Positive Role Model Found!

A breakthrough! My OB instructor is great! Honest, sense of humor, argues with doctors during C-sections, is open about the problems with the hospital she works at, lets us make mistakes without humiliating us, and seems to take a genuine interest in my performance. Best of all, she believes in the absolute competence of the nursing profession, and pointing out the bad habits of uninvolved nurses.

I feel like Michael Banks in "Mary Poppins" when the two kids write a letter requesting a new nanny, and FUCKING MARY POPPINS SHOWS UP. Before you know it she starts giving them hard core drugs laced with spoonfulls of sugar and making rooms fucking clean themselves. What a relief! I just needed someone to give me some guiding light: a nursing instructor that acts like a normal person!

I'd like to write more but I've got a serious PEDS/OB test manana.

Cheers

Go ahead and squeeze a little harder why don't ya?

Sorry, it’s been awhile. Super busy. Super fucking busy. Got through the competencies pretty good, I got the “easy” instructors, i.e. the ones that are remotely normal and secure enough with themselves that they don’t feel the need to torture a student.
As of right now, the majority of my class is on academic warning. The 2nd semester faculty is a lot like the Bush administration: No matter how bad the classes grades get, no matter how many inappropriate acts the instructors carry out, it’s the same shtick. “We’re just trying to figure out why you guys aren’t getting it.” Never a mea culpa, no responsibility whatsoever for the fact that a group of extraordinarily driven and intelligent ADULTS are failing everything thrown at them.
No, my dear instructor, you saintly middle-aged woman in your 40’s with no kids, no husband and 20 cats. YOU’RE not getting it. You’re fucked up! And when your sole purpose for teaching is to humiliate, bully, and fail students well, you get what you pay for. A class of 72 students with the majority on academic probation.
Fuck off!
I make no apologies. The observation has been made, I shall pontificate here but lord help me if I say this in class.
If you are middle-aged, not in a relationship, don’t like young people in general, and have a freakishly large assortment of pets put a red flag on your scrubs because you’ve got some serious fucking issues and shouldn’t be anywhere near the next generation of nurses.
I’ve come to this conclusion as I have come to realize that the violently nutty nurses, the happy-sad, maybe I’ll get weepy during a lecture and then scream at a student for not wearing the right color socks (black shoes=black socks, white shoe=white socks. I’m totally serious the hard asses will send you home if your socks don’t match.), the ones who tell the students they don’t like that they should maybe think about quitting school, these are the ones who aren’t married. At my school a couple of the foul tempered instructors have been married but are now divorced, but in general they have been single for a considerable amount of time. Like, I can’t believe the huge assorment of spinsters that are instructing at my school. Somehow, they all found each other, united in disdain and contempt.
Nothing wrong with being middle-aged and single, middle-aged and divorced, fuck half the country is past 38 and divorced. But are you still in the game? Are you trying? Have you given up on the opposite sex entirely and have resigned yourselves to your sister’s kids, pretending they are your own? Do you still believe right before the increasingly shitty and bizarre blind dates you’ve been finding yourself on that this might be love?

Don’t give up. The opposite sex hates you as much as you hate them. So just fucking bite the bullet and let it go, accept someone for who they are and go make some love. As long as they respect you, treat you right. And ladies, don’t tell me you’ve tried and good men are hard to find. Because they are not. There are roughly 75 million single men in America. They may not come in the form you fantasize about, they may not treat you like shit just the way you like to be abused but goddamnit they are out there. And for the divorced middle-aged guys: PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR WOMAN. WOMEN USE SINCERE ATTENTION LIKE FUEL. JUST A FEW MOMENTS OF YOUR TIME AND THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY FUCKING STOKED. LAYOFF THE SPORTS TALK AS YOU PRIMARY METHOD OF COMMUNICATION. AND TRY AND STAY AWAKE 10 SECONDS AFTER THE NUT YOU CHEEKY BASTARDS.
Excuse while I step off this soap box.
I mean, if it’s this obvious what the bad nursing instructors’ problem is, that they have been dicked over by some of the worst taste in men this burned out society has to offer (see: firefighter, paramedic, cops, used car salesmen) they have no one to blame but themselves. I didn’t fuck up your dude radar! You should have gotten it fixed!
They act on their own bizarre experiences so often I can see their bitchy wheels turn, “Should I be supportive of this student in their time of need, should I encourage them, let them know that its okay to make mistakes when you are learning how to do something that requires immense technical finesse, great emotional intelligence, and serious attention to detail? No. Now its time to lay down some serious institutionalized abuse and sting this student good.”
How fucked up are they? You know they must have hated their patients. Probably despised them. Did fucked up shit like withheld pain medication when in a foul mood to “punish” their patients for being needy or irritating them.

