The Effects of Nursing on Nurses
Hi, welcome to my blog post. I have never had a blog post get more than 50 comments, so I am a bit overwhelmed. After responding to many comments, here is a note:
Note: I wrote this blog entry at the end of my 3rd 12 hour shift in three days. I was tired and I was emotional. It is a blog post, not an “article.” It is not researched or sourced, it is purely opinion.
The point of this post is that nurses (and many other professions) need to take the time to practice self care and to encourage one another to practice self care.
My biggest mistake in this post (and there are many) was to use “her” or “she” when I should have used “they” or them.” I ignored my male coworkers, and I should not have. You have my apologies, and I have corrected the post. I have left “she” and “her” in place in the portion where I talk about my coworker.
I have read every comment posted and deleted some very nasty comments that were not helpful to conversation. If you feel this is the place to spew your vitriol, it is not.
August 11, 2013
This morning, while I was giving report to the day shift nurse taking over my patients, she burst into tears.
She’s going to miss her children’s hockey play offs due to our strictly enforced every other weekend schedules. You work every other weekend, no more, no less, unless you are going to college (I work every weekend because I’m in college). She’s their hockey coach, and inevitably, each year, their last game falls on a day their mother has to work. I’ve come in early for her before.
So I offered to come in on my night off for an hour and a half so she could get to the game. I’m coming in that early because I know she won’t be done charting.
She turned me down until another day RN got involved. I reminded my coworker I only live a mile from the hospital, and it really wasn’t a big sacrifice for me. She finally agreed, and calmed down. We got permission from the charge nurse.
Nursing is one of the largest professions in the world. If you don’t know a nurse, I’m really surprised. Nurses talk a lot about the rewards of nursing. Catching that vital sign, saving lives, providing comfort, but nurses, by nature, are taught to martyr themselves on the altar of nursing.
When I was a new grad, I hated coming to work so much that I would wish I’d get hit by a car on my way to work just to get out of work. One night, while checking medication sheets, I confessed this to some experienced nurses and found out some of them still felt the same way.
In nursing, it is NORMAL to have days where you wake up and just can’t mentally and emotionally face the day at work. I swear, the only other people who can understand this are nurses.
Nursing is emotionally, physically and mentally taxing, and some days you run too low on what you can give emotionally, physically and mentally. That minor back injury you don’t want to report to HR because you don’t want it on your record. Having a patient with constant diarrhea who can’t get out of bed and needs to be physically rolled and cleaned several times an hour. The cold you got from the two-year old someone brought in. The sorrow that comes from supporting someone who has just found out they were dying, holding in your own tears so you could wipe theirs. In one day, all of those patients could be yours.
I don’t know a nurse who hasn’t taken a mental health day. Some do it by requesting more vacation than others. Some do it by calling in sick, but it’s all time off because we are too drained to give anymore.
So if you know a nurse, and that nurse mentions to you that they feel like calling in because they just can’t take it another day, don’t give them a hard time. Especially if you have an 8-5 job with weekends off or some other really great schedule. The 12 hour shifts nurses work mean we miss the entire holiday we work with our families. Night shift nurses have to choose between holiday dinners or sleep. Often, if a nurse chooses to sleep rather than go to the holiday dinner, guilt ensues. Even though I’ve told my mother-in-law repeatedly that every nurse has to work holidays, she makes a point to say how horrible it is my husband has to be alone for a few hours. What about me? Working my ass off while everyone else celebrates?
We work hard. We are intentionally understaffed by our hospitals to improve profit, even if the hospital is a non-profit. We help people at the worst times of their lives, and often have no way to debrief, to get it off our chests. We don’t just bring warm blankets and pills. We are college educated, degreed professionals who are often treated like uneducated, lazy servants. We get sexually harassed by our patients. We get groped, punched, cut, I even know of a nurse on my floor being strangled (she survived).
Nursing can be rewarding. But nursing is a fucking hard job. If you are afraid of healthcare rationing, you should know it is already happening. Nurses are unable to give everyone the care they need, so patients with smaller problems may not get the same level of care. A nurse may be pressed to only give the minimum amount of care to a patient if they have 5 or more very sick patients. If you don’t want healthcare rationing, talk to your local hospitals about their nurse to patient ratios. Talk to your doctors. If you hear of legislation to support nurse to patient ratios, vote for it. Support it.
So if a nurse needs a day off, you support them. If you’re in a position to help like I was this morning, do so. If you are a nurse, go easier on yourself when you think about the things you didn’t finish, or the things you should have said. It’s a 24-hour a day job and you don’t have to do it alone.
