Is it just me , or does it seem that soooo many new nurses are posting questions about being stressed and overworked ? I understand that nursing is a stressful job but my goodness. I'm not complaining about them I'm just concerned about why their stress level seems to be to the point many of them want to leave nursing. Is it that they are not getting the proper training for what the job entails.(4 year and 2 year) I know that the nurses I precept come to the unit with little experience with pt care. It seems the little things stress them out because they have never done them. Therefore, somehting like a critical pt, completley discombobulates them. Many times they can't get past a simple procedure let alone critical thinking. I've done ER /ICU/OHRU for almost 30 years now. I'm " Old", and many days I feel busy and overworked but, I can still keep up with the best of them. Nursing is no more stressful now than it was in the 80's. Sometimes I just want to say , put your " I'm a nurse now, panties on" , stop whining and start learning. If you didn't learn it before you got to the hospital, you need to learn it sometime.
Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.
I don't want to be argumentative, but I just don't agree. I make more money than almost all of my peers with a bachelor's degree. Yes, there are other occupations out there with better paying salaries. There are also a lot of professions that pay less. Personally, I feel well compensated for what I do. Teachers are required to have a bachelor's degree--many have their master's--and their starting salary is considerably lower than a nurse's. Nurses do not even have to have a bachelor's degree. Furthermore, don't even get me started on the stress level of nurses compared to teachers. I know enough teachers to know how stressful and time consuming of a job they have. Do we have a tough job as nurses? Absolutely! But, there are other professions that are just as stressful and don't pay as well.
I just have to jump in and comment on your response here. I really must disagree. True, there are other professions that pay less. But, do those professions carry the responsibility that many nursing positions do? There are too many variations in nursing to say that, as a whole, it is "well compensated." When I traveled, I made around 32$ and hour, plus a very generous housing allowance. I felt very well compensated in that particular job. It has a 4:1 ratio. However, being night charge on a 30 bed floor, carrying your own load of 15 cardiac patients, with an LPN as the other nurse, and 1 CNA? There isn't enough money to compensate for that. I was being paid less than 20$/hr at the time - 8 years ago.
Nurses can and DO get sued, stripped of their licenses, and generally made into villains for things that were WAY beyond their control. On a daily basis. If something goes wrong, BLAME THE NURSE. It works almost every time. As an experienced nurse, I was offered 23$/hr to work at an upscale hospital in this state. Excuse me? That is NOT well compensated. This is AVERAGE pay around here.
No, teachers are not paid well. My mom taught school for 40 years. She worked non-stop. With the way things are now, however, it's unfair to compare nursing and teaching. They're too different.
Just because you make "...more money than all my peers with a bachelor's degree" doesn't mean that the profession is ADEQUATELY compensated. Look at the level of liability that nurses face, that other professions do not.
I have found that with the few nurses that I have precepted that they have been overwhelmed with the documentation piece as well as organizational skills and prioritization. I think that we sometimes forget how frightening and confusing it was when we first started out. Although, there does come a point when you can no longer "hold thier hands" anymore and spoonfeed the details. Of course, it is different for every individual nurse but if the nurse doesn't have a grasp on the fundamentals, and he or she is stressing out about trivial things then they're going to sink. Also, I have to say that when I was in nursing school I was completely under the impression that I would always going to have an aid on the floor to "lighten the load" and the staffing would always be satisfactory- it was all sunshine and lollipops! As you know in the real nursing world, this is not the case- at all! Maybe this is an aspect of the carreer that they need to come to terms with. Just a thought. thanks for posting- interesting conversation:typing
I agree with this. When I started working a desk job some years back, I wasn't expected to fulfill all of the same responsibilities as those with experience for up to six months. Six weeks of orientation with 12 hour shifts comes out to less than 20 shifts total! I think having something like a 3/4 load for newbies (and for more than just 2-3 weeks) makes sense so they have the extra time to look things up and ask questions and take opportunities to learn from colleagues' patients as well. The new nurse in this case is working independently and not "sharing" patients with a preceptor but still has more time to collaborate & double check things than if they had a full load.
Personally, I don't care how well nursing pays, in many places it's not worth it for *me* for the stress it involves. So many places have bare bones staffing, which creates a miserable work environment where the quality of health care suffers and one is risking their license daily. If it were an option, I'd accept *relatively* less pay in order to have a lighter workload. For example, if the hospital offered $30/hr for taking 6 patients or $25/hr for taking 5 patients, I'd willingly accept the latter because I wouldn't last long with the higher workload and would end up burned out and looking for other work anyway. But I do see the threat of such a system. Many people would opt for the higher workload just for the money regardless of whether or not they could truly and safely handle it. And facilities might pressure staff to make choices that benefit their bottom line. However, as it is, the only choice is to take whatever ratio the facility demands or to not work there. Take it or leave it. I've left it.
