Why do nurses become nurses ?

[KICKSTART]

Over here the opinion in general is that our nurses are overworked and underpaid. Now i cant speak for the underpaid bit ..but as for overworked ..well their tongues certainly are ! Is it any wonder i get into trouble !!! Today was a rough day for me , while i was rummaging around in the trolley next to me for a sick bowl , our staff where busy at their station having a good old chat about hols, food and tv. After sorting myself out and  several times into said sick bowl , i looked round for someone to take it away (not the first time) Senior nurse (who runs things) in office i think ?  Next in line in side room taking private call on mobile ..how do i know ..it rang and he got it out of his pocket and went in side room opposite me. Another member of staff ..in toilet?  So that left us with one very junior member of staff who was busy staring out of the window. So i ask myself ..didnt nursing used to be the caring profession? Dont justify the lack of sympathy or assistance i got today by saying they are overworked ..maybe in the main hospital but on our unit certainly not! I had to ask (when i found someone) to take the bowl away , i had to ask for a tissue , i had to ask for some water. By the way i  4 times today , came off half hour early ..but at least at home i can see i have all i need and can get some minty freshness !




TOPIC MOVED to appropriate section - Bajanne, Moderator

[totosidney]

I hear you! As I came into clinic, there was a young lady dialyizing wnd weakly crying "Help me. Help." She quit and she seemed dead to me. So I said quietly to the 3 nurses chatting, "I think she's dead." No response from the staff. Well about 15 minutes later when I was hooked up a nurse comes over to me all pissed off at me. I guess I wasn't supposed to notice. I guess you just have to try to laugh. SAnyway I like the little green barf animation..Sid

[Rerun]

In the US I think they become Nurses because they can work 3 days a week and get paid like a full time person.  Good bucks and the schooling is not that expensive. 

Whenever I'm in the hospital I never see the same one.  Maybe they only work one shift a week these days.... I have no idea!

[kevno]

I know how you feel  To many nurses now I have had a argument with. Now when a nurse dose something wrong with me, they try to stay away from me for a couple of week until I have calmed down. Just starting the second week with one now Its a long story

[paul.karen]

I must be blessed.  I have no complaints.

I couldnt do there job.  From a dialysis nurse to a prenatal nurse to an old age home nurse.  I dont have what it takes.

And you see them three times a week or so.
They see people like us every day daily.

There are good and bad in all aspects of life.

[monrein]

I've been very lucky to have had the nurses I've had.  I've had the odd incident when someone has been "off", or moody or whatever but I admit that I've probably been that way too and I've always been able to sort things out by addressing it with the person.   I'd say that my experiences here have been about 95% positive and one of my nurses from my last hospital stay, I would consider a friend.
I had a horrible experience in a clinic in the U.S., in Boston once with a tech who was basically incompetent but the other two clinics in the States that I've been to were terrific.

It must be awful to have to go into a clinic all the time when you have no confidence in the people we have to depend on.  I'm sorry for all of us who have to deal with people who ought to have chosen a different career path.

[Rerun]

I must be blessed.  I have no complaints.

I couldnt do there job.  From a dialysis nurse to a prenatal nurse to an old age home nurse.  I dont have what it takes.

And you see them three times a week or so.
They see people like us every day daily.

There are good and bad in all aspects of life.

I guess I was thinking of the nurses you get in the hospital.  They are there for their shift and then gone.  Our dialysis nurses are different.

[kevno]

A few Nurses are good renal Nurses you soon get to know which ones. Soon of the others, just after there pay check at the end of the month. Plus don't give a dame about the patients. You very soon get to know which ones they are 

[RichardMEL]

It's funny but when my mum was dying in hospital (she had a DVT that went to her lungs) most of the staff seemed that way and very un caring, just doing their job etc. There was one nurse though that was extra special. She actually gave a damn. She saw my mum loved cats(I had brought in a picture of my celeste for her room wall) and so she put a picture of HER cat up there to cheer mum up. She let me bring Celeste in one time (and let mum drink a gin and tonic - why the hell not she was dying!). This woman stayed after work sometimes and sat with mum and she was always friendly to us and would talk with us and be understanding.

We found out previously she'd worked in renal. That said it all.

I DO think renal nurses are different - specially those that work in Dialysis. I think it has to do with that very fact that they see their patients sometimes over the course of YEARS - and often on a very regular basis. It's not a case of so-and-so is in and out in a week or so and gone... but many of us are there for years - some go and get transplants, others move on to satellite units, or sadly pass away - but there is definitely a real sense of community in dialysis. You never forget someone, and I think there is certainly a lot of empathy with most of the nurses and yes, they care.

