Why are nurses so angry?

Specializes in Trauma ICU,ER,ACLS/BLS instructor.

Reading the forum in the past few months, a common thread I have seen is the anger. It does not seem to matter what the discussion is about or the level of nurses discussing it, anger is a common denominator. All of us have random days of extremes, anger, disillusionment, panic, sadness, and a host of other feelings. But anger sticks out and the need to place this anger on others. We need to vent, but why is anger a constant?

In a recent thread, nurses discuss the dealings with combative pts with drug/etoh  backrounds. So much fault placed on the pt. I am more then understanding of the difficulties in dealing with these people, but do ya think they do it on purpose?

When a professional nurse becomes so immersed in anger, it is time to change your specialty or take a break. We are not a perfect group by no means, but we get paid to deal with the best of the best and worst of the worst. It is not always easy, fun, or safe. We should not be abused or taken advantage of by our clients. We should be protected by our employers. We need to be proactive in getting our needs met and the needs of those in our care met.

When I see such young professionals so angry and disillusioned already, I have to wonder at the future of our profession.

It is not a profession one should enter to get rich, have great hours, vacations or benifits. It is one that is entered to care for others, teach and mentor. We have come such a long, long way in the past few decades, and we have far to go.

So, I guess my question to the population here, is how do we grow as a profession without all the constant anger towards each other, our clients and employers? Or can we?

Christine

65 Answers

There are many reasons nurses are have anger. Years of suppression, abuse by management, low wages and poor benefits. Nurses have been and are currently treated like slaves in some jobs they serve. Not all nurses have a glorious position. Most nurses realize the expectations we had when we first entered the nursing field, to make the difference we so desired, is a cruel joke. The time and energy we put into the job does not help our circumstances in some cases we harm ourselves. The more we work, the more we do, the more that's expected of us. There is no glory at the end of the road, there is not retirement plan unless it is self paid, and there is nothing there for us at the end of our long hard journey except a tired frail body. Issues like this was not discussed or taught in the nursing school when I attended.

After all the hard work of studying, passing school, the money involved in paying for tuition, (some of us did not have benefit of tuition assistance, but paid full everything) there is still a big fat nothing. Our bodies and brain wears out from frustration and defeat. We burn out, and no one cares. Our nursing associations have been another cruel a joke. They support the hospital based issues, not the poor tired working nurse person.

We compare ourselves to other professions, and realize just how screwed we have been. (my drop out of high school child (later - ged) makes more money, gets faster promotions, and has more benefits than I do, and she doesn't work hard at all. Our local garbage man (bless his heart) makes more money at $32.00 per hr., compared to my $24.09 per hour after my 35+ years. He will have benefits upon his 20 years when he retires. He works hard, don't get me wrong, but so do I with additional responsibility (life and death). He has the support of a union to back him up. I have the ana and my dog. I trust my dog more.

After all the anger and abuse, nurses stay because we know we are the best for the job. We know if we leave, no one else on the face of this earth can just step up and do our job. No one can replace our knowledge and skill base because they do not have the experience we do. Leaving is not an option after all the time, energy and money that we have invested to get the job right.

Will nursing change in the near future? No. Sadly, it will never change unless we have a super support system. It won't happen in my life time.

We write to all nurses, because we need to support each other. We need to know we are not the only person on the face of this earth that feels defeated by the nursing profession. We need to know we do not suffer alone.

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

I haven't noticed that nurses are angrier than other demographic groups. I've posted on other boards and they tend to vent on forums too. You should read religious debate boards!!!

There are some frustrations unique to nursing that get aired here as a way of seeking support and validation for the inherent frustrations of dealing with out of touch administrations and governing bodies, and the general public in it's uncensored glory.

Specializes in Med-Surg.

There's a lot of frustration in our profession for many reasons, it's easy to get a feel for what that is by this bulletine board, but I disagree that there's "constant anger". I agree that if someone is constantly angry then it's time to find another job.

Most of us are trudging along, expressing our anger and frustrations here where it's safe to do so anonymously (and often more strongly than we would in real life), but are getting it off our chest, dealing, but not in constant anger. We can't sugar coat it, we need an outlet.

I agree, I notice it as well. I think sometimes nurses have long shifts, difficult pt's difficult dr's staff etc.. etc.. here they can speak more freely. I think listening to angry nurses and talking about their problems it like caring for pt's. Like pt's , I try to not be judgemental when it comes to nurses. I don't know what the nurses support systems are what kind of crappy place they work in or how many times a shift they are inadated with abusive, combative pt's , with no staff to help etc... etc...., so for all those angry nurses hang in there. If we don't have each other we have nothing.

Specializes in Home Health, Geriatrics.

You stated a very valid reason why there are a lot of angry nurses. You said we should be protected by our employers. Right there is the basic root of the anger. We are NOT protected by our employers. Most of the time, they will hang you out to dry if there is a problem, perceived or real. It's all about the money for the employers. They don't care about their staff, they can all be replaced with the latest batch of new nurses. It's not the new nurses fault, they come into this with the notion of making a difference and really loving what they do. The disillusionment comes later when they realize that they are cannon fodder and can be replaced with the next batch of newbies. Perhaps if employers took a good, long hard look at what nurses deal with on a daily basis, maybe they would change their position and truly protect their employees. You've been a nurse for a long time, like me. We've seen the changes that have occurred and not for the better. How we can make changes is unknown to me. Unless every single nurse in the entire country stood up at one time and said enough is enough, nothing will change. :o

Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

Every time someone asks anything about why so many nurses are this or that, I ask if that person believes people in other professions don't share the same frustration. Do you really think that they are discontented retail workers, restaurant workers, accountants, teachers, butchers, bakers and candlestick makers out there? I'm sure there are. It just so happens that this is a nursing forum, so we don't hear from those other people here.

