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 
Wow- So many good points and yet the negatives bother me. I have been an LPN for 32 years and am looking forward to Retirement. I have the upmost respect for all who are part of the Health Care Profession. I did try going back to school twice for my RN and both times found out I was pregnant. I know I still could but have no motivation to. I know I am still going to have to work but it will not be in the Health Care Profession ( if I can avoid it at all cost). I am in a system where I am the Senior LPN yet little recognition for. I know of people who can make the same as I ( or more) and with less education and/or experience and definitely less responsibility ( and not in Nursing!). I have to admit, I have Great benefits and will have a nice Retirement package. I would not mind continuing where I am but my pet peeve is because I am at a stand-still/top of my pay and know there are others around me who make the same and more yet not have the Education, experience, or responsibility. I work and have worked with some great CNA’S, LPN’S, and RN’S but there are those who give there title a bad rap- so to say.
I have done my share of weekends, Holidays, and overtime.( and with 3 children) I feel bad for those who do not have the Seniority but have been there. I commend those who further their Education but understand those who can’t for whatever reason.
I have no problem with those who are younger than I and in a higher position. ( The provider I work for is a younger Nurse Practitioner who worked from a CNA up to her position now. ) I have the upmost respect for her! I have no problem with anyone with a title below an LPN and can teach me something. I take offense to anyone who thinks they do not have to do their job ( or finds ways of slacking off) This could apply to any level of the profession or anyone in the working arena.
So, I think I have ranted long enough- Thank-you for reading. Please keep in mind, we are all human and have the right to our Opinions because we are Americans!
I think what I take a way from this, as a non nurse, is that anyone thinking about being a nurse should really have a very close look at what they are getting into. Nurses continually say how hard the job is and that it’s the hardest job out there. Teachers say the same thing, so do paramedics, service men/women etc. Depending on how you want to structure your personal life and how important that is to you it sounds like you really need to be careful. Before deciding on any career it’s good for people to fully research it and this post may save someone a lot of grief in the future. I personally spent a good amount of money on an education for a job I later found out was not for me. It’s a terrible feeling. Although it was a job that was 9 to 5 with weekends off, I walked away and went back to the job with the crazy schedule for less pay because I simply couldn’t stomach the environment. I became a sick and miserable person over it. You say lots of nurses talk about how much they like their jobs and that everyone knows a nurse. It’s funny because I do know a good amount of nurses and I can’t remember one of them even saying anything remotely good about it. I don’t envy nurses at all. It’s a job I wouldn’t do.
Wow! You sure hit the nail on the head here,I have been an ER Nurse for 19yrs and I have to tell you there have been so many times I and my coworkers have drug ourself into work ” Sick” because for some reason we feel guilty if were not there leaving them short staffed. Most of the time we work 12 to 16 hr shifts without a lunch not to mention sneaking out just to take a Pee. I do love my work and saving lives,but sometimes I wonder if our Employers realize how valuable Nurses are to Health Care. Thanks for posting your story! Have a wonderful New Year
Yes, honey, there are hospitals that INTENTIONALLY understaff to create more profits; whereas our nursing wages have effectively remained stagnant the last 5-6 years (approx. 0.50/hr annual increases more than wiped out by our ever-rising insurance costs) the CEO’s, CFO,etc continue to enjoy multi-million dollar wages with huge bonuses for reducing costs. These costs have included a severe decrease of experienced RN’s at the bedside, resulting in dangerous patient situations and 2 sentinel events , poor equipment, lack of supplies, etc. And to the pie-in-the-sky poster who believes we get huge weekend and holiday bonuses: not in our world! We are often required to work over our 12-hour shifts, our RN’s have no CNA or tech back-up to help, our night-shift differential is less than $1 an hour, there IS NO weekend differential, holidays are paid at time-and-a-half and we have to work every holiday. There is no bonus for longevity, no increase in pay for the number of years of experience you have. Nobody in their right mind gets into nursing for the money- I could make more as a teacher or many other professions- there is no amount of money that can adequately compensate for missing EVERY holiday in some way, for the pure emotional Hell of coding people ,of having to be the one to notify the family, of consoling or turning into the chopping block of a bereft family member, of being the face people associate with some of the most traumatic experiences of their lives. On the other hand, is it wrong to expect adequate benefits and wages to at least meet your minimal commitments? When hire-in wages go up by $1.50/ hr but the top pay remains the same so you get no pay increase, is that not something to stand up for? We are continuously berated for requesting wage increases, tried to be made to feel guilty by implying we are asking for additional money and certainly “didn’t get into nursing for the money”. Yet the people trying to make us feel guilty are, themselves enjoying tens of thousands of dollars in bonuses, pay increases, etc., all on the backs of those at the bedsides. When we say we no longer have adequate staff to provide our accepted level of care, we are told to adjust our expectations downward. When we ask for equipment (taping IV bags to cupboards because we have no IV poles, having to pull staff from the bedside to hunt for stock throughout the hospital, etc) we are told if we don’t like the way things are, we can quit, etc. Talk about hostile working environments! True, if you’ve not been there, you can’t imagine what goes on, because we are damn good at doing our jobs.
Your post is spot on. Thank you.
Where do you work?! That sounds awful! We get a pretty hefty weekend/night differential and would never in a million years have to tape an IV bag to a cupboard because there isn’t a pole available. We work 2/3 “winter” and “summer” holidays, every other year. And teachers around here make about 1/2 of what nurses do. (Not that I agree with it). You need to find a better state and/or hospital to work in!!! I’m so sorry. That just sounds miserable.
