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I've been a nurse for 21 years now. I hate it today as much as I hated it then. The only positive thing I can say about it is that at least I've been able to make an income adequate enough to raise my daughter alone. If I could leave it tomorrow, I would, hell, if I could leave it this minute, even better. What concerns me is all this marketing to try to lure people into it ie Johnson&Johnson's cutesy little website, newspaper ads run by hospitals saying shit like 'you're commited to your patients, now let us be committed to you'..yada yada. What a load. More like 'after you've been in this job about two weeks, you will require psychiatric commitment.' IF ONLY somebody out there had been honest about the profession instead of trying to blow sunshine up my uniform skirt, today I might be in a vocation I enjoy. Another thing that concerns me is the issue of foreign nurses. Somehow the idea of women from third world countries going into an occupation as an alternative to starvation makes me nervous. If I was in their shoes...hmm..nursing, starvation, prostitution...ok sign me up for the prostitution, at least I won't be on my feet for 8 plus hours a day. What, no openings for prostitutes? Ok, just give me the starvation, it will be a much quicker death than the nursing. I think young people might see all the ads for nursing jobs and think, 'aha, lifetime job security'.To ANYONE considering this profession, I would say-spend AT LEAST 2 weeks following a nurse around , say, med-surg third shift. If you still want it, great. And take all that namby-pamby shit you hear about nursing' being a calling, mission, or ministry, etc' with a grain of salt. Nursing is a job, and a difficult one at that. Spin doctors in HR and Admin. put labels like that on it because they know nobody is stupid enough to want it if they said 'hey, come work weekends, holidays, midnights, be underpaid, forget what your family looks like,and to be overworked and constantly in jeopardy of killing somebody because of it.' Thanks, everybody, for listening.

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Although u do have the demands of the client. the only difference with being in a home setting is u don't have deal directly with those damn bitchy nurses

Cindy

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So did you end up quitting your job? I worked in home health for about a year and a half, and I can't believe I lasted that long. It was inhumane. Working for 12-16 hours a day, all that charting, and then having to take call. And the home care nurses had to cover for hospice. I can't tell you how many times I had to drive 30 minutes or an hour in the middle of the night in a snowstorm to go pronounce someone dead, or just to go and support the family because they were anxious. How can anyone do that and do it well after working for 16 hours, and getting 2 hours of sleep? Now I work back in the hospital, where I had worked before for 11 years. And that's not much better. But at least when I leave the place, the work doesn't come home with me. And I think it's just going to get worse with the impending nursing shortage with the baby boomer retirement.

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I've been a nurse for over 25 years and have had my ups and downs-been out of the med-surg/icu's for the last several years cuz of the insanity and inability to care for people like people-but I do have memories of people/pts/situations (good & bad) that i'll have w/me forever-some have helped me in my own life. For the home health nurses-I can say that I've been one of the ones who called on you when my mom was in hospice-that was the lonliest, scariest feeling watching my mom die-I only had hospice a week or two but my God did those nurses who came to my house help me deal. I would have cracked if I didn't have them-it's not that they did a whole lot physically-they helped me feel like I wasn't alone (It really was-just mom & me) and that everything was going to be okay. I am sure I didn't thank them enough. I've been on both sides of the nursing issue-nurses don't get compensated enough at all for what we do but damn are we needed for the difference we make in peoples lives. I know it's lame but thanks to the home health/hospice nurses who are on call/respond (on holiday weekends when family members decide to die) from a fairly happy public health/school nurse.

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Registered: Nov 2006
Location: Marion, S.C.
Posts: 1

Maybe you should quit your job

I have been an LPN since 1995 and currently will graduate from a BSN/RN school in May 2007. I understand that you are angry about being on call and doing the job you are currently doing. However, I disagree that it is the innocent patients problem. If you don't love nursing and taking care of precious lives then maybe it is time for you to leave the profession. Nursing is not good money, easy hours,and no stress it is not a CARREER, it is a calling. I am currently in one of the most awesome jobs around, I get to take care of mothers right after giving birth to their precious babies. I absolutely love taking care of these people and while I don't like all the politics and bickering of the job. I can honestly say I love my patients. I have people all the time come up to me and say can I give you a hug you took care of me when I had my baby and you were great. I don't always no who they are but it makes me smile to know that I made them happy. If you don't love what you do, nursing is a wide open field move on to another career, don't let your patients suffer another day they just need what nurses should always do and that is CARE!!!!!

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Registered: Dec 2006
Location: Costa Rica
Posts: 2

feeling it myself

I have been a nurse for 10 years now. However before that I was a cna since I was 15 years old. I have mostly worked in LTC it is rewarding work but the burnout factor is very high. I also have been feeling it myself.

