14 years in - Still figuring it all out!

[Damion Jenkins, MSN, RN]

Nurse Educator Rant: 

14 years as a Registered Nurse and 10+ years as a Nurse Educator, the one thing that continues to bother me the most about it all is how little support is provided in schools and in healthcare organizations to properly prepare Nurses for the overwhelming responsibilities, skills and tasks that our healthcare system places upon the bedside Nurse. 

ITS BECOME INCREASINGLY MORE DIFFICULT WITH LESS SUPPORT. 

I can sit here and say how difficult my job is as a Director of Education and Staff Development and how I spend an average of 13 hours a day at work 5 days a week despite only being paid for 7 hours/day because I'm salary -AND that I am also running my own Education and Consulting Business since 2016, helping over 9 thousand clients develop strategies for Nursing Success - but none of my current work is as demanding, scary, uncomfortable, or relentlessly thankless like that of a bedside Nurse. I know... I worked bedside in many settings for over 10 years, and I continue to work closely with bedside Nurses and patients on a daily basis. 

Lets be honest here - It's not always so bad, we do have our really amazing, heartfelt, kickass team work days, where we save lives and touch individuals in ways that will profoundly and positively impact them for life - but the average daily feel of a bedside Nurse is dreaded overwhelm.

Turnover rates for bedside Nurses are at an all-time high - and its not like there are droves of applicants waiting to come to work, which makes it even more difficult to correct the issues we are facing in healthcare facilities. 

I'm confident in my individual contributions, but I know its not enough. Over the years, my methods of training and preparation of students and new team members have proven effective, based on new team member readiness to perform through validation of skills and quantitative/qualitative feedback from students/orientees, clients, and senior leadership/ team members - but I am only one person and cannot reach everyone 100% of the time - or can I? 

Shifting the culture and mindset of an entire system or organization to be on the same page with training and supporting students and new team members when so many are already overwhelmed with their daily tasks is proving to be a seemingly impossible mission - yet I remain optimistic and default into the Nursing Process to see what else can be done within my own ability to make a difference. 

Assessment. Analysis. Diagnosis. Planning. Implementation. Evaluation. Here we are. Round and Round We Go. ?

I'm not yet done with you Nursing, we have more work to do.

Any wisdom is much appreciated. 

End Rant.

-Damion Jenkins, MSN, RN | CEO.  The Nurse Speak - Strategies for Nursing Success.