Why I left "bedside nursing"

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There has been much debate, healthy debate IMHO. I bare no grudge toward anyone here, am not "Mad", or upset even. I am really amazed at the amount of leeway allowed here and am proud of everyone here who speaks up be they pro or con union. After all nothing ever gets solved in silence.

Now on to my topic.. Why I left "bedside nursing"

Many would say nurses leave because of poor pay, dangerous staffing ratios, unattentive management.

Well yes I do make much more as a traveler. That's true. And I was an M/S nurse. NOTHING wrong with that. Don't read into my statements. But dialysis is my niche and my true love in nursing.

I did leave "bedside" nursing for my own reasons. And here they are.

I was so tired of several nurses complaining day after day after day after day ALL day long that they had the most difficult assignment. We had a 1:4 ratio on days. Yes it was a heavy surgical floor . We rarely got out right admits as most of our patient came from the OR for scheduled surgery. Mostly bowel surgery, thoracic, vascular FemPOPS, breast, ortho. No cardiac no transplant. Yes we had our share of MRSA. We did TPN, epidurals, blood, fingersticks. WE had CNA usually one CNA to two nurses. Not bad 1:8 for them.. Computer charting. Pyxsis.

Oh yeah the hospital tried to run us off. We all had to "reapply" for our jobs. Initiive 2000. I think it was some great thing from Cali.. The Northeast thinks every thing originates from Cali.. That's the 13 original colonies in case some of you are having difficulty with geography... JK.....

So all in all not a bad floor to work on..

The reason I left was not because of administration, or poor staffing or high ratios. I left because I couldn't stand the PMG'ing.. I ran out of cheese and cracker. Burnt out on my fellow crabbing nurses. Lazy nurses.

I realized one day that I usually had the easiest assignment and then it dawned on me. It was because I got my work done. I wasn't crabbing all the time wasting time and I helped the other nurses. So one day I switched assignments with another crabby nurse. She "couldn't" do it. And she never helped me one iota that day .. Just continued to crab.. About the easy assignment..

So when anyone talks about why nurses leave "bedside" nursing take a look around at who they have to work with on a daily basis.

OK I'm getting down.

Even if they gave me $50 dollars an hour I wouldn't go back there.

Sorry to vent..Just was getting tired of all the reasons nurses leave the bedside and this side of it not being presented.

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Nephronurse I need a mentor. I'm about to take the NCLEX and would like to get back into dialysis and travel. Can you send me a private message?

thanks, kerry:balloons:

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I totally agree with you. I want to get away from bedside nursing not because of the patients. I m also tired of nurses complaining about their jobs. Ive only been a nurse for 2 years and I knew from day one that it was not for me. Im one of those kind of people who is very sensitive to the needs of patients and when I work with nurses who dont care as much, it upsets me. I cant work in an environment where there is so much negativity coming from nurses and lazy nurses like you say. I have come across so many lazy nurses. My work ethic is very strong and I believe in working to my best potential. Its always the way I have been but when I see a nurse being rude to a patient , this upsets me too.

How do I get out of bedside nursing?

Thanks

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