Specializes in Emergency.

I'm one of those angry nurses. I'm angry that I NEVER have enough supplies for any given shift. I'm angry that we are routinely scheduled to work short and that if anyone calls in sick, we are expected to just suck it up and work even shorter. I'm angry that we no longer have clerks, techs, or transporters to assist us and that we are expected to fill that gap. I'm angry that management expects me to tak an unlimited amount of verbal abuse and to "be OK" with a certain amount of physical abuse from patients and their families. ("Didn't you know that's how it is in the ER? Psych?) I'm angry that my head is constantly spinning from trying to implement administrative directives from management and then within 24 hours receiving the exact opposite instructions from the same management team member. He/ She may not be worried about THEIR credibility, but I'm tired of staff looking at me like I'm an idiot. And I'm ESPECIALLY angry that my priority (quality patient care) is no longer the hospital's priority, or for that matter - the PATIENT'S!!! It's all about customer satisfaction.

Oh yeah, I am one angry nurse.

If we were to express our feelings at work, toward the people that deserve our negative comments, none of us would have jobs. Unfortunately, customer service is the name of the game now. We have to bend over and take it without the lube in order to keep our jobs. How else do nurses have to deal with the strong emotions of keeping people alive and safe while they themselves are screwed by the very people they are saving? And lets not forget the admin that puts us in the line of fire with the short staffing, no supplies, etc. If everyone bottled up their emotions there wouldn't be any nurses left. They'd all have stroked out due to their HTN from keeping it all in. Or they would be leaving the profession at an even faster rate. Maybe that is what SHOULD happen. No nurses anywhere and then see what people think. I think venting frustration on a forum is preferable to "going postal" at work. I can't count the number of times I used to go to an arcade and play "whack a gator" pretending that the gator was actually people at work.

I'm not one of the angry nurses. When you only work 32 hours a month, you can handle anything. If I stayed full time at my first job however, I would have been a burnt-out, frustrated, and irritable.

People also become angry when reality does not match what they have been led to expect. I doubt my grandparents asked themselves if they were happy or fulfilled in their work, they farmed because they needed to make a living. You worked hard, and expected little in the way of fulfillment, joy. Nowadays, people expect more from work than they used to, so people are more likely to be dissappointed and angry.

while getting rich is a subjective term the nurses who fall into this catagory is probably few

howevr many have accepable hours, vacations and benefits are usually on par with most other professions

it is the way we are vizulized by tptb..we say we are nurses i can get a job in any part of the country or in another facility if i am not happy where i am or if i need for family reasons to move

.however tptb view us as the same way..an experienced nurse can be hired, oriented in a short while and they don't remember the last one they had to replace

this attitude hurts the whole nusing field..how many times have you gone to work and and you knew that you would be working with competent, intelligent nurses who would do thier work and kick in when needed

too many of the nurses are warm bodies who have been kicked out of other facilities and will soon be going away to fill in a place somewhere they can get away with incompetence and being down right lazy

the one who thought up getting rid of or cutting back on transporters, cna, ward clerk is patted on the back by colleagues and the ads will broadcast 'WHEN YOU COME TO OUR HOSPITAL YOU WILL BE CARE FOR BY OUR ALL RN STAFF'

Specializes in mostly in the basement.

While i completely understand your point--and agree that there is some sort of generational shift going on--and not necessarily for the bad--I don't think the situations or life choices you mentioned are analogous.

I can only speak for myself when I say that I don't necessarily need to be fulfilled or filled with joy by my workplace, either. It would be a nice bonus, sure, but not expected. What I don't think is simply yearning for happiness is ducking assaults on a nightly basis, living with an innate stress re. losing your license, not because you are careless or bad but simply because you PHYSICALLY cannot be in three places at once--which you kinda have to with three critically ill patients on various drips/conditions. There should be more nurses there. Not me running keeping people alive DESPITE he conditions. A big crash is coming because our employers want to keep their heads in the sand and the money flowing upstairs. Okay. OF COURSE the smart ones aren't gonna be around for the fall.

It's not necessarily disillusionment although there definitely is some for anyone out in the "real" nursing world. I could hoe the fields every day too because I need a job but I'm guessing if grandpa had feces thrown at him, knives pulled, constant verbal abuse and someone hiding (well, whatever critical piece you need when tilling fields) just for fun or for "budgetary" needs, I'm guessing he would have found something different too.

Specializes in ICU, ER, EP,.

While your post elicits many excellent responses. It's too broad to come to a solution. perhaps you can choose one dimension that is truly troublesome and we can focus better to find resolution.

That said, I'll tackle what whims me as the questions are plenty...

I believe ANGER is a very powerful tool, it motivates for change. With anger, placed in our patients best interest we feel compelled to place ourselves, our jobs, our positions, our safety and our lively hood in jepardy to create an environment of CHANGE. To me, it seems we have to get angry to act, and then ; we get involved with the process, strike, move on, quit and buck the system... however we choose.

The problem is organization to create change with our anger. We let our skilled peers slip away to other positions because we're stone walled or lack the ability to join forces to fight. And sadly we're stonewalled by management to make the changes when grouped as a team.

My benefits to me are separate compensation from the value I bring home from patient care.... my financial $$ is one part.... the changes I bring ... bring another value to me service in patient care. I HAVE TO HAVE BOTH. When one lacks, the other doesn't compensate enough.

So I fight BOTH battles, because I need it BOTH ways... and I NEED my peers to help make it so.

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