Which Area Has the Most Compassionate Nurses

hawaiicarl, BSN, RN · Dec 27, 2017

Well it's not ICU! When we all wrote our CCRN exams our consistent lowest score across the board was Empathy. I would say Pediatrics, Oncology, or Hospice. Takes a special kind of heart to be able to survive in those fields.

brownbook · Dec 27, 2017

You seem to have found a job in a very toxic unit.

In my 32 years of nursing in four different facilities and numerous different units within those facilities, I have never seen the type of behavior you describe. Well.....may I can think of a few nurses who OCCASIONALLY were brutally frank that came across as harsh or uncaring. But even then these were very good intelligent nurses who still gave the patient good care.

There is no one magical unit or area of nursing where every nurse is always kind, compassionate, caring, etc. Even I admit to the occasional bad mood. Simply apply to work in a different unit, or get a years worth of experience and apply to another hospital.

cleback · Dec 27, 2017

I would second (or third?) the opinion that it's the workplace culture, not specialty. I however would not be so quick to change jobs. Depending how large the unit is and how fast the turnover is, it could change to be more empathetic with some time. It might not be worth letting the rotten apples scare you off an otherwise good job. Changing jobs can make it hard to gain the perks associated with seniority or longer tenure. Focus on your practice for now.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 28, 2017

I'm a new nurse (less than one year) and I'm thinking of switching units. There's a lot of trash talking and moral holier-than-thou hype directed at patients where I'm at. It's just not what I want to become and I'm getting the reputation of being a bleeding heart. Before I start shadowing other areas, I was wondering where people have found the more tender hearted nurses at? And yes, I speak up my opinion and the manager has addressed these issues before and after I was here. It's just the culture.

Which area has the most compassionate nurses? I'd say the student nurse forum on AN. Most of the other forums have just regular nurses.

TessLJ · Dec 28, 2017

Well it's not ICU! When we all wrote our CCRN exams our consistent lowest score across the board was Empathy. I would say Pediatrics, Oncology, or Hospice. Takes a special kind of heart to be able to survive in those fields.

Old ICU nurse here, and I don't think the low scores indicate a lack of empathy, it's just that often the other more life and death matters take priority over empathy much of the time.

allnurses Guide · Dec 28, 2017

Which area has the most compassionate nurses? I'd say the student nurse forum on AN. Most of the other forums have just regular nurses.

How RUDE!!! U have NO COMPASSION and I hope you are never my nurse! U need to retire and stop being so biter!

KelRN215, BSN, RN · Dec 28, 2017

Thanks for the response. I mean doing things like looking up a patients past criminal history and gossiping about it. There have been instances of judging patients gender status and open dislike for gay patients. There is a general lack of empathy, I.e. a sexual assault patient had to undergo an invasive procedure and began crying in their room, quietly, and there was just a feeling thrown around that they are just dramatic or behavioral issues.
I have no problem being frank with people and telling it like it is. What I'm seeing is just frequent trash talking and negativity.

I don't think some of this stuff is necessarily reflective of the type of unit you're working on but workplace environment that allows such behavior and perhaps an area of the country where said views are welcomed. I have never experienced what you describe here from colleagues in 10 years of being a nurse but I live in a state where gay marriage has been legal for 13 years. You could probably go work in the exact same area of nursing but in a different workplace or different region and find the most compassionate nurses you've ever known.

JKL33 · Dec 28, 2017

How RUDE!!! U have NO COMPASSION and I hope you are never my nurse! U need to retire and stop being so biter!

I wish I had witnessed the original "biter nurse" comment. I assume it was something someone wrote here at one time or another.

Makes me laugh every time I see Ruby's signature...

kaylee. · Dec 28, 2017

I agree again its the culture. You cant predict this by the area of nursing. The thing i have realized is that you need to really guage the management when you are on an interview.

While the manager evaluates you, you are also evaluating them: ask questions to guage how they manage the team. If they seem punative or authoritarian, be weary about accepting the job.

This is not 100%, but it can help you determine places to avoid. If you get a bad vibe, trust that vibe. People who manage through fear create a negative culture that over time, tends to persist.

Accolay · Dec 28, 2017

RE: looking up pt's criminal record. I don't think it's wrong for staff to know if someone has a criminal history of violent behavior.

I usually do this when we have a registered sex offender, possibly because I can never remember what the Levels mean without looking them up. I think that's important for staff to know. Oddly enough, sometimes people don't want to be alone in a room with a Level 3 sex offender. Doesn't need to be gossiped about, but needs to be know IMHO.

It's also important I think to know if your pt has a history of violent behavior or escape attempts with improvised weapons i.e. don't leave sharps near the pt.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Dec 28, 2017

Hands down Hospice. It takes huge amounts of compassion to provide comfort to the dying while simultaneously providing support and guidance to the family of the dying.

smartnurse1982 · Dec 28, 2017

It certainly is not Ltc.