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 
I have been a nurse 17 years and hate everyday. It’s the worse job ever. I know of no other job where everyone feels like they have the right to tell you how to do your job because they read something on WEB M.D.; In no other profession are you, spit upon, cursed at, blamed for every wrong doing in the hospital, choked, hit, pooped/urinated/bleed/vomited on and expected to take it with a smile. It’s a thankless torturous horrible profession.
This post makes me sooooooo bloody angry I could scream at you. Sometimes you feel your treated like an “uneducated slave” ?? Does that mean I am. I am a csw and I work very very hard. I too suffer days like you, as do many other healthcare support workers. I may not of spent 3 years training at college or uni but im as educated as you are. I do all those things you do almost. Where in your blog do you mention us ?? We do 13 hour shifts and are on our feel non stop. We very rarely have time to take a wee let alone take a drink. So please, next time you write a blog for the whole world to see. Include us as we are the ones at the bedside the entire time of our shift. And if I have offended any nurses by my comments, “tough” because we work just as hard as you. From a very upset clinical support worker
Actually you do not and you are not as educated as most nurses. Her blog was for herself and other nurses. It is the most truthful thing I have ever read about nursing and I’d you don’t like what she has to say, then “tough”
If you read my post, you would see I said almost. And I am NOT uneducated. And YES I bloody well do work as bloody hard. I see nurses sitting at desks chatting whilst us csw, s are running around answering buzzers. Not all but some. Being a not as educated as nurses does not mean we or I am not as bloody educated. I may not have studied as a nurse but I am EDUCATED in other areas. Patient care does NOT start and end with nurses. We are ALL there for the patient’s well being and ALL have a hand in assisting them on the way to recovery. If it was just nurses that worked so hard or did all the patient care stated in this blog, WHY would there be a need for us. I have a right to express my opinion as does this person BUT when making an opinion like this, I would NOT for one take all the credit for hard work and devotion to patient care AND I would certainly NOT talk about people being uneducated. So like I said, if you dont like or agree “tough on you”
Tracy, this blog isn’t about you. It’s about (and by) someone who happens to be a nurse, who sat down and wrote out her thoughts one night (or day) after three difficult shifts in the world.
If you want to read a blog entry about you, or the difficult job you do, fine: go start one up. I for one would be interested in reading it. But it’s not your place to dictate to Grimalkin how she must write her blog entries, or what (and whom) she must write about.
Im not dictating, I am voicing my opinion just as you are. Im sure there are plenty of people who, like me, felt part of what was said in that blog was a bit unfare. I understand its a tough job for nurses and yes getting tougher, i have fantastic nurses who I work with regularly and admire them also. But they also understand and see how hard we work too. Its a team effort on any ward in every hospital and its not right or fare to criticise us just because we didnt go to uni for 3 years. I have an education, not in nursing but in other fields of which I studied for as many years as a nurse. I chose to do my job because I enjoy doing it. I am also not making this blog about me, im replying to people like you because for some reason, you seem to think its ok to comment on my remark because its not one you of pity. I do feel sorry for nurses but like I said, they are not the be all and end all on a ward full of sick patients, regardless of their education or status
Tracy, you misunderstood me. I agree that nurses aren’t the “be all and end all on a ward of sick patients,” although you must admit that it would be pretty tough to run such a ward (or, here in the U.S., a nursing unit) without nurses.
The point I’m making is that Grimalkin, who created this blog, was expressing some feelings about HER job. Not yours. Not mine. If you want to create your own blog to discuss the challenges of the work YOU do, great! But this blog happens to be about Grimalkin’s life, and (in this case) some thoughts she had a while back about the problems in her profession. In no way does that mean that she doesn’t respect the work other people do, or that she doesn’t think other professions require a lot of patience and energy and skill, or that she doesn’t appreciate that people in other occupations have frustrations, too.
Again, I’m amazed that so many people have such negative reactions to a nurse venting. Most (not all) of the nurses here have congratulated her for putting her finger on what bothers them most about their own jobs. But I see most (not all) of the non nurses arguing, “But what about me and MY job?” or “You have no right to complain about your job. Just get out if you don’t like it!”
Why is there such antipathy toward a nurse simply speaking up?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with you venting after working a stressful 3 12’s. Physically we are pushed to the limit, mentally we are pushed to the limit and emotionally we are pushed to the limit. And people think we are supposed to smile and keep our mouths shut? How healthy is that? Oh I forgot, our health comes LAST. I LOVE being a nurse, I am called to be a nurse, I love helping others on the clock AND off the clock. But…there comes a time when we need to vent, that does not make us uncaring or a bad nurse, that makes us human. Those who are not in nursing really have no right criticize.
I could not resist commenting. Very well written!
What about those nurse aids who work their ass off everyday??? I am a CNA at a hospital and I work my ass off more than most of the nurses I work with. Most nurses don’t appreciate their aids. So do me a favor and don’t forget about those nurses aids that do a tremendous amount of work. Appreciate them also.
i agree. it was a nurses aid from overseas who came to my aid and provided the care and comfort i needed while a patient at HSC a few years ago. i will never forget her, her name was Fatima
I totally understand! I am a Radiographer who worked in Body Imaging for 20+years until my 20 yr old son committed suicide. I couldn’t do it anymore. Most people don’t understand why I couldn’t go on, but its very hard to care for others when you feel like you need constant caring for. It’s been 2 yrs now and I am hoping to be able to return. It IS very mentally and emotionally taxing! I like to be able to give my all to my patients and it is very hard in this time of wanting to make such a profit. Hate to see what is still to come.
Happy New Year to all nurses and the patients in our tender care. It was quite moving to read all the shares on this blog. It was an honor to witness all the joy and pain so honestly expressed. Here is a bit of my story.
I am a Nurse Practitioner in a family planning clinic. I love my mission and my patients. I love being able to provide excellent reproductive healthcare, prevent pregnancies until wanted, treat SDIs, manage abnormal Paps, etc. I love talking to and listening to my patient’s struggles and triumphs as they live their lives. Most of my patients say they like our clinic best because we are friendly and helpful and do not judge. There are lots of intangible rewards.
Three decades ago, in my brand new RN days, I worked as a hospital floor nurse. Orientation was a joke, I was passing meds and carrying a patient load on my own after barely a week. I was thrown onto the pediatric floor on my own one night when I “complained” I did not feel comfortable on L&D on my own. My employer was a rural hospital with so few RNs, I was trained by per diem RNs, LPNs, and aides. They were excellent nurses. Hospital work was a crucible for me and it was a miracle my patients and I survived. I have huge respect for hospital nurses and the work they do.