I work in a similar environment. I think it’s my region–b/c it’s every hospital here. too many younglings (who all need to learn) and a rapid phase out of the “old dogs” 9They call themselves that on my floor. I work L&D/MotherBaby at a regional facility, where a corporation bought up four hospitals and consolidated OB services to ONE location—we used to be a combined staff of over 200—now we function with only 78 total employees and the number of patients we treat hasn’t changed. We get 50cents more per hour if we work charge and 50cents more per hour as a weekend/night shift diff. we get punished with “points” for calling in. If you are legit sick, it matters not–you get points whether you have a doctor’s excuse or not. So many of our RN’s come to work sick and we pass it around the unit, to avoid the punishment of points–(HR has an entire policy drafted on our “Point System”). But I love what I do–I love caring for my patients. I’m just tired of some corporate assclowns sitting up in offices making decisions about clinical staff when they have never once done our job. I’m certainly not in nursing for the money.
Thanks for your post–It really was spot-on.
“…nursing is a fucking hard job”? No, it isn’t.
If it were only “fucking hard” we could handle it better. It would have to improve to only be that hard. But that’s why we do it, and do it well, because we are harder than the job. Keep your chin up because when we die there is no work for us in Heaven, so nurses become angels.
You certainly are not a nurse that works 12 hour shifts..that are really 13.5 to 16 hour shifts. Overtime. Weekends . No raises this year..higher management taking shift diffs away to save money. Hiring 2 new grads for 1 senior nurse spot etc…..
Wow, some people (Leslie) are dicks! And I can’t to care for you after a semi smashes your head because your too busy texting hateful messages! I once heard “A construction worker is told to move 100 lbs, he says wait I’ll get help, a RN is told the same thing and says, great an easy patient!” Sums it up! Pt care is super hard work, and having Drs on your back to keep everything flowing? For shit sake, if we care for ourselves and loved ones all of us will speak up for better pay and management of pt care and stop paying the CEO’s 200 x’s more than we make??!!
My best friend n my family are all nurses. Please treat them with respect
This goes for all direct patient care hospital workers. X-ray techs, lab techs, R.T., P.T., O.T., Speech, transporters, social workers, I’m an RRT and when reading this I felt as if it was something I would write. My words exactly. Just got home from a terrible day. Sunday, 12 hour shift. Not enough staff, poor care witnessed. Getting dangerous.
Thanks for the comment! I am a CT Technologist and I can relate to this posting….and I am sure anybody who works in the healthcare field would agree… it doesn’t only pertain to the nursing profession.
Thank you, I’m am RRT also and this could fit our profession just add well…… We all work long hard shifts in the same environment, only get less recognition……
Just wanted you to know you’re not alone. I am not a nurse. I am a teacher. True, I have holidays off – unpaid, of course. True, it’s M-F, however, I put in countless hours after the students leave, not only at school, but when I get home from school. And this includes weekends!! I work on school work on Saturdays and Sundays, too…..I am paid for 6.5 hours a day. However, I put in 70+ hours a week. Even summers where we are supposedly “off” , we’re not off. We have to attend UNPAID workshops, get in our classrooms for weeks ahead of time before school starts (unpaid, again)….and if we get sick, yes, we do get sick days…..
If I make a doctor’s appointment, it’s rare I can get one after 3:30 – even if I make the latest appointment possible, I can not leave school “a little bit early” to get there because I would be leaving students – which, of course, I wouldn’t/couldn’t do. Which means, then, I must take a half-day off sick day .
Bottom line, I think all professions have some kind of drawback. We all need to be understanding of each other and respect everyone’s choices of career, education, degree.
No job is perfect.
I have a sign up in my classroom that talks about the difference of “liking what we do leading to happiness” and “doing what we like”……
Teachers get paid more than nurses, maybe not in salary, but certainly in benefits. You can retire in 30 years, most nurses will have to work until retirement age. Teachers also have more time off during the school year than most nurses do in 12 months. Most teachers will never have to deal with a life or death situation as nurses do every. single. day. There is no comparison. Enjoy your time off for the next week while the rest of us are (still) working.
Wow “Sk”, what a disrespectful way to undermine a teacher who is trying to empathize with nurses. Yes, they have benefits nurses don’t have (which the poster openly acknowledged) but nurses also have benefits teachers don’t have. There are hoards of people on this comment thread disrespecting nurses by saying how easy we have it because others have it harder; don’t stoop to their level by doing the same to someone who’s also in a challenging profession.
I have always had great respect for nurses, so this article saddens me in many ways. I once worked in a hospital in nuclear medicine, so I got to know and experience some awesome nurses. The outstanding nurses were always given the most respect and consideration by staff and doctors. Their attitudes were the best and they gave 100%. If you were a patient, you were lucky to have them as your nurse. We all knew who they were.
Over the years, I have been hospitalized numerous times for various reasons. I always prayed for a nurse with a positive attitude because I knew my life depended upon them post baby or post surgery…not so much the drs. I am a good patient, not demanding, but forthright about my condition and always ready to get better. The more professional nurses always made an impression, but there have been many that openly complained in front of me or in the hallway about their job, a doctor, or patient in room #_. Their attitude was reflected in their work. They were less attentive, less in tune to me and my room mates, lazy, negligent, or often rarely seen. They made mistakes, or overlooked the timing of my meds or orders. I refused to go back to those hospitals for care. Someone was not overseeing their work.
On the other hand, I attribute some nurses for being extremely caring and for saving my life on numerous occasions. They may have been overworked, but as a professional, they knew what was expected of them. If they had gripes, they took them to their union, but they did not bring them to their patients.
