One year in and I just do NOT want to do it anymore. I went to PRN status because I just did not want to be full time anymore. I have 8 more months and my BSN will be complete.
My fiance and I plan on marrying at the end of this year and we want children. I have to work, but I just pretty much hate bedside and I do not know what I can do.
I love the people and the problems that need to be solved, but there is just something else that makes me hate bedside and I am not sure that I can pin point it. Maybe it is the confused patients who try to get out of bed but can't walk... sends my anxiety level through the roof. Or maybe it's the guy with a chest tube and wants to pull it out so he can "go catch the bus"... he's crazy.. the anesthesia got to him. I just can't take it. Last night i had a 68 year old lady who could not keep her hands off the call bell. I undestand it was probably because she was anxious about being hospitalized, but I could NOT get my work done... I was ready to poke myself in the eye with my pen. She just kept calling for no reasons. It was so terrible.
I plan on going to grad school in fall of 09, but I am not sure what for.
I guess my question to all of you is... what else can I do besides bedside?
Any ideas? What might I want to do my grad work in? I almost feel hopeless and I question sometimes whether I should have done this:(
Thanks for the reply! I've been looking into home health but I'm worried they wouldn't hire someone with less than one year experience. I have my clinical experience in school and then about 4 months hospital experience. I honestly am lost, I want to leave but am so worried I won't find something that I enjoy or won't be hired because of lack of experience and leaving a job early.
I've been doing the floor thing now for almost 2 years, and I, and everyone else in my shoes in a contract is going to go the MINUTE their contract is up. It's sad, but true.
What is SO bad on these floors are the managers. They expect the world, yet give nothing. They seem to think that putting and pulling you down is how to "get things done" or to put the fear into you -- but all it does is demoralize.
Then there are the families and the fact that no one sets any boundaries with them -- no one. The only "boundary" you can hope for is that they are decent, cognizant people who can see you are busy and can chip in and cheerfully lend a hand. I've had to go into rooms with 5 gigantic men who could have easily moved their father out of bed into the chair, yet they call us nurses impatiently to do it for them. People in our society are absolutely RIDICULOUS -- and now they are talking about universal socialized medicine?? Sorry, but the patients and families I'm seeing will NEVER stand for having to wait or to give up having their butts kissed non stop.
And the dementia. I'm sorry, but there needs to be special units just for these patients which are consistently staffed with sitters at the bedside. I'm SICK AND TIRED of having to fill out mountains of requests and "hope" that our admins send in sitters, only to find out that my best bet is a bed alarm and a fall mat. I'm sorry - but four patients of this nature DOES NOT WORK w/ one nurse and perhaps only one tech on the floor at any given time. It's just TOO MUCH! But, no one seems to be listening, so here we go -- let's allow constant employee turnaround, spend money and time training nurses all over again, and just let the insane cycle that is bedside nursing continue. I just don't get it. Aren't we human beings smarter than this??
Specializes in Mostly LTC, some acute and some ER,.
much of what you pointed out is what I hate about floor nursing. In the ER, there are still some confused elderly people that climb out of bed or needy people on the light, but for the most part, those things are minor compared to the kind of work you're doing in the ER. Maybe you need a job change. I'd say give the ER a try because HOPEFULLY by the time someone starts to irritate you, they're either discharged or admitted (and not being held in the ER). Floor nurses don't have that luxury and sometimes get the same PIA's the next day. I'd say give a job change a whirl...
I agree. I don't think I am going to be long for bedside nursing myself. I love the ER and everything about it. I cannot wait to begin a career there.
Has anyone done ADT (admissions, discharge, transfers) nursing? I am trying to make a decision between a position as an ADT nurse or a nurse on a med-surg/oncology floor. The med-surg/oncology would be a 1:6 ratio on night shift. I did med-surg nursing for a couple months and hated it, but I was on day shift with a 1:6 ratio and it was a very busy floor. I'm not sure what to think about an ADT position, if it would be any better than working med-surg again. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
LOL see these are just the kind of patients that I love, so it is a good thing we all like something different! What about outpatient surgery, home health, physician's office (now that is my idea of true hell - especially if it were a pediatrician's office), cardiac teaching, corrections (prison/jail), etc. There are so many things to do that you will find your niche.
I'm not a nurse yet- I'll be starting nursing school this summer. But I hear where you are coming from. I work as a medication aide and caregiver for people who have Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia in a memory care unit, and it can be overwhelming at times. It's stressful being responsible for the safety and well-being of people who are a danger to their own health. I have cared for residents who are totally unsafe to walk who insist on trying to do so every five minutes. I have cared for one man who has Parkinson's who will at times lose control of his speed and start running down the hall at full-tilt. And I can definitely relate to dealing with the woman who wouldn't stop ringing her call-bell. I had one resident who would set her's off every five minutes for, literally, 24-hours straight. Most of the time when you asked what she needed she'd just ask you to "turn that darn beeping off!" (that facility had a very loud call-system) It's not easy, and it requires enormous patience, but I love my job.
I think the key to not being overwhelmed by what I do is remaining centered and always reminding myself that I'm doing my best- that I can't be everywhere at once. I never blame the residents themselves for the stress they cause me- I accept my stress as part of my job and find ways to manage it. And above all I focus on my residents as complete, rather than diseased, human beings- and accept them for who they are and where they are at in their lives, whatever that means for each individual. Doing so helps me remain calm and patient, even if all hell is breaking loose around me.
