What is nursing really about?

Nurses Career Support

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Hi all,

I'm a new RN grad and I'm looking for advice. Right now, I hate nursing. I'm thinking I picked the wrong career, but I'm hoping you guys might have some words of encouragement or advice to someone just entering the field. FYI - I've been working at a nursing home (as an LPN, still waiting to take my RN boards), and I cannot stand it.

What I like about nursing: critical thinking about disease processes, teaching patients, being present for the patient in a crisis situation (emotional or physical), learning about complex and interesting cases, offering respect and compassion

What I dislike about nursing: rushing, having a strict time schedule, keeping a mental/written list of 20 things I need to do like NOW, pushing pills, not having time for the patient, awful scheduling, getting dumped on by management

Am I wrong, or is my second list essentially what nursing is all about?

I don't handle stress. I can't balance a billion things at once and be okay. And yet, my residents love me, and I know I'm smart enough for the job (like I scored in the top .5% of the nation on my exit exam smart). What do I do? I feel so sad and discouraged.

Specializes in geriatrics.

When I'm busy, I will cut the "talkers" right off: "I need to check on another pt, but I will be back to see you later. Please ring your bell if you need help. Good night." Otherwise, they will eat your time up while someone else actually requires medical attention.

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Nursing in nursing homes is just as you described it and it is unappreciated by management and will stress you out if you let it. That is why nursing homes has high turnover of new hires. Not untill something is done about the lack of respect management has for the role of the nurse will it change. Get some experience and look for a different position.

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Is it okay to blow off a patient request if it's a low priority? For example, let's say one "healthy" patient asks to have their BP checked while another CHF patient has an ordered daily weight that needs done. You only have time to do one or the other, which do you do?

You do the one you have to do. You prioritize the higher risk situation. You don't do things just to make people happy, you do things to keep your patients safe.

Here's another situation... I have a few residents that will stop me to tell a story regardless of how busy I look. They tell stories in that way that you cannot get a word in edgewise, and the only way to shorten the encounter is to literally cut them off. Is that okay? It makes me cringe to think of doing that.

YES.

Practice polite ways to say no so that you don't have to think on your feet and use your script.

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You may really like working as a communicable disease nurse or a TB case manager at a public health department. Doing surveillance, disease investigations, educating/counseling clients on prevention/treatment, coordinating care, etc...it all involves a great deal of critical-thinking. There is a huge learning curve in this area too; so many complex, infectious diseases that have burdened the human race for so many thousands of years! You are probably well aware of the pros and cons of working in public health. I hope you find your niche.

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Thanks everyone. It helps to hear other perspectives.

I ended up putting in my notice last Thursday. The final straw for me was feeling like my license was at stake. I know nursing can be crazy, but I do think the facility I have been working in is exceptionally bad. I checked online, and the facility is rated one-star, has 22 health deficiencies (state average is 6.2), and has had 5 complaints with state in the past 15 months. I read through the incident reports with state, and I could see how every single one still occurs on a daily basis. I feel a bit more hopeful now that I can find a job in nursing that is less insane. Although I'm nervous, because I don't want to land anything similar to what I just went through.

Mariebailey - thanks for the suggestion! I know little about public health, other than home care and vaccination clinics. I'm going to do some research on your suggestions.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Yes you need to prioritize and say no. Why would you waste time checking a BP for no other reason than that the resident asked you to? You have to do the important stuff first and be firm about the rest.

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Yes you need to prioritize and say no. Why would you waste time checking a BP for no other reason than that the resident asked you to? You have to do the important stuff first and be firm about the rest.

Why check the BP? what about resident rights? When I read through the incident reports filed by state for our facility, several of the deficiencies occurred simply because a resident asked for something that they did not receive. I get the point; the need to prioritize. But I still think it's wrong to not take care of a resident's request.

And I guess the implication with the BP is that the resident is concerned. In the real situation I dealt with, the resident had a history of uncontrolled HTN and he felt that no one had checked his BP in awhile. And although other nurses had charted BPs on him, I have come to believe that they were BSing the numbers. It has been a ongoing problem. Just yesterday I took his BP and it was 180/90. His last weekly BP was 140/60. Totally possible that it jumped within a week, but also totally possible a nurse fabricated his reading.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

You don't know for sure that this person's BP was fabricated. I have two residents whose BP can fluctuate drastically from 135/90 to 190/90 within several hours on occasion. So it is very probable that you might see a similar trend within the span of a week. The dx of HTN is very real and presents complications for many individuals.

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Has anyone taken the teas exam v. If so how was it. I take the exam on Jan 10, 2013.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I didn't mean to never take the BP but do it when it is convenient for you, not in place of doing something that needs doing right away.If I fulfilled every whim of every patient would get nothing done.You do have to say " I am busy and I can't do that right now".

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Man oh man, I wish I had time to do everything. If it was only a matter of choosing when to do what, then I wouldn't have a problem. When I say, "is it okay to blow off a resident request?", I mean it. I literally do not have time to take care of everything. And neither does the nurse after me, or the nurse after them. So what happens is constant neglect and rushed assessments and lousy charting. Is that okay? It seems like quite a few people are okay with it. I'm told over and over that "that's nursing." To me, it is not okay to treat human beings so poorly. Am I missing something? Are my expectations way too high?

And yeah, I know that there is no way for me to know for sure if the BPs were fabricated. But this particular resident is completely coherent and is not the type to cause trouble. Part of me believes him when he says his pressure hasn't been checked in a month. Another thing on that - I would hardly blame my coworkers for cutting corners. We are all forced to do it. It's just a horrible situation all around.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

Unfortunately, real life nursing is not like what we've all learned in school. Most of us would love to spend the time required with each of our patients, but this is impossible. As a result, nurses cut corners. But....you learn which corners to cut safely, and with experience, you're able to accomplish more efficiently. This comes with time.

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