Hi temple, and thanks for joining NursingLink. Work stress seems to compound itself if you don't have an outlet for your emotions. What has happened lately that makes you feel especially frustrated today?

caremother said:

i'm frustrated too temple but at least you are working verse me who is a new nurse and I'm still looking for work. I have try hospital nursing homes ,agencies, doctor offices. To no avail . any suggestion?

It sounds like you are in a bit of a tough situation. Tell us more about the new DON, what makes her more difficult to talk to as opposed to the previous one?

From personal experience, it is best to keep to yourself, let them know nothing of your personal life and keep your focus on your patients. With this, leave the job at the door where you work. Make your personal life the best it can be. Concentrate on family. Your own true personal happiness is not wrapped up in a nursing job. I have made the mistake of making work first. Please don't let the same mistake be yours.

Temple. I think you need to ask yourself if that is the job you want. Is that job the one that you are excited about going to daily. Being frustrated with going to work only adds to burnout. As far as someone taking your idea there really is nothing you can do about it except chuck it up to a lesson learned. From now on you will know not to let people know something that you think will work unless you have already taken it to the powers that be. It is never healthy to have that much frustration in any part of life. I agree with the person that said the comment about your patients satidfaction. You will get the praise and gratification from your patients. And yes never vent at work it really gets you no where (I learned that one the hard way).

RNYuki said:

It seems that the only nurses who aren't frustrated are the ones who are just out of school. Just wait. They either quit bedside nursing or become one of us frustrated nurses.

RNYuki thanks for clarifying. I am sure people in management get a ton of bonuses throughout the year. Currently at my facility they are suppose to be looking at the rate of pay we receive. From all the nurses investigation we are one of the lowest paid hospitals in the area. And yet we haven't gotten any change in the rate of pay. The only thing they are watching now is the overtime. We have heard that a new grad makes $21/hour and I have been a nurse for almost ten years and ain't even making $25/hour. And after I get my BSN I get a whomping 2% increase. Whoa that really makes nurses want to continue their education.

Ddxp2cnc1 said:

RNYuki thanks for clarifying. I am sure people in management get a ton of bonuses throughout the year. Currently at my facility they are suppose to be looking at the rate of pay we receive. From all the nurses investigation we are one of the lowest paid hospitals in the area. And yet we haven't gotten any change in the rate of pay. The only thing they are watching now is the overtime. We have heard that a new grad makes $21/hour and I have been a nurse for almost ten years and ain't even making $25/hour. And after I get my BSN I get a whomping 2% increase. Whoa that really makes nurses want to continue their education.

What's frustrating for my part is actually when my charge nurse didn't seem to see the acuity of our patients I'm getting in that day and then still will give you 1 more admission direct ....direct?, meaning no IV access yet, (sigh)???. Then I have 3 patients out of 6 already who are : 1 is bedridden with very low blood pressure below 90's and tachycardiac and O2 sat is going down, 1 obese orthopatient who needs assistance to commode and CNA's hard to find, if I find my CNA and tell her, will talk back to me that I could have assisted my patient since I was there but actually just happened to pass in pt's room when call light was on. Oh my nerve! Lord give me more patience! I am not rude and I can't never be rude and just control my temper not to flare up because it will only end up in exchange of words that nobody wants to hear and or a clash. A patient on blood transfusion that's leaking who needs iv reinsertion and is a very hardstick (collapse veins). A patient who keeps pressing the call lights several time because she wants to go and all dressed up since the doctor told the patient early in the morning that she's going home but when you check the chart, discharge paper is not ready yet, so called the doctor again. Then discharging that patient but some of her home meds are changed and is questioning me why is it change that she's taking at home metoprolol 25 mg but the prescription is toprol xl 50mg. Why can't this doctors discharging the patient inform them about the changes? What on earth is happening? These things really will make a smiling nurse who came in for duty and convert the smile into frown and eyebrows meeting, grinding teeth. So mentally exhausting, stressful and frustrating if things happen like this always. Sometimes, when i have a busy and shall i say bad day, when I'm at home, can't even sleep for nights with in between wakeful hours, started to get insomnia. What's happen at work that day is rewinding, "did I complete my work, i hope I didn't forget anything, also when i remember i wasn't able to chart an important data" so adding up to my stress... Some may be lucky in their areas, some don't. The acuity and load of patients, the partner you're working with has great significance to function effectively in patient care.

WOW! I just logged on to this site for the first time today and stumbled onto this all to frequent situation in nursing....frustration ...the varying replies are all interesting ...but the common denominator in all of them seems to be that what we really all want is the best for our patients and to be able to give good quality care in a positive , open and caring enviornment . Unfortunately with the ever increasing amount of nursing tasks to perform along with interaction with other staff, our patients ,doctors and families ...wow. that's communication overload at times. The time element is a factor, unforseen emergencies and deadlines...varying degrees of fatigue in our co-workers and maybe there is something they are dealing with that may be bothering them. I agree with LJ that the most rewarding part of nursing is a positive outcome for our patients. dealing with stress and communication issues can be draining. I have been both in supervisory and staff postions and I have found that the buck stops here. having a positive attitude can be difficult at times but if each one of us made an extra effort to be a little kinder, mpre understanding in ecven one situation it can add to making the work enviornment more pleasant. Temple...I wish you all the best...Remember that the care, concern and compassion you give to others through your work is a gift...The next time someone comes at you with a negative attitude or a problem don't allow that to affect your attitude...Bieng frustated shows that you care alot about what you do.....when you feel that way make a conscious effort to let it go and think of the situation in a more positive light...

Nurseadove2 - Your work situation sounds very frustrating. I feel that it happens everywhere - where the mission is sometimes forgotten because of 'rank.' The best interest of the patient sounds like it was not met because of hierarchy issues. I would imagine that the the patient's family would not be happy with hospital politics when all they want is the best care possible which sounds like what you were after. At my job, we're always told to 'CYA' (cover your a$$). I work in Fiscal Operations and every transaction having to do with expense has to be signed off by authorized personnel before a check is generated. Good luck to you.