I've been doing the floor thing now for almost 2 years, and I, and everyone else in my shoes in a contract is going to go the MINUTE their contract is up. It's sad, but true.
What is SO bad on these floors are the managers. They expect the world, yet give nothing. They seem to think that putting and pulling you down is how to "get things done" or to put the fear into you -- but all it does is demoralize.
Then there are the families and the fact that no one sets any boundaries with them -- no one. The only "boundary" you can hope for is that they are decent, cognizant people who can see you are busy and can chip in and cheerfully lend a hand. I've had to go into rooms with 5 gigantic men who could have easily moved their father out of bed into the chair, yet they call us nurses impatiently to do it for them. People in our society are absolutely RIDICULOUS -- and now they are talking about universal socialized medicine?? Sorry, but the patients and families I'm seeing will NEVER stand for having to wait or to give up having their butts kissed non stop.
And the dementia. I'm sorry, but there needs to be special units just for these patients which are consistently staffed with sitters at the bedside. I'm SICK AND TIRED of having to fill out mountains of requests and "hope" that our admins send in sitters, only to find out that my best bet is a bed alarm and a fall mat. I'm sorry - but four patients of this nature DOES NOT WORK w/ one nurse and perhaps only one tech on the floor at any given time. It's just TOO MUCH! But, no one seems to be listening, so here we go -- let's allow constant employee turnaround, spend money and time training nurses all over again, and just let the insane cycle that is bedside nursing continue. I just don't get it. Aren't we human beings smarter than this??
I am lucky to have a great manager, but she is so limited now with all the @#$% flowing down from upper management trying to balance a budget.
Families!!!!!!!!!!:argue: :angryfire Out of my 6 pts yesterday, 3 of them had a family member that claimed to be a "nurse". I imagine all were really nurse's aides and made my day a living hell. I am sick and tired of the families that show up at 1730 making demands and "unhappy" because Mama has been on her call light to go to the bathroom for 5 min and no one has come. Well, what did Mama do before she came to the hospital?????? What will Mama do when she is discharged tomorrow???? What do they think has been going on all day whilel they weren't around? Do they think I'm their personal private duty nurse???? Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
I am doing some Hospice PRN and love it and can't wait until they have a full time position to get out of the med-surg bedside care side of nursing. Bedside nursing in a hospital or Long Term care facility is hardest and most unappreciated part of nursing.
I know how you feel, but I was lucky enough to know it during clinicals in school. Even though I didn't hate the work, I knew that working the elderly or confused in bedside was not what I wanted.
There are a lot of people who absolutely love that type of work, and I figured I would be more than happy to leave that to them.
But half the reason I finally went into nursing (have been wanting to since I was a teenager, just didn't have the guts!) was because I bore easily and get irritated. It was not uncommon for me to change managerial jobs once a year because I couldn't stand the routine any more. But in nursing, there are literally hundreds of fields. I took my time during clinicals thinking about aspects of each place we worked that I did and did not like.
I am very interested in the heart, for example, and am very good at tutoring my fellow students in how it works and is affected by various drugs. But after a week on a cardiac floor, I found a majority of the patients still to be the elderly and confused, and I know that spending my time babysitting a man who insists he's int he wrong room or that he has to go to work is not my cup of tea.
I fell in love with maternal nursing while in my LPN clinicals, and I am very much looking forward to those clinicals again in my RN courses. I thought I would be afraid to handle the children and neonates, or not able to counsel very upset parents, and it turned out I was not only good at it, but I loved it.
I think you'll know where you belong when you feel that click of everything sliding into place. Not to say there won't be days you still hate it. Sorry for the long note! But there are so many opportunities out there for a nurse - don't let an irritation with bedside nursing slip you up.
I am completely lost. I don't know what to do anymore. I hate nursing. I applaud everyone that can do it, I just can't and I can't figure out why. I loved the science/health classes in school but once clinicals started I hated going. I then started on a med-surg floor, hated it, quit after a couple months and moved to take a job at another hospital. I still am not happy. I hate everything about it. I don't know if its just the hospital setting or if I'm just not cut out for nursing. I've been trying to look for jobs outside of the hospital but I'm having trouble finding them. I'm not sure where to start looking or what to search for. I love the idea of nursing but I feel like I'm not the "patient care" type person. I am so confused. Any suggestions?
If you hate dealing with patients roaming, complaining, or pawing the call button, then perhaps the unconscious patients will be more your bag. You could concentrate on treatment more than bedside care.
Yes, and surgery is cool..very gratifying for those(like me) who like to see almost immediately that we made a difference for that patient-especially if you work in a trauma facility.
No visitors or families is huge too...just an FYI, you will still get the patients who try to get up out of the bed as a result of anesthesia but we aren't so restrictive about restraint use in the OR and PACU. The people that need them usually only need them for an hour, tops, before they return to normal.
mel2067
8 Posts
Thanks for the reply! I've been looking into home health but I'm worried they wouldn't hire someone with less than one year experience. I have my clinical experience in school and then about 4 months hospital experience. I honestly am lost, I want to leave but am so worried I won't find something that I enjoy or won't be hired because of lack of experience and leaving a job early.