While I respect what is being said here by many in the nursing and CNA profession, as a patient, please know that the way you feel about your job is often felt by your patients. Many know when you are overworked, pissed off, tired, or ready to go home, or sick of your job. It is often apparent when you think your CNA or health aide is not your equal…you treat them that way and we see it.
It takes a special person to be a great nurse, to be willing to work along side someone who is there to make your job easier, to treat them with respect, regardless of how you are feeling.
As a professional, I try not to bring a sour attitude to my work. I deal with children…and I am sure you would not want me to bring anything but my very best each day. I recognize how important my job is.
While I am not downplaying your complaints which are most likely valid…, form complaint groups, go to your union, or change jobs. Fortunately, for nurses, there are many options in the working world if you do not like hospital care. I see them advertised every day. Go into teaching, school nurse, medical sales, insurance agencies, etc. But keep your bad attitudes away from sick patients. They have enough to deal with. …and you may find that you like your profession again.
God bless nurses!
Union? who are you kidding?? The only unions I know of are in New York and California. You whisper union, you get fired. We have nobody to go to for help improving our work load or work place. You need to go back and read the article. She was asking for RESPECT. We have to treat patients kindly, They don’t have to treat us the same way, and we can’t do anything about it.
Thats the biggest problem right there… the lack of whether we raise hell ab it now or later… Nurses are the largest and most desperately needed occupation. It could be so simple if nurses just STUCK TOGETHER. for our own good, and the good/safety of the PATIENTS. what if, one day, everyone just said “NO”?
what’s stopping the CNA from getting more schooling and becoming an RN for better wages? don’t complain for years, do something to change yourself for the better!
for the person who says to stop complaining do know what goes on with a cna how dare you say go back to school may be they didnt have a choice to go back or couldnt go back , i know a lot of cna and and they do as much as a nurse does excuse them if they cant pass a med because they didnt go to school for it please dont glorify nurses i work in a hospital cnas dont have the luxery of sitting in a confrence room till 9 am when there shift starts at 7am gossiping then when they do decide to do some work there goes those famous words let me get your cna i forgot they werent taught pt care when they were in school
The price of nursing school. The price of daycare. The price of textbooks. The need to take time off work to go to nursing school where you get to spend 2 days a week being an unpaid CNA/student nurse for free. The stress. The math classes. Lack of transportation. Seeing what nurses deal with. There are a lot of reasons CNAs choose not to go to nursing school.
Many of the CNA’s I work with ARE in school. They juggle life one day at a time. Some of them are single parents, trying to make a better life for their family. Some of them do it for love of the work. The first person my fresh orientee right-out-of-nursing-school meets and learns respect for is my CNA/Tech partner. Because that PERSON probably knows my their way around the unit better than i do. That person is the MVP of your support team. I couldn’t do what I do without a strong tech partner by my side. I feel that every new grad, every green nurse needs to learn this right out of the gate.
Kudo’s to all the CNA’s as well. Yes, that is very hard work and exhausting at times. There are many places where there are no CNA’s to pick up that slack and it is falling onto the Nurses. I know, I work in one! Nurses are cross training in all area’s: CNA duties, Resp care duties, EKG duties, transport duties, registration, etc, etc, etc…..not by our choice, but directed by administration as the cutbacks have been effect for some time now. We spend more time doing computer work and all the other ‘duties’ than we do with our patients, and I for one miss that time with my patients. Most days,as of late, I don’t feel like a Nurse but a jack of all trades and master of none! I see area’s where they are short staffed and some of those agency nurses who are filling those slots, well, lets just say, make me cringe when I find I have one share my shift with me. (Yes, I work nights) I am not saying all are that way, but I have had some bad experiences with them. Some come and “can’t do that” for one reason or another, and/or they show no initiative, and I wind up picking up most of the slack. I sometimes feel I am doing the work and they are drawing the salary. Yes, I know its bad for me to feel that way, but it’s not all the time. As the article said, we sometimes go through these phases. I used to feel rewarded at the end of my shifts. That feeling is becoming more faint as time goes by. So Kudo’s to all you nurses as well as those in the medical profession. It is very hard work. Take the good with the bad. And if you feel the ‘burn’ and you need some ‘me’ time, please, take it. Don’t let the burn get you!!!
Nursing is a choice we make and love to hate. But… would you change your choice. I wouldn’t 23 Christmas’s &/or New Years ,friends weddings ,funerals,childrens games, etc. I have missed things but I have also experienced the joys and horrors of my profession. Yes I like getting paid well for it but that is not why I do it. There are good and bad nurses and sometimes that may be the same person, a bad day or in need of a change. My choice was made years ago and I still love what I do, most days.
I agree with Michele about sick time I do not use it lightly but sometimes we must. We need to support each other because we are the only ones who truly understand what we do.
No, I would not change my choice to become a nurse. I am still that young woman who lost her grandmother due to a nursing error. I still have this passion and regardless of how hard my job is, I love my patients. I just want us all as nurses to take better care of ourselves and each other.
This article says it all. I love the STNAs that work under me. I started as one then went to school to be a nurse. I have to say that no matter who does what we all carry the extra burden the medical field hands us. We are tired, we miss our families, we miss life. With all that being said, I’d never want to be anything else. I’m a new nurse but far from new to this field. There is something about being able to give to complete strangers a peace of mind that they aren’t alone. I cry at least once a week on the way home after a shift. I drag myself away from my home and family to help someone else’s. We all new what we were getting into, including the aids. Now if you don’t like being an aid, please don’t be a nurse, because I will not back you. I loved being an aid so much I went to school to do more and got a raise for it. Either way, I’m there for the patient. Bottom line.