As of January 27, 2014, this post is no longer accepting comments. I am doing this as a practice of self care. Tending to this blog post, several times a day, has become a burden. It has had over 2 million hits, and I am tired. The post has become a platform for people who want to propel their own agendas and are using my space to do so. Thanks to all who said such nice things, and to everyone else, go write your own blog.
Posted on August 11, 2013, in Nursing and tagged Health care, Nursing, registered nurse. Bookmark the permalink. 2,612 Comments.
ofcourseitsaboutyou 
Thank u for your blog
I dont have children and find shift work tough.. self care is important and I now go to the spa, sleep when I need and moan when necessary 🙂 supporting each other is vital. ..xx
Rest well, thank u for what u do and above all enjoy your life xx
First: Thank you for confirming some of my suspicions. Nurses need mire support from their worksites, from one another, and frim all of us.
Second: What’s with the 12 hour shifts? All research about efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace shows that 8 hour shifts with real breaks and real 30 min mealtimes increase both. 12 hour shifts are medieval and guaranteed to lower quality of care.
Third: I have often wondered why there is not direct on-site mental health or chaplain support available to nurses and other staff – such as the inhalation therapists who work with young people who die on shift of cystic fibrosis. Who could possibly fail to realize that intense relationships (although some more brief than others) between nursing and other direct care staff and patients?
Thank you for your care.
Dr. Kunster
Thank you. Receiving support from physicians provides a sense of authenticity to concerns nurses present. Unfortunately, some perceive us as “just nurses” and are dismissive when concerns are voiced.
I was in Registered Nurses’ training over 30 years ago and was appalled at the conditions under which nurses worked – long, ridiculous hours crammed with arduous physical and emotional tasks. Suffering a back injury during a night rotation saved me from continuing my training. You are all unsung heroes/heroines who the ironic “healthcare” profession crushes human capacity, circadian rythm and the fact that 12 hour shifts (sometimes double shifts at that) under draconian rules that apply only to machines. Thank you for your selfless sacrifices each and every time you walk through your place of employment. Your skills, expertise, compassion, knowledge and dedication are life-savers. Again, you are the unsung heroes/heroines who ought to be hailed and treated as such.
I LOVE THIS POST!!! very well said. 😀 you have a good new year. Talk about working on holidays. It’s my last night shift on an eve of new year. And I’m actually happy to be there to receive “standbys” in the ED.
I’ll be working tonight, too. As the old saying goes, whatever you’re doing on New Year’s Eve at the stroke of midnight is what you’ll be doing throughout the coming year.
So I guess I’ll be working hard in the ER throughout 2014……. ;>)
Why I guess it’s true 🙂
Working in the ER throughout (we call it ED here in Singapore ) is indeed challenging. Well the flow has started. Just like any other shift. Loving every bit of it 😀 I’m just happy the fireworks were near this year. Lol
TY for saying it in a nutshell. I finally learned to start caring for & about my myself at age 45 and 23 years of nursing. This includes a year as an aide before my Rn. I developed breast cancer with no familial/genetic reason, I know it was stress. Stress of raising a child under joint custody , doing 12 hour nights, on call and every weekend 16 hour shifts for a year. A major back injury at age 26 that plagues me daily 31 years lately.
I nursed my own father, step father and mother to their final days on earth.
The expectation for nurses is NO lunches or breaks or chances to sit down. Off shifts and weekends and your own children’s tears because they never have enough of ur time because someone somewhere needs you to keep them alive.. Simultaneous code blue in ER within last 2 hours of a 12 hour shift. The constant up and down of the adrenal rush in your body.
My ex husband once told me just because you have a degree in bed pans doesn’t mean u know everything.
Luckily my parents and family knew I was doing honorable work and arranged holidays around my schedule. They were very proud of me and understood a lot of the hardship.
However I believe My daughter at 4 or 5 years old said it best; when she once asked me to purchase an expensive bike for her. I said no u need to ask your dad honey. She said why?
I answered “he makes more money than I do”. She replied ” but your job is so much more important mom.”
There are many other jobs besides nursing that work the same tedious 12 hour shifts trying to save lives from suicidal calls to family members stabbing, beating, choking, or attempted drowning by their own family members. I work in a 911 center and believe me there are lots of days that I do not want to come to work and by the time my shift is over I am so mentally exhausted I cannot even think straight. Lets all be nice to each other and respect each others feelings. Just because you do not agree with what is being said in this blog post does not mean that you should bash the writer. She is simply stating her opinion.
One last thing, for all you haters posting on here. Why? Why do you feel the need to come to this blog just to spew your s**t? Is your life that sad and pathetic or do you hate yourself so much that you have to go and try to tear down someone else? I don’t understand the giddiness or joy some of you seem to take in attacking others. So here’s two words for ya’ll – get lost!
Don’t bother replying to trolls.