My current work situation requires that we do more and more with less and less, just like in the hospitals. Most of our patients have no insurance or no clue how to access it if they do have it. Four patients per hour, including new patients, procedures, whatever is how we are scheduled. The no shows are supposed give us enough slack in the schedule to catch up. Most of the time it works; there are times we stay late and there are things that do not get done or done well. We have a 30 minute unpaid lunch break and 2 – 15 minute paid breaks. That is a joke. We have newly acquired EHR this year, and I have learned two new technical skills that bring in more patients and more money to the clinic, no raise. My coworker, who is an LPN, recently acquired a new skill, is in charge of patient care, most follow up, supplies, cleaning, etc, makes the same amount as the clinic receptionists/clinic assistants. The assistants work the front desk, and can take vitals, do pregnancy tests, draw blood, and set up, clean up the rooms, that is it. No assessments, no worries…. Our manager barely shows up as she is responsible for six other clinics and to management. She manages by email.
So, what is the bottom line? We have a seriously dysfunctional healthcare system that values profits and administrative concerns over people. Patients are not treated the way they should and neither are nurses or allied staff. Nurses do most of the work, the hard, time consuming (and most rewarding): the direct care, the management of patient care, the patient prep that allows doctors to do what they do. While our jobs are cut, pay is curbed, benefits cut, patient loads increased, where does the money go? To doctors, especially specialists who do complicated procedures, administrators, drug companies, medical equipment companies, insurance companies and their corporate shareholders, and let’s not forget lobbyists who feed the corporate line to congress.
But wait, it looks bleak, no doubt about that. Nurses, please know that all is not lost. Nurses have the clout to change the system from within! We are more powerful than we think……..
As nurses, we know stress causes disease. We are sick and making ourselves sicker by holding on to our old ways. Nurses are healers. We need to heal ourselves. We are worth it, we deserve it, our patients and the system will benefit from it. We must find our inner strength and access our inner healer. How to do this? THINK DIFFERENT, to quote the late, great, brilliant Steve Jobs.
Our pain is telling us it is time to change! According to Henry Cloud: “We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of staying the pain of changing.” Say this three times, out loud, then continue……
Taking a mental health day is a start. Finding like minded nurses is essential so we can support each other. Get stress reduction programs started in your institution.
Learn about the new movement called YogaNursing. Yoga Nursing unites the ancient wisdom of yoga wight the science of modern nursing. The mission of YogaNursing is to create an army of yoga nurses, modern day nightingales, who will transform healthcare. Learn more at http://www.yoganurse.com
We are strong and we are growing. Will you join us?
The only correction I would make to this is to include other healthcare professionals in your thoughts. I have been a Respiratory Therapist for more than 30 years And I can relate almost every word you have written.
You try to overlook it when the people you are taking care of are not “pleasant” to be around, but there is a limit. There is no reason good enough to justify hitting, kicking, spitting at, or biting the people that are trying to take care of you. I have had all these things done to me – on NUMEROUS occasions. Kicked in the stomach when I was pregnant. Bitten by an AIDS patient because he was “angry” and “wanted someone else to suffer too”. Fortunately, he didn’t break my skin so I was not exposed to the virus and I was able to jump back enough when the man tried to kick me that neither I nor my child were harmed by the kick, but mentally, both of these events took their toll.
However, the up side to this story is that Nurses ( and Respiratory Therapists) do the jobs they do because they are typically caring and compassionate people.
As a Respiratory Therapist, we are part of the “Code Team” and we take care if the patients on ventilators , or “life support” as it is commonly called. I have seen MORE than my fair share of people die. But there are some days that you sit back at the end of your shift and KNOW that something you did that day meant the difference between life and death for that patient. It might only be 1 in a 100 of the patients you take care if, but it almost balances the scale.
So be kind to your care givers. It is a hard job – physically and emotionally. We are there because we want to help, but we have a limit too.
Like!
There is more demand on nurses these days yet the nurses demands are not met. things like enough staffing levels. better nurse to patient ratio and opportunities for education within the workplace, which where I work has been pretty much completely cut unless you want to come in on your day off. I got paid yesterday for 2 weeks work. I worked six 12 hour shifts (3 per week) in a busy emergency department. I am 5 years qualified and I came out with 804 euro after tax. yes for 2 weeks work. I was taxed over 400 euro and the “USC universal social charge which is just another tax in disguise was 70 euro. I have realised that I am better off working 2 long days a week instead of 3 in order to avoid the tax bracket and i would get the very same wage. Also I recently paid the An Bord Altranais fee like all Irish nurses are required to do in order to maintain their nursing pin, which by the way was increased by 20 euro from last year coming to 100 euro. no reason given for the increase in price. no questions asked. just pay it or else we will take your pin away!!!! what if we all refused to pay. The days I worked have been extremely demanding and draining. We sent 49 patients to the ward in one shift, all of whom had been waiting on trollys for the majority of the shift. We had approx 170 patients in the department in one day and were down by 2 staff nurses.every day there is a shortage of trollys. we have to borrow them from theatre, who only come to get them back at the end of the shift. so we ask patients who can walk to get up off their trolly and sit on a hard chair for hours. whoever of you think that nursing is the rewarding, vocation that you once knew of, it could be but the new challenges of today and the influence on our troubled economy means that it is far from it. it is a struggle for many nurses who would only love to be allowed to do their job properly rather than stressing about where to find the next trolly or cubicle to assess the patient. oh yeah and also stressing about what day they can fit in for the Haddington road agreement.
Hollymartin, we Americans have a different money system and different terminology from yours, but I can certainly relate to your point that nurses spend a lot of time hunting up equipment, or trying to work around the problem of malfunctioning equipment.
The unique thing about nursing is that, whenever a patient is unhappy with his or her care, s/he will almost always hold the nurse responsible for it, even if it’s something the nurse has no control over. Things like: “My bed had a hard mattress. I didn’t sleep a wink last night, and the nurse never did anything about it.” “The only drug that works for my backaches is Dilaudid. I TOLD the nurse, but she never gave it to me.” “That nurse had an attitude. I had my call light on for 20 minutes, and she passed my room with that crash cart, and completely ignored me.” “I TOLD the nurse I didn’t want those lab people waking me up at 5 am to draw my blood!” “Why can’t the nurse do something about that noisy patient in the next room?”