I have been a cna for many years before going to nursing school. So I know the hard manual work the cna does no one knows more what a cna does better then a fellow cna. Cnas complain about doing all the hard work the turning q2 the pottying the feeding the changing. They complain that the nurse doesn’t help answer call lights. And I will not lie have to before I went to nursing school. What the cnas do not see is what we actually do. It is perceived that all we do is pass pills and chart. They do not see us catching med errors that save a patients life. They do not see us fighting on the phone with pharmacy or lab to get our stat orders done because they do not feel they are stat. They do not see us frequently calling doctors to report patients declining health status or advocating for our patients who can no longer fend for themselves. I appreciate my cnas. But when I’m still here 2 hours after my shift because my patient is declining and I don’t want them to feel alone and the cna runs off exactly at the end of the shift.
That is not the case for all CNAs. A lot of time CNAs are being trained to do Unit Secretary work now too. In our hospital, our techs are putting together charts, putting in orders, fighting with the lab, talking to Doctors for nurses, doing accuchecks, EKGs, as well as one on one patient care (bathing, transport, feeding, turning, cleaning up, bathroom trips, listening to their life story, etc) on top of charting too. We are there catching errors the nurses are making. Just as they are there catching Doctor errors. I am one of those who do ALL of those things and never leave right at shift change because getting all of the admission packs together and all of the orders in and accuchecks put me behind so I am there right with the nurses playing catch up with my charting too. We are all equally important.
It is sad that a RN’s job is constantly being undervalued, even by those who work closely with us. RN’s do so much more than their written “job description” says. RN’s are expected to be omniscient and omnipresent of EACH patient’s care, both technically and emotionally, that are under their watch SIMULTANEOUSLY even though we are human too. We also need respect, care and especially break-time to EAT and refuel for the physical demands of the understaffed job we do to avoid workplace burn-out that we commonly feel because we do GIVE UP our breaks and meals to take care of our patients. Expectations of nursing care from both hospital management and patients increase all while the economic reality of HEALTH CARE RATIONING is being ignored by all.
The irony is that RN’s are expected to perpetuate the public facade that infinite health care is available to all. We struggle to serve our patients to make them feel that they are the only special, sick or dying patient being cared for even though there is someone sicker or even taking their last breath in the very next room who need our attention more. RN’s are pressured to ignore our professional and ethical judgements to appease the selfishly demanding, healthy patient who wants to be discharged home first over assisting the weak, bed-ridden patient in pain who needs medication all because the healthy discharged patient vociferously threatens to complain about poor nursing service.
RN’s need RESPECT to do their job well and keep everyone healthy and safe. It may mean we may make judgement calls that place you lower on our priority list because in fact, you are healthier than the next patient.. be thankful for that! If you are not happy with the RATIONED nursing care received, complain about hospital management staffing policies or about political policies to make a change in NURSING STAFFING RATIOS in their fiscal policies. Don’t complain to RN’s, for certainly RN’s did not ask to be caught in the middle of the grim reality of budget and ethics. We only want to take care of our patients and we do our best with what little is given by hospital and political policies to keep EVERYONE safe and healthy.
RN’s got your back in your desperate time of need, do we have yours? We better… one day you may need us.
Nursing is not a calling, that implies some supernatural magical bull@#$t. Nurses are not magical angels from heaven or any other crap like that. Nurses are hard working people that attempt to help people preserve or restore what they have left of their bodily functions and to restore or improve the psychiatric effects of being ill in the first place. Nursing in the hospital is one of the biggest mistakes that could of ever happened to nursing. Community nurses are better for prevention, this was proven many decades ago. Hospitals are big businesses that need nurses because doctors do not have time to talk to patient’s anymore, let alone cleaning them up when they are soiled. I believe these nurses that are feeling burned out and over worked because they are. Nursing has not changed since Clara Barton stopped making house calls. Hospitals continue to pile up duties and paperwork or computer documentation on nurses without dropping any duties for progress. Instead, nurses must fill out 5 pages of assessment, bathe, medicate, teach, coordinate testing, at the patient hold up under the assembly line-like hospitalization, each shift. To hell with the nurses and doctors, how can the patient tolerate this crap!!!! Who really has time for the patient anymore. There needs to be a revolution in healthcare…just a thought. What it comes down to is…if you want to work and earn a paycheck doing nursing, do it, don’t bitch, there are other jobs to do other than nursing. If you want to help make a difference in a patient’s life, do it, dont bitch about it, other jobs besides nursing. If you don’t want to clean up human bodily waste or change a bloody dressing you can always go back to school and become a lawyer, doctor, or engineer. No guarantees that you won’t come across crap!!!!! Nursing will only change when attitudes about nursing change and nurses “man up,” or “woman up.”
Are you a nurse??? Or are you just full of yourself and pompous comments?
You are my new hero. I feel I should literally get off my couch and applaud you but I’m too tired. 😉 12 hour shift aren’t even 12 hour shifts. They’re 13 or 14 hours, followed by not enough sleep before doing it again. NO ONE gets this unless they pull those shifts. No one. All they see is a 3 day work week. Or 4, if you take overtime. They don’t see a 40 or 50 hour + work week. And sadly, neither do our patients. All they know is it took you 10 minutes to bring their ice. Co-workers are crucial to survival in nursing. And I love mine. I wish you were one of them. 😉
Add 911 Dispatchers to this list too.