Briliant insitefull article.
Yep know the feeling well in theatre even when you can’t give anymore you expected to give anyway.
Finished your shift and come on nurse it’s just a quick case yes the surgeon only counts surgical time add anaesthetics and clean up time.
We are the easiest group of people to black mail into working over yet again because were nurses we care about the patients.
My x told me you always put your job before me and the kids yep he was right.
I often have to ask staff to do overtime and extra call to cover sick leave or understaffing.
I feel soo bad as you always ask the staff that will say yes .
None of us would ever say no in an emergency but we are fed up with the perpetual over runs .
I love being a nurse even after 25 yrs I work with some amaizing staff I understand burnout and staff take sicklies as they feel powerless in a system that really doesn’t care or value theim.
I agree with u I am a nursing assistant I tell u ur blog make me feel better I dont feel bad when I call out thank you and do more blog u did a awesome job
So much hypocrisy on this blog from nurses. This is why I believe our profession is in danger. I’ve read comments about the hospitals being greedy, switch to 8 hr. Shifts, pick our own hours. All comments from RN’s who clearly don’t realize the challenges that healthcare is currently facing, And the challenges hospitals are currently facing just to keep the lights on.
I’ve worked in a hospital that has gone to eight hour shifts and guess what….it isn’t affordable. What you don’t realize is you still work weekends, staff will start to complain that they have to work five days a week, and the hospital has to hire more staff to provide correct coverage and ratios which will significantly increase the costs of providing benefits for full time employees. If you want to make your own schedule, there is an option…it’s called PRN.
Be thankful that in a struggling economy we are in a very stable job industry and be thankful that your leaders have enough experience to not give into all of these unreasonable demands in order to keep the hospitals open and keep us employed. This is the profession we chose and knew what the demands would be while we were in school. Support each other, help the hospital attract the best talent of healthcare professionals and you work environment will become positive.
totally agree with you. As I always say, “when you decided to go into nursing, you knew it was a 24 hour operation including weekends.” If you can’t hack it get out before administration decides for you. Healthcare is business now and accountability and responsibility go hand in hand for everyone including a nurse.
I’m a bit confused by your comment, Evelyn. Where did Grimalkin every say she was rejecting the “accountability and responsibility” of the nursing profession?
You do realize, don’t you, that there’s a world of difference between complaining about one’s job, and needing to “get out” of it?
For the love of Mike, what IS it with some of you people, who have such strong reactions to nurses venting about the (considerable) difficulties of their work? Are we on that high a pedestal with you, that you can’t see how someone could be a good and compassionate nurse on the job, yet still want to vent about the difficulties after s/he clocks out and goes home?
Dave, if you’re really a nurse, as your screen name implies, surely you realize that people sometimes need to vent their frustrations to others? And that it’s not just patients who benefit from getting these frustrations off their chest(s)?
Tell you what: the next time you have a patient who’s heartsick about a scary diagnosis, or exhausted from days of vomiting and diarrhea, or who’s crying out in pain, try giving her a pep talk such as you’re giving Grimalkin here. You know, something like: “You’re in pain? Be thankful that you’re alive to FEEL pain.” “You can’t stop vomiting? Be thankful that you’re not a burn patient. THEY really have it rough.” “You clearly don’t realize the challenges that I’m facing, when you take up my time complaining about pain, when you should be thankful, instead, that you’re not a starving child in subsaharan Africa.” Then come back and tell us what you accomplished through that pep talk.
I guess I’m not surprised at all the non-nurses who are scolding Grimalkin for her commentary here. Let’s face it: it’s very hard for anyone who hasn’t been there to fully comprehend what nurses do, and what they’re up against, in their jobs. But I do expect more from a nurse. You see, Grimalkin didn’t say that she wasn’t grateful to have a job. She didn’t say that she doesn’t understand that administration has to keep costs down. She was simply commenting that she was tired and frustrated after three long,difficult shifts in a row.
If you can’t comprehend this, that sometimes people just want to be heard and validated, then I wonder how you’ve managed so far in your career. Or maybe, as my husband suggested in reference to this blog, you’re just in the habit of dismissing complaints from colleagues who happen to be women?
Olivia, thank you for putting Dave in his place. The truth is there is simply no way that he does the job that myself and my colleagues do. He either works in an office, or never spent time in direct patient care in a hospital. Which, btw, is surely a good thing, for it is as clear as day that he is perhaps the least empathetic person on the planet. In addition to being grateful I have a job,, I am also perpetually grateful that Dave is not my nurse.
Amen!
