Top Seven Things I hate About My Major, Nursing.

[1truekhaleesi]

1. Patients have no quality of life but family won't make them a DNR, so we must continue poking and prodding them.

This just comes with the job. A lot of family members of patients simply cannot let go. It just makes me sad. I have a patient who is in pain 24/7 and pain killers do basically nothing. I've heard her talk about euthanasia and I honestly don't blame her.

2. High school behavior from adults.

This also comes with the job and a lot of places are like this. I've heard some of the telemetry staff say they don't like the surgical staff because they say the surgical staff, "just doesn't get them."

3. When people badmouth all healthcare workers when really, they just don't understand how something is done or our protocols.

There's bad people in every profession and I'm not denying that they exist. If I see a coworker not doing their job, I will absolutely call them out on it. One reason I left my old job was because my coworkers complained because they were told to actually do their jobs but the company didn't fire them. I've been told by people that they are willing to die over something extremely treatable like the flu, then admit that they need help from healthcare workers because they dislike them that much. Refusing medical assistance is a patient's right, even if their refusal is what kills them. But if you honestly think I am going to beg a patient to let me help them, you're wrong. I have many other patients to get to. I'm not going to beg because I don't have time. If they're dying, I'll check on them regularly. Then alert the nurse so the patient can be pronounced when s/he codes and dies.

4. How quickly you have to get over something.

Some of these people are having the worst days of their lives. After a while, it weighs on you. But every time you enter a patients room you must be calm, levelheaded, in a good mood, and ready to answer questions. It doesn't matter if you just came out of a room where your patient screamed at you over something trivial. The above picture is an accurate representation of me adter my very first code blue. But I couldn't react that way yet, I still had work to do.

5. Full moon nights.

It's guaranteed to get crazy during a full moon. During my last moon shift, I had two "oh shit" moments on top of having 60 patients and a student I was training. First was when a patient had a massive blood sugar drop and second was when another patient smashed his finger in a door. He's mostly independent so I let him do his own thing for the most part. But when I went to take his vitals at four am, there was blood everywhere. No one noticed because he didn't say anything. His neuropathy from his diabetes is so bad, he couldn't feel it, so that's why he didn't say anything.

6. When non-medical people give me medical advice when their only "medical training" is watching Grey's Anatomy or Web-MD.

Grey's Anatomy is far from realistic. I wish my job was easy enough that I was actually concerned if the attending physician has feelings for me. But I'm not because I have bigger problems and I don't want to lose my job. Plus, Web-MD is misleading. There have been plenty of times that I told web-md that I have a cough, no other symptoms and the site said it was definitely cancer. Healthcare is constantly evolving and every place has different protocols and rules of doing something. Plus we must keep information confidential even if that includes not telling a patients family member their medical history. So before you make a diagnosis, don't. Who knows you might now know everything about your family members medical history simply because they don't want you to know. I know these people mean well, but just let me do my job.

7. Money hungry companies that put the corporation ahead of the patients or employees.

Another reason why I left my old work. When a high fall risk patient fell and suffered critical injuries because of massive understaffing issues, management still refused to get more bed alarms. Picture is really true. At my old job, when my coworker got pneumonia he was given three days off and was forced to come back even though he still had pneumonia. They just make him wear a surgical mask and gloves.

Then of course, there's a lot I love about my job. I can't imagine doing anything else. I have made work friends because they are one of the few people that know what it's like to work in healthcare. I just accepted a job at a not for profit hospital so I don't have to worry about them putting money over employees or patients lives. Plus this hospital is a better place to work, in every way.

[Barrabus_the_Free]

#2 is everywhere. The culture of Corporate America has spread and infected everything. Everything is backwards: decision making is pushed as high as possible, blame is pushed as low as possible. CYA is a way of life. Combine this with the Snowflake "Everyone is special, everyone gets a trophy, Goodfeelz are more important than everything else" crap that's been peddled for 40 years, and it makes work hell no matter what field you're in.

I work in a field that's almost exclusively male. The company likes to hire military veterans. And only have full-time +, no part-timers. It can be extremely physical, long hours, and a lot of traveling. So you'd think all the little pussies with tender butts would get weeded out and quit to go find something more agreeable, like retail. Nope. It pays well enough that far too many of them stay and cause drama for the rest of us. And unless you're crafty, it's damn hard to get rid of them. Luckily the union makes it hard for them to get other people fired.

