'I've been a nurse for 30 years, and I understand why so many of us can't do it anymore.'

[ismnotwasm]

(I work in a decent hospital, but I see new nurses struggling, as our hospital is an inner city one that has a increasingly difficult clientele. We get hurt, often by repetitive tasks, bed up and down patients pulled up in beds, heavy doors pushed open dozens of times a day.. I never have less than 5 miles of ‘steps” We get assaulted (something my hospital has taken decisive steps about) we deal with life and death. We are exposed to every kind of infected body fluid that can get infected, which is everything.

We are fiscally responsible because our hospital doesn't always break even, and we know cutting staff or staff benefits is ALWAYS on the table. And it’s the right thing to do.

It’s a great profession, still, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.)

Nurses know that every time they take a blood sample, give a medication, administer a blood transfusion, care for patients having a procedure, and countless other seemingly mundane tasks, there is potential for harm.

I still remember, as a graduate nurse, feeling an overwhelming sense of responsibility; that a moment’s inattention or carelessness could cost someone their life, and, on the flip side of the coin, that my skills and knowledge could make a difference, even be lifesaving. Nearly 30 years later, I still feel it.

Last year a friend suffered severe burns after a gas bottle explosion. Amid surgeries, skin grafts, dressing changes and a lot of top shelf analgesia, he told me that what affected him daily, more than anything else, was how he was treated by his nurse.

He needed explanations and rationale that made sense to him. He struggled with the frustration and powerlessness he felt when he wasn’t heard. It would have been easy to label him a difficult patient but it was those nurses who really saw and heard him who made the difference.

https://www.mamamia.com.au/why-nurses-quit/

[Aristus]

1. Nurses ROCK!

The medical profession would collapse without the hard work and dedication of nurses...

[ismnotwasm]

2. .

[stopdiggin]

12. tops the list in people

that are truly trying to help their fellow man. (along with teachers) Nothing but admiration. You're right, nurses rock!

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Thanks to all nurses who devote their lives to this career. I had several family members in...

the nursing profession, and the dedication to their jobs and career was amazing. Unfortunately, a couple of them had to retire early due to on the job injuries (back, from the constant lifting, etc. of patients, etc.).

[dewsgirl]

4. Yes my mother was a nurse in CCU/ICU.

[MuseRider]

5. I sure do miss it.

Best job ever, worst job ever. I worked as a zookeeper for a while, nursing was more dangerous when you take into account that many of your patients over the years will have police guards or be confused and ready to assault you. Still I loved it. Most of the danger came from my time in the ER, after that it was mostly sundowning in the ICU that was a problem. Good for you going through all the changes for the profession and coming out still dedicated. 💗

[2naSalit]

6. Nurses are amazing!

My life was saved by a nurse who told me something that I remembered and said in an ER when I was about to die if I hadn't remembered! Nurses will save your life! They are the front line of health care.

[LakeArenal]

7. Nurses and CNAs really do rock.

And I know it’s sexist but woman do it more and better than men.

Spend a few weeks immobile in a nursing home and see if you don’t agree. Nicest most caring dedicated persons I ever had help me. And I really love teachers who for me have been instrumental. But not like those CNAs.

[Harker]

24. CNAs...

Yes, indeed.

Mme. Harker has undertaken less strenuous hospital work, having sacrificed much in giving top notch patient care for many years.

[MaryMagdaline]

8. Staff nurses saved my husband twice

I have nothing but love and respect for them. And complete awe at how they can physically and mentally do their jobs.

Thirty years is a lot! Respect ✊

[spanone]

9. My mother was a nurse...LPN then RN then she started her own pain clinic...helped many folks

K&R...

[world wide wally]

10. You are the salt of the earth

https://m.

[lastlib]

11. .. "Nurses, man--they could take over the world in an hour."

--Charles Pierce

They ROCK!

[Lulu KC]

13. Yes

Every time I am in a hospital room, as patient, family member, or visitor, I see the nurses and think, “THIS is a real job.” Incredible. With hubby post-surgery right now—so amazing.

[OhNo-Really]

14. Thank you for your service! ✨❤️✨

[keithbvadu2]

15. My nephew got his RN in his 40s. Loves it.

My nephew got his RN in his 40s. Loves it.

Good benefits.

Can't be outsourced overseas.

[yonder]

16. My wife has been a ICU/PICU nurse for over 40 years.

Closing in on retirement, she is the most loving, dedicated person I know. There are good and bad days but she always keeps her head down and plugs away while giving a lifetime of service to others.

Often enough, at the store or in a restaurant, a former patient or family member of one will come up and ask: "aren't you ______? You took care of _______ those many years ago". What a reward that must be - to be remembered like that.

Yes, nurses do rock, doing one of the toughest jobs there can be.