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Kara Vargas
http://nursingsites.wordpress.com/

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Registered: Sep 2006
Location: Loxahatchee
Posts: 2

Shanna Lee
You gave me the first smile I have had today. Congrats on your graduation in May 2007. So you think that nursing is a calling? Fabulous! Most career fields that fall into the category of callings at least have a support base that will make sure they have a place to lay their head and they have food in their stomachs; even if it is no more than bean and rice. Try going to the supermarket or tell you landlord or bank that you are little short this week because you don’t have a career; you have a calling. I am not trying to burst you bubble. Time will take care of that. I just want to hear what you have to say in May 2008.
Good Luck
Linda B

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Every day is a gift from God. That is why it is called the present. Open each day with the joyful, adventurous and pure heart of the child that is within you. Don't be afraid to enjoy it all, right down to the last drop. Tomorrow is a present waiting.

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Registered: Mar 2008
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 1

I can't believe you....

I have been in the medical profession for 11 years. In this description of your job as being a home health nurse, you seem 2 be frustrated at who? Yourself, you picked this job, not your clients or your patients or there families. I guess you have never had a love one become ill. Do you know what it feels like for a person 2 have taking care of themeselves for 50 years and all of sudden they can't. Apparently when you went to school to become a nurse you failed to pass the compassion test.
I'm a mother, daughter, and and a wife. I'm caring for my loved one and there is a lot work involved you make me think twice about hiring home health company. Lord knows I wouldn't want a nurse like u to smile in my moms face and talk bad about her later...

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Registered: Nov 2006
Location:
Posts: 28

for me there are times when we really get bored and hate the profession we have. that's perfectly normal i guess. but hating your profession which had been feeding you for years? i wonder if you really have nursed.

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Registered: Dec 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 1

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Unregistered
I've been a nurse for 21 years now. I hate it today as much as I hated it then. The only positive thing I can say about it is that at least I've been able to make an income adequate enough to raise my daughter alone. If I could leave it tomorrow, I would, hell, if I could leave it this minute, even better. What concerns me is all this marketing to try to lure people into it ie Johnson&Johnson's cutesy little website, newspaper ads run by hospitals saying shit like 'you're commited to your patients, now let us be committed to you'..yada yada. What a load. More like 'after you've been in this job about two weeks, you will require psychiatric commitment.' IF ONLY somebody out there had been honest about the profession instead of trying to blow sunshine up my uniform skirt, today I might be in a vocation I enjoy. Another thing that concerns me is the issue of foreign nurses. Somehow the idea of women from third world countries going into an occupation as an alternative to starvation makes me nervous. If I was in their shoes...hmm..nursing, starvation, prostitution...ok sign me up for the prostitution, at least I won't be on my feet for 8 plus hours a day. What, no openings for prostitutes? Ok, just give me the starvation, it will be a much quicker death than the nursing. I think young people might see all the ads for nursing jobs and think, 'aha, lifetime job security'.To ANYONE considering this profession, I would say-spend AT LEAST 2 weeks following a nurse around , say, med-surg third shift. If you still want it, great. And take all that namby-pamby shit you hear about nursing' being a calling, mission, or ministry, etc' with a grain of salt. Nursing is a job, and a difficult one at that. Spin doctors in HR and Admin. put labels like that on it because they know nobody is stupid enough to want it if they said 'hey, come work weekends, holidays, midnights, be underpaid, forget what your family looks like,and to be overworked and constantly in jeopardy of killing somebody because of it.' Thanks, everybody, for listening. [/QUOTE

I agree. This is a rough job. I have been a nurse for 2 years. First on step-down, then in ICU. I think they both suck, but ICU is a bit more tolerable.
The level of responsibility in Nursing is amazing. More and more just keeps getting added on. You're expected to do more, with less. People are so sick, with so many comorbidities. The nurse is responsible for making sure that every other department does what is ordered: calling lab to be sure that the timed draw will be obtained on time, or at least close to it, not 4 hours later; calling Pharmacy hundreds of times for a STAT medication; calling EKG regarding a timed EKG; calling RT to find out what happened with the ABG due at 0600. On top of this, there is a person who needs/deserves at least basic nursing care: bathing, mouthcare, and turning.
I had a bad night last night. Could have been worse, but I think I am so burned out, that it doesn't take much to seem overwhelming nowadays. Sadly, I have only been a nurse just over two years. I have met at least a handful of nurses with under 5 years of experience who hate their jobs. All are at the bedside. When I left work today, I cried and cried and cried. I hate bedside nursing so much. I am a damned hard worker, and I have been told that I am a good nurse. That doesn't seem to be enough to keep me going anymore. What scares me is that I might not ever find my niche. I cannot say that I hate nursing, but I can say that bedside nursing has taken it's toll on my emotional health, and probably my marriage. I do believe my husband is at his wits end with listening to me go on and on about my job.
I have worked with other nurses who are not nearly as stressed out. But what I have also noticed is that right after report, these people are at the nurse's station socializing, somewhere eating breakfast, or outside smoking. Their patients and patient's rooms generally look like shit, and they expect the CNA to do EVERYTHING. I'm not saying they don't get their work done, but I think it's the bare minimum. Maybe they're burned out also, and this is how they choose to cope.
I'm not sure what my plan is, but I definitely have to make a change.

Last edited by Out burned? on 04-20-2008 at 12:08 AM

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