PLEASE tell me there is more to nursing then this.... otherwise it's for the birds..

3 I work on a very busy general unit. I am lucky to get a lunch. It seems all I do is give meds, and clean up patients. I might hang an IV bag here and there, but that is it. Mostly all I do is give meds. (a bazillion of them), and clean up nasty floors where patients have had an accident or clean them up. I don't mind doing that (and it does need to be done), IF and I mean IF I actually got to practice my RN skills along with it. SOME REAL RN SKILLS. The assessments are rushed and sometimes I don't even get to finish them. I hardly get to talk to my pats. at all. Forget it! There is no time for it. When I do, I get a nudge to come on and go. I have tons of charting to do and that is rushed like mad as well. PLEASE tell me this is not all nursing is. When can I use my critical thinking skills?? I am very good at talking to pats. too and have a very good bedside manner. When I do get to talk to them, I have been told by them and their family members I am excellent and the best RN they have ever had. I am getting my basic experience and then HOPE to move on from here. This is so disheartening. I want to be a RN AND use my brain AND interact with my patients.


for listening......................
Yeah, a lot of days I feel like a glorified pill passer. I assuming you're fairly new. Things do get faster with practice. But really, that's all nursing is. Say hi, throw some pills at them. Admit, discharge, admit. Don't forget your hourly rounding logs! They're very very important! The tech and I, about 97% of the times our jobs are exactly the same. That's not to put down the techs. It's just the nature of hospital work. A lot of it is really tedious. I suggest you change your environment. Doc's offices can be very rewarding, plus no hols or weekends. ICU's can be more technically challenging. Good luck to you.

Quote from fungezYeah, a lot of days I feel like a glorified pill passer. I assuming you're fairly new. Things do get faster with practice. But really, that's all nursing is. Say hi, throw some pills at them. Admit, discharge, admit. Don't forget your hourly rounding logs! They're very very important! The tech and I, about 97% of the times our jobs are exactly the same. That's not to put down the techs. It's just the nature of hospital work. A lot of it is really tedious. I suggest you change your environment. Doc's offices can be very rewarding, plus no hols or weekends. ICU's can be more technically challenging. Good luck to you.

Go to an ICU. You'll get more time (better ratio) with your patient AND get to use all your skills.

Quote from marielina85lol at throwing pills at patients.

Quote from EponaI work on a very busy general unit. I am lucky to get a lunch. It seems all I do is give meds, and clean up patients. I might hang an IV bag here and there, but that is it. Mostly all I do is give meds. (a bazillion of them), and clean up nasty floors where patients have had an accident or clean them up. I don't mind doing that (and it does need to be done), IF and I mean IF I actually got to practice my RN skills along with it. SOME REAL RN SKILLS. The assessments are rushed and sometimes I don't even get to finish them. I hardly get to talk to my pats. at all. Forget it! There is no time for it. When I do, I get a nudge to come on and go. I have tons of charting to do and that is rushed like mad as well. PLEASE tell me this is not all nursing is. When can I use my critical thinking skills?? I am very good at talking to pats. too and have a very good bedside manner. When I do get to talk to them, I have been told by them and their family members I am excellent and the best RN they have ever had. I am getting my basic experience and then HOPE to move on from here. This is so disheartening. I want to be a RN AND use my brain AND interact with my patients. ......................

Quote from caliotter3If you have them open their mouths wide and you have a good aim, just think of the time you can save if you throw the pills at them from the door!

Yes. Good points! ICU and Trauma are right up my alley! Love those areas. As a fairly new grad., I tried for those, but got the door slammed shut because I had "very little experience." I can see myself there. I really can. I took this job because it was full time in a hospital. The only place it seems that is hiring fairly new grads. is on the med surg floor. There you have it. I will put in my time, but then I am flying the coop!!!! Med Surg fits some folks fine, but it's not for me.

At least you got into a hospital. None of the hospitals in my area have been hiring new RNs. When I first graduated in Aug., they said that you had to have 1 year of experience. Now when I look, they say you have to have 2-3 years of experience. I have been working in a LTC with a skilled unit and hope that this will sufice for experience when the time comes. We have 20-30 patients each, so we really do throw the pills at the door and hope they go into the patients' mouths!!!

ICU and ER (Level 1 Trauma Center)..assessment is critical...you will definitely be challenged mentally..get a new job!

Quote from EponaI work on a very busy general unit. I am lucky to get a lunch. It seems all I do is give meds, and clean up patients. I might hang an IV bag here and there, but that is it. Mostly all I do is give meds. (a bazillion of them), and clean up nasty floors where patients have had an accident or clean them up. I don't mind doing that (and it does need to be done), IF and I mean IF I actually got to practice my RN skills along with it. SOME REAL RN SKILLS. The assessments are rushed and sometimes I don't even get to finish them. I hardly get to talk to my pats. at all. Forget it! There is no time for it. When I do, I get a nudge to come on and go. I have tons of charting to do and that is rushed like mad as well. PLEASE tell me this is not all nursing is. When can I use my critical thinking skills?? I am very good at talking to pats. too and have a very good bedside manner. When I do get to talk to them, I have been told by them and their family members I am excellent and the best RN they have ever had. I am getting my basic experience and then HOPE to move on from here. This is so disheartening. I want to be a RN AND use my brain AND interact with my patients. for listening......................

Quote from caliotter3If you have them open their mouths wide and you have a good aim, just think of the time you can save if you throw the pills at them from the door!

I'm on a surgical/oncology floor with plenty of med-surg pts thrown in. I've been a nurse for a year now, and the majority of my shifts are spent as the OP described. It's actually exciting when the opportunity to utilize my critical thinking skills pops up, lol, like the other day when I had to call the physician to question an order to restart a heparin gtt...on a pt whose INR was 3.73! Now that I have a year of being an RN under my belt the critical thinking is becoming more automatic, keeping pts discharge needs, current lab results, etc in mind when checking off orders and when giving rounds report to case mgmt/SW/NP.