'I've been a nurse for 30 years, and I understand why so many of us can't do it anymore.' [View all]
(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.)
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/
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