What makes nursing stressful for you?

[dudette10]

The "least stressful unit" got me to thinking, which is, as most people who know me would say, a very dangerous thing.

Anyhoo, for me, it's paperwork. While I'm a work, I keep thinking, "I need to chart!", "I need to fill out the forms for QI," "I need to do the audits," "I need to complete the admission paperwork," etc. etc.

All this while I have the smile on my face as I'm fetching water and a blanket. Or toileting someone. Or cleaning up a patient. It's frustrating, because that's basic patient care, and I'm thinking about the paperwork I'm behind on which takes me literally hours to do, as if the paper work is "something better/more important to do." It's NOT!

That's my beef on the stress I experience in nursing. What's yours?

[lorirn58]

OMG, MotherRN, i cried when I read your posting. I can relate, but with "different" stories. So wrong. Thanks for getting it out here; i am one of the few who listen and understand. I really still cannot believe how cruel and evil human beings can be.

[monkeybug]

We had walkie talkies in the long-term care facility because we spent too much time looking for aides. They took them away because the company didn't like the idea!

The first hospital I ever worked at was constantly short on everything. Staff, supplies, money. We griped because we never had a unit secretary to answer the phone and there were lots of times when no one was at the desk to answer a call. And, we were expected to do phone triage (L&D unit). Administration's answer was to get us cordless phones! If I had a nickel for everytime I had my hand in some poor pregnant woman's lady parts doing a cervical exam and my pocket would ring! Very awkward and embarrassing to have to explain, plus huge possibility of confidentiality issues to be stuck in a room with a patient up in stirrups and having to discuss another patient's issues on the phone. And boy, we got some strange phone calls, too!

[Tarabara]

As a new grad, the biggest frustration for me is that nursing school really doesnt prepare us at all for how much behind the scenes things we do. Patients have no idea how many fires we put out all day long and issues we fix. For example, pt going for abdominal ultrasound was suppose to be npo before hand but the doc didnt make them npo at midnight. US calls me and asks if the pt ate, I say yes, they say well then we cant do the ultrasound until late afternoon/evening. Then I have to call the doc to tell them, they ask me what time US can do it? I call US sound back, then the doc back, etc. Then the pt is mad they have to wait for the procedure and I'm the one that has to answer for that. I dont know why ultrasound and the doc cant just talk to each other, and why nursing always has to be the middle man between everything.

[turnforthenurse, MSN, NP]

Yes to all of the above...

[exit96]

The "dog and pony show." which is all the "quality scores" B.S. that may be founded on a good premise but are really there to bolster "customer" satisfaction scores so that some non medical CEO or prick at the top can make more money. I have actually seen pt's now referred to as "customers" at one of the facilities where I work per diem in addition to my FT job. What is going on?! I don't need some company video sent out to teach me core values, in which they hired actors/actresses and paid $$ for production and such.

[mappers]

My manager right now. She isn't our advocate. She is only reactionary. When there is a complaint, she never gets our side of the story, it's just a blanket email telling us to never do that again. Any real issues, with possible solutions, we bring up to her get swept under the rug or lost in the giant mess of an office she has.

But she is really good at getting us all to sign birthday cards for everyone....

[aikz]

EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS JOB IS STRESSFUL! :) I work night shift & a good night at work would be all my patients are in stable condition, less needy patients, no admissions, etc.

[Anoetos, BSN, RN]

Nursing "culture" seems way too conducive to cliquey, hen-house, immature behavior in coworkers who are otherwise highly educated in an applied science. It's appalling how much politics and drama get in the way of the job we are there to do. I find the most stressful thing about nursing for me right now is the mix of gossipy, bitter old bats and new grad juvenile crybabies I work with. It sucks to be sandwiched in the middle of a generational shift like this.

Honestly, and this is going to sound very sexist, but I think this is less a function of "nursing culture" and more a result of the field being dominated by women.

Believe me, men in groups have their own problems, but cattiness and the banding together of women to ostracize and haze newcomers is pretty much a hallmark of the environment.

[SENSUALBLISSINFL, BSN, RN]

Constantly fearing that I'm going to get in trouble for something I didn't know was the wrong thing to do (or the wrong way to do it). I fear that I'm going to make a med error or forget to do something, or that someone is going to go downhill and I won't know what to do.

It is so sad that this is what awaits me when I make it to working in the floor, instead of actually thinking of patient care.

Anyone knows how this can get better?

[SENSUALBLISSINFL, BSN, RN]

Honestly it's that dang phone they hand us at the beginning of shift. When it's used as intended it's not bad. Numbers are in the pt room so they can reach us directly, which is great most of the time. Unless your UC is from the day when we had no phones and feels it necessary to call you 80 million times a day over silly things........makes it hard to keep your train from derailing lol. Especially as a new nurse. I'm sure it gets better, but right now I could cheerfully chuck that phone straight out the window!

I have a question relating to phones, Rensoul. Do you answer as you are giving medications to the patient in the room?

I ask because as a new grad, I cannot tell you how many times we were told by our professors not to do that to avoid medication errors, following the chain from when you look at the med sheet, check the meds, pull out the meds and go inside the room to give. By coming to these boards I see how impossible that is, and actually observed one nurse who I was shadowing do this. So I wonder, do I take a stand and NOT answer until I leave the patient's room for the patient's sake and my license, or am I asking for trouble?

[Guest343211]

Honestly, and this is going to sound very sexist, but I think this is less a function of "nursing culture" and more a result of the field being dominated by women.

Believe me, men in groups have their own problems, but cattiness and the banding together of women to ostracize and haze newcomers is pretty much a hallmark of the environment.

No truer words ever spoken Anoetos. What to do about it. . . .All this time in nursing, and I still can't figure out how to make a big enough dent in fixing this problem.

[Guest343211]

TOO many meetings that require us to show up in the middle of the day on our days off!!!

Yes. . .really what is this all about anyway? Let's all do Skype instead.