Well said Olivia! I suspect the people who are putting the op down, IF they are nurses, are nurses who don’t take care of patients and who have become the mouthpieces for the poor pitiful hospitals who are FORCED to pay their CEOs and others outrageous salaries and have millions of employees running around the hospital who wouldn’t know a patient if they fell over one but none the less make up loads of rules about how nurses at the bedside should do their jobs. Love being a nurse, love taking care of my patients but sometimes want to run screaming from the building . . . .
Olivia, thank you so much for taking the time to make these comments. I really do appreciate it.You understood what I was trying to say, and so many people did not.
I’m not going to answer your comment about me dimissing complaints from women. I clearly wouldn’t be in female dominated field if that was the case, and in reality I’m the minority.
Dave, Are you a new nurse? Do you work in ER or ICU, because what is described is the reality of nursing. I have been a nurse for over 15 years and it is in fact getting worse and worse. And people are human and get tired. Nurse’s are no exception. I get what you say about the hospitals and budgets but where is it written that everything goes on the shoulder of the nurse. Let’s see if anyone from housekeeping, dietary, PT,OT, speech, cna’s right up to the docs do something wrong or don’t do something it’s on the nurse’s. Why supplies are being used out of control it’s on the nurse, When there is an error with pharmacy it’s on the nurse. we need to cater to ungrateful pt’s who do feel it is their right to abuse the nurse’s and staff. ( If one is lucky they have a manager who will defend them some of the time.they are lucky) We are to make the floors run perfect so pt’s come back. Anything new comes along the nurse will do it. Fellow nurse’s tend to throw each other under the bus to make themselves look better and eat their young. Nurse’s need to support each other because no one else will. We need to be more positive but we also either need more help or less work. I worked 8 hour shifts in the past to go back there is not enough time in 8 hours to complete what we now do in 12. especially with restricted overtime to complete charting.
Dave…You’re an idiot!! You’re obviously just an example of what a puppet of the Administration says. Have your own opinions please and stop regurgitating what the Administration is slamming down your thought. K-Thanks
Thank you. I have been an ED nurse for 10 years. I have patients and experiences I will never forget. I carry burdens at work most non nurses cannot even fathom. My mother, who is my confident and friend, says “I don’t know how you do it.” Only nurses can truly understand the demands of this job. It is often thankless, draining, at times demeaning, and always demanding. We became nurses because we cared only to find with our first paid nursing experience there is no longer anything in this job about caring. So thank you for taking the time…to express what so many of us feel.
I am a nurse and agree 150%.. I just recently sent a letter to my state representative and CNO on patient ratios and supported it with research, nothing has changed as of yet. I was thinking of starting a petition to see where it goes, any suggestions? Our ratios are unsafe and we cannot care for all the same when we have 6&7 patients.
Couldn’t agree with you more! As nurses we have to stop caving in to these unreasonable and UNSAFE staffing ratios so the poor hospitals (see my post above) don’t have to close their doors. The poor hospitals need to figure out how to stop wasting money and they’d do fine. I could list examples, but I just got off an 12 hours shift and have another one tonite, but anyone who works in a hospital already knows what I’m talking about – well anyone except those in the extraneous jobs. LOL
This is so true! I have been a nurse for 23 years and seen my share of Nursing at its best and worst in those long scheduled shifts of working. I also add that as we give all it concerns me that we do not get a lunch break with interruptions, barely have time to use the bathroom or get a drink of water or choice of beverage in our shift. We do what we teach others not to do! What does the stress and lack of physical care for our own being do to our health? Will we be that CHF patient or that Renal patient maybe a combination of several multisystem disease process patient. Due to the lack of respect we are allowed to give our selves as we care for other. Patient to nurse ratio is ignored because money is the key not care these days. We as nurses are punished and made to feel bad for missing work if we are sick and policies need to be re- evaluated to allow for Nurses to be able to increase their own health and welfare without punishment. I love that you have spoken out for our profession and needs that are definitely in need of evaluation. Our own health, ability to perform excellent standards of care for our patients and the ability to be a brother or sister human being within and outside if our Nursing practice.
I remember missing the Soap Box Derby because it fell on the weekend I worked! I felt bad because I was the Den Mother!! One of my cub scouts in my pack won!! He called me on the phone to tell me!! He was so excited and proud and I felt so bad, because I hadn’t been there to see his victory!!
I read it and even though i am a CNA, i completely understand. We go through the same stuff. Thank you.
Yes CNAs go through many of these problems. Although we may not be able to give out meds or give shots or anything invasive. We often get left to do the dirty work. Like that resident that’s had diarrhea and has to be cleaned up every 30 mins. We often get the messy jobs and its often because the nurse doesn’t have time during her busy scheduled med pass to help us. We often have to deal with cleaning and changing and walking and feeding and answering call lights and getting drinks and translating gibberish for the nurse because the patient had a stroke and the nurse doesn’t have the time to figure out what s/he is trying to say they need/want. Bottom line we are always understaffed and we all need to take the time to take care of ourselves after a hard days work.