[flying_wahini]

17. Retired nurse here, and HeLL yes - THEY ROCK!!!!!

Most nurses coming into the profession don’t last more than 2-3 years. The work is hard physically and emotionally.

[rurallib]

18. Nurses care!

Ever since Iowa has allowed Nurse Practitioners to have their own practices I have been going to them.
Nurses take the tie to listen and respond to what you tell them.

Learned that from a long history of blood donating with nurses doing the drying. When nurse practitioners were allowed I was ready to be their patient.

[Cousin Dupree]

19. Retired after 41 years. It got too physically demanding

and my old body was worn out. And it's also very mentally demanding. But I never would have given it up. It's not just a job. It's much more than that.

[lynintenn]

20. I was an ER nurse for 25 years

I have been bitten, spit upon and a psych pt tried to choke me because I wouldn't give him morphine. My knees and shoulders are worn out from pushing patients who were 3 times my size up and down ramps and halls. At the end of my shift, I have left in tears because I thought I had failed to give my best because of patient overload and short staffing. After saying that, there was more about the job that I loved than hated. I knew many days I made a difference. I worked in a small rural hospital with no easy access to a trauma center. The golden hour was in our hands before the days of medivac helicopters.

[Uncle Joe]

21. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread ismnotwasm.

[onethatcares]

22. nurses and teachers

I don't know where you get the fortitude but I want you to know you are not forgotten or overlooked by this guy.

You all are THE BEST.

[CaptYossarian]

23. If it weren't for nurses, I wouldn't be here. That's true for a lot of us.

Nurses are special. They make life and death decisions on the fly. It's both a physical and a mental job. You're part psychologist, grief counselor, plumber (with IV pumps & tubing), and ALL SAINT.

And you are called upon to do this for at least 12 hours a shift.

[safeinOhio]

25. Love my nurse so much

I gave her a diamond ring this week. Going to spend the rest of my life with her.

[yonder]

27. Congratulations!

[ismnotwasm]

28. Ok, that's pretty cool!

[lambchopp59]

26. 30 years of ancillary: imaging

We struggle with many of the same challenges. I've lost count of how many times I've been left with heavy, immobile patients, and all staff tied up, unable to help. I used to strain myself to move them in those situations, but after sustaining injuries doing that... no more. And it comes down to administrative levels cutting, cutting, cutting staff. It never works out, and one of my highly esteemed instructors more than 35 years ago now shared this wisdom:
If you feel you are being overworked, intimidated into physical overload, that's when consideration of administrative levels that have created that conundrum, while likely being paid several times our rate, lose all respect from me:
I'll share the worst "administration" I worked as a traveler under:
December of the previous year, an blurb was published in the hospital monthly rag that the employee of the month prizes over the coming year would be increased to a great shower of prizes, gift certificates, spa visits, cash bonus, a partridge in a pear tree and... the venerated use of the "employee of the month" parking space.
January through November of that following year, the announcement was made on the overhead: "This month's employee of the month award goes to "Emma Godley of"... wait for it... administration, billing, secretarial pool, administration... not one single patient care person had won this all year.
I'd heard enough of this. I told every nurse in that hospital to examine the "employee of the month" board by the cafeteria, and note what all the recipients had in common. Uproar followed.
So, December came. The hospital rag announced that: "due to bugetary constraints, the employee of the month award would be reduced to... use of the "employee of the month" parking spot.

And December's award finally went to... a nurse.
Keep this in mind when admin's are understaffing the crap out of your floor.

[yonder]

29. "Uproar followed". As well it should have.

You did well. Unfortunately, and what filters down to me is that is the trend. The stacking of the administrative side at the expense of the bedside.

[ismnotwasm]

31. Wow, that doesn't surprise me though

My hospital is a “teaching” hospital and unionized. We are chronically understaffed, but we have recourse for complaints. I hear absolute horror stories from places in the Midwest where some of our nurses come from (I’m in the PNW). Travelers have the best stories, they really give you a screenshot of what is going on in hospital administration

[Nay]

43. 20 years ago I trained as a med tech. I loved the actual learning, but my first time in

a hospital (deep South) for the practicums made me quit in a week. Why?

Several of us new students were stationed in the lab while THE WHOLE REST OF THE STAFF WENT TO A 5-HOUR MEETING.

We were doing chems, blood tests, urine tests, all on machines we had NEVER SEEN. For 5 hours. With no one to supervise or answer questions. And this was a teaching hospital!

The understaffing was unbelievable. I could see my future -- trying to keep up, patients waiting, docs screaming -- and I quit the next week.

[Wounded Bear]

30. Corporate medicine wants to treat nurses like hotel maids, basically...nt

[we can do it]

32. You're more important than military IMO.

[alfie]

33. 'm a retired RN

Worked for 33 years and loved it! remember when I was a recent grad, I was making my last rounds one night and thought to myself: "I can't believe they are actually paying me to do this!" Of course, that part waned quickly, but my love of the profession never did.