I also think, more generally, that nursing is such a tough job emotionally. I think some nurses have to detatch themselves so as to not get involved personally. That may come across as that they don't care (and some absolutely don't!) but I also think some just have to maintain a barrier otherwise it would be too much. I know I admire a lot of them for the difficult work they do. I mean I go to work and my biggest problem is a computer blowing up or something... they can lose patients in fron of them - that's bloody difficult if you ask me.

I have a dear friend who works as an ER nurse in the children's hospital. Could you imagine a more harrowing position to have? I can't imagine some of the stuff she's had to deal with. Recently she told me she cut down her ER work to next to nothing because it was affecting her so much, and she transferred to doing community work(still with kids) to compensate. I don't blame her one bit for that decision.

I've often written here about the staff at my unit and how good they are.. I also know from reading here how rare that seems to be to have good caring and wonderful staff to look after me. Dialysis totally sucks, but I know I've got the best of a bad situation where I am now - and for that I am greatful.

[KICKSTART]

RM , it must be fantastic to have such wonderful nurses ..Your renal nurses are different , but ours certainly are not . In fact ive always had better attitudes/treatment from the nurses on the wards ! (non renal) It doesnt take a 'special' nurse to take a sick bowl off you and ask you if you need water and a tissue does it ?

[RichardMEL]

I just met one of my favourite nurses - she left dialysis for various reasons (sad face) and went to a general ward. She was all excited because she got to give people sponge baths?? (I kid you not!!  ). That was kind of weird/funny to hear.. but I know that her new patients in that ward will be treated REALLY well!

[*kana*]

I am not a nurse but I do work in a hospital.  Nurses go into nursing because they have a passion to help other people, but is all one sided.  The problem is is most patients refuse to help themselves so it gets tiring saving lives when it seems the pt doesn't care.  Patients expect nurses to be all cheerful and nice while pt's feel that they can be jerks.  Also most patients are mopey and feel sorry for themselves, so it really brings the staff down..  If everyday you were greeted with people demanding you to lift their legs up on the bed  or wipe their butts, clean up their vomit without a thank you you'd get pretty sick of nursing to.  Nobody ever goes out of their way to be kind to a hospital nurse...... it truely is an ungrateful dirty job.  And even if you are the rare one to actually be thankful, the 10 people before you were demanding and ungrateful so it sets the sad mood.    The other thing with medical staff is we witness a lot of sad cases and traumas, so what seems like a big deal to the patient really is small change for the nurse.  You do get hard a** because it is overwhelming to deal with so much day after day.

I remember when my coworker was 9mths pregnant and looked miserable.  Her patient was about 350#'s and sitting in the wheelchair waiting for a transporter to take her back to her room.  She kept demanding that my pg coworker take her back to her room.  She refused to take into consideration that my coworker was in no condition to get her back to her room.  It was all about her!!!!  That is one of the things that gets hard to deal with.  We hosptial people are treated like machines and nobody cares about what we might be going through that day.  Nurses are humans also and need to be treated like they have feelings and issues to deal with themselves.  A simple, "how are you today" or another kind comment from a patient can go a long way to a nurse or other healthcare provider. 
I also el   

I am a good patient because I am on both sides of the game. 

[RichardMEL]

Yes, I agree with what you're saying that a lot of patients are ungreatful and demanding. It is however stressful for patients too - they're sick, worried about what is happening to them, and dealing with all kinds of things. I do not mean that as an excuse for rudeness or being demanding etc, but I can understand how some can be a downer - I mean you don't usually arrive in a hospital to party on (despite what Nurse Jackie would have you think !)

I am one who definitely understands that nurses lives can be tough and some patients are demanding and selfish so I always try to be nice to them and friendly, and bring them little things from time to time and just treat them as people, not slaves!!! I think that's why a lot of them like me and have time for me, because I treat them as I would want to be treated - friendly, with respect.

[Rerun]

It would help me to feel sorry for nurses knowing they got paid minimum wage like the little McDonald workers, but since they get paid a lot more plus benefits I say buck up and be your best everyday.  These people are sick and weak and you get paid a lot to do your job.

Look at our Military!  They have their lives on the line everyday and get paid crap!  And what they do get paid they may never get to spend.  Kind of "small change" hua?

 

[KICKSTART]

I am not a nurse but I do work in a hospital.  Nurses go into nursing because they have a passion to help other people, but is all one sided.  The problem is is most patients refuse to help themselves so it gets tiring saving lives when it seems the pt doesn't care.  Patients expect nurses to be all cheerful and nice while pt's feel that they can be jerks.  Also most patients are mopey and feel sorry for themselves, so it really brings the staff down..  If everyday you were greeted with people demanding you to lift their legs up on the bed  or wipe their butts, clean up their vomit without a thank you you'd get pretty sick of nursing to.  Nobody ever goes out of their way to be kind to a hospital nurse...... it truely is an ungrateful dirty job.  And even if you are the rare one to actually be thankful, the 10 people before you were demanding and ungrateful so it sets the sad mood.    The other thing with medical staff is we witness a lot of sad cases and traumas, so what seems like a big deal to the patient really is small change for the nurse.  You do get hard a** because it is overwhelming to deal with so much day after day.