Fuck the corporate culture. Adults should act like adults, and be punished if they act like junior high school girls.

[1truekhaleesi]

I personally don't regret working at my old work. I think it gave me good perspective and a reality of how bad things can get in the medical field. During a training session at my new job, my clinical nurse educator was talking about the hospitals policy about holiday pay and a coworker complained. I almost laughed because at my old work, their holiday pay policy was beyond ridiculous. In order to get holiday pay, you had to work the day before the holiday, the day of the holiday, and the day after the holiday. And even then you only get holiday pay for 8 hours. I wanted to tell her that this hospital is actually one of the best places to work. Also at my old work, a nurse got in trouble because he told my fellow nurse assistants to actually do their jobs. Luckily I now work at a not-for-profit hospital. So basically whatever money the hospital gets, it goes into making the hospital better rather than someone's pocket.

[estoydorado1]

On point #1, My CNA instructor (who is an RN) was telling the class a story where this lady had a stroke and was crippled, mute and brain damaged. Apparently all she was able to do was lay in bed and cry. Her husband was her healthcare proxy and he refused to pull her life support. After a couple years he got a girlfriend and would bring his girlfriend to visit the wife. Her daughter stopped visiting her after a few months (because she couldn't bear to see her mother) After a few years the lady finally died of a harsh case of pnemonia. I was so mad just hearing about that. Some of these families dgaf. I can kind of understand the daughter's pain but for the husband to be bringing his girlfriend around while she was stuck on life support and conscious enough to cry in misery was soo disrespectful.

[1truekhaleesi]

Thats terrible but at least she's not suffering. That's massively disrespectful of her husband. I have one patient (on #7) who fell trying to get herself to the bathroom. She is high fall risk so if anyone sees her up out of bed, they shouldn't leave her alone. That night I had around 40 patients. The hospitality aide claimed she saw her out of bed but left her alone. Her excuse was, "she's not my patient." I was super busy and I was with another fall risk patient who was very confused. The hospitality aide leaving her alone still upsets me. Why couldn't she see I was busy? I know hospitality aides can't touch patients but she could've sat with her until I came. Anyways, the patients fall was so bad that she broke her hip and suffered some brain damaged. Her dementia is now so bad, that all she does is scream. But she refuses any medications like pain pills or sleeping pills.

[estoydorado1]

Damn! I can't even comprehend the mistreatment I keep hearing about. These patients are so vulnerable and some of these health care workers just keep acting like it's no big deal. And it's so expensive too. I know that there can be some abuse coming from the side of the patients but some of these stories are just so unnecessary. I'm hearing a lot about people trying to dodge responsibility like their life depends on it. I've heard about so many patient deaths because some of these CNAs or Nurses don't care.

[1truekhaleesi]

It only takes a semester to become a CNA, so that's why they do it. It's a good job that you don't need a whole lot to get certified for. I'm so glad the hospital picked me up. I've even met a doctor who is very humble. She's the brand new attending physician but she prefers to be called by her first name, Amanda and not doctor. She says it's weird when people call her doctor. At this hospital, people take their jobs seriously and everyone has no problem taking time out of their busy days to help their coworkers.

[estoydorado1]

I want to start out in a hospital too. It's a lot more experience and I hear you're not saddled with such a huge number of patients depending on which part you work in. I'm so excited to get my certificate and start working. In nursing homes around here, you'll get from 8-10 patients per CNA and a lot of times other CBAs won't bother to show up. It sounds so frustrating tbh. I wish the management would hold their employees feet to the fire. (when they're being irresponsible I mean)

[Waffles731]

2. High school behavior from adults.
I am not joining masonry for two reasons, first I can't be, I'm a polytheist and not a monotheist
Two and more importantly, when my dad was master there was this big thing and all I saw was a bunch of middle aged and elderly men acting like high school girls.
6. When non-medical people give me medical advice when their only "medical training" is watching Grey's Anatomy or Web-MD.
Wouldn't Web MD mean they assume the cause of everything from sore throat to sprained ankle is Cancer

[1truekhaleesi]

All wed-md does is cause problems. I would be in a incredible amount of trouble if I told a patient their sprained ankle could be cancer. Cancer is rare but web-md doesn't consider that.