That’s one of the surest routes to burnout: being held personally accountable for problems you don’t have the time or authority to fix.
To ihatestupidppl….you are a moron of the worst kind! You generalize too much at to what nurses have and don’t have. Unless you’ve walked in several nurses shoes, SHUT THE front door!!! I am a pediatric intensive care nurse. There are several coffee pots on my unit, hidden away from patient care areas. Guess what? We can’t get to them bc we prioritize patient care over out own needs and desires…like going to the bathroom. If you have children, I’d pray long and hard that they never end up in my unit and me take a “coffee break” while your kid can’t breath, talk, eat, etc., for whatever reason. We prioritize our patients over ourselves. Oh I’m sure you’ve been to hospitals where some nurses have drinks or snacks where they shouldn’t. We risk doing that so we don’t pass out even though we could get heavily fined by the health department. People who aren’t nurses should shut up before criticizing a job they have no clue as to what it takes. To ihatestupidppl you are a stupid person.
You are right!!! Being a nurse is our genetic build-up. You born with it… or not. We simply choose not to have the extra coffee and break even with enough help on the floor. Many times these REAL NURSES would be taken advantage of, but we choose to be with our patients simply because we could not imagine it any other way. Cannot fight our own DNA? Unless you choose nursing by mistake. There is a the big difference between nursing as a profession and nursing as a job. Sometimes it takes a huge effort to fuse into “professional job”. Obviously, English is my second language, but hope I made myself clear.
I’m the one that should say wow your comment reads like someone who has anger issues if anyone should check them self into a psych ward it should be you you obviously need to be evaluated and put on some type of medication
I couldn’t have said it better. Glad to know I’m not the only one who holds those kind of thoughts on my chosen career. For the whole first year after I graduated, on my way to work, I’d feel like puking. I put so much into getting my BSN and now I believe if it weren’t for the student loan debt, I’d find a different career. Almost 5 yrs later, I no longer wanna puke, but still experience a level of anxiety wondering what’s in store for me that shift.
I agree that the profession of nursing unlike many others requires that we work weekends, holidays and miss special family moments. However, it has to be said that we sign up for this and have an obligation to our profession and our employer to fulfill the obligations that we have signed up. Most nurses now work 12 hr shifts and are considered FT working six 12 hr shifts every two weeks. Working 6 of 14 days and having 8 days off is something that most people I know envy. I have found it easy to create balance with my social and family life in the 15+ years I have been a nurse. I think that many people forget that they are for the most part fairly well compensated compared with other professions of the same level of education and if they don’t like working weekends and holidays should find a job in a clinic or doctors office otherwise show up to work act like the adults they are supposed to be take their mental health days on their scheduled days off!
There is no possible way that you are related to me. Please change your last name. Nurses need to support each other and I hope you get left on that Island you create.
You must work day shift. Try seeing things through a night shift workers eyes. They need your support too.
To the author of this article, thank you for a fantastic description of what it means to be a nurse, and what we give up to serve others. I am a nurse, and left the bedside b/c I couldn’t take the emotional and physical demands. I now have a job I don’t love, but allows me to spend more time with my family & have a life. I sorely miss the challenge of working in an ICU, but know it was the right move for me. To all those who suggest this article is a litany of complaints, know you are dead wrong. We simply need to acknowledge the stress our career choice has made.
After I initially commented I appear to have clicked the
-Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and
now every time a comment is added I receive four emails with the exact same comment.
Is there a way you can remove me from that service?
Appreciate it!
I cannot change that. You have to do it yourself. You should have an option on your email.
This so brought me to tears and I so can relate to this and I’ve been a nurse for 44 yes since age 16 and I will stand up for nurses we work hard and the times
I get the distinct impression that if all who posted about the difficulties in giving quality care could unite to present to the Nursing Board, or whoever is over them, and whoever is over them, etc, until it hits someone who can and will lead the brigade for change, then there might be change. From what I hear of Obamacare, either health care professionals unite, or nurse to patient ratios will only get worse. Something to consider. Is there someone who could draw up a petition to sign? It’s past time that nurses solidify as a profession, stand up for their health as well as that of their patients, and be permitted into the negotiation table. What must we do to change this?
Everything this blogger talks about is also true for respiratory therapists. We are also at the bedside giving direct, hands on c. We may not spend as much time as the nurse in any one room, but the stresses & hazards are the same. I often help move & turn patients, I have been hacked on, had my ass grabbed or patted, theatened, screamed at, etc. Once (many years before “safety” syringes) had an HIV patient grab a dirty syringe from me & chase me with it. Once had a patient disappear, only to be found stark naked hiding in the bushes of a neighboring house….but he still had his nasal cannula on, because I had taken the time to sit down & explain to him that his low oxygen levels were a part of his confusion. He just didn’t realize it had to be hooked up to something…LOL! He was SO apologetic when we got him back settled down in his room! But I love my job. The days that I come home feeling good outnumber the days when I come home wondering why I put myself through it! I’m ALWAYS tired at the end of my shift, but I often feel that I helped someone ….not just by giving them their treatment, but because I took a couple minutes extra to TALK to them, answer their questions, help them make a telephone call, explain the ventilator to family members who are scared & don’t understand all the high tech surrounding their loved one. My husband passed away 2 months ago…I have shared this with a few patients or families who were also going thru very difficult situations, or making difficult decisions….and we have hugged each other & cried together.
All in all, I would do it all again in a minute.
My bгother recommendеd I might like thios blog. He was totally right.
This ρost aсtually mad my ԁaу. You cann’t imagine just how much time I had spent for this info!
Thanks!
Growing a pair is a figure of speech. Meaning that whining about entering a field that is competitive to even enter the program and then expect the field to change to please you is not the answer. Focus on what you do like about. Have some fun and watch your attitude improve.
Yes, Mark, I know that “growing a pair” is a figure of speech, but it’s a dumb thing to say to a woman who’s just venting about her difficult job.
Nowhere did the original poster “whine,” or express an expectation that the field should change to “please” her. And none of us know her well enough to assume that she never “focus(es) on what (she does) like about” her job.
