Is it July yet?

Reasons why I need a vacation:

• New Grads.
• Unappreciative, rude patients
• Unassertive managers
• Charge nurses who are worthless
• Techs who argue with you when you ask for their help
• Doctors who talk to you like you're stupid
• Secretaries who spend their entire day making personal calls instead of doing their job.
• Housekeeping staff who think its more important to make the hallway look shiny than to allow the nurses into the medication room to get meds for their patients.
• Arrogant doctors.
• Non-compliant patients. Really? WHY are you even in the hospital if you wont let us treat you?? (this is a real hot-topic issue in my book)
• People (e.g. pharmacists, lab techs, transporters, respiratory therapists, housekeepers, etc) who don't do their job
• Doctors who yell at you b/c you havent had time to send down a urine sample because you were too busy keeping your patient's BP above 75/42, and HR below 145. (sorry I had to keep my patient conscious, doc.)
• Doing 1:1 care for 7 hours of my shift, when I'm not an ICU nurse and actually have 3-4 other patients to take care of.
• We are transferring patients off our unit to the ICU at a rate of 3+ per week. Inappropriate.
• We transplant anyone regardless of whether or not they are appropriate candidates. Dont worry, it's not like we're giving these patients something important to take care of, its just an ORGAN.
• I have reached the point where I have been so overwhelmed/frustrated/angry at work that it forces me to tears
• I need some Ocho in my life.

Ugh, I'm getting so burned out.... While I desperately need a break from work if I want to actually remain a nurse, I dont want to close out this post on such a negative/bitter note... SO! I'm actually coming up on my 2 year mark, which is super exciting and I cant believe I've already been a nurse here for 2 years! It has flown by and I feel like I've learned a ton, and I'm still learning new things! A lot has happened this past year: I checked off trach care from my list of "things to do" as far as nursing care goes. Now, I think the only thing left is to handle a patient who is seizing. (Still terrified of that happening, by the way.) I've precepted new nurses; I'm Charge Nurse on a somewhat regular basis and feel comfortable with that role. And this year I was one of the nominees for Nurse of the Year. So, it's been a good year. ...Now if we could just get control of our floor so our patients arent so unstable/time-consuming/needy, I'd be a happy camper! :-P