I am an occupational therapist. All through high school I wanted to be a nurse but everyone I mentioned this to said “dont do it”, even several nurses. So I listened and changed my university preferences at the very last minute, even after attending the orientation days for 2 different nursing universities. And I regret it. You are doing an amazing job , I can’t imagine how hard it is, and something needs to change otherwise there will be fewer and fewer of you.
Thank you so much for your post it was much needed. I am currently going through the pains of not having any holiday off this year due to working two night shift 12hr jobs. And I am currently fighting with family about not being able to attend a baby shower because of my weekend requirements. This post let me know that I am not the only one out there frustrated and upset in my career…one in which I wanted so badly.
I am so sorry your family is not more understanding of your need to work, the constraints of your work, and your need to sleep.
I dated the same guy all through nursing school. When I graduated, he didn’t like my schedule and demanded I quit being a nurse for him. One of the hardest things I ever had to do was tell him how abusive that statement was and that we had to break up.
I know you can’t do that with your family, but I hope you are able to make them understand why you need your rest.
So true. Thank goodness we’re all there to help each other out with such good teamwork. Without that it would be so much worse.
Wow so true! After 20 years of nursing I think you nailed it! As for the hockey mom shame on your facility for not working with her for such an important life event! I have been fortunate as a single mom to have a boss that worked with me so I did not miss those important days. As nurses we need to live normal lives even with some of the horrible and heart breaking things we must deal with at work.
I have always thought that it is completely outrageous that nurses and doctors work 12 hour shifts. This is not best practice. Why do we accept that they are forced to work these crazy long hours and peoples lives depend on their ability to perform well. They are overworked and overtired towards the end of their shift when they might need to perform a lifesaving surgery. Its crazy. We as the consumers, patients, and public in general should fight to have fair working hours for our doctors and nurses, so that we can get the best care possible.
What an interesting conversation. I have been a pediatric nurse for 31 years. I have worked all types of units from newborn to PICU to ED. I have loved them all. There is so much good about nursing. It is physically and mentally challenging, it gives you the opportunity to care for fellow human beings when they are in crisis and it gives you membership into a very select group of caring individuals.
People outside of nursing cannot understand the joy and the pain of this profession. The frustrations and the rewards.
Your [original] post depicts our lives very well. Get some rest. Take a mental health day and then come on back to work. The profession needs you.
I’m in support of people having days off…but not calling out to do it. Get to know what you can handle and work to get your schedule arranged around it. Calling out leaves your patients without a nurse and burdens your facility financially to cover your absence. It’s unprofessional. Also 9-5 jobs aren’t really great either. It’s called work…we all sign up for it and need to look on the bright side of every situation. I love to provide for my kids and am thankful for my opportunity to work and help people. I am a nurse.
Calling out does leave a floor short. However, if a nurse is so burdened by compassion fatigue (look it up, it’s a thing) that he or she will make mistakes, I would rather cover for them by taking the extra patients or finding someone who is not suffering from compassion fatigue to work that day. Nurses who are suffering from compassion fatigue do not answer alarms as quickly and are more likely to make medication errors. When there are large numbers on a unit suffering from compassion fatigue, often due to understaffing, they have higher rates of falls and infection. The treatment for compassion fatigue is time away from the source, which is time off of work. This is also true for many individuals who care for a disabled family member.
People who do shiftwork suffer from higher rates of insomnia, IBS, diabetes, and a host of other problems related to shiftwork. Night shift nurses in particular have a higher risk of breast cancer. Our society in the US is geared toward a 9-5 job and not geared toward shiftwork. The benefits to having a set schedule have nothing to do with how hard your job is, but what your life is like outside of your job.
Well said…I’m a NICU RN and I was fortunate not to have been sick, or needing to call off all year. However, today (last day of the year), I had to. My 15yr old is going through a trying time, so I needed a mental day off to spend it with her.
No matter what you do – if you hate it you will be miserable and no amount of support or even changing scenery will help.
Many many nurses absolutely love 3 day work weeks precisely because of their kids. They love over time pay for the last 4 of the 12 hours. Those who choose (operative word) to go to school can manage the challenge.
Great post – you now have another follower!