Hey! You nurses out there who play the withholding pain meds till absolutely as late as possible game: you make me fucking sick. Who are you to judge and punish? Don’t do it. Don’t abuse like you’ve been abused. Cause you’re playing with fire and baby you will get burned. It’s like scratching the mosquito bite of hate: you only hate more.

Some nurses hate black people.

Some nurses hate men who remind them of their father.

Some nurses are uncompassionate to women that remind them of their mothers.

Some nurses don’t feel what a patient is going through because they have a higher tolerance for distress because of what THEY have gone through.

Some nurses are traumatized from their line of work and suddenly snap at people or patients they may care about.

Some nurses have drug problems.

Some nurses are jealous of American nurses.

Some nurses hate men.

Some nurses hate women.

Some nurses loathe white people.

Some nurses do what they are told to do too much to please the powers that be.

Some nurses like to be part of a machine that crushes people, that keeps down the dusts of change.

Some nurses are just looking for a spouse.

Some nurses are absolutely incredible fucking people who have great technical knowledge and are still emotionally capable of making someone that they wouldn’t otherwise relate to or interact with feel safe, clean, and capable of healing.

Some nurses have heart.

Some nurses know what the fuck is going on and aren’t afraid to act on it.

Some nurses could really give a shit what arrogant, pissant residents think is a “quick” procedure.

Some nurses walk the line between insubordination and always advocating for their patients as a method of humility, integrity, and keeping it really fucking real.

Some nurses think for themselves.

Some nurses are so fantastic and inspiring to me that I personally want to equip myself with the “identity” of a nurse.

Keep doin what you’re doing.

Mazeltov. Happy Passover,

And to all the haters and status quo addicts, the trick ass marks, mark ass marks, punk asses, ho's, heffers and hulahoops, skeezers, skanks, skig-scags, scallwhomps, I want you to ponder exodus from slavery you dickheads, you disgruntled bitches.

I’m coming to gitcha.
(Thanks D.C. for that rant)

How many nurses are victims of domestic violence?

I posted this on allnurses.com:

Re: intimidation by nurse manager?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cat Nurse
"I have a male nurse manager. I have worked with him for many years. I am not agreeable to some of his hired staff. I think his hormones get in the way of his judgement. But many people feel intimidated by him. Many have quit and say it is because they don't feel comfortable around him. Most, probably would not have been confortable any place or with most people!"



Is this really a gender issue? People have quit because they don't feel comfortable around him? Like, he'll hide behind around a corner and attack you? There are so few male nurse managers, please don't take the most obvious route and imply that he is a pervert. Its hard enough being a male nurse as it is. Same goes for male school teachers. Not all men are pervs. Some are, yes. But it sounds like this dude is just being a manager, which means to say he is trying to control you because most managers are too insecure to work with their staff, instead they work against them. BTW, I work in one of the largest ERs in California and the head nurse and nurse manager are both female. More of the nurses here have breast implants than don't. No joke.
Don't blame your male manager for unprofessional nurses, please. If your manager wants to act like a child let him. If patients get turned away, its his rear end.
END POST

Cat Nurse (red flag right there), feels that she's not allowed to go fulltime PRN because her nurse manager is a hormone driven scumbag. Thanks Cat Nurse! That must be it. What a bother.

Nursing school is seriously kicking my ass. Mid term tomorrow. I think I'm prepared. You never know...