You have said it all GrimalkinRN…I’m also an RN for 40 years total…2 years in Canada and 38 years in Hawaii.I am now retired and I’m loving it.Being a Nurse you don’t only deal with your patients but to all the staff who is taking care of patients.The medical staff,your co workers (RNs and Nurses Aides) ,Physical therapists,Respiratory therapists,Nutritionist,supervisors and your Nurse Manager.A good communication/relationship with these people are contributory to a speedy recovery of your patients.Before I forget,also to our ever efficient housekeeping.And all patient’s families…You can just imagine when something goes wrong with your patient,you have to answer to all these people. It needs a lot of patience and understanding to become a Nurse.I consider myself lucky because I worked in one of the best hospital in town and that made my job a lot easier.Very supportive of their staff.Thank you again The Queens Medical Center…My second home!
I support all my fellow nurses. BUT I personally would never want to get into an accident on the way to work so I didn’t have to go in to work. It’s one of the dumbest things I have heard a nurse say actually. In fact when I got into a car accident on my way to work 4 months ago I sobbed in fear as it was happening, I did not feel happy that I would be unable to work for the next 4 months. I would much rather have my independence and be pain free and be able to work instead of almost die.
I am glad you have never felt this way. When I made my comment, several experienced nurses told me it was “normal” and would get better with time. And it has. The reason I included it in my blog post was so that if other nurses felt this way, they would know they were not alone. Several nurses have made similar comments to my post.
I am a night nurse and I take care of 50+ residents a night. One nurse on the floor with 2 or 3 CNAs. Work 12 hr nights. There is barely enough time to get everything done, most of the time I have to stay over to finish the paperwork. But the fact is most places get by with minimal staff. Makes the job even more stressful.
Well said Helen, my Mom was a nurse, my Daughter is now a nurse..remembering past conversations about both of them at work…all I recall is communication of concern for patients, caring for them…not complaints of lack of peeing breaks or time off…think THEY knew what they were getting into when they attended school for nursing and are pleased with their pay and job with this reality they were able to comprehend. Thank you to the caring nurses who work so very hard with little time off, for your sacrifices, not much different than mine as a MAID/SINGLE MOTHER!!! Booooo hoooooo
So u r saying nurses are maids and mothers? Boo hoo to u. Ok but u will have to add doctor physical thherapist social worker psychogist mortician to your list . Oh lets not forget waitress and teacher. Yep.
Just a thought… Times and expectations/job descriptions have changed. The population has grown and there are lots more diagnosable and treatable diseases… Also baby boomers aren’t getting any younger. What I’m getting at is: there’s a high possibility that patient load is larger with less staffing and higher expectations than when your mother was a nurse… Just saying…
i feel your pain however iam a nurse and after being attacked by a patient i ended up having seven surgiries in eleven months and the treatment i recieved was out of this world you would believe i had the same treatment they were lazy i was in pain all the time they wouldnt bath you nor like you said turn you or even reposition you i coiudnt believe this was how my employer treated me after almost being killed by a pt they took why money low censes empty beds if their violent oh well I WAS TOLD ITS PART OF YOUR JOB AS A NURSE TO BE BEATEN UP ON but yet i sit here fired oh they used the word terminated due to medical leave rules I miss my job my coworkers and most of all my long term pts i treated for three years there are alot of bad ones out there but we stil have a few good ones left i would love to go back to work but with my injuries ill never work again and i am deep saden that i coudnt be one of the good nurses to help you in your hour of need.but as i said i feel your pain and iam very sorry you didnt have one of us good nurses to care for you.
It does seem really silly if people complain about the nursing schedule. Every other weekend off is NOT bad and how many jobs do you know where you can get 5 days off in a row on a regular schedule?
The hours for nursing is one of the attractive things about the job. Personally, I’d rather work a few 12s in a row and have a few off. Lots of recoup time
Perhaps you don’t quite understand the strictness of our schedule. Every other weekend and at the time you were not allowed to take your vacation on that weekend or trade shifts with a nurse who wanted the weekend shift. Fortunately, since the time of this posting (several months ago), our floor policy has changed and now we all work 4-6 weekend shifts a month, and as long as the weekends are covered, nothing is “mandatory.” Much better for everyone involved.
I became a nurse in 1997 and worked 2 1/2 years med/surg. I worked 3 to 11, every other weekend and most holidays because I was per diem. You had an assignment of 5 to 8 patients. We had a couple of shared CNAs and you could assign them care of 2 of your patients. That meant they fed, turned and did pm care. Hard work. While we got report from the prior shift and looked up all medications and special treatments we would be doing that shift, the CNAs did the vital signs for the floor. Electric machines have made that easier. I then made note of the vital signs and had to ask myself are they normal? Has there been a change? What does this mean? As a nurse I have to understand the illnesses of those patients, all 5 to 8. I have to know why they are getting that medication and what effect it may have. I have to give it at the right time. I have to critically think out any possible problem that could happen. I have to know the physical and mental abilities of my patients so I can feed, clean and assist those that are not assigned to a CNA. It is not just passing out pills. A CNA has to know who to feed, who to turn, who to help to the bathroom and who to change. They don’t have to understand the illness. Your work is hard and vital and yes you are under paid. So is mine. Nursing is the first one on the chopping block in a financial crisis. I have seen it. I have worked in Urgent Care now for almost 14 years. We have had such severe staff cuts in recent years. We can’t call out because there is no longer anyone to call in.
Try being a cook
Been there, done that. It is hard but a different type of hard.