I also backtracked to see Anne’s post and a couple of things struck me:
1) There’s been an awful lot of comment about “well, you CHOSE nursing so you should just suck it up” which seems to be the motivation behind Anne’s bitterness about our pay and job security. Well, Anne, YOU chose to train to be an engineer, you must have known something about the industry and how hard it might be to find a job – so why don’t YOU suck it up and stop taking it out on other people? Besides, as all nurses know, you don’t choose nursing, it chooses you. The desire to care for people comes from deep inside. As for thinking people are only in it for the supposed ‘perk’ of job security, we’ll always need sewer cleaners too but I don’t see people queueing up to do that job…
2) Anne claims this blog post was just “one last straw” that had been “plastered across…fb and twitter feeds by nursing friends”. Do you not know how to operate the ‘unfollow’ function, Anne? No one MADE you read this. And really, how do you think your nursing friends, who clearly related to this post so much that they all shared it, ‘plastering’ your feeds, will feel when they read your comments and opinion of their chosen profession and the difficulties they all experience and identified with? You may find that you suddenly have far fewer friends given that you clearly have such a lack of regard for them. I sincerely hope someone points this out to them so they can see exactly what a bitter, twisted person they’ve been calling a ‘friend’.
The thing is, Anne, because I am a nurse and proud of it, if you turned up on my patient list, even if I knew who you were, even if you said all the things you happily posted on this blog to my face, even if being in the same room as you repelled me, I’d STILL care for you with all the dignity, concern and professionalism I dedicate to all my patients. If you were in pain, I’d do whatever I could to make it stop. If you needed help with anything, no matter what, I’d be there to assist and make it easier. If you needed to cry, I’d comfort you and wipe your tears away. And even if I didn’t like you personally, I would still worry about you, and hope that you got better soon, and do EVERYTHING it’s within my power to do to ensure that. Because that’s what a nurse is.
Could you do that? I suspect not, given that clearly, everything is about you. Which is why I know that I, and all my colleagues who’ve been so offended and hurt by what you’ve said, can rise above it and just get on with doing the best job possible for our patients.
I don’t nurse – I AM A NURSE.
This blog is so true. My nursing is my life and in the past 6 months it’s had to take a back seat due to illness…my career could come under drastic change due to my health and this tears me apart due to the time, effort, hard work and love I put into my ‘job’. So many people ask “are you back at work?” As if it’s the simplest task, they don’t realise how much the choices I may have to face tear me apart! Nursing is not simply a job it is a part of your very being!
nurses are amazing and am thankful for all you do, but there are many other people who work weekends and long hours, holidays and miss their children’s “important” life events, but they get paid a lot less than you do.
Reblogged this on Nomadic Traveler, Art, Tattoo's, Frenchies, Adventuring and commented:
This is pretty accurate!
My daughter is a nurse. She often does 16+ hour shifts , comes home with bruises , bite marks , scratches … She works with terminally ill elderly patience. She loves each and everyone one of them in their last hours. To hear some of her stories breaks my heart. How some family members can berate her or belittle her because she didn’t become a ” doctor ” so that gives them the ok , to say rude things because she’s just a nurse …. Is beyond me . 85% of the health care is done by nurses ( RN , RNA , PAB … ) your just the nurse. Shaking my head.
This being said we have decided to do Christmas in July this year. She worked doubles through the holidays , is beyond exhausted so unfortunately she is often on the bottom of her own care list. Even some times basic care like eating . I’d call her to see how her day was going to be asked what time it was , to the response of ohhhh that’s why I’m hungry , I’m going one a glass of milk .
I love my daughter , she loves her profession . Next time you see a nurse , a smile and a nod of the head will go a long way. Negative comments , keep them to your self. The nurse may be on the way to ensuring ” your ” loved one is doing well and taking care of their needs before their own.
I give total respect to nurses and what they do…I have stage3c Melanoma and while being treated at the University of Iowa I had wonderful care. I love all the nurses that my oncologist has and my surgeons office as well.. The on floor nurses when I had my surgery and chemo and radiation all deserve a hands up…. I have the biggest fear of needles and I really didn’t know how I was going to get through this so I have gained the biggest respect for nurses now and was treated with kindness and patience with everyone of them.. my hat goes off to you all….Claire
While I agree with many of your comments, I cannot agree with them all. Working 12 hour shifts is the only thing that keeps me sane. If I had to work 8 hour shifts, I would have to go in to work 20 times in 4 weeks. With 12 hour shifts, it is only 12 times in 4 weeks. I enjoy working weekends, I have never done anything else. I, like all nurses, have missed important events, but my family has always been understanding. I too, have called in sick because I needed a “mental health” day. For those of you who claim that we knew what we were getting into when we went to school, I disagree. Nothing can prepare you for the challenges you will face until you face them. Many nursing schools produce new grads with the attitude that cleaning patients and bedpans is beneath them. Nursing is not all glory, there are many menial jobs that fall under our heading. Nobody likes every aspect of their job, but in nursing, even cleaning a patient who cannot do it for themselves should be looked at as rewarding…you are helping someone, after all. It is with sadness that I look to the future of nursing. Health care regions have long been turning the focus from patient care to business practice. The only people who actually care about the patients are the nurses. Even unit managers have given in to caring more about their budget than patients safety. How many units are working short every shift because of the lack of willingness to pay overtime. Who suffers when there are not enough nurses on any given shift, patients. Has it come down to doing the bare minimum for your patients and not having enough time to reassure them about the angiogram they are going to have done in the morning? Yes it has, we do the teaching, or plunk a dvd in a television and let that do the teaching for us because we don’t have time for anything else. It doesn’t matter that the patient is scared and uncertain, all we have time to do is pat them on the head, and say “there, there, everything will be fine”. Wow, some caring profession we are in! I don’t regret becoming a nurse. My professional life has been very fulfilling and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I only wish CEO’ s and administrators could see the impact their budgetary decisions make on the front lines.