[Waffles731]

I once put the feelings a person has when they really have to use the bathroom and it said I could have had cancer

[1truekhaleesi]

Exactly. People assume Web-MD is standard for all medical workers when it's not. Plus it freaks out the patient which makes everything much, much worse. There's so much more to a persons medical history than symptoms. We have to take stuff like diet, weight, vital signs, family history, exercise amount, sexual history, mental status all in consideration before we tell the patient anything.

[juliaanita]

Ain't nursing fun?
Honestly, I love this work-but it can sometimes be quite an eye-opener for the uninitiated. I do agree with your DNR/quality of life observation. What i have found out is that death and dying is a pretty steep learning curve for everyone involved. Sometimes family and patients just don't want to give up... until they are forced by death itself to give up.

I often wonder how I will be be when the time comes...

Anyway-be proud of yourself for choosing nursing for you vocation!! :)

[10dsw]

YES! #2 is really bad.

I spent 1 year working in a hospital with stage 1 prostate cancer patients as part of my master's thesis. The FIRST thing I noticed was how it was 95% women cramped together in a small setting and they fought over EVERYTHING. It was even worse because I could tell that a lot of the women were the "snobby" or "bitchy" stuck up types in high school. I certainly don't want to paint all women with the same brush but my colleague warned me about what happens when you pack like 50 20-30 year old women onto 1 floor.

[Nivinxus]

There are a few professions where I believe the people who work in them are underpaid (at least in Australia). Those are Teachers, police and healthcare workers. Nurses often have it tough, they might not be doctors, but they are just as important as they are the ones who keep patients comfortable and assist all parties necessary. It's often easy to forget about the one guy or girl that is supporting everyone.

To all Nurses, you are doing wonderful work, It's tough, yes, but if I'm ever under your care one day, just know that I'm extremely grateful for you.

[dragonfly6516]

LOL at the full moon nights! Biological mom, adoptive mom, step mom,
and my ex mother-in-law are all nurses. The stories!

I would also add "People coming to you for 'free' medical advice that you're not qualified to give, then getting mad at you when your opion, which is literally professional, is for them to see a doctor."

[1truekhaleesi]

That's a good edition. I remember asking some people about a sore throat that I just couldn't get rid of and they actually got annoyed at me for asking. They said I should know because they said I'm a nurse. I had to correct them and say that I'm a nurse assistant and I can't diagnose anything. And even when I go to the doctors office, I let the doctors and nurses do their jobs.

[dragonfly6516]

I mean seriously, it's like asking the lawyer's receptionist to come defend you in court, or asking the dog catcher to operate on the dog that was hit by a car. There is a reason that the positions have two different names, because they're two different skill sets.

[Listening5]

Hmmm nice mytake, I remember you posting something about struggling with work and something about your parents or your boyfriend a while ago. I dont remember but I remember u telling me about ur job. Well I hope its all working out well.
Seems like its not for everyone and Im surprised to hear u say how crazy it gets during a full moon lol so its true

[1truekhaleesi]

It's much, much better. My old job was terrible. My coworkers were awful. One of the nurses was yelled at because he told my fellow CNAs to get off their phones because they had work to do. He never complained about my quality of care, so I guess that's a good thing. There was even homeless people that hung out in the lobby of my old work. My nurse once told me that she feared every day that one of those people would have a weapon and would threaten me, threaten her, or threaten our other coworkers if we didn't hand over medications like pain pills. And still, management refused to hire proper security personnel. Things are much, much better now. I now work at a hospital that is not-for-profit so any money that the hospital gets, goes into making the hospital better. The hospital literally gives me $500 annually if I just stay healthy.

[Listening5]

wow really? Thats great. So things have worked out for you even better. And you dont sound as stressed anymore. What kind of place did u work in, that sounds awful, like a hell hole haha.
What kind of nurse are you, dont u specialize in different things?

[1truekhaleesi]

That was a rehab facility that also specializes in long term care. It's basically a nursing home and in my opinion, the worst run I've ever seen. The management manipulated me into staying on per diem shift but I will turn in my two weeks notice tomorrow and not looking back. I interviewed with general surgical nurses and the interview went better than I ever could've imagined. I'm currently working as a neurosurgical nurse assistant and will become an operating room nurse.

