whats the main cause of stress that RN goes through at work?

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Sep 14, 2014

It's not bullying. And it's dependent on your job. For me, it's "am I going to find something today that warrants contacting DCF" and then, 2 days later, "is the family going to retaliate against me for reporting them for diluting their child's benzos?"

roser13, ASN, RN · Sep 14, 2014

Bottom line for me:

Am I going to be able to responsibly care for my (too many) patients without neglecting anyone, missing any meds or giving any wrong meds due to stressful conditions, and then charting appropriately?

Can I accurately assess & stay on top of all my patients' conditions, orders, labs, procedures & protocols and charting same in a timely manner? All while dealing with ancillary services, phone calls & pages.

Doing all of the above while dealing appropriately with bad attitudes (patients, co-workers, management) & obnoxious family members?

Oh and did I mention charting?

dudette10, MSN, RN · Sep 14, 2014

It's being pulled in a million different directions at once, by everyone who feels that their need is more important than the next persons. This goes for administration, coworkers, doctors, and patients.

Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN · Sep 14, 2014

Families.

Families with impossible expectations.

Families that won't accept that Mom will not be able to live alone again after her stroke, so different arrangements will need to be made.

Families that aren't happy no matter what you do. We had one family recently that no matter where their Mother was, they wan't her in the opposite place. Mom was up? Well - Mom needs her rest. She needs to go back to bed. Mom was in bed? Well, Mom needs to be out of bed you know. She won't get better if you leave her in bed.

Families that come on weekends and want to speak to the MRP NOW! What do you mean she isn't in this weekend? Why not?

ICURN3020 · Sep 14, 2014

Bottom line for me: Am I going to be able to responsibly care for my (too many) patients without neglecting anyone, missing any meds or giving any wrong meds due to stressful conditions, and then charting appropriately? Can I accurately assess & stay on top of all my patients' conditions, orders, labs, procedures & protocols and charting same in a timely manner? All while dealing with ancillary services, phone calls & pages.Doing all of the above while dealing appropriately with bad attitudes (patients, co-workers, management) & obnoxious family members? Oh and did I mention charting?

Perfect! I could not of said it better. It's not just one thing...it's the multitude of things (see above) that are all urgent and important that's stressful.

QuarterLife88, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 15, 2014

Where to begin...

1. ratios. On my floor it's 5:1, and IMO too high. A more reasonable load if you expect me to get everything done in a safe and timely manner would be 3:1 or 4:1 MAX. Also, add in short staffing because there is a budget to keep, to hell with the acuity. Then they want to blame the nurse when a patient falls. Well, DUH.

2. Demanding, rude, un-pleasable patients and their families.

3. Drug addicts/seekers

4. CIWA patients

5. The amount of charting is RIDICULOUS, and also takes away from the bedside. Half of the time all I can think about while with a patient is how I wish they would stop talking so I can get out of there because I have HOURS of charting to do and I do not want to stay late in this hell hole doing it.

6. Disrespectful coworkers who display jealously and back-stabbing. Also, lazy and rude techs who eye-roll and think their job starts and stops at vitals and blood sugars.

7. Rude doctors who treat you like an idiot when you call to clarify something. Err, sorry I'm not trying to harm my patient?

8. 12 hour shifts. But it's better than the alternative of working 5 days a week. I would never.

9. The ER. I don't know what is going on down there, but they are the bowels of the hospital and they get away with it.

That's just off the top of my head.

RNperdiem, RN · Sep 15, 2014

We carry a lot of responsibility. People see the tasks of nursing, but they don't see the decision-making made in ambiguity. We are not just doing tasks and following doctors orders. When things go wrong, the doctor isn't usually physically right there. The nurse pulls the patient through many a crisis.

Charting, as someone earlier mentioned is a huge part of our job, and it never seems to get easier.

There is just plain work overload. If 6 patients on complex med regimens are all supposed to get meds at 0900, you are almost guaranteed to have some late meds charted. Meds are scanned. Big brother is watching you. The manager can pull up a program on you and see a chart of what percent of meds were given late in the last month.

Nurses have little chance to say "not my job". Xray takes their pictures, PT gets them out of bed, they know the boundaries of their job. Nurses do not have well-defined boundaries and things fall to them.

yayita · Sep 15, 2014

We carry a lot of responsibility. People see the tasks of nursing, but they don't see the decision-making made in ambiguity. We are not just doing tasks and following doctors orders. When things go wrong, the doctor isn't usually physically right there. The nurse pulls the patient through many a crisis.
Charting, as someone earlier mentioned is a huge part of our job, and it never seems to get easier.
There is just plain work overload. If 6 patients on complex med regimens are all supposed to get meds at 0900, you are almost guaranteed to have some late meds charted. Meds are scanned. Big brother is watching you. The manager can pull up a program on you and see a chart of what percent of meds were given late in the last month.
Nurses have little chance to say "not my job". Xray takes their pictures, PT gets them out of bed, they know the boundaries of their job. Nurses do not have well-defined boundaries and things fall to them.

Any reggret of choosing the nursing field?

Nola009 · Sep 15, 2014

Being held to a high expectation and a low regard.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Sep 15, 2014

Any reggret of choosing the nursing field?

I regret that the stress of it cost me a good portion of my physical health, to say nothing of my sanity. I really needed to stay in nursing till age 66, but I only made it to 55 before my health issues forced me out.

That said, I'll never regret having been a nurse. I had a good career and did a lot of different things, and I learned a great deal of wisdom from patients, other nurses, doctors, even families. I also came away with a wealth of stories that I'll be telling for years to come. :)

Larry3373 · Sep 15, 2014

Nursing is a well respected profession, but there are ever increasing demands on us as healthcare providers. One of the things not mentioned is balancing when to notify the physician or not. For example, it's 4:30 am and your patient has a critical WBC level of 25. Though it is critical, should you really wake the attending at 4:30 in the morning for a lab value consistent with previous values? Another example is patients that are intubated, sedated, and restrained. The intensivists' policy is to restrain all sedated/intubated patients, but he forgot to sign the restraint order for today and he has already left. Do you take the restraints off even though you know he will sign it tomorrow when he comes in? If you do and the patient extubates themselves this will cost you your job. However you may lose your license if you restrain someone without a current order. Nursing seems to be full of these types of legal (hence stressful) conundrums. I'm sure there are plenty of other examples, but you get the point right?