Hey My Nurse friends…before I even ask, for anyone I insult, I want you to know it truly is not my intention. I just need your help.
Do you think nurses are complacent, apathetic or just exhausted and that’s why they can’t come together to change things? I’ve been doing this now (social media connecting) for over three years, nursing for over 30 and can’t decide.
Nurses are more reluctant to stand for themselves than housewives before feminism. I know that if all nurses would prioritize healing, rather than paperwork, that would become the standard. What if all nurses insisted they could only do the paperwork 20% of the time and that they were losing patients because less skilled people were taking care of them? If all refused to do more, then that would become the standard. Do nurses not recognize they’re being taken advantage of and that they can become more if given a chance? Do they not want the recognition cause it comes with too much responsibility? Do they mostly think of nursing as a second job, and their families first?
I don’t know if it’s because it all seems so hopeless, or because nurses have families and not enough time or if the nature of nursing itself is service and most don’t want to be activist to change anything. Patients themselves are the end game. Or maybe the Healthcare system today has about as much to do with healing as law does with Justice. Is it fear? Is it purpose? Or has the heart gone out of nurses because they can no longer be healers under the current system?
Can anyone help me understand?
I believe that it is fear – fear of getting reprimanded, written up or fired.
I work with nurses that are being threatened termination if they stay after their shift to complete documentation etc…these same nurses are being written up if they don’t finish their work. Their work load is too much for one person. So, the nurses punch out and finish their work on their own time. This only hurts nurses that refuse to participate in that practice.
We have administrators that have not worked on the floor in years or who never have worked on the floor writing employee policies and expectations that are impossible to meet.
Nurses are under paid, we are saving lives. We make $30/hr while a graphic artist who cuts and paste images on a computer is making $75-150/hr. Nurse’s are beat down, tired and burnt out. They are encouraged to work when they are sick, threatened discipline for calling out and treated with little respect by their superiors. This takes a toll and I believe that nurses just feel that they can’t win.
I hear you, Carol, and I also see nurses beginning to seize opportunities for change. Some nurses are forging ahead as nurse entrepreneurs, eschewing the bedside for pastures of their own making, while others are trying to be change agents within the system.
Kevin Ross, Renee Thompson and Elizabeth Scala are just three examples of nurses trying to change the way things are—from both the inside and the outside.
Yes, many nurses are just too darn tired to do much of anything other than what they need to do, but some are also waking up to the fact that change is a necessity.
Sarah Mott is right that nurses deserve more pay. Yes, we make less than other people who aren’t saving lives, and that’s a tragedy that really needs to change. But how do we change it? We keep asking for what we feel we’re worth, and if we don’t get it, we ask again. And again. And again.
I feel sorry for those who are hurting, and I want to help. I feel sorry for those who are working their fingers to the bone. We nurses deserve better.
We are the backbone of the healthcare system, and we are also the connective tissue. What if we refused to tolerate the status quo? What would happen if every nurse stood up for what he or she deserved?
It would change the world.
I agree, Sarah! I quit being a Nurse after 26 years! My body was suffering and my mental attitude was changing leading to burnout! I am sure there are plenty of Nurses quitting the profession due to all the unrealistic expectations and very little respect from their superiors!
Carol,
You and I have had this convo. And the nurses who commented here have answered your question, summing up the big picture.
The hidden picture is the “loss of spirit.” Passion. Heart and Soul for nursing. I say, “We cannot change the culture without changing the consciousness.” Bringing mindfulness + spirt- soul based training into the health care system is the saving grace, in my opinion of course. And you asked for it my dear:)
Next: Better nurse to patient ratios. This is the obvious KEY to transformation which the Biz of health care is still unenlightened about.
Hence, returning to “expanding consciousness in health care.”
I ever have hope for nurses and the culture of nursing. And I know you do too. xo
Annette
To me, it’s because nurses are stuck in lack mentality. Negative mindsets. Limiting beliefs.
Our thoughts become our reality. It’s as simple as that. Thoughts are an energy and when we have a thought, it becomes a feeling. That feeling makes us speak and act. If we are thinking negative then we feel fear, doubt, worry, etc. Then we act in that same way.
In order for nursing to shift each individual nurse must realize the power of their own inner dialogue. Instead of auto-pilot living, unconscious thought and robotic action we need conscious living.
Shift the inner perspectives, uplift the external environments. This is why I’ve started writing, speaking and teaching about Nursing from Within. Tap into the inner world to shift the outer experience.
The healthcare system, nursing leadership, financial environments, political reform, etc.- these things most times are beyond our control. What we cannot control we feel powerless over. These then influence how we feel, how we act and the cycle continues.
Instead of obsessing over what we cannot control, we are empowered by what we can control. Our own thoughts.
And that’s just my opinion. Thanks for asking, Carol. Always love coming by and reading your work! Great job. Elizabeth
I’ve been a nurse for over 4 years and our class is not united, unfortunately. At least in the hospital that I work, each one wants to think only of himself, which makes it even more difficult for everyone. I feel very sad about it.
Yes, Annette, we have! Many times. But I still think the role of the nurse as well as the expectations of nurses have to be shown in it expanded role. With all the offshoots. Like I’m doing a course on Nursing as a Path for Transformation and I think there’s real opportunity for the change in expectations and goals for nurses, but few nurses know their choices until they’re already burned out. That may be the best time for Nurses to grow. Thanks for tuning in Annette
Elizabeth, I know the concept of scarcity mindset and all such manifestation of your own reality beliefs, but in truth, I never lacked abundance mindset and yet understood quite well that my inner perception had to intersect with outer reality at some point in order for me to have an effect on a ‘system, help my patients and feel good about myself. No matter how mentally healthy and optimistic a nurse is, if she or he has any sense of empathy, and wants to help a patient while having too large a patient load, it’s not going to make her feel fulfilled. One needs both inner and outer system interaction to achieve a happy and healthy outcome. Like I know I could not work in a hospital today but I also know that I can help by educating patients and nurses about what to expect to make them less fearful. Too many of. the hard parts of nursing are not focused on or even mentioned in nurse training. All the secret taboos that effect the heart of a nurse are just ignored in nursing school. No one teaches how to deal with love, death, sex and family problems in nursing school and yet when one hits the floor, the fragility of our humanity is forced on us, is all around us. That’s a natural setting for PTSD
Kim, sorry to hear how divided everyone is, but nursing has been made to appear so competitive that unless someone teaches or applies the power of unity, it’s almost impossible to work in that kind of environment. Is there no one you can join with to learn with to make it less uncomfortable. MY niece is in NP school and she set up study groups just to solve the kind of problems you’re encountering. Maybe that could help? Anyway, stick with it because even as boot camp for the rest of your life, Nursing will serve you in many other ways later on and it’s a wonderful base for other things you might want to do later. Hugs and keep at it..