No one is going to die if their steak is over cooked….just sayin ‘
Perhaps you would like to check out my online Twitter cooking show #cookingwithjoanne before you suggest I be a cook.
True, there are some bad Nurses. But in any profession you will find that. I am a nurse manager and was a “floor nurse” for many years before and I loved my job them and now. my specialty is Oncology and I can honestly say I have learned something from everyone of my patients and every one of my staff , who after reading some comment I can honestly say they have it Good , we staff on acuities and they end up with 3-5 patients. Support and morale is the key we function as a family when we can sometimes we can be disfunctional but we get thru it. I chose to do this job and always say when it becomes to much or I stop learning something every day it will be time to get another career.
Just once, I would like the infighting to cease.
I agree
I came across this, because a friend of mine shared it. I’m so happy I read it, only because I want to become a RN. This article means a lot to me already. Knowing how stressful, but blessing it is to be a nurse and save lives. I prey for all the nurses out there, and nurses to be, that they get what they need and want out of becoming a nurse.
Makes me think twice if I really want to do this for the rest of my life. 🙂 enough said. Thanks for the input!
There are a lot of branches of nursing. Floor nursing pays the best, but there are a lot of options.
I agree with everything you stated but the following:
“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.”
As a Paramedic I understand your feelings and thoughts about the job, as different as our jobs are they are just as much the same. Please do not feel that Nurses are alone 8th these feelings; I see it everytime I come on shift. Most medics must work 2 or more jobs to make ends meet and if they can scrape out the time squeeze in the occasional block of family time. I have had these thoughts several times myself and there is always that one call or a stranger that just out of the blue says thank you; that reminds me why I chose this profession, hopefully for the same reasons Nurses chose their profession.
Thank you for what you do. You have a very stressful Job and an every changing unfamiliar environment. God bless EMS they work hard!!
CNAs are complaining they make far less money and do all the work. Wrong. You do the work that while may be considered the “dirty” work, in fact is what you are aloud to do. The fact is in an emergent situation where action needs to be taken, you have absolutely no training or education and would have absolutely no idea what to do. So if you want to make RN mOney, become an RN
I just want to chime in because my mother was and still is a state tested nurse aid and has saved many lives in the nursing home because the nurses were too scared. CNA’s are valuable resources that are so commonly over looked. I love CNA’s and the hard work they do I have worked in places with and without them and I know what it’s like to do a nurses job and an CNA job combined it gives you a respect for CNA’s like never before. I am an RN by the way I’m a nurse that believes CNA’s deserve the credit they deserve because they are a large part of the ever changing picture.
This is an excellent article that my daughter, a first year nurse, sent to me. I’m so proud of her! I’m glad this article was written because although I want to validate her as a nurse, I’m not one. Thanks again.
Please share with her to never give up she will find her place!! When she starts feeling burnt out move on there is somewhere special she belongs and she will find that!!
I agree with everything you stated but the following:
“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.”
As a Paramedic I understand your feelings and thoughts about the job, as different as our jobs are they are just as much the same. Please do not feel that Nurses are alone in these feelings; I see it everytime I come on shift. Most medics must work 2 or more jobs to make ends meet and if they can scrape out the time squeeze in the occasional block of family time. I have had these thoughts several times myself and there is always that one call or a stranger that just out of the blue says thank you; that reminds me why I chose this profession, hopefully for the same reasons Nurses chose their profession.
Thank you for saying this. I want to let you know, when I wrote this post, I had just gotten home from 3 in a row. My friend’s tears really upset me, which is why my post is so… unedited. I SO appreciate the work you do.
I’ve stopped at a lot of car wrecks, but once I stopped at a horrific one where the guy went backwards out his jeep window. Flail chest. Skull fracture. Open leg fracture. Arterial bleed. I squeezed the guy’s chest with my knees so he could breath, held his airway open, and put pressure on the bleed. None of the 20 or so bystanders would help. I was SO glad to see EMS, because as a surgical nurse, and on my own, I really couldn’t do anything else. I could never do EMS. Thank you.
Does this article help to support the fact that parents and family are then treated with such disrespect. They (nurse) raise their voices, belittle, and talk down saying we show no empathy. To me this is not normal. But since I am not in the medical field I guess I do not now what is right or wrong. Any comments as how I should deal with this would be grateful.
I would recommend trying to put your self in the nurses shoes!! I know as the family you want the best for your family member I’ve been there. I am also a nurse I understand that you have way to many patients then is safe and there’s nothing that can be done about it. I also know that as a nurse you need about 50 more arms and 20 mile long legs to get you down the hall faster. I worked on a critical care floor with 5 patients and family would get mad when the meds were late when you were just down the hall doing chest compressions and someone died. As a nurse I know doctors promise the patient and family things and don’t care if its reasonable or not. All I can say is put yourself in there position if you were them you would be overwhelmed and lose your temper at times too were human just like everyone else there’s only so much stress someone can handle nurse or not. If a nurse does something like that ask to speak to them in the hall and tell them I am sorry if you having a bad day or night I know nursing is hard and I am not here to make your life hell but that wasn’t nice and more then likely you will get an apology. Nurses are human and have issues outside of work as well. Combine it all and live it you would understand.
You had a bad experience. That’s too bad and I’m sorry for that. I would suggest talking to the Director of Nursing (DON) about your experience. He/She is the top dog, so to speak… The administrative representative for the nursing staff. They should be aware of your negative experience.