[blueinredohio]

34. Nurses and CNAs are a godsend. Bless every one of them.

[Duppers]

35. Amen! 🙏 nt

[csziggy]

36. Nurses are the best - and we need to pay them better

I've had fourteen major operations in the last 19 years - some outpatient, but a number of them in hospital. Twice I spent recovery time in a rehab facility. The nurses, LPNs, CNAs, and other personnel were pretty much all fantastic (the one head nurse who was a terrible administrator was a glaring exception).

My mother was a RN, served as a Navy Nurse during WWII, and worked as a RN (head nurse of the pediatric ward in the local community hospital) for a number of years when I was a kid, so I grew up knowing that the work nurses do is essential.

With my more recent hospital stays most of the nurses were immigrants and they were as or more dedicated than the US born nurses. There is a nurses training program at the local college and they have set up the campus between the two local hospitals. There are always trainees so it means the hospitals are better staffed than average.

The biggest problem I have seen is understaffing - the rehab facility had one nursing staff member for every 10-12 patients. When they have to deal with everything from knee and hip replacements to patients waiting to be transferred to long term or hospice care during to terminal conditions or advance dementia, a low patient load is essential to good care. Since most of the patients needed assistance to the bathroom or for other basic care issues, the staff of the rehab facility was vastly overworked. My husband came daily and helped me get my shower, get to the toilet, and other tasks that the aides had to take care of the rest of the time.

My caregivers were both male and female and they all did everything possible to care for me and to treat me with respect. In return I tried to keep my demands low and be pleasant, even when I was frustrated (more at my condition than at the staff).

Nurses and aides at all levels need better pay and there need to be more of them at most healthcare facilities. And they need the respect they are due for doing such essential and demanding jobs.

[ehrnst]

37. Nurses have traditionally lacked the respect they deserve because they do 'women's work'

which includes caring for the sick. In the case of nurses, the "simpler" work of cleaning, monitoring, and other non-diagnostic and "heroic" work that is considered to be a waste of the physician's time and "expertise."

Like the largely female profession of teaching children, they are supposed to do it "for love" and not get "greedy" when it comes to being compensated.

When a man does the work traditionally done in the domestic sphere (cooking, teaching, caring for the sick), he's considered to be a 'professional' and worthy of the respect and compensation due a male.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

38. I am thankful for all the nurses

I've had the privilege of being able to work with as a patient. They have helped me through nasty sickness, injuries and my psych issues. There were a couple of nurses that were kind of narcissistic,but by far every nurse other than those few have me in awe of what they do,and thier kindness is incredible.
I've been so sad I wanted to die and they were there when nobody else was.

Been in pain so bad all I could do is writhe,cry and scream ,I felt embarrassed about the noise but the pain was that bad and I was scared to take opiates,they were kind and helped me and gave me good info.

Been exploding out both ends and they dealt with the grossness and they helped me keep my dignity

On the cardiac unit they were so kind to me I cannot forget the nurses there.

I was on the stroke unit with my first diabetic episode they helped so much with knowledge about diabeties and everything that I needed to do/ change.

I will forever be thankful and admire nurses. And yeah they could take over this world and it would be a much better place.

[Rural_Progressive]

39. My dear wife retired after almost 40 years working with burn patients

at the Pacific Northwest's major trauma center.

She worked every aspect of burn care a nurse can be involved in. She started on the Burn ICU and stayed there until she was in her 40s. One day I watched her get up from a chair moving like a 70 year old from all the damage she did to her back during her almost 20 years on the unit. I told her she had to pull the plug before she was so badly injured she'd be unable to walk. It took a bit of a cajoling but she transferred and worked the Burn Clinic for some years. She spent her remaining years working as a member of the Burn OR Team.

She retired two years ago and it's taken that long for her to work through what she experienced during her career. For many months she would wake up in the middle of the night either sobbing or screaming.

She, and her fellow burn nurses, make huge differences in the outcome severely burned patients experience. These nurses are heroes in every meaningful sense of the word. Their efforts go well beyond anything most of us can imagine and they pay a high personal price for going the extra mile.

If you ever have the privilege to meet a nurse who works (or worked) critical care burns know you have been blessed to spend time with an exceptional human being who puts service to others above service to themselves.

[AllaN01Bear]

40. i have been in and out of the hospital for 1 thing or another for the last

5 years , several long term and life threataning stays , and thorugh it all were the shift nurses . these people knew my case from day to day amd i appreciated them very much. the shift nurses and the e.r nruses know and kenew more than the dr did who only got a sumary of my case .

[AtheistCrusader]

41. Don't forget to pee.

[AllyCat]

42. I love being a nurse. Glad we have a union.

[benld74]

44. Nurses are front line while you're hospitalized

Be nice
Be kind
Be appreciative

Thank them
Before
During
After
Your
Stay