I concur with what you say but you like may others only think about nursing in hospital wards. Community nurses work hard too. I have only ever taken time to have a cup of coffee when carrying out a bereavement visit. TThe is because I need to be seen to be taking time with the loved one. I will go off duty late because no night staff are about to cover what I couldn’t quite finish within my shift. We never stop admitting because there are no beds. We are the service that picks up the holiday discharged patients or those who get out on pass.
I have made these comments not to take away any ward nurse value but just to ask that you and the public give thought to District Nurses too. Happy New Year
Bravo!!! I have been a nurse for 3 years and I’m already burnt out. Something has got to give.
Olivia, thank you for putting Dave in his place. They truth is there is simply no way that he does the job that myself and my colleagues do. He either works in an office, or never spent time in direct patient care in a hospital. Which, btw, is probably a good thing, for it is clear as day that he is perhaps the least empathetic person on the planet. In addition to being grateful I have a job,, I am also perpetually grateful that Dave is not my nurse.
I got put in my place?
I know that this is easier said than done. But, give it grist for the mill. UNIONIZE. It is your right and if no one ever gives the idea voice, of course it will never happen.
Wow You hit the nail straight on the head.. Thank you for sharing what we all experience.. Hugs
Absolutely true! It’s because it’s a female dominated, non-unionized profession. I had to laugh at your comment about wishing to be in a car accident rather than go to work. I laughed because I identify with those feelings.
Many other professions have these same working schedules. I even managed to leave healthcare, only to find a career even more strict regarding working schedules. Sadly, major life events are frequently missed. Holidays and weekends do not exist. It is all part of the careers you choose
I have been nursing for 35 years & oh how I’ve seen it change!! I went into nursing to look after patients not to spend hours on endless paperwork! At our hospital we RN’s were being treated badly & expected to work illegally so we did for a few years until enough was enough & all but 1 of our 10 RN’s signed a letter & got the union to whistleblow for us , so the big bosses had to take notice now & we were waiting for them to advertise for the 5 RN posts that were neede to replace people that had left over 3 years but no what do they do ?? They have now decided to close the hospital so we will all be redeployed to other hospitals bearing in mind that the nearest one to us is either 30, 35, or 40 miles away!!we weren’t even told it was closing it was on the local news on tv & that’s how we found out!!what a way to be treated after all this time!!
From an occasional patient, who really appreciates a kind and caring nurse, thanks for being there when I needed you the most! God bless you and give you the strength to go on, one day after the other………. If you are a Christian, I am thankful that you have your best friend with you 24/7……….. Once again, thank you.
I loved your post. It is so true. I have a daughter that is a nurse and she experiences the same things. Your are very educated and articulate I think you could have said it all without the F bomb
Yes, but if I said it without the F-bomb. I would not have been true to myself.
As an RN for over 30 years, I have tried to live a life (personally an professionally) that captures compassion and competence. I thank you for inviting dialogue! Unfortunately, the anger toward one another displayed in the replies, illustrates the experience of being part of this high stress profession. It is called horizontal violence and occurs when individuals feel powerless.
The nursing role is unique. I have continually done medications and treatments on 25 or greater patients per shift. I am also expected to simultaneously police the non-licensed staff and be ultimately accountable for their actions..or failures to act. I have worked under a heavy cloud of fear, constantly hovering – which is knowing that one omission or wrong decision made under pressure will cause me to lose everything in lawsuits (from families AND my employer), while trying to keep people alive through ethical dilemmas, and often against all odds.
I have been a loving nurse in all jobs. I have also been expected to perform the roles of business administrator, accountant, teacher, stock boy, chef, statistician, mortician, marketer, waitress, human resource manager, chaplain, therapist, bouncer, policeman, paralegal and sometimes, many times, God. I have left the profession. I have been successful and often, I enjoyed the ride. Nursing school does not prepare us for the business aspects of the job, which largely impacts the profession – more than the provision of care.
