending in a resident for an emergency only to get a speach on "they are a DNR...or...They are dying anyway"! They learned quickly from me I didn't care about that...and if they are breathing and have a pulse...I treated PERIOD! (I got it once for a woman who fell and broke her hip...yeah she is a DNR...but what...just leave her in bed with a broken hip????? NOT!).

Yeah, ESPECIALLY that (when I worked LTC)

DNR doesn't mean Do Not Treat!

Bunch o dummies.:trout:

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(I got it once for a woman who fell and broke her hip...yeah she is a DNR...but what...just leave her in bed with a broken hip????? NOT!).

We had a woman shipped back to us - long ride in an ambulance - with an inoperable hip fracture. The sweet old thing was lying there with tears running down her cheeks from the pain. rN calls the nurse supervisor at home - no orders from the admitting physician for pain meds - and is told to give her Tylenol. *I* called the physician, can't find him, get a one time from the PA in the ED for 10 mg Oxycontin. She went to sleep. Next morning the young LPN relieving me says, "Oh, they make her groggy! We can't do that."

She died within the week. In pain for most of it. I was told that I am perceived as "pushing pain meds."

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