When do you reach your breaking point?

[dec2007]

Does anyone ever get to work only to find an utter mess (patient sitting in poo, critical labs not addressed by the previous shift, meds infusing that shouldn't be, you get the idea), and feel like you Just. Can't. Do. It. One. More. Time. ????

. And then you ask the PCT to help you clean up the poo and (one hour into her shift) she looks at you and says "Nope, I'm going on break." And then a few hours later, when you haven't even had time to pee, the Unit Clerk and PCT disappear together for " lunch". When you finally get a ten minute "break" to eat your sandwich while standing up watching the monitors, you realize the PCT is gone on her THIRD break of the day.

. And to top it off, your MI patient who incidentally had a stroke yesterday (confirmed on CT) has a spouse call wondering why no doctor ever called her with the CT results yesterday, so now YOU get to tell the 80 year old wife "Yep, your husband had a stroke yesterday. Sorry the Dr didn't see fit to call you with that information."

. Yep, I'm pretty burned out today.

[caliotter3]

It might have been the morning that one of my 'stellar' CNA's sauntered past me with a Cheshire cat grin on her face announcing on her way out the door, that the resident in Room XX had fallen at 1:30 am and it was now 7 am shift change. I won't go into the details of the rest of the night, suffice it to say that one of the residents that was trying to die on me did a pretty good job of keeping me busy just by himself. The facility was in flux. People who had important matters in common with Cheshire cat were replacing the employees that did not have those important matters in common with the nest of cats. I was lucky to make it out of there with my license intact. Definitely not why I entered the nursing profession.

[AJJKRN]

Sadly, but I guess also in a good way, rarely do crappy shifts make it into my top ten list of worst shifts ever since becoming more experienced.

I think one of my fears are the financial stability what-ifs that could happen if I were to leave hospital nursing. It truly scares the crap out of me in this economy to venture out and see what else is out there because I know I have a stable well paying job in a good hospital that still has plenty of room for "opportunities to grow".

I do really like my job for the most part but that stability keeps me there when all I want to do is fly away.

Hope the rest of your week is much better!

[guest52816]

Oh, I definitely feel your pain!

My shift is 3p-11p. I can't tell you how many times my shift starts with: "You've got an admission waiting."

The room won't be set-up, Medications belonging to patients discharged earlier in the shift are still sitting in the medication cart, doctor's orders haven't been pulled (even though they were written at 1p, etc.).

And of course, when I walk in, the nurse I am relieving is sitting with her feet up talking to an MHT!

I have come to believe that first shift stops working at 1p. It's as simple as that.

If anybody has any advice for dealing with the lazy co-workers, let me know. I've complained to the NM, and the situation will get better for a little while and then go right back to the way it was. I hate walking into work.

[Volley88]

Of my 5 patients, I start to break down when I get two Total Care patients, blood transfusions, all BG ACHS, and a new MD that keep putting new orders every 45 minutes.