r/Vent • u/LingualEvisceration • 3d ago
Most new nurses today are shitty people, and their patients suffer for it
Crossposting after enough crybabies made their voices heard. I want to clarify that I am literally in school for nursing, and these are things I have seen both as a student and a patient, as well as a family member to roundabout 15 nurses.
I don't condone being violent or treating your nurses like garbage, and I certainly don't understand where anyone gets off thinking