Tell me, are you a nurse? If not, then you’re really not qualified to dictate how Grimalkin “should” react to the problems in her profession. If you are, then you clearly missed your nursing school lectures on therapeutic communication. I can just see you with a patient:
Patient: “I’m sorry, I can’t stop crying since the doctor told me I was miscarrying. Could I have a box of Kleenex, please?”
Mark: “Grow a pair, lady. You knew that miscarriage was a possibility when you chose to get pregnant. Why would you expect the laws of nature to change just to please you?”
When did it become trendy in our society to lecture and scold people, just for being candid about their ambivalence toward a job or situation? And exactly what purpose does it serve to demand that people turn off their feelings like a faucet and talk only of happy things?
Legally, “The federal wage and hour law, called the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), doesn’t require employers to provide meal or rest breaks,” according to http://www.nolo.com‘s legal encyclopedia. That leaves it to the states to define what they will allow in each state.Unfortunately, less than half the states require employers to give meal breaks, and only eight require employers to give employee breaks. That’s why employers in most states are legally empowered to work anyone, including nurses, without breaks or meals.
That’s abysmal, but it does give us perspective on who has authority to change the situation. Apparently, either we must fight this at the state level, times how many states, or we must take it to the federal level to mandate for the states. The Nursing Board may not have the authority to change anything.
I don’t see another legal solution.
Actually you need to look at the Labor Relations Board to find out what each state requires and contrary to your above statement, most states do have required breaks. If they do not follow these laws then the facility needs to be reported to the NLRB.
Well….I’m just gonna tell ya……..I understand this gal completely. I have been a nurse for 26 years. It’s a two-edged sword, really. On one end of the extreme, you have some really great doctors to work with who respect you and treat you well. You have nice patients who truly do what they can to help themselves, who REALLY want to get better, with families who appreciate every single thing you do for them. You have good staff working in the trenches with you who you can have a good working relationship with, and you can help each other. On the other end, you have doctors who are abusive. They think you are beneath them. They think you are stupid, and sometimes call you stupid. You have patients who are not compliant with ONE single thing they are asked to do for themselves. They deliberately hurt themselves so they can come in for more meds. “I need some Phenergan and a ham sandwich, please” type of people. And they threaten you when you can’t give them what they want, when they want it. Then some of those family members……threatening to report you, get you fired, nasty, hateful, JUST PLAIN MEAN people get in the mix. When you bring up issues with management, you are told that for what they are paying you, they can bring in 2 new grads, so you ARE replaceable. Sigh. It can be the most demoralizing thing ever. I am looking for a way out, and when I find it, I will be GONE. I know, I know. I’m JUST A NURSE. I won’t be missed. But I WILL be happy.
Having been a nurse for 35 yrs I can say the changes in the industry have been huge. As nurses we have evolved from caregivers to slaves to the computer. Nurses don’t have the opportunity to bond today like we once did with our patients. I’m a huge advocate for mental health days and have vowed to encourage my staff (I’m a manager), my peers and allow myself mental health days. Its a tough career choice. I still involve myself at the bedside (PACU) because I want to, it helps give my staff a break, and reminds me of their challenges…..plus I am reminded of why I’m here. If a patient thanks me, is comfortable, smiles, a family is grateful for my staff and the efforts made to care for their loved one as their own, it lessens the impact of those that are less pleasant…fellow nurse, new to the world of nursing, as well as those of us that have been here a while, take those mental health days, take care of yourself! When administrators, corporations step back and listen, perhaps some care will be taken….I’m not sure they are humble enough as a whole to see they would have no hospitals without us. That is sad.
Been a nurse a long time(37 years). Have told my wife that I know when I will die-it will be when the last part of my soul is stolen by my job. Nursing is damned hard. We are some of the toughest people in the world and no one recognizes this except some nurses. The other nurses make a living stepping on the head of other nurses to further themselves and keep from touching “those icky sick people”. Thanks for being a voice in a far-too silent field.
could not agree more about the nurses stepping on the heads of other nurses.. I have only been a nurse 2 years, but it is ruthless out there! I had no idea when i chose this career path that the days I would go home crying would be mostly down to the cut throat environment many nurses inflict on other nurses!! Dont get me wrong, I have also met some of the most wonderful kind inspiring people too!!! 😀
Gem, based on my own 33 years in this business, I can say that not all nursing workplace settings have cutthroat coworkers. It all depends on what the manager (or hospital) is willing to tolerate.
In my current workplace, the people I’ve seen get fired are not the ones who have trouble keeping up (those people get extra help), but the mouthy ones who disrupt the unit, who split staff, who bully newcomers. In many cases, they’re good nurses with good skills, but they cause a lot of negative feelings, and get in the way of decent teamwork. I’ve worked on two units in this hospital, and neither one tolerated that kind of behavior.
It really does make a difference where you work, and what kind of manager is running things.
To “ihatestupidpeople”
I sincerely hope that if you unfortunately end up in an ER or ICU somewhere, that your nurse will be one that has read your idiotic comments.
Nurses are human beings, Stupidppl, not doormats. We’ll meet our patients’ needs and wants to the best of our ability, but that doesn’t extend to enduring verbal abuse from someone who should know better.
Now that we’ve got that settled, are you just here to run your mouth, or do you have something to add to the discussion?
I’ve been an RN for a couple of years now and I’ve noticed that the way that nurses interact with one another can really play into positive nursing experiences. As a traditionally female dominated field, there is so much cattiness and nastiness displayed toward one another. We need to support one another, regardless of patient attitudes, lunch breaks and budget cuts.
I started my career in the emergency department and even though that was a tough environment, it was survivable thanks to the caliber of person attracted to such high intensity work. Nurses need to support one another emotionally (yes, that includes appropriate venting, but never in front of patients or family members!), spiritually (we all have spiritual needs, irregardless of our faith backgrounds), and physically (if you’re sitting at the desk, you can answer a call bell for the poor nurse who just sat down to chart).
So please, help each other out. And if you aren’t in healthcare and meet a struggling nurse (not a nasty nurse, but one who is hurting and stressed), please try to cut him or her some slack. We’re all just trying to do the best we can
Well said:) thank you for sharing
Hello, Thank you for honestly expressing your self. I appreciate that. I was blessed to have become a RN, I could still be sitting on that park bench. I happily gave 25 years of my life to the profession. I would change jobs every 2-3 years knowing i had enough and wanted to experience the other avenues available to me. I wrecked my back early on in my career but kept ignoring my internal warring signals that and being stubborn, it was easier to just do it myself than to wait for help.