I remember when my coworker was 9mths pregnant and looked miserable.  Her patient was about 350#'s and sitting in the wheelchair waiting for a transporter to take her back to her room.  She kept demanding that my pg coworker take her back to her room.  She refused to take into consideration that my coworker was in no condition to get her back to her room.  It was all about her!!!!  That is one of the things that gets hard to deal with.  We hosptial people are treated like machines and nobody cares about what we might be going through that day.  Nurses are humans also and need to be treated like they have feelings and issues to deal with themselves.  A simple, "how are you today" or another kind comment from a patient can go a long way to a nurse or other healthcare provider. 
I also el   

I am a good patient because I am on both sides of the game.

I am REALLY offended if you are classing me as one of those patients that you list . There is nothing demanding about asking for your sick bowl to be taken away and for a tissue and some water or do you expect me to somehow unhook from my machine and get them myself ? It certainly isnt all one side and NOT most patients are all mopey and feeling sorry for themselves , in fact YOURS is just the attitude i am talking about . If it brings you down that much ..then WHY do you do it ?

[kevno]

Sorry *kana* but you need to wake up. If you have seen it from both sides, you should know what we (The Patient) go through. I have seen a lot of patients over the years with different attitudes. But Also seen a lot of Nurses with attitude problems. I do have great respect, for the nurses who show they care about the job they are in. Thats all most renal patients ask for, a little care. But when you are tied to a machine. You do ask of nurses more than other patients who can walk around and get things for themselves.

Some nurses on the unit i am on just use the unit as a stepping stone to better jobs in the NHS mainly in admin. So many nurses have gone that way. Then other nurses just train for the 3 months get qualified then move on to a different department. It use to be when a renal nurse left it was like losing part of the family. Now one leaves nearly every couple of weeks. Then a new nurse comes in trains up and leaves.

Need to write a bit more. A Nurse who as been a nurse on the unit for nearly 10 years is leaving on the 21st. All of the patients on the unit have signed a form to say how much she is appreciated, on the unit and that she will be missed. Not many nurses get such a statement from the patients but she is one of the few that really deserve it. We will all miss her.

We know who are the good nurses, the caring nurses. But we also know the nurses who are there just for the money. They do not care about us.  It is as if, we were not there it would make there lives better as a nurse. Every time we ask for something we are causing them WORK. I hate that sort of attitude, but have seen it so many times.

 

       

[KICKSTART]

Well said Kevno 

[cariad]

I really appreciated all of the nurses that helped me through my transplant/hospital stay. I don't consider myself an exceptional patient, but I know I thanked these women at every turn. Bring me my meds? Thank you. Get me a cup of tea? Thank you. Put in an IV after 5 tries? Thank you, and it's not you, it's my veins. I therefore know it is not true that nurses are never thanked. Maybe the ones that are never thanked should find a new calling, because that is probably telling them something.

Kana, I have to say that your co-worker who was 9mos pregnant should have taken leave. Nursing is a physical job and if she cannot do it, then that really is no fault of the patient. One of the nurses assigned to me when I was 8mos pregnant (and in labour) was kept away from my room. She had a migraine that day and shouted at me, shouted at the doctor, and whinged to me about how busy they were. Awful person, and she was the lead nurse, so all the other sweet nurses had to basically conspire to keep her away as they had no authority over her.

The nurse that really got on my bad side during my transplant stay told me that I had to "stop this whining" when I was coming off opioids, struggling to differentiate between hallucination and reality, and oh, by the way, had come out of transplant surgery within that hour. When I shot back "I don't think anything I've said or done could be classified as 'whining'" she fell all over herself apologising. I suspect she thought I was too far gone to recognize that I had just been unacceptably insulted. I keep getting surveys from my hospital about how I was treated there, and I have been tempted to report her, but since she did apologise profusely, my instinct says to accept her apology and let it go. Nurses can most certainly be obnoxious.

[okarol]

I have no problem telling the head nurse or doctor what treatment was given, if it's unsatisfactory. Most hospital staff are great, but anyone with a lousy attitude or insensitive demeanor can really ruin your stay. The staff needs to be aware that the patients are sick, stressed and coping the best they can. It's not an even playing field and it's ridiculous for a nurse to expect a patient to cope as well as the healthy staff members are.