I recently moved back to my home state and took a position at a large hospital in a small unit. I started working a few weeks ago, and it is the most cushy nursing position I've ever had. I went from taking 7-8 patients while being charge on a high acuity med-surg unit to taking no more than 5 patients on a unit that is relatively lower acuity. I'm actually finding myself having downtime, which I've never had before.
As I'm starting to get to know my co-workers, I'm finding myself sitting at different nurses stations just to get away from them. All they do all day is complain about how hard their job is, how the pay stinks and trying to get out of taking admits. It's ridiculous to listen to. I feel like I want to slap them. They have no idea how good they have it on our unit, how excellent the pay is for the area (we make nearly $3 more an hour than the next largest metro area where the cost of living is way higher), and how easy our patient load is.
I'm really having a hard time listening to their constant complaining. I realize nursing can be frustrating at times no matter where you go, but seriously... if they only knew how good it was on our unit. I guess it's a good reminder to not become that type of nurse. Always be thankful when a facility treats you well, pays you what you're worth and helps protect your license by staffing well with good ratios. I guess I won't be making any friends on my new unit anytime soon, but at least I'm no longer coming home frustrated by chaos.
Couldn't you just tell them what you're thinking? Perspective is everything. Don't do it in an "You ingrates! You don't even know hardship!" kind of way. Do it like, "Hey, it could be worse. At my last job, we all took # patients and had no tech and made $3 less than competing hospitals. Here, we have decent staffing and make $3 more." Perhaps it'll open their eyes a bit.
I admit when I first read this post that I went, "Oh no, I'm probably the kind of nurse she wants to slap :X". But then as I kept reading, I doubted it. My hospital and the NM give us a lot of very good reasons to complain. I'm working on moving on now because it's starting to spill outside of work :/.
There are a lot of reasons why people do this. I do it so that I can relieve some stress. I've had plenty of nights where "only five patients" was about two patients too many because of how neurotic and demanding a lot of them are. It's much better for me to walk out of one room, have a nice complaint session with a coworker having an equally stressful night, and then go into my next room with that much less negativity bottled up inside. I seriously don't know that I could get through a night without it (though I do realize that this is a sign I should leave).
The other biggie is that everybody has job complaints, but most people go out after work with friends or vent to an SO when they get home. I don't like to do that because the nurses who are right there with me every night are the ones who understand the struggle of it the best. It can get out of hand, and we all roll our eyes and scoff at people who complain about every little thing (like getting a patient when your current patients have left you with plenty of time to sit at the desk -- ***** please). It sounds like I'd have a pretty nice time working for your hospital, where you actually have time and staffing to take care of your patients.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
The less you have to do, the less you want to do.
That sounds like me. I'm a self-described bump on the log who would rather not be so busy that I'm overwhelmed by my workload. I love downtime and unstructured free time, although I realize that others are different in their approach to work.
You are there to work, not make friends
I agree totally. However, sometimes the workplace is a tad bit more pleasant and tolerable when we have that sense of camaraderie with our coworkers.
I've been told in the past we had the best staffing ratios compared to other hospitals in the city. On the one hand I was glad to know that, but on the other it was discouraging because the job is still so stressful and difficult. Knowing things were worse elsewhere kept me from leaving, but I still didn't find the job easy by any means. As the years have gone on I've watched the patient acuity increase while the staffing ratios be cut over and over with the excuse that's what other hospitals have and they need to make more money. Seems it just for the CEO and his buddies! They make millions while we make peanuts! It feels like nursing is a race to the bottom and I just wonder how bad its going to be by the time I'm able to retire! The CNA's piss me off because many of them do the bare minimum and can't be bothered to do their actual job whether stocking, cleaning equipment, plugging in dinamaps and leaving enough thermometer probes to simply answering the call lights.
As to pay you as a new employee may like your pay, but the regulars may have watched their pay stagnate with raises that barely meet inflation and not everyone gets a raise. I know people who haven't received a raise because they tell me. I know a handful of coworkers who've been demoted on the clinical ladder with actual cut in pay! I've always gotten a raise, but it is nothing special and as an experienced RN there is really not much difference in my pay vs a new grad! I've been a nurse over 20 years and it will probably take close to 30 years to be at the max. I've also watched our benefits worsen year after year with no end in sight. So any raise is negated by the rising out of pockets for our crappy health insurance!