I started studying holistic health in order to help myself and others and became a massage therapist. When I would get burned out from that profession, I would go back to nursing for a few more years. The last job i held was in hospice. Loved, loved, loved it! I was a great nurse according to the patients but sucked as an employee. Hated all the paper work. (Sorry to dump on my supervisors who were kind enough to cover up for me).
As a nurse i would listen to my patients and their families saying thank you but it didn’t hit me till one day. I was walking down the street in Philadelphia Theater district. A group of women were approaching me and i moved to the side and the very last woman looked at me and called me by name. You were my mothers nurse and today is the day she died. I didn’t want to go out with my friends but seeing you is a confirmation of my mothers love and blessing. I cried as we hugged.
Not every patient may remember your kindness and dedication but there are so many that do, year after year, long after their loved ones are gone, They still remember their nurse. I do not regret one moment being a nurse. I never wanted to hit a tree, but would turn off my beeper and hide in the woods. I only spent 2 1/2 years working in an institution and that was my first job. Or the tree may have been a thought. Oh by the way it is healthy to have suicidal thoughts. Geez hasn’t everyone.
My heart goes out to all who continue to sacrifice and give to others. My New Years wish for you is to take care of your self first. Because when i finally dropped dead from nursing someone else to over.
I have since left nursing completely. Would i do it again, Maybe, Maybe Not.
I agree with the very emotional taxing job of nursing, policing, social working, medics and by all means take a mental health day. I would also tell that nurse to request the day off months in advance with PTO. There is no reason not to take care of oneself and their family events with scheduled days off especially since this a recurring event!
I really wish I was able to look ahead 3 months in advance and tell my manager exactly what day I needed a “mental health day.” Then it would be easier to staff the floor accordingly and look into what might cause the need.
I don’t think nurses can predict when we are going to need a break in most circumstances. However, if we make self care a PLAN and not something we only do in an emergency, we could greatly decrease the need for mental health days.
How true… unfortunately.
I just finished four days in a row!
Way to many back to back shifts…. and on my day off I was sooooo exhausted and drained ( work hangover – I call it) I didn’t get anything done at the house. Staffing ratios
need to / have to improve… somethings gotta give….
I work on a busy trauma / stroke / ortho floor where most of my patients cannot move…. my body is pushed to its limits. We now have 5-6 high acuity patients each and the other day I didn’t even have an aid!
Most of my shifts I find I am telling my patients too eat their meals and make sure they are drinking water…. only to find 12hrs later I have had a sip of my water… haven’t really peed…. and no time for my lunch. Your blog says it all…I find myself taking a “mental health day” 4x a year…
you are also right…in that noone understands this but other nurses.
Nursing during war time
Our class just celebrated our 70th anniversary since our graduation from the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1943. That year there were 70 of us, who had joyfully completed a gruesome three years of training. Today only 17 of us remain.
Tough as it was, in my opinion, we were better women as a result. Not many young women today would tolerate the discipline we experienced. We worked 12-hour shifts six and one half days a week, with hours off for classes and then back to work. The half-day was after 6 hours of work from 7 AM to 1 PM. We lived in residence with no overnight leaves – not even on Christmas Eve, as I discovered in my first year, to my surprise and dismay.
After the first year, we had a 3-week holiday, two weeks after the second year and one week in our third year. It was a three-year course and passing the final Registered Nursing exams, we graduated.
It was wartime and many of the staff in the hospital had joined the forces so it’s doubtful the hospital could have carried on as well without the unpaid students labour. Working our way through our training, we paid no tuition.
Life in Residence was well controlled by the Night Supervisor, who patrolled the corridors of the Residence making certain all the lights were out by 10.30 PM. The alarm went off at 6 AM and after our morning ablutions and dressed in our blue uniform dress covered by a white foundation belt, a heavily starched bib and apron, our caps pinned on to the backs of our heads and wearing our black stockings and oxfords, we rushed down to the huge reception area for Prayers at 6.30 Am. One hymn was sung. One of my favourites was “Rescue the Perishing.” Then, with haste, downstairs we went to the dining room for a quick breakfast. Then, two by two, we marched through the underground passageways to our various wards and on duty by 7 AM.
Ours was a very thorough training. We had hands on experience in all facets of nursing, spending 2 months in each department or hospital. At that time there was a Psychiatric Hospital, a two story building on the grounds across from the emergency entrance. The Children’s Hospital was located on Redwood Ave with the Nurses Residence on the banks of the Red River. There we had all varieties of babies’ and children’s’ illnesses to care for. The King George Hospital for Communicable Diseases was in the area of the present day Riverview Health Centre. Behind was the Nurses’ Residence. There we nursed polio victims, some in iron lungs. There were also cases of diphtheria, scarlet fever and whooping cough to name a few.
We had training with the Victoria Order of Nurses, helping so many bedridden patients in their homes as well as assisting with baby deliveries in the home.
In the hospital we worked on Surgical and Medical wards, Urology, Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat, Gynecology and Obstetrics, working on the delivery floor, in the case room and the nursery.
In the Operating Room, where we might have to scrub the walls and floor, we worked as waiting and scrub nurses as well.
Those were the days before antibiotics. Our aseptic technique had to be perfect, so perfect post operative infections were a rarity. It was wartime, so supplies were scarce. We mended and sterilized rubber gloves. Dressings and instruments were sterilized.
On the wards we boiled, sterilized and reused rubber catheters, needles and syringes. There was little waste.
Unlike today, patients were cared for with clean sheets every day, bed baths for the bedridden as well as backrubs. Cleanliness was imperative. Hospital walls and floors were kept as clean as
possible. With no wonder drugs to cure infections, hot fomentations and mustard plasters were used.
We were so experienced by our third year we could be left in charge of a ward on Evening or Night Duty.
After such a tough three years, graduation has left a wonderful memory. We finally wore our white starched uniforms and caps, our white stockings and oxfords and carrying 2 dozen roses we paraded into the old Grace Church which stood at the junction of Notre Dame and Ellice Avenues.
We were well qualified to take on any nursing position that came our way.
.
Nursing during war time
Our class was celebrating not our 65th but our 70th anniversary since our graduation from the Winnipeg General Hospital in 1943. That year there were 70 of us, who had joyfully completed a gruesome three years of training. Today only 17 of us remain.