I know we discussed the idea of a sort of graduated entry on the "Hospitals SUCK at orientation..." thread, and I still think that's an idea worth further development. But I did enjoy a certain amount of that during my first year, in that my charge nurses usually tried to give me an assignment that fit my needs and abilities. Now, of course, I have to remember that when I get a tougher assignment and some newbie gets an easier one, but not getting set up to fail at the outset made it possible for me to grow enough to handle a tougher assignment.
I think we "seasoned" nurses often forget what it was like to be new, and we often have unreasonable expectations of our young ones (whether they or young or not). I well remember being criticized, two months into my career, for taking 70 minutes to assess and chart on four patients, because they wanted me to get it down in 60 minutes. By six months I could do it easily. Looking back, I think the criticism was ridiculous.
I can handle more than a new grad and it SHOULD be that way. Really, if I couldn't what would that say about me and my experience? My experience would be pretty worthless if a new grad could function just as well as I can. I think it's wholly unfair to expect brand new nurses to jump right in and function as experienced nurses with precious little transition time.
I really get annoyed when nurses who have been in the field for many many years constantly make students and new nurses feel so unwelcomed, unappreciated, stupid and incompetant. Im a senior in nursing school and even during my clinicals there are those nurses on the unit that completely discourage you and are just plain nasty acting because they feel we dont know enough or we are just "in their way". It literally makes me ill sometimes how quickly experienced nurses forget what its like to be new. Its scary as heck to know that you have 3-5 peoples lives in your hands for 12 hours. One wrong move or one thing overlooked could be fatal and thats scary. Between making sure you are getting your skills right and you're critical thinking correctly..its enough to be overwhelming for people fresh out of school. Sometimes im overwhelmed and im still in school. It seems really hard now days to find experienced nurses who are understanding and show compassion to new nurses. And its really sad IMO.
I'm really sorry you have run into those kind of nurses. I actually enjoy working with some new nurses and passing along tips I've learned.
Remember though, when you are judging the "oldies" harshly that when you are stressing over your 3-5 patients, they also have a full patient load, usually the heavier, more critical patients (as they should with their experience) and have more stress because instead of just worrying about what may go wrong - they KNOW - they've seen it all hit the fan before. They are very likely also (without saying much) keeping half an eye on your patients as well, just in case something comes up that you don't have the experience to see as a warning sign. Besides, by the time you've been doing this for for 25 years or so, your back hurts and your feet are aging at twice the rate of the rest of you, so when some fresh faced idealistic young nurse says "But evidence-based research shows..." you tend to be grumpy.
Maybe we all just need to invite each other out for a beer (or chocolate) after work!
I am a new nurse and i want to quit.I mean really, how can a day be enjoyable when the whole day your just trying to make it through without screwing something up....lol. However, wanting and doing are different.I am not going to quit but I want to. I did not make it out of orientation on my first nursing job( i graduated in may). My passion for caring for people and my desire to be a good nurse is the only thing keepin me goin!
Seriously, some of the people I went to nursing school with could hardly handle school, much less a real life pt load and situations. I think some people get their hands held through school and pushed through, after failing the boards once or twice get their license and can't hack it.
Of course I've seen BSN new grads that were stressed, not because they didn't know their stuff (they had 4.0's and passed boards with 75 questions) they just couldn't handle the schedule. As long as they worked M-F, 9-5, they could handle much more. This is another case of school not preparing them for the real world of nursing- off shifts and crappy hours, not getting to work what you want when you are low man on the totem pole.
On the other side, I know that there are times when everyone is stressed and need to vent as well. Everyone needs an outlet for their frustrations and fears, this is a good place for that.
Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.
No it stll the same. I actaully think is is better and easier. By the way the average time for a nurse to stay at the bedside in the 80s and 90s was 5 years...not much change now. I know technology has made it easier. IV pumps alone are a timesaver. Yes we had to calcualte our drip. Very few central lines. We had to get the IV in or the pt did not get their medication. Thank God for PICC lines. Nurses having a hard time starting the IV...they call MD and get a PICC order...problem solved. Wound care problems.....call the wound care nurse...we used to be the wound care nurse. Computer charting if done right = a timesaver. Internet access to check on anything....WOW this is my favorite. Yes i dragged my books to every shift. Had to order lots of journalsto keep up....now I can get them on-line....love it!!!! So much more is easier. People are not sicker...people were just as sick in the 80s and 90s why wouldn't they be.....humans have not evolved into sicker beings. We did have respiratory therpy and phlebotomists Yeah!!