Here is a call to arms and a sincere plea: Nurses – stop eating your young, and your peers. At all levels of the organizational chart – stop it. Support one another with caring and education, which we are so good at! I propose a BAND-AID movement: Band together and apply the nursing process to the professional dilemma and intervene in a directed, intelligent fashion. Aid one another instead of attack. Other professionals such as doctors display a network of mutual support and and loyalty to one another. When a situation with a peer must be addressed, it is done in a cautious and professional manner. Nurses have what it takes!
Ir is a 24hour job.. even admission.. just because my admission came in late and I forgot to write a single note .. but have seen the patient and didn’t give narcotic and documented on med chart that I didn’t give it .. I still got written up and reported to my supervisor and had to drag a charge nurse that was not at fault and threatend by the head nurse that I’d be fired and called a liar coz she didn’t see the note on the meds when she investigated and all of a sudden it popped when she tried to look for evidence. Ignorance.
And I’m still fuming while writing this.
I didn’t get sleep and was nervous coming in to work that day. It was reported friday and got cancelled so I was suffering over the weekend thinkn about it instead of enjoying it. And the patient is still alive and breathing and went home same day friday. Smh*
Could not agree more. Nursing is a difficult, and usually thankless job. I wish new nurses were taught that!. Burnout is common .I loved my residents, but hated my job! After 20+ years working in Healthcare/Rehab/Long Term Care I was more than burnt out. I am enjoying a break now. I sleep much better, my anxiety is gone, I am even beginning to like people again! God bless all nurses!
I’ve put in my fair share of night shifts and 15 hour day shifts and I make no more than most people checking out your groceries to be in my 8-5 position with weekends and holidays off!! Do not act like your so superior because you are still in a hospital position and wiping asses while I am enjoying my family at home! Do not THINK my 8-5 job is easy as most days I don’t leave until 6 and I hold many hands and comfort patients way beyond my 8-5 hours, go with them to L&D as they prepare to deliver their deceased baby and even call and make funeral arrangements! Do not THINK I don’t go in on weekends to make sure grant proposals are finished on time so our underprivileged patients can get the care they need!! Do not THINK I am not sacrificing anything being in my 8-5 job!
A nurse is a nurse no matter your hours!!
Melissa, Grimalkin was obviously venting about her own job, and the stress she’s endured from it lately. Why are you trying to make her blog entry all about you, and whether or not you’re worthy of her empathy?
Melissa, you obviously work very hard and have a lot of pride in what you do. What I wish you would take away from my post is not anger that I feel people with set schedules have advantages shift workers do not, but that nurses need to look out for ourselves and each other. We need to practice self care. We need to encourage others to practice self care.
I never said 8-5 jobs are easy. I said the schedules were beneficial. They are more predictable, and in the US especially, stores, companies and other industries cater to the 8-5 job market.
I am surprised at the level of your anger. I didn’t write this blog post to make anyone angry. I wrote it because I was angry and upset for my friend. I hope that you are able to get some time to yourself soon.
I have a huge respect for nurses. It’s a shame about understaffing and a very difficult job. Emotionally and physically draining. I work with rescue animals which is another 12hour shift work, 7 days a week, working holidays. I find this also so tiring and emotionally distressing. Knowing you’ve got to go back in the next day is rough and sometimes it is just too much.
Take the breaks where you can and try to get things off your chest when possible. Get someone to look after you on your down days.
Much love.
This was my response when I shared this on my FB wall. Thank you to the author of this op/ed blog. I commend you for your hardwork, dedication, sacrifice and support to your fellow nurses.
Those if you who aren’t nurses or don’t know any, READ THIS. Chances are sometime in your life you will need one of us. REMEMBER THIS:
THE. HARDEST. JOB. EVER.
99% of the time with NO RESPECT, NO THANKS, and people thinking we make soooo much money. Believe me. It’s way much less than you think and the sacrifices we endure can’t be compared to many other professions other than medical. Go ahead. Try.
Also, remember, we too in this America are not just healthcare providers but consumers, as well. I’ve never had a job where my employer provided healthcare benefits were as good as my patients. That’s a whole other blog for another day.
You are right on! I often take little trips to clear my head and leave the job @ home. I’m on one right now. Its important to self care. We give A LOT to our patients, we do need to remember to give to ourselves.
Thank you for sharing, I am an LVN and worked in long term care every other weekend and felt very emotionally drained every day that I worked.
Thank you for your post! People tend to forget that medical staff are people too. I too, have worked 12 on 12 off and can relate. I send many hugs your way and will try harder to remember to show appreciation and gratitude!