Tough as it was, in my opinion, we were better women as a result. Not many young women today would tolerate the discipline we experienced. We worked 12-hour shifts six and one half days a week, with hours off for classes and then back to work. The half-day was after 6 hours of work from 7 AM to 1 PM. We lived in residence with no overnight leaves – not even on Christmas Eve, as I discovered in my first year, to my surprise and dismay.
After the first year, we had a 3-week holiday, two weeks after the second year and one week in our third year. It was a three-year course and passing the final Registered Nursing exams, we graduated.
It was wartime and many of the staff in the hospital had joined the forces so it’s doubtful the hospital could have carried on as well without the unpaid students labour. Working our way through our training, we paid no tuition.
Life in Residence was well controlled by the Night Supervisor, who patrolled the corridors of the Residence making certain all the lights were out by 10.30 PM. The alarm went off at 6 AM and after our morning ablutions and dressed in our blue uniform dress covered by a white foundation belt, a heavily starched bib and apron, our caps pinned on to the backs of our heads and wearing our black stockings and oxfords, we rushed down to the huge reception area for Prayers at 6.30 Am. One hymn was sung. One of my favourites was “Rescue the Perishing.” Then, with haste, downstairs we went to the dining room for a quick breakfast. Then, two by two, we marched through the underground passageways to our various wards and on duty by 7 AM.
Ours was a very thorough training. We had hands on experience in all facets of nursing, spending 2 months in each department or hospital. At that time there was a Psychiatric Hospital, a two story building on the grounds across from the emergency entrance. The Children’s Hospital was located on Redwood Ave with the Nurses Residence on the banks of the Red River. There we had all varieties of babies’ and children’s’ illnesses to care for. The King George Hospital for Communicable Diseases was in the area of the present day Riverview Health Centre. Behind was the Nurses’ Residence. There we nursed polio victims, some in iron lungs. There were also cases of diphtheria, scarlet fever and whooping cough to name a few.
We had training with the Victoria Order of Nurses, helping so many bedridden patients in their homes as well as assisting with baby deliveries in the home.
In the hospital we worked on Surgical and Medical wards, Urology, Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat, Gynecology and Obstetrics, working on the delivery floor, in the case room and the nursery.
In the Operating Room, where we might have to scrub the walls and floor, we worked as waiting and scrub nurses as well.
Those were the days before antibiotics. Our aseptic technique had to be perfect, so perfect post operative infections were a rarity. It was wartime, so supplies were scarce. We mended and sterilized rubber gloves. Dressings and instruments were sterilized.
On the wards we boiled, sterilized and reused rubber catheters, needles and syringes. There was little waste.
Unlike today, patients were cared for with clean sheets every day, bed baths for the bedridden as well as backrubs. Cleanliness was imperative. Hospital walls and floors were kept as clean as
possible. With no wonder drugs to cure infections, hot fomentations and mustard plasters were used.
We were so experienced by our third year we could be left in charge of a ward on Evening or Night Duty.
After such a tough three years, graduation has left a wonderful memory. We finally wore our white starched uniforms and caps, our white stockings and oxfords and carrying 2 dozen roses we paraded into the old Grace Church which stood at the junction of Notre Dame and Ellice Avenues.
We were well qualified to take on any nursing position that came our way.
.
I have bee in nursing now for 50 yrs, and it was so different then, you just did as you were told and NEVER question it,at the age of 50 after a nasty illness i went to uni to do a 4 yr course in counselling and psychotherapy. I changes my attitude to patient and nursing.. and hope now i can give back to people what this world takes out.
I STILL WOULD not change my original training… it gave me my Nursing care..to which i am proud of ,
Lesley …RN MBACP
Very interesting account, Agnes. Nursing has never been an easy profession, that’s for sure!
I agree with you 100%, thou it’s not just nurses! I’m a Psw in a long term care facility and we do what you do in the hospital and go through what you do. And it’s exhausting for us mentally, physically, and emotionally. (We are usually always understaffed! I just finished 6 days straight with 4 doubles and I’m tired!) We have the more in depth relationships with the residents then the actual nurses do. And there’s days I would like to cry and rip my hair out, but I just put on that happy face and smile to get me through that shift. I’m a single mom and have missed so much of my daughters activities because of working and I feel bad but if I don’t do it then who will right? We have nurses that won’t even help us and when call bells ring they won’t answer them and they say “it’s not in my job description” so we are running in circles some nights, and yet they want us to help them with something (MDS, dressing change etc)
I have had enough of rude nasty patients!!! They walk through the hospital door and all of a sudden they can’t walk. They can’t wipe their own ass. I am tired of the patients that cough and breathe in your face! They forget that the nurse is human and can get sick. I get hit, punched, slapped, swore at!
Nursing is mentally, physically, and emotionally draining. I have worked 12 hours without going to the bathroom or eating.
I am tired of rude patients who demand bedpans, medicine, something to eat without so much as a please or thank you! What happened to courtesy? I don’t need a different job. Perhaps, the human race needs to go back to being grateful to someone who is helping you and trying to make you feel better?
Patients think that the doctor is the hero! Nurses are at the bedside. We know the patients better than anyone. Our patients lives are in our hands. We alert the physician of signs that their patient is in trouble.
Not only do we take abuse from our patients, we take it from the physician that we got out of bed at 3:00am. Then he walks into the patient’s room and gets all the accolades for taking care of them. When just minutes before he was screaming at the nurse telling her how stupid she is and how much of a pain in the ass the patient is.
I have taken care of demented, Alzheimer’s patients who have kicked me and slapped me only to have family members sit at the bedside and watch the show.
Parents bring their sick kid in let them bite you and kick you because you have to give the kid medicine. They get even angrier at you when you tell that you have to draw blood or start an IV. They hover over their child and make stupid comments “you get one try. I don’t want my child being a pin cushion.” Oh wonderful! This should be a breeze! I get to hit a moving target and hit a vein the size of fishing line while being assaulted.
And I absolutely love the patients who tell me how lucky I am that they stayed to be treated. They were tired of waiting for an exam room to be available and they were getting ready to leave when their name was called to be evaluated! Now wait! Hmmm. Who is the one who thinks they are ill and thinks they need treatment? I think you have this concept backwards.
Patients lie to you. They come up with all kinds of stories about how their injury occurred because they don’t want to tell they punched a wall or were assaulted. They tell you someone else was driving the car they were in that crashed, everyone only ever has two beers, they omit little things like go to a pain Management clinic or better yet they were discharged from a pain management clinic or they go to the methadone clinic. They don’t tell you they are Hepatitis A, B, C, or HIV positive and they spit, cough, pee, or bleed all over the place.
