Is Nursing Killing You or Making You Stronger?

Excellent. Thank you.My mother told me when I became a Nurse, "Congratulations on your accomplishment, sirI, I am proud of you. I want you to always remember this day and look ahead. The day you become disillusioned and un-caring because of the weight of this career is the day you need to revisit your passion and make a decision about where you are today and into your future".

Nursing has made me much more assertive. And cynical in a good way. Before I trusted people too much. And I was gullible. My patients do not view me as a b**** bc I can balance compassion and care with assertiveness and limit setting. So nursing has made me a stronger person.Except the borderline. Can't win with them.

Another fantastic set of observations from you, CynthiaHowardrnphd. I get a lot out of your posts, and again you are spot on.Regarding this topic specifically, is this conundrum the reason why you went on to your PhD? Either way, you have tapped into primary concerns and frustrations of modern nurses by reading about it, or living it. Or both.At first read it seems (to me) that you are diplomatically nudging nurses caught in the crossfire of modern (corporate) medicine to make a decision. As it is today, it is not a nice time and place to practice. Either one rides the wave, is crushed by the wave, or gets out of the ocean.

I'd say the former. I feel like I've aged at least 5 years in the 2 years I've worked at the bedside. Now I am looking for desk jobs which involve more computer work. Only nurses with children and soon to be retired look for those jobs. I don't have children and I'm way too young to retire. But a desk job with regular hours would be heaven. I never thought I would say this.

Neither for me. It's my job. After seven years, I've gotten pretty good at leaving it at work. It's the only way.

Quote from KelRN215Neither for me. It's my job. After seven years, I've gotten pretty good at leaving it at work. It's the only way.

Quote from whichone'spinkI'd say the former. I feel like I've aged at least 5 years in the 2 years I've worked at the bedside.

I spent 18 years at the bedside in a hospital setting on a variety of units. As a float pool nurse, I worked all of the ICUs, step down, med-surg and even pediatric units. Most of my career was spent in orthopedics, specifically joint replacement units. I've worked all three shifts: mostly days, a few years nights and less time on evenings. I came to see my job as a threat to my well being. I switched from full time to weekender to minimize my exposure while still earning an acceptable living.It wasn't exposure to disease; it was exposure to administration that I feared and despised. If there was a way to create obstacles in my quest to complete my workload, management found it. I am convinced that most of the changes we endured were generated by administrative types who had to show some justification for their own existence, hence they changed policies frequently and without thought. How is it that a nursing assistant with a GED can see the flaws in an idea that a MSN can not? Well, they'd eventually learn but it was always at our expense.I watched most of the experienced nurses on my unit fired over some BS complaint. We were given the responsibility of charge but not the authority that ought to accompany it. Every decision was second guessed by a "nurse" who couldn't do the job themselves due to a lack of ability. You know the kind: they graduate from nursing school, spend a couple of years on the floor if that long, then run off to grad school to escape the floor. Anyhow, once they fired the unfortunate charge nurse, they replaced them with new grads for significantly less pay. The few remaining experienced nurses such as myself began to refuse charge duty as we didn't want to get fired over some decision we made during our shift. Then they started forcing us to take charge duty. I got out before I got written up for anything but I could see the writing on the wall. They would get around to firing me eventually. Well, no thanks.My father developed liver CA and I came home to care for him to the end of his days will taking advantage of the Family Leave Act. Rather than come back to work, the thought of which made me slightly nauseous, I retired at the age of 55. I haven't done a day of nursing since. Don't miss it though I keep up with my friends from work. If one of them hadn't posted this article on Facebook, I wouldn't be here now to post this.I didn't sign up for what nursing has become. Those of you who are still trapped in it, you have my complete sympathy. I know you are doing your best with grossly inadequate resources and excessive micromanagement. It's a sad thing to say but I can't trust a member of my family to a hospital today without making sure they have a family member present to advocate. There was a time when we did that for our patient. Now, nobody has time. 14 hours worth of work in a 12 hour day.

Truer words were never spoken, JayHanig. Your post contains the essence of my own feelings on the matter, as I too retired at 55 even though I never intended to. My problem was that I just got to the point where I couldn't handle the stresses of the job anymore; I also had a couple of catastrophic meltdowns that eventually led to job losses. I didn't become an educated professional to be micromanaged and given impossible workloads that endangered not only my license but my health. I didn't sign on to be a corporate puppet or a glorified waitress. Even if I hadn't become ill, I would have had to leave anyway because I have principles and boundaries, and the way "nursing" is done nowadays is in direct conflict with them. There is very little "care" in healthcare anymore. It's sad.

Good article. Attitude is everything. But I see the other sides too. Sometimes no matter how we try, how we try to have good attitudes and positive thoughts, they get crushed by what nursing has become. that is just a fact. Those who have been able to retire, my best to you. I hope not to be too far off myself; it's getting tougher everday to keep on the positive side. the main thing I do, is leave work at work, period. Boundaries save my mind.

PS: It is NOT either or.......not for me anyhow. It' s neither.

sirl what awesome advice!