Ok now many, many of you took what was supposed to be a light hearted thread and turned it completely around. WHY DON'T YOU TRY BEING A NURSE FOR A DAY? So many of you are being so judgemental and haven't walked a day in a nurse's shoes. Good for you that you think you are so superior and can do a better job. Well now go to Nursing School. Nursing School will even be paid for you with many incentives. THERE MUST BE A REASON THERE IS A NURSING SHORTAGE don't you think?
Many of us went into nursing because we are caring people. Yes all health professionals get jaded. Why is that? Is it because you can work your rear off and it can still not be enough for that one "special" kind of person? Can it be that you have not even gotten to go to the bathroom your whole shift, have given your all, cared for your patients to the best of your ability and still it was not enough in some of their eyes? Can it be that after giving great care you are thanked for your "service". Boy that one is my favorite! Could it be that when you are "slow" at work you are asked to stay home, put on call for $ 2/hour and then expected to come in to the hospital within 30 minutes? If you are not called in you either have to use your vacation time or are not paid at all. Could it be that you have been a nurse for a lot of years, paid your dues and then some new nurses are being hired on at a salary not that much below yours? Could it be that when you are there you are so shortstaffed and have a higher level of sick patients with no extra staff to pick up the slack you want to sit down and cry because you are doing your best and it still doesn't feel like enough? Could it be that you are sick yourself with a 101 degree fever but you had better still go into work because this is your 3rd call off in a year and anymore they will write you up? This is at EVERY hospital, not just mine so I don't want to be told how I should go and find another job! Could it be that you worked very hard to achieve your dream of being a nurse, graduating from Nursing School that was time-consuming/stress-filled and you don't do one thing quick enough for your patients or patients family and they want to reem you? If you are not a nurse why don't you try one of these out and see what situation would make you happiest? Then after you have had many years of it, let's see how you feel.
I would never make fun of anyone that is truly ill or having any kind of side effects due to illness, medicine, etc. If some people have been mistreated than it is ashame. My family themselves have been mistreated. I just shrug it off. It is sooooooooooooooo easy to be judgemental isn't it folks? There are always going to be some bad apples in the bunch, that is just how life is.
My post was solely on some women who when they go in to have a normal natural delivery think they are dying and need to be waited on. No not the ones who have pushed for hours on end, been in labor for days, have bottoms that no where near resemble what it used to look like, have just delivered, had complications or had a c-section. I am talking about the ones that are having the social hour on the phone and won't get off after numerous times you have been in there to assess them just to COMPLAIN that you gave them substandard care after now they have to wait for care and are mad. I always would ask my patient "oh was that a special or long distance call" to try to give them the benefit of the doubt and 9 times out of 10 it was a local call and the person was later up at the hospital visiting them. I am talking about the mothers who have a whole room full of visitors chatting it up (yes, I do allow my patients more than the allotted visitors so they can enjoy their experience, not complain about yet another thing, even though those are the hospital rules and I am just the messenger) and then can't bring the glass of water up to their mouths to take a sip of water. I am talking about the woman who couldn't place her pad but was doing toe touches hours after delivery so she could begin to get back in shape. I could go on and on. Or the woman who is livid because dietary gave her french dressing and not thousand island. No she did not have an allergy to mayo, she just didn't like it. Should she be alittle upset, maybe? But should she make a federal case out of it, NO! Should she start being a jerk to me because of her tray? NO. Take it up with dietary. I will send them in for you. It is alot of times just disgusting how self centered this woman can be. I also give slack to people because those 9 months of pregnancy is a time of self-centeredness. Then boom the attention is taken away from them and given to the newborn making them feel less than special. I have heard this numerous times and understand. But some woman have just pushed me over the edge. Or how about the woman who couldn't push the button because it was electric, Saturday and against her religious beliefs? Ok that is fine, I understand but not when she wanted me to be her personal slave and stand in there and keep hitting the buttons until she was could find something interesting she wanted to watch? That was fine the first or second time but the third time I was called back in her room, GIVE ME A BREAK! You are wasting my time and I have a patient bleeding down the hall. That is the self-centered crap that many of us as nurses have had to deal with. So excuse us if we laugh or try to make light! It is a way to get through it. What do you all expect us to do? I am sure it is the same in any profession, a coping mechanism.
All that being said, that is why I don't work OB anymore. I now work NICU and everyone is appreciative. They are worried about their baby and the focus is on what is most important. They are truly grateful and it has brought me back to what drove me to nursing to begin with, caring for people with problems. The lack of respect I used to get out on the OB floor from non-sick, selfish women was amazing. I am not talking about a first time mother that is overwhelmed either or needs a ton of teaching because she is green. That is expected and if you don't give it you are not doing your job. The respect we get in the NICU is what it should be. They are treating you as a professional and I can guarantee NO ONE is thanking you for your SERVICE, they are thanking you for your CARE!
Now go ahead make fun or judge, but until you walk a mile in anyone else's shoes you are making a fool out of yourself!
Have a nice day all you hard working Nurses out there. Most of you are special for the job you do and deserve to be treated like that. Unfortunately Nurses are a dying breed......The nurses that are burned out or having more bad days than good, do yourself a favor, change positions, change your FTE or if you can retire and go enjoy life. You will be happier in the end.
When I had my daughter, we paid for the entire thing out of pocket, no insurance. I was not aware that at our hospital, you had to PRE-PAY for the epidural.
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