I have been screamed at by people waiting to be seen for fever because I took a patient ahead of them that was gasping for breath and blue around the mouth! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
The mentality and selfishness of the human race never ceases to amaze me! Just when I thought I have seen and heard it all, some other narcissist comes along and sinks one lower!
After almost 25 years of nursing, I have learned that most people are selfish and they have no empathy or consideration for anyone!
Believe me when I tell you that feeling is mutual. NURSES ARE SICK OF RUDE, nasty Patients. It goes both ways. Once again, can I point out that IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!!!!!
Holly, Get a grip! Ridiculous that Professional Nurses behaving the way you are! I’ve been a nurse for 22 years and this is just ridiculous!!! Just tell us your real name so we can look you up on BON. Where do you work? I do not want any patient near you! Unbelievable!
Jack:
I would ask the same of you. Post your full name and title so that I can look YOU up on the BoN or whatever board governs your license. Because in my opinion if you have NEVER felt this way or used such language yourself away from patients and their families you surely must be robotic; and I am not ready to work with or allow myself or my family or friends be cared for by someone who is devoid of human feelings or reaction.
Carlotta Hall, LVN
I agree with you holly…
Stupidppl, putting patients first doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a slave. Most of us DO put our patients first (hence all the comments about going 12+ hours without a dinner or bathroom break). But we’re not machines, and pushing ourselves too hard, or in too many directions, can lead to errors and omissions.
Now, I ask you: do you want to be the patient who receives the wrong medication or the wrong treatment, because the uncomplaining and self-denying nurse who’s taking care of you didn’t have the sense to say, “STOP. I CAN’T SAFELY TAKE ON MORE RESPONSIBILITIES THAN I ALREADY HAVE”?
Thank You, Olivia. If you are not a nurse, you just can’t relate. The caregiver needs to say STOP sometimes and take care of herself.
get out of nursing while you still can. been an RN for 30 years and never worked with any one so burnt out. You have skills that will get you into another job. good luck to you
I’m really not burned out. I am expressive and I was emotional after seeing my friend so upset. As I stated in my blog post, I came in on my day off to work for her so that she could spend time with her family. Does this really sound like someone who is completely burned out to you?
Ive been a nurse 25 yrs finally the truth can be told…. we love our jobs, but it is tiring. The worst are the comments about how much money I make…. how much is 25 years worth? I can tell the holidays I had off in 1 hand, when the kids where little we celebrated Christmas at different dates, I became creative in how Santa came to town…. how much is that worth..
I am a nurse and proud of it and I would do it all over again….. and because I’m from Europe I had to do it all over again but that’s another story……
Thank you for expressing yourself in such a real manner. It is true we have a long way to go before we can be cohesive as a profession. After 28 years of multiple nursing experiences I left my position as a Hospice RN to take care of my mother. Nursing has changed over the years, some good and some bad. We are more technical, highly skilled and much more educated and yes we make a higher wage. It appears to me that productivity is the focus and fast mediocor patient care is the disire of most hospitals. In my last experience our managers pressured us to take on more, work harder, stay longer, and did not encourage time off or breaks. There is the newer nurse that wants to show her/his worth or perhaps are fearful of losing their employment that complies to these conditions making it difficult for any change to occur. Nurses compete and do not always support each other. My belief is when we put down or back stab one of our colleges we are disrupting the whole team, it effects the morale and “productivity” of every nurse. Eventually the ones looking to to make an impression by compilance to this abuse is eventually on medical leave for back problems, depression, etc. I watched LVN nurses being hired to take RN positions because they were less expensive. Some are good nurses with great experience for the most part. The difference in education and the teaching and experience of critical thinking however is not a big part of their year long training and unfortunately this effects the quality of patient care especially if their attitude is ego based
.
The other side of my experience is that I have friends from my first job that are tried and true. I have met patients from all walks of life and enjoyed them. I have grown as a person, and
I am a strong woman. Working as an RN in the trenches, in management, and in research makes me think I can do anything…. after all I am a Nurse.
I am slowing down, burnt out, focused on fixing a body that needs attention. I am choosing a more serene environment while sticking with people who encourage self care. Would I do it again? Maybe,however, I would do it differently.
Dear Agnes Comack your story is moving, thank you so much for sharing your nursing experience. It sounds to me like any patient would have been in good hands with you and the student nurses were strong and bright at a difficult time in history..
I can say the same exact thing about Radiologic Technologists!
I have been a nurse since 1984. I have seen a lot of changes in that time and not all for the better. Most of my career has been in labor and delivery. You would think that is nice and for the most part it was a wonderful, happy place to work. I made some really nice friends, both nurses and pts. My daughters were small when I went to nursing school but young as they were, they helped me with the never-ending housework and by studying. My husband helped when he could, but worked 2 jobs so I could go to school full-time.(at that time students weren’t allowed to work outside the home). But who had time anyway? For the most part IT have truly loved my job. If the only thing I had to do was pt care I would have been OK, but of course there was the charting. In the old days, you could take your paper charts to the breakroom and eat while you wrote a few notes to keep up. But in the new computer-age, compters are not in the breakrooms, and who cares if you haven’t eaten, peed, or sipped on your water all day as long as the charting, and your pt’s needs have been met and you are done without incurring any of that dreaded “overtime”. I could just go.on and on but you get the idea. This a subject near to my heart
tough job, I couldn’t do it. Thank you for doing it.
I loved everything about your post. Every single word made me feel like part of a secret organization only nurses can understand. You are absolutely right. We are overworked and constantly under appreciated. We are a special breed of human, in fact I believe nurses are super human 🙂 We need time off to reconnect our minds and our bodies which are consistently on auto pilot from lack of sleep and nutrition.
I just finished working every weekend for the past two and half years this may due to school. Not only did I feel guilt from missing out on everything with my family. During the short breaks in school my raises were threatened if I did not pick up extra shifts as I did not have the time to be a team player during the rest of the year. I did not even choose to go to school. My company required it.
Lol! It is a thankless job indeed.
To the War Nurse. My nurses cap is off to you. So much complaining from others. If you don’t want to be a nurse, get out of it. Our co-workers and patients deserve better!
