Incompetent nurses?

is it just me or are there a lot more bad nurses than before? There are a ton of great nurses of course, and I think a good nurse can be more helpful that your basic gp sometimes. But I have run into some just plain dumb ones recently. Are there any nurses here who can explain this to me?

Tue. Sep 18, 11:37am

The only lousy nurses and nurses' aids I've run into are those who work at nursing homes. I'm guessing those jobs must be the bottom of the salary barrel or something. I'd rather base my opinion of the profession on the awesome ones I've dealt with in emergency rooms, schools and my doctor's office - I swear, they make me think that doctors are overrated!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 12:00 PM

I had been around some that are just totally rude. have absolutely no people skills. I think in that sort of profession you have to like being around people since that is required in your job.

Same as working retail. I did that for years. Even if I was having a bad day I n ever let the customer know. :)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 2:04 PM

Interesting post. I am nurse and have been for 14 yrs.. the problem you have run into is that nursing staff are so far over worked its beyond explanation.. We are in the midst of a critical nursing shortage ( at least where I am from).. right now I just finished 2 EXTRA night shifts .. in the last 2 weeks I have worked 126 hrs.. You have to love the MORON who invented mandatory call back.. I love my job, I chose nursing because I wanted to help others...
To poster : Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 12:00 PM
You raised an interesting question about payscale... the nursing union for your area should ensure that all nurses get paid the same hourly rate. To single out nursing homes is a slap in the face ( if you've encountered a problem you should have gone to the management in that facility with your "concerns" ) remember it does only take a few bad apples to spoil the pot... think about it are you more likely to remember the friendly quiet nurse who does her job and asks for NOTHING in return or the one bad apple who you've had a run in with.. Not all nurses who work in nursing homes are "lousy".
And to poster Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 2:04 PM
Some are rude or maybe that is your perception ... Fair is fair .. I've ran accross some people in retail with the same attitude!

Thursday, September 20, 2007, 8:29 AM

Bad nurses

It's not just you. I have just had surgery 2 weeks ago and I have never seen so much incompetence and poor performances in my life. I went a nursing home for rehab and the nurses were slightly better there.

Of course I've come across a couple of nurses who are just great, but they seem far and few between.

So many can't seem to take blood. I have black and blue marks all over my arm from failed attempts....and I've seen worse than mine. I never have trouble when I go to the lab for blood tests.

Then there's the horrible waiting for pain pills....I just could go on and on. Believe me, the surgery was easy, it's the stuff you have to put up with afterward.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 12:40 PM

I have worked in and around about two dozen hospitals. Nursing homes and hospitals are apples and oranges and each has its own challenges. In hospitals-in my experience-the units demanding the highest technical nursing skills have the best nurses. Med surg floors tend to have the least thorough. I blame mismanagement and poor training.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 8:43 PM

There is such a big shortage of nurses now that almost anyone can become a nurse. Many times it's a free ride and they can get their entire degree for free. I've heard that they aren't even fluent in english. This probably creates a whole new set of problems for competency.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 9:48 PM

Thankfully I've never met a nurse I didn't love. I've been in the hospital 3 times in the last 12 months and fortunately I had the very best nurses, as I've always had. The nurse I had 12 months ago was *so* great, she took a break, sat and talked with me for about 1/2 an hour and convinced me to make all the changes/meds/tests my doc had been trying to get me to do for years. 12 months later and I'm 30 lbs lighter, my fitness is excellent and I think about that nurse every day. 6 months ago I wrote a 3 page letter with a "progress report" as I'd promised to send and thanked her for helping me to save my own life.

God bless nurses!

Wednesday, September 01, 2010, 11:58 PM

I agree. God bless the nurses because it is a hard job and the pay is low. Sorry to hear the terrible experiences here.

Thursday, September 02, 2010, 3:22 PM

I think you would be truly amazed if you knew what shit nurses had to put up with each and every day. Doctors who cuss you out because they had to do emergency surgery in the middle of the night, patient's family members who do more harm than good (I've had patient's tell me time and time again that their family is very dysfunctional, and then they wonder why their loved one is having chest pain and difficulty breathing when they visit.....it's related to anxiety and will go away as soon as they leave). The families that are constantly in your face and have you make 3 phone calls, print out multiple pages of studies and give them a 30 minute explanation before they'll let their mom take a baby aspirin. The amount of paperwork nurses have to do just keeps getting added to, and now they're expected to do everyone else's job too (insurance won't pay for physical/occupational therapy if the patient' can't participate so nurses have to do it, doctor's won't make a decision without "consulting" all the other doctors on the case BUT they won't talk to each other so nurses spend sometimes HOURS a day relaying information from one doc to the next, and then having to call everyone again to update them).......I could go on and on. PLUS, nurses are dealing with very sick people and thus have lots of stress and hardly every get a sit down lunch break in their 12-14hour shift.

I love my job, but wish more people would be a little understanding when I don't give them all the information they want (because it's probably because I just informed -SEPARATELY- your 2 sisters, one brother-in-law, an uncle, 3 cousins, and a couple grandkids of the patient's status and am loosing track of which one i told what to)

Thursday, September 30, 2010, 3:29 PM

I am in the Greater Boston area and I have to say I have always been impressed with nursing care here. Maybe medical care is better here overall so the nursing care follows. I know several nurses too and they are very serious about their profession. It is not easy work and the emotional and physical demands can be high. Voiced appreciation makes a huge difference.

Friday, October 01, 2010, 7:26 AM

I am so sick of hearing how nurses are overworked. Guess what? We're all overworked. I work in the medical field and administration was cut just as much as the nurses were and we're overworked and understaffed as well. AND we make quite a bit less money.

There isn't a nursing shortage anymore. There's a shortage of nursing jobs. In the hospitals and clinics around me, more than 5,000 nurses, radiology tech, etc have been laid off and cannot find jobs.

CUstomer service is in the tubes. I just quit expecting it because it's disappointing.

Friday, October 01, 2010, 8:27 AM

I have articulated a comprehensive argument that not only combats the claims nurses typically make, but reveals the hidden realities of nursing masked by society's percieved notions of the profession. Everything from undermining patient dignity in various ways, superiority factor (patient, patient family, other professions, etc), pay scale, over worked, speaking in ways that insults patient intelligence, etc.

It is about time that nurses re-evaluate themselve and be cognizant of the injustices that are far too ofen comitted by the "do good, perfection" profession.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 12:14 PM

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