I've been looking at all the first year residents, second year residents, all the residents. They seem so happy. They're so loud on the floor, joking with each other, high fiving each other. Then I look at the nursing students: Scared, painfully quiet, expressionless. The second me or one of my fellow nursing students does ANYTHING there is another nurse and our nursing instructor immediately in our face threatening us with expulsion. Seriously, I asked my instructor how many clinical days we were allowed to miss, and she fired back at me, "If you miss more than two on your first rotation you are out of here. You will be dropped from the program." What the fuck lady? I haven't missed any days, I just wanted to know.
WHY ARE NURSING STUDENTS ALWAYS BEING THREATENED AND BULLIED?
You know what I just found out? That one of the other 2nd semester instructors, a passionately pro-American ex-army nurse, I call her Chris Farley, (I wrote about her about three posts back) she makes faces at you, tsks her tongue, shakes her head, while you do the clinical competency. Not like goofy faces, but furious faces, disgusted faces. She might as well call us "maggots" That's fucked up. And don't tell me that as a nurse you have to be tough and do it right under pressure, blah, blah,blah. We're fucking students for Christ’s sake! Most students haven't even seen an NG on the floor, what the fuck do they know? This is not the military. We're not in WWII. We're college level nursing students getting a degree and planning to join (what I hope is) a professional work force. All this constant threatening, the persistent mood swings of ALL the instructors, "today I like you but tomorrow I won't" It all dehumanizes us, sucks up what little self confidence my fellow nursing students have, makes them more timid. Afraid to confront asshole doctors, afraid to tell the manager the shift they got is bullshit, afraid to switch to a better department where their co-workers at least attempt civility, afraid to say "this pay is shit and I'm going to quit and work at a hospital that treats me how I deserve to be treated!" How about instilling professionalism in the new nurses of today, which is to say, support them and treat them respectfully. CAN WE AT LEAST ATTEMPT TO BREAK A CYCLE OF OPPRESSION?
Chris Farley fails at least ten students on NG competency every semester. For stupid shit lie forgetting to tape the tube to the cheek, even if its already taped to the nares. That's great for the confidence building!
I cannot believe how hard my school works to keep us from thinking for ourselves. Every instructor loves to shout "critical thinking" about 30 fucking times a lecture but all they're really doing is enforcing protocols. I have no problem following the rules, but do you have to tell me I'm stupid while I do it? Why is this old school, oppressed female nurse shit allowed to perpetuate? Why not make everybody where the fucking white hats while you're at it?
Long shoreman makes 100K a year, to start. They don't do shit half the time. So don't tell me about the gravitas, the noble responsibility of nursing. OLDER NURSES! Most of you have failed in your careers! Your lack of respect for yourself has cost you the safety of the patients and left a smoldering hole where you once held an acorn of self confidence.

I do not mean to be crude, but I ask this question in all sincerity: How many female nurses suffer spousal abuse, be it intense physical of emotional. I'm totally serious. You think about this question, then we have the root of our problem.

Sack Launch

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Horizontal Violence

This is what I have been feeling. I read this and freaked. This describes the medical industry to a t.
I realize there is a lot of text here but I am so pleased and relieved I found this tidbit- check out the website.

http://www.acegraphics.com.au/articles/hastie02.html


Definition of horizontal violence

Horizontal violence is hostile and aggressive behaviour by individual or group members towards another member or groups of members of the larger group. This has been described as inter-group conflict. ( Duffy 1995).


Talk to all staff members about the phenomenon, break the silence.

Introduction

Horizontal violence is non physical inter group conflict and is manifested in overt and covert behaviours of hostility (Freire 1972; Duffy 1995). It is behaviour associated with oppressed groups and can occur in any arena where there are unequal power relations, and one group's self expression and autonomy is controlled by forces with greater prestige, power and status than themselves (Harcombe 1999). It may be conscious or unconscious behaviour (Taylor 1996).

It may be overt or covert. It is generally non physical, but may involve shoving, hitting or throwing objects. It is one arm of the submissive/aggressive syndrome that results from an internalised self-hatred and low self esteem as a result of being part of an oppressed group (Glass 1997; Roberts 1996; MCCall 1995). It is the inappropriate way oppressed people release built up tension when they are unable to address and solve issues with the oppressor. (Administration and doctors)

In the majority of western cultures, a dominator model (Eisler 1993) of social organization enables workplace hierarchy to limit autonomy and practice of various groups of workers and therefore acts as an oppressive force. Workers are socialised into the oppressive structures and unequal power relations of the workplace system.
Some groups of people within each particular workplace unconsciously adopt inflated feelings and attitudes of superiority. Some groups adopt unconsciously submissive attitudes, learned helplessness, within the workplace.

Horizontal Violence is a symptom of the dynamics around oppression and a sense of powerlessness. It is to the workplace culture like water is to fish. It moulds, shapes and dictates the behaviour of those within the workplace culture.
It is a form of bullying and acts to socialise those who are different into the status quo.

Horizontal violence in the workplace is the result of history and politics in western society and the ideology and practices associated with the socialisation and stereotyping of males and females in western culture. Horizontal violence is a systems and cultural issue, a symptom of an emotionally, spiritually and psychologically toxic and oppressive environment. Horizontal violence is not a symptom of individual pathology, although individual pathology flourishes in a climate that supports and condones aggressive behaviour.

Horizontal violence includes:

All acts of unkindness, discourtesy, sabotage, divisiveness, infighting, lack of cohesiveness, scapegoating and criticism

For example:

Belittling gestures e.g. deliberate rolling of eyes, folding arms, staring into space when communication being attempted - Body language designed to discomfort the other
Verbal abuse including name calling, threatening, intimidating, dismissing, belittling, undermining, humorous 'put downs'
Gossiping (destructive, negative, nasty talk), talking behind the back, backbiting
Sarcastic comments
Fault finding (nitpicking) - different to those situations where professional and clinical development is required.
Ignoring or minimising another's concerns
Slurs and jokes based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation
Sending to 'Coventry', 'freezing out' excluding from activities and conversation, work related and social.
Comments that devalue:
people's area of practice;
women;
others that are different to the 'norm'.
Disinterest, discouragement and withholding support
Limiting right to free speech and right to have an opinion
Behaviours which seek to control or dominate (power 'over' rather than power 'with')
Elitist attitudes regarding work area, education, experience etc "better than" attitude
Punishing activities by management e.g. Repeatedly sending someone out of area; bad rosters; chronic under staffing; lack of concern with mental, emotional, spiritual and physical health of employees
Lack of participation in professional organisations (a subtle form of self-hatred) however, busy family lives can preclude participating in professional organizations.