Kim, where did Grimalkin ever state or imply that she doesn’t want to be a nurse?
Nurses only seem to be honored as long as we keep quiet about the difficulties our profession faces.
I am very good at my job and I only intend to further my career, not leave nursing. No where in my post do I ever contemplate leaving nursing.
Writing in a journal is a healthy coping mechanism for dealing with stress that does not involve unleashing that stress on coworkers, patients, or my loved ones.
I work with a LOT of nurses on a daily basis and 80% of them I wonder how did they ever make it through nursing school. After reading this post and the responses, I am more than certain that these are that 80% ! What about the tons of patients and their complaints due to poor nursing? Nurses who ignore the call bell? Lazy nurses who do not bathe their patients? Too lazy to feed them? Leaving patients in urine and feces for hours! Patients getting bed sores due to lazy nursing! Nurses who are rude to patients! Perhaps it’s inadequate nursing that leads to patient annoyance in turn frustrating a nurse who in the first place can’t do her/ his job effectively! Patient complaints seem to be more legit!
Unfortunately, there are nurses who through burnout, compassion fatigue or laziness, do not practice appropriate patient care. I actually became a nurse after witnessing the ill treatment of my grandmother by a nurse shortly before her death (the post is on my blog).
I cannot speak for every nurse at every hospital, but I will tell you I do answer my lights, and I change linen as often as needed to keep people dry. I wish the experiences you speak of didn’t exist, but they do. They are a symptom of a larger problem of understaffing, compassion fatigue, and burnout that needs to be addressed within healthcare.
Jack, you’re making bogus assumptions here. Yes, there are bad nurses as well as good ones. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that those who speak up about the problems of their jobs are lazy or rude. Sometimes nurses speak up because they care, and because they feel that the patients deserve better than they’re getting.
Sounds like you wish to punish nurses for speaking out, by labeling them bad nurses. Ask yourself why you’ve got that expectation that nurses shouldn’t complain—-not even to each other. That’s kind of an unreasonable expection of any human being in a stressful job, don’t you think?
I am Neuro-Trauma Critical Care nurse. I work 12 hour night shifts. I spent New Year’s Eve working. I was the recorder for a traumatic code. Blood was everywhere, tubes coming out from everywhere. The level 1 was out. We tried for 25 mins but we’re not successful 😦
Family and visitors poured in, grief struck, in shock, some hostile and all very upset. I was cursed at and threaten for not opening the doors quick enough.
After everyone was gone we were preparing the body for the morgue. A coroner’s case so body had to go “as is”.
There leaves a imprinted memory and experience, forever tattooed. It’s in moments like that when I hear myself saying “people in my life have NO IDEA what I deal with”, “people do not know what nurses go through”, or “if my friends or family or ‘X” knew or seen this they would look at me differently or understand me better”…. Only nurses and other health care providers know…..
So yes, there are days when I have low energy and going to work seems questionable. Days when I beat myself up for wanting to stay home and get lost in a good movie or sleep a few extra hours or not make dinner & order take out. Days when I am not interested in being very social or I want to tell that person I randomly see complaining about a rather small annoying and NON life threatening topic to “shut up and be grateful you’re alive”….. But, those days don’t happen very often, only a handful in a year, which I think isn’t terrible at all. And I will expect more of those days to come, I welcome them. They are a very small price to pay for the wonderful difference I get to make with people who are the patient or the family member. Nothing brings me more joy than connecting with another human being, giving a tender touch, a helping comment to support them in their dark moments. To be present to the gift of life, take a breath of fresh air when I take my first step out of the hospital coming off of a shift…invigorating indeed.
I loved your comments….although I have been retired for 5 years your comments are right on track from my nursing days. I always thought that when I retired I would do nursing volunteer work but I was so burned out from hospital nursing that I couldn’t bring myself to do it. you hang in there and know from a legion of other RN’s that you are a wonderful and caring nurse,
Nice to read the truths of nursing , I hope alot of non nurses read this blog
I am also a nurse. I am on much needed leave over Xmas. YEAH.
Over the last month at work I have nursed a young woman who is dying from cancer. It doesn’matter wat kind of cancer as all cancer is fucked up.
Little did that family no is that my young brother had recently had big surgery for cancer and needed more and also it was coming up to the3rd anniversary of my mothers death from , yes fucked up cancer. Mother died in the hospital I work In myself she gave 33 years service to this hospital , I have been there for seven.
I nursed my mum at home as long as I could then she had to go into the hospital to die were she worked. We’re she cared for others going through wat she was going through. My mum and I new wat the fucked up cancer would do.
I still nurse there and have nursed others palliative in the room were mum died in the years post mums fucked up cancer Now I go home to check on my brothers welfare and his fucked up cancer.
What ever I am rambling about ,well it’s like no one no s how draining all this has been and how bloody hard nurses work for so little No one no s that after comforting your family and you for wat ever it is you may be on hospital for , us nurses go home to our own stuff without any debrief or any awareness from others. If at times my behaviour is a bit of due to my home life walking into the room my mum died in to nurse someone else or am tied from comforting my little bro from his fucked up cancer. I GET TOLD PULL YA SOCKS UP Don’t bring ya shit to work your a NURSE. I love nurses and nursing We deserve more money. We don’t want much just some. And please if we have a off day give us a hug not s fucken file note. XXXXXXX
There is one thing I can say, everything she says it the truth,and iI want to add. To us nurses who work in nursing homes with 25 people a piece its even worse there are days when I think I may have even maybe said hi only to a patient I work nights and its Murphys law if it will happen it does I have been a nurse for 19 years I’ve worked from critical care to nursing homes to hospice and I put my heart on the line 24/7 to what I do and many times my family suffers and me too when my 3 kids beg for my time and I’m so tired I’m sleeping or my days off are crammed with limited time with each one and its usually catching up bills or shopping, etc and let’s not mention the left out husband who’s scheduling a date night for us just so we can regain our marital relations and remember why we fell in love…lol.. …but many of us would not give it up, we love what we do and god gave us the gift of compassion and service to others…..so next time you see a nurse tell him or her, Thank you for what you do….god bless you nurses and please take care of yourself…we are worth it
Reblogged this on Greatpoetrymhf's Weblog and commented:
sharing this with thX
Reblogged this on somgbe.
Pingback: The Effects of Nursing on Nurses | Blair Kunkel's Blog
Pingback: The Effects of Nursing on Nurses | Godsent247's Blog