Would you get out?

susiek, sounds like you have a stressful job with preg. women and dealing with their drug issues> I give you credit. I use to hate when my co-workers would gang up on a new comer or just be bitches because it was fun. I was a target when I first started at my present job, after six years my skin is as tough as nails yet my heart is soft and I have learned to blow the bitches off and speak my peace. So always speak up and hold your ground.

Suzy K is exactly right. I am working as a student nurse and I am already dealing with the treatment she describes. The nurses are very rude to any new nurses or they are sweet as pie and then talk behind your back. Don't they remember what it is like to be new? They are also rude to each other from shift to shift. Nursing is hard enough without dealing with nasty co-worker.

I wouldn't get out, per se, but I have definitely made the decision to cut my hours after a particularly bad incident involving unsupportive and catty staff members. I can usually blow it off (I had expert training in my sorority days on how to deal with the 'kitties' ), but this time was different. I had a meltdown, pure and simple. Not until after I left work, of course...wouldn't want to 'upset the patients.' I have never felt like I needed to be hospitalized before, but after this shift, baby, I was ready for the straight jacket and valium. I decided after much soul-searching that yes, I love my job. HOWEVER, I love it in limited quantities. I just can't do the full time crap any more. Life is too short to tolerate all the b.s. day in and day out...and for what? The good days are good, but it seems that lately the bad days are just outnumbering the good. Sorry for the downer, folks. Just how I feel at this point.

kday I could relate to your post and I've been away from the bedside for 18mos....I go back tomorrow for 6hrs to see if I can tolerate this again...I ask myself in the mirror everyday"what do you want to be doing?" I love caring for humans BUT the other baggage may have too high a price, I'll soon see.

Originally posted by kday:

I wouldn't get out, per se, but I have definitely made the decision to cut my hours after a particularly bad incident involving unsupportive and catty staff members. I can usually blow it off (I had expert training in my sorority days on how to deal with the 'kitties' ), but this time was different. I had a meltdown, pure and simple. Not until after I left work, of course...wouldn't want to 'upset the patients.' I have never felt like I needed to be hospitalized before, but after this shift, baby, I was ready for the straight jacket and valium. I decided after much soul-searching that yes, I love my job. HOWEVER, I love it in limited quantities. I just can't do the full time crap any more. Life is too short to tolerate all the b.s. day in and day out...and for what? The good days are good, but it seems that lately the bad days are just outnumbering the good. Sorry for the downer, folks. Just how I feel at this point.

Kday- you and I sound like we have alot in common....

What I hate the most is our own attitude and treatment of each other: the competition, the assumptions, the generalizations. That I feel is a crappy situation that we can actually control with very little effort.

Bad days in nursing suck, yes. But what makes it worse is when you had a bad day, and you're giving report, and the nurse you are reporting to reads you the riot act for not doing this or not doing that. Or when you call in sick and your manager makes you feel guilty. Or when you are per diem and you get to rotate to days once and a while, and a seasoned night nurse shoots you a dirty look - that will make my bad day worse. And that is what I don't like about the nursing profession.

On a side note, I also hate giving care to patients who clearly don't want it, or who treat me like crap. I hate treating patients for pre-term labor when they shoot up cocaine, and they are rude to me, and we stop their labor, only for them to return 2 weeks later with the same thing. It's disheartening and makes me feel like what I just did was a waste of time.

Hi. I feel that human condition has taken a turn for the worse. I don't regret becoming a nurse, because it was my calling. However, I'm having to back track to make the necessary adjustments to deal with the traumatic changes in the provision of health and medical care that I should have prepared for in the first place.

What I hate about being a nurse? Hmm...let me see..well I have having to worry every day that I'm scheduled to work whether or not I'm going to be mandated to work until 7 am(I work 3-11 shift). I hate cattiness of nurses. It seems that everyone is always gossiping about someone else and there is always tension between fellow colleagues. As Nurses we are there for one reason and one reason only and that is to take care of patients. It seems that sometimes people forget that basic fact. Isn't that why we all went into nursing in the first place --to take care of patients? I hate not having enough staff to take care of the patients. I love what I do and wouldn't be caught dead doing anything else!

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What is interesting is most nurses dont complain about their patients but other co-workers and management.It seems as a whole if we treated each other alot better we would all be alot happier in our profession.Tomorrow I think I'll make it a point to go out of my way to try to help one co-worker having problems(I work a 12 tomorrow so I'll have alot of time to accomplish this mission)

hello bed head,

i have been a nurse for 6 1/2 years and i myself love it..3 of those years i have been in the er and i wouldnt leave for nothing its all i want to do..i feel its my calling...

but let me tell you about one of my partners..she always says she wants out ,that she hates nursing and just plain tired of it..but she is one of the most caring, loving ,awesome nurses i know and i think it would be an injustice to nursing for her to leave..we have saved many lives together and i just love learning from her she has so much to offer nursing..she never lets the way she feels get in the way of doing her job ,the pts would never know...i guess i work at a rare place .. there is no back biting and gossiping of fellow employees, we all stick together for the best reason and that is the pts..as im sure youve read on some of the other posts others are not as fortunate. this maybee one reason why many decide to leave or not go into nursing..but there are many others.i think we should concentrate on keeping the great nurses that we have,and treating them with the respect that they deserve.. so the new nurses can learn from them...my 2 cents

hey boss, nice to here there's another great place to work out there. I love my job too and I work in an ER where the back biting is kept at a minimum. We are like a slightly dysfunctional family, but we still work really good together. We all vent once in awhile but we generally support eachother, and the management is pretty good too. Way to keep a positive attitude!!!