This is soooo true. People have no idea the sacrifices it takes to take care of other people. There are days I come home and hardly have the energy to emotionally give to my husband and daughters. But I couldn’t imagine doing any other job. Even on the days that I “hate” my job, I still wouldn’t do anything different. As far as the CNA post, I watched CNAs work like dogs when I was in nursing school while some nurses sat around and gossiped. I briefly worked on the floor before finding my passion in MICU. And a good CNA can make you or break you when you have 5 or 6 patients (if you’re lucky, sometimes staffing shortages cause you to have 7 or 8) passing meds, charting and other care that the CNA can’t do can easily cause you to stay over if the shift doesn’t go as planned. So working together is key. I’ve never had a problem cleaning my patients or doing anything that I asked the CNA to do. I respect their position but it’s my job and license to keep someone alive, prevent a medication error, and make sure I didn’t “miss” anything. So my job is a little more complicated that just passing medications. And dear god the charting! My fellow nurses understand, I’m sure. But in the ICU, the RN does it all. Unless we’re fortunate enough to get a student for a shift that wants to help and learn. And for lolaray, if you want the extra money, it comes with extra headache!
I am a nurse and we have all felt like that at one time or another. The only negative comment I have about this article you referred to the nurse as “she” there are also men as well. I hope one day in my life time I can see where a nurse is referred as he and not just assumed the nurse is a she
Well said..in nursing years ima newbee. I’ve been a nurse for 6 years. It is a very stressful job. Many of my family members make sure to tell me how easy i have it. There are days I just want to run screaming from my job. Yes having several days off is nice, but I miss helping out getting my daughter to bed. And it absolutely stinks missing out on your child’s activities because you have to work that weekend or that night. What i would give to
have a “normal” 8-5 Monday-Friday job. Nursing is very rewarding, but it drink it takes away from my family time.
Nursing IS a hard job. As an ER nurse myself sometimes it is hard to make it through the days when people are just English rude and crass. But laughter is the way through it for me. I live my job whole-heatedly, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. There have been days where I am crying I. The bathroom, other days where it seems I’m laughing all shift with my pod mates. And yes, I come into work sick. I work when I have pneumonia, I work with diarrhea, mainly because I don’t want to leave the ER short.
You said everything I’ve been saying for years!! There are two bills in the House right now supporting safe staffing laws I have written letters and begged other nurses to write their representatives to get these bills passed and made into laws..no one wants to get involved even though it does affect them..smh the largest profession and we could get this passed if we could just get together and support this ! Don’t just talk about it be about it!
I’ve been a nurse for 20 years and am now a Nurse Practitioner. This author needs to go be a teacher. Life is much better.
My sister is a nurse so I understand some of the pressures of nursing. I am a teacher, and could write my own story like the author’s. Both professions can suck the life out of you if you care. One is not easier than the other…just different!
Thank you for this wonderful blog, it brings up some really good issues with nursing. I would like to comment on “Especially if you have an 8-5 job with weekends off or some other really great schedule”. These positions come with different sacrifices. This positions often come with stress that can not be shared with the staff in order to run a calm unit. These nurse’s often have to answer to the directors regarding staff sick time. These nurses often stay for free for hours because they do not get paid overtime and then go home and work at home in order to keep up with the demands of the stressful position. All nurses work hard.
Some of these comments are an extension of this article by illustrating how so many nurses treat each other. I am an RN. Anyone who claims to be a nurse and viciously attacks this piece, either has not worked the floor long, in a hospital, in a state with no nurses’ union, or is simply one of those people who finds comfort in being the antagonist. Yes we chose this profession, yes we wanted to help people, yes we learn a lot and know our jobs are important. Too important for any one person’s job to be. Times for nursing have changed, and healthcare, like everything else, has become all about money, and bedside nursing staff is spread too thin and expected to pull too many rabbits out of hats. I am SO in agreement with everything said in the piece, I also agree that CNAs have every right to make mostly all of the same complaints. The stress level/responsibility is different from RNs and CNAs’ jobs (I’ve been both) but I love the CNAs I’ve been fortunate enough to work with, because I know how crazy hard they work too, and are expected to do too much with too little, just like we are. We are all in the same boat, and instead of taking it out on each other (like we don’t have enough to worry about), we should be forwarding that frustration to the people making the decisions on our floors and in our hospitals. Its really getting to a point where the conditions for nursing staff in our hospitals is getting so bad that its not safe for patients, and the patients will increasingly suffer as time goes on if there things don’t change. Writing like this is not simply for complaint. It is an over due, necessary attempt to educate the public on a topic that WILL effect them sooner or later, in hopes that changes will be made.
and PS, anyone who has negative comments about nurses’ opinions or “feelings toward nursing,” truly have NO CREDIBILITY to speak on it IF YOU ARE NOT A NURSE. NO AMOUNT OF NURSES YOU KNOW OR HAVE IN YOUR FAMILY= KNOWING WHAT ITS LIKE TO BE A NURSE.
Then you work your butt off… be the best employee for year after year… come in early, get mandated for a call off, even get employee of the month… but come in that one day… just that one day, say or do something that might have offended someone indirectly…you get thrown under the bus. I seen many people who work in health care get treated like that…
And on top of all of what was said, I would like to add this: your job is never done. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not asked a medical question. Whether it be a rash, pain, or medications, I am continually trying to escape the day-to-day life of nursing. I can truly say I love my job, I love being a nurse.. but we all need a break.