Nursing Student Hell: Real fast

Nursing Student Hell: Real fast

I just want my R.N., lady.

Alright- my second semester of nursing school is in full swing. Getting my butt kicked, trying to figure out baffling electrolytes, trying to jam all this new info into my brain. All in all, its pretty fascinating. I'm happy in nursing school. I'm enjoying the mechanisms, gears, and gadgets of nursing healthcare.

Alas, someone has thrown a wrench into my enjoyment of education.

Some of you nurses suck. You are unbelievably childish, and all of my instructors and more experienced advisors tell me to just ignore it. FUCK ignoring middle school level attitude, FUCK not having conflicts over stupid things.
Hey experienced nurses- How far has ignoring unprofessional behavior got you? Congratulations! Have another serving of being looked down on and a side dish of co-dependant unacceptable behavior. Nursing needs to change.

I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!

I go to a nursing school that is part of the county system. There are several hospitals in my county. For the first time, my 10 person clinical group is doing clinicals at a farther away county hospital that has relationships with public and private nursing schools already established in that area.

FOR SOME REASON, THE NURSES AT THIS HOSPITAL DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO SHIT ON US, THE NURSING STUDENTS.

It's completely baffling. Why do the nurses give a shit what school is doing their clinical rotation at their hospital? It's all the same nursing students. We haven't bumped any schools. All we do is come in there two days a week, wipe someone's ass for them, if we are lucky, plant a Foley, put down a NG, set up an IV. (None of which has happened yet.)

Here is the response my clinical group has gotten from the nurses:



Really nice nursing student: "Could you tell me the name of the nurse manager? This is our second day on the floor and I'm filling out a scavenger hunt of who everyone is and where everything is at on this unit."

Shithead Coordinator: "You don't know who the nurse manager is? That's really sad. Really sad."

Me: "Excuse me. Could you help me access the labs on the computer system?"
Nurse Manager: "You don't have access to labs. That would be a liability. You are a liability."
Me: "We have access to the same system at county. We need the labs to fill out our clinical write-ups."
Fucking Nurse Manager: "No you don't. There’s no way you have access."
Me: "Of course we do. We also have to chart on the computer as well. We can even access labs from our college."
Nurse Manger: "What?" she looks around the floor to make sure everyone is watching, "That's a HIPPAA violation. That's wrong."
Me: "Our college is on the hospital campus."

My instructor introduces the nurse manager. She does not say hello. She does not say welcome. She says, “You may not use the nurse break room. You may not bring backpacks to this unit. You may not use the conference rooms. If you want to access labs find the nurse for that patient and have her sit with you while you record your information.”
Walks away.

Hello. Fuck you. Goodbye.

I am not a liability to any of the nurses on that floor. I am a liability to my fucking liability insurance company and to my instructor. duh. Telling me I'm a liability is childish bullshit. Something else is going on.
Then they snuck in the LVN students. Now we "share" patients. The LVN's come from a rip-off private college. (35K a year). We come from the county, same as the hospital. What the fuck?
None of the nurses will answer questions.

Does anybody out there know what is going on?
How can nurses act like such children? So remarkably unprofessional.

And the best part: As county student nurses we are eligible to be student nurse workers. The nurse recruiter (who is so passive aggressive she is basically just aggressive) schedules the THREE DAY SITE ORIENTATION THAT WE ALREADY WENT THROUGH AT THE MAIN COUNTY HOSPITAL on the first three days of my nursing schools semester. She actually told me that she knew my instructors very well (which is a bold face lie, they had only met once) and that she was sure they wouldn’t mind if I didn’t show up for the first three days to attend orientation. Miss any of the classes the first week of school and you get yourself dropped from the roster. This nurse has 3 masters degrees. NP, MSN admin, MSN education. She looks like she is on the tail end of a 2 week vicodin run. Nodding eyes, tiny pupils, unbridled hostility. 3 masters. What a waste.

Not a single male nurse on the entire unit I might add.

Sometimes nursing, you really bother me. Nurses are so quick to behave so bad, so easily. A true disappointment.

NOBODY TREATS NURSES WORSE THAN HOW THEY TREAT THEMSELVES.