You are lucky to have found a better place to work as they are few and far between, but remember there is no guarantee it will stay that way in the future. As to the great pay raise you are getting you are lucky because several of my experienced coworkers have told me they actually took a pay cut to come to my hospital which I think is sad for so many reasons. I don't think one should ever take a pay cut if they can help it. Also if they think it will be better they will probably be sadly mistaken and then find they are making less and not getting anything more in return. Basically a lose, lose proposition!
I've had this scenario happen at 2 hospitals now, and I handled it the same way each time: ignore, ignore, ignore, and focus on the positive in my own head. If the complaining got too much I found that I suddenly had some VERY IMPORTANT TASK to do that took me away from the nurses' station, or the need to go to the bathroom for a long time (if we were slow) or went to help the techs stock rooms.
Yes, sometimes people really don't know how good they have it because yes, the only job they've ever worked is the one they have. Just be thankful that you aren't at the crappy places any more, and chuckle in your head when your fellow staffers moan about how horrible and destitute they are, and go on your merry way. Some people just enjoy complaining, and everybody needs a hobby.
I really blame the seeming lack of pay to the society versus the hospital administration. In a socialistic society, salaries are equalized in every realm so that the guy who is working at a job that does not require an education gets equal pay. I saw that 6 years ago when Medicaid cut RN's pay in home health claiming that an LPN could do the same job. At one point, I was told that I would get $10 for a home visit. That does not even cover my gasoline costs. I realize the agency has to take their cut but that was downright insulting. I had two choices: take a lower pay or quit. So with that in mind, the hospital receives a certain amount of pay per patient depending on their level of acuity. The hospital, to stay in the black, must juggle a lot of things to not only pay the nurses but housekeeping, maintenance workers, IT techs and provide supplies for the staff. All those little perks that are seemingly free are not free. Something has to be taken from in order to meet that need. If a patient gets a nosocomial infection, the rest of that stay is on the hospital's shoulders just as an example of a very wasteful cost. I believe these implicit costs are why hospitals are forced to understaff. Nurses expect those high salaries. In order to provide them, each nurse has to take on the work of that missing individual which the hospital cannot pay.
I believe that the reason that older nurses are undesirable is because they have a tendency to be standoffish, grumpy, rude and are not team players. They get the highest pay and yet that negativity is like a ball and chain to the team. Many young nurses quit because of these types of individuals and all hospitals are well aware of that. So keep that in mind if you happen to be an older nurse. Don't be the kind of person that comes in and does their own thing whilst the young nurses are drowning. As an older nurse, I want to pass on what I know I to these young people and help them to succeed. I love seeing the newer nurses get a positive start in nursing and I sincerely put a lot of my own energy into that. I get great pleasure out of seeing them fly without that stupid ridiculous initiation that somehow became the model for senior nurses. -plink, plink-
Aliareza, BSN
91 Posts
Couldn't you just tell them what you're thinking? Perspective is everything. Don't do it in an "You ingrates! You don't even know hardship!" kind of way. Do it like, "Hey, it could be worse. At my last job, we all took # patients and had no tech and made $3 less than competing hospitals. Here, we have decent staffing and make $3 more." Perhaps it'll open their eyes a bit.
I admit when I first read this post that I went, "Oh no, I'm probably the kind of nurse she wants to slap :X". But then as I kept reading, I doubted it. My hospital and the NM give us a lot of very good reasons to complain. I'm working on moving on now because it's starting to spill outside of work :/.
There are a lot of reasons why people do this. I do it so that I can relieve some stress. I've had plenty of nights where "only five patients" was about two patients too many because of how neurotic and demanding a lot of them are. It's much better for me to walk out of one room, have a nice complaint session with a coworker having an equally stressful night, and then go into my next room with that much less negativity bottled up inside. I seriously don't know that I could get through a night without it (though I do realize that this is a sign I should leave).
The other biggie is that everybody has job complaints, but most people go out after work with friends or vent to an SO when they get home. I don't like to do that because the nurses who are right there with me every night are the ones who understand the struggle of it the best. It can get out of hand, and we all roll our eyes and scoff at people who complain about every little thing (like getting a patient when your current patients have left you with plenty of time to sit at the desk -- ***** please). It sounds like I'd have a pretty nice time working for your hospital, where you actually have time and staffing to take care of your patients.