I believe that there is not enough clinical time in nursing programs, and that the clinical time is not progressive. Years ago, vocational/practical nurse training was one week of class, the other week on the units, and midway through the program, the students had a full patient load. By the time they graduated, they had more experience back then, then they do now. I see the same things with the BSN training in my area...they get two patients (maybe) and they are usually the easier ones. I noticed that much of this comes from the fact that it is hard to obtain clinical space in the hospitals and also, the clinical instructors are not paid enough, so, many of them are holding two jobs. They are late many times due to the previous job's commitments and then, are too tired to really interact with their students (by the way, this was the same thing I experienced in my LPN program two years ago).
With the additional pressures of trying to learn policy, correlate the shock between textbook and real world nursing, no wonder they get stressed out.
I think a lot of this is liability too. We generally had 8 students in a clinical group. By the last semester we were taking 3 patients each. that's 24 patients between us. There were many days that we were taking the whole floor, and not all of us got 3 patients.
But the professor essentially was responsible for 24 patients then. She had to supervise everything we did, from a med pass to a blood draw, because it was on her if it was done wrong (and some of my classmates were scary that semester, I was pretty much stuck with the worst of my school). That's a lot to expect one professor to be responsible for.
I love my job, and I'm a new nurse. I don't consider myself overly whinny or stressed. I have stressful days, and still ask for help a fair amount, but for the most part I feel comfortable in my job.
I overall felt well prepared at school, but planned on becoming more comfortable in orientation. No surprises there, that's how it happened.
I don't feel like my 12 hrs of clinical a week during school were sufficient, because we weren't allowed to start IV's (I still haven't started an IV, actually), and we didn't get an opportunity to do many things that are part of nursing. It was, however, expected to do a summer internship where you worked 1:1 with an RN at a local hospital on a full time schedule for 8 weeks. That is where I really honed in on my skills. I was taking a full patient assignment and doing everything from IV pushes to foleys to charting. That clinical was a life saver.
It is a bit scary to read these---especially as pre-nursing student. The majority of the threads I have come across have been by younger folks. I think management of stress can improve with age and life experiences--particularly if you have children! Ha! I say CAN because I know many who have gone from Type B to Type A--so it can work both ways. I think that people also put great pressure upon themselves. If there is any job where this is warranted, I'd say the medical field is it--people's lives ARE at stake--however, it's important to keep things in perspective and BREATHE! :) Now, I just have to remember my words.
Specializes in CNA, Surgical, Pediatrics, SDS, ER.
I think that school can only do so much for students and the rest is on the job training. Yeah that sucks but it's reality. I learned soooo much my first year of nursing than I ever did in school. I've been a nurse for a little over 2 years and I am still learning. I'm starting to feel more comfortable with certain things, still have things I need to improve, and still have a lot to learn. Yes nursing is stressful some days are better than others but I've always been a hard, dedicated, and loyal worker. I may have days I need to vent but I hope that it's not being taken as whining.
I think no matter what generation you are from nursing is hard when you start out. There's so much information and in the real life setting you have a lot more to deal with than any school could ever prep you for. I don't think one generation was/is better or easier than the other it's just different and we all experience nursing as individuals so we should not lump as "new nurse" or "old nurses". We are indiviuals and each have our own experiences but we are all working toward the same goal to give our patients good and safe care.
I do my 12 hr shifts, actually like those shifts as it gives me more time with my family. I love working with the experienced nurses and I want to soak up all I can from them they are soooo valuable to my education and work. We should respect eachother, we are in this profession working together and need to help eachother not hinder the work efforts of our coworkers "new" or "old".
If you didn't learn it before you got to the hospital, you need to learn it sometime.
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pricklypear
1,060 Posts
I just have to jump in and comment on your response here. I really must disagree. True, there are other professions that pay less. But, do those professions carry the responsibility that many nursing positions do? There are too many variations in nursing to say that, as a whole, it is "well compensated." When I traveled, I made around 32$ and hour, plus a very generous housing allowance. I felt very well compensated in that particular job. It has a 4:1 ratio. However, being night charge on a 30 bed floor, carrying your own load of 15 cardiac patients, with an LPN as the other nurse, and 1 CNA? There isn't enough money to compensate for that. I was being paid less than 20$/hr at the time - 8 years ago.
Nurses can and DO get sued, stripped of their licenses, and generally made into villains for things that were WAY beyond their control. On a daily basis. If something goes wrong, BLAME THE NURSE. It works almost every time. As an experienced nurse, I was offered 23$/hr to work at an upscale hospital in this state. Excuse me? That is NOT well compensated. This is AVERAGE pay around here.
No, teachers are not paid well. My mom taught school for 40 years. She worked non-stop. With the way things are now, however, it's unfair to compare nursing and teaching. They're too different.
Just because you make "...more money than all my peers with a bachelor's degree" doesn't mean that the profession is ADEQUATELY compensated. Look at the level of liability that nurses face, that other professions do not.