[Listening5]

damn look at that, nice. Congrats :)

[1truekhaleesi]

Thanks! Neurosurg is super, super cool. I work with patients who have seizures or traumatic brain injuries.

[oddwaffle]

In theory, if you have short supply, price goes up. If you have a shortage of nurses then their wages will have to go up and keep going up until such point even the doctors will apply for nursing jobs.

Alas, the reality is that doctors have a much higher return to investment than nurses. Nurses are just a much more stressful job that is close to other jobs in terms of return to investment.

They also have a problem with monopsony as most of them have to work with a hospital. Their pay is decreased if they move to clinic and home-care market. There is also a strong pressure to reduce nursing staff by adding bots and machines to cut down costs.

[sedrftvgyhujik]

well there's a shortage hear in the UK

[zagor]

One of my sister's fellow nurses was telling us about the time she had an extremely obese patient who she was trying to help get back in bed and they fell, and the woman had shit all over and the two of them were rolling around in it trying to get back up.

I decided to work with computers.

[1truekhaleesi]

Well damn.

[DonkeyRick69]

Goodtake. Plus how guys have a weird fetish for a girl in a nurse uniform, but for you maybe that's a plus.

[1truekhaleesi]

Weird as hell if it's coming from my patients. It's a plus if it's coming from my boyfriend. One time, I was super busy so I asked another nurse assistant to answer a call light for me. She said the patient was actually disappointed that she answered and not me. His exact words were, "I was hoping it would be the young one." Turns out he's a registered sex offender. I always thought he was creepy but damn.

[DonkeyRick69]

That is creepy lol.
I will say that when I was younger (14) cute nurse was taking my blood pressure and I got an erection which was very visible in tracky bottoms. Oh the embarrassment. She gave me a smile and the other nurse had to stop herself from laughing.

[1truekhaleesi]

At least you felt embarrassed. Another patient randomly called me in a seductive tone, "good girl." And another winked at me while his wife of 35 years stood less than five feet away. The guys aren't missing though. A coworker of mine has a patient that vehemently insists that he's her boyfriend.

[sedrftvgyhujik]

That first one seems awful.
If i'm in that sort of state i want to have the power to decide not to go on no matter what family think.
Also the job your doing is sorely needed and im glad you managed to find a good working environment if your old one isn't willing to spend the money it takes to save pepole it's their own fault if they lose good staff.

[Djaaay]

Doctors aren't actually the ones who save all the lives , it's the nurses. So if you have to change their perception about how health care works , then it's you're position to care for and expediate the care there for. Begging is wrong , providing accordinally is the right way.

[ladsin]

Haha accurate, have you done your psych rounds yet? Those will be fun

[1truekhaleesi]

Not yet. Met plenty of crazy patients though. One patient tried to convince me that the nurse and a coworker of mine, were stealing her pain pills and selling them for profit. She actually called the police on them and the police came because they have to make sure it's not true. The nurse basically said, "sorry. She's crazy." I laughed for a good five minutes after hearing her story. Nurse didn't think it was too funny though.

[ladsin]

Yup yup, a lot of those! I had a patient call the police the other day because he thought someone raped him in the hospital (nobody did and we have it all on film.)

[Dim1213]

I think that you and my cousin work at the same place. :)

[1truekhaleesi]

Really? Is it bad there too?

[Dim1213]

From the stories she tells it is terrible.

[BrittBratt2416]

Don't want to be a nurse cause I already work in a hospital. I hate smelling people and their body order, having to smell that for 13 hours is a no. Plus I don't like being around people that long.

[DeeperMeaning]

I love this take because I'm going to school for nursing. It was nice hearing about the challenges one may face in this line of work.

[GirlNextBored]

Every profession has its down sides. You've done an excellent job of pointing out yours lol. Now I know why I'm not in the medical field

[chrisbigman]

I have so much respect for nurses. I have family members who are nurses. It's definitely not easy, especially when your own family members are having problems.

[Zorax]

Excellent Take, I hope some people will learn to appreciate nurses much more, because their job is worth the utmost respect.

[GirlThatDraws]

Ever had a patient turn into a werewolf on a full moon night?

[1truekhaleesi]

Certainly felt like they did.

[Pink2000]

My aunt has been a nurse for years and she loves it lol. She never had any wild stories to tell though.