I am a registered nurse as well. Ive worked in a hospital where there were no CNAs, a rehab facility where we had CNAs (but I had up to 30 patients with post surgical dressing changes and wound vacs) and home health. So Ive done the CNA duties (vitals every four hours, turning, trips to the bathroom, bed strips for the c. Diff patients) PLUS drawing labs, giving breathing treatments, monitoring labs, starting IVs, hanging IV meds (for my patients and the LVNs), changing dressings, comforting the patients and family, teaching disease process and meds, and going toe-to-toe with docs as a patient advocate, when necessary. It IS an awesome job, but most definitely emotionally draining at times.
My daughter was recently diagnosed with cancer and it has become overwhelming because I have sickness, pain and death at work, then come home and see sickness and pain in my own child. I just requested LOA because I was about to break. I despise those who provide crappy care and refuse to be one of them. Right now my daughter needs me to be 100% there for her and my family looks to me to know what questions need to be asked. Besides, I dont trust most doctors enough to turn the reins over to them. Ive seen wayyyyy too much. If the general public only knew…
It is true that nursing is a calling. Ive always wanted to be a nurse and it’s my passion. At the same time, I wish so much for a place to vent to others who understand; not to complain about my job, but it is often frustrating, heartbreaking and stressful and difficult to always carry so much responsibility. Who has the time for support groups because at the end of my day, all I want to do is take a hot bath and fall into a coma-like sleep.
It’s bittersweet, really. The pay is not what keeps me, because for what I do, it is laughable. It is the “golden moments” (I call them) when the personal boundaries we all have every day in the grocery store, or driving in our cars just melt away and I get to connect with someone who is scared, suffering or dying and become part of real healing. No witnesses, no gushing false praise, just a REAL moment in this fake plastic world we live in. It may be one of the hardest jobs that takes you to the brink of physical and emotional exhaustion, but it is also a precious gift and an honor.
I have been a CNA in nursing school and than I became a registered nurse. There is no comparison in the amount of emotional and mental stress load between these two positions. I do think CNA’s should be better compensated but CNA’s don’t have a grasp on what the nurses are doing or what they have to handle.
The truth is that most people don’t have a good understanding of what nurses are actually doing. Patients, assistance and admin don’t fully understand the role nurses play and pile on more tasks which hinder us from doing are actual job. This also goes back to the history of nursing when modest nuns ran the show and were not open about the skills they possessed. We are not open about what we do so people assume we do nothing…..and assumptions make you an…anyone that has been to nursing school knows how to finish that sentence (ahhhh the power of education).
Yes I think you are an ASS if you believe that nurses don’t work like crazy for people that often treat them like scum. At one time nurses were less educated and secretive but the culture is changing! I hope that the new generation of nurses can open up about the art and science of nursing so patients and CNAs can have a better understanding of this article and why we get paid more than you.
Interesting blog and some valid points. The comments make for good reading, too. I must confess, I did not read them all. But, I did not see in the comments or in this blog the reality that many nurses fail to realize. NOBODY is going to make the changes needed for YOU until YOU are ready to stand up for yourself!! For the 37 years I have been a RN, I said “somebody should do something about this”. I finally realized that I was that somebody. So, I got involved. I became active in my professional organization. I learned about the ways that we CAN make changes. I became the state’s Government Affairs chair for the ENA. Did I know anything about government and legislation? Not a lot. But, I DID have some great mentors and knew I had to be relatively intelligent (I passed my nursing boards, didn’t I?) I may not have made any big changes yet,but many of my colleagues have. Most importantly, I no longer feel impotent. I am raising awareness among my coworkers, my professional colleagues, my administration and my community leaders. And THAT’s how you ultimately get something done!
I think the worst about nursing is the management there is no mental health days where I have worked you missed a day and guess what your fired bam and they’re on to the next I think the profession is one of the toughest in the senses mentioned but management adds to the cake your just a number on a schedule and god forbid we need to be replaced for a shift
Some good facts in this article but if the author felt like getting hit by a car on the way to work then she’s in the wrong profession. I wouldn’t want her as my nurse.
Oh shut up it’s an expression you Moron. Try being a nurse – you think like most of the patients out there always needy but rarely needed.
You are a judgemental prick. You have no fricking clue what it takes to be a nurse and would run crying into a closet if you had to do it for more than an hour. Do us all a favor and shut your ignorant tongue or get a degree and do the job so you can appreciate what it’s all about.
Emily I totally agree w u on the “hit by a bus part. I have been a nurse for 6 yrs and I never felt to this point. If anyone feels this way its time to turn over their badge and find another career. I have touched so many lives. Not just my patients but their families. This post must have been written by a spoil brat that wants to whine. Our jobs can become exhausting and stressful at times but I definitely have more good nites than bad ones. My job is fulfilling and it brings me joy to care for people. It would be soo disheartening to the patients if they knew that’s how the nurses that they put their trust in actually felt. The nurse who wrote that post should be ashamed of herself. This is not the only career where u r expected to wk on holidays, every other wkend, sometimes sick. Those were the rules when I wked at walmart. This is life. Suck it up and deal w it. How would she feel if the nurse that was taking care of her mom/sister/kid/father felt that way. If u don’t want to miss ur kids games then u need to get a position where ur r available on wkends. In nursing there’s variety in job positions. I’m just disgusted by this post.
Actually, I’m a kick ass nurse. I have multiple specialist skills that mean I’m the one called for difficult situations. I’m often charge nurse over the unit. I’m really good at my job. If you read the entire paragraph, it said “when I was a new graduate.” The first 2 years of nursing are like drinking from a firehose. You’re constantly stress, many cry frequently before and after work, and MANY new nurses leave the profession. When I said that to the experienced nurses, they all told me they had felt the same way when they were new grads. This is why we need to teach new nurses that self care is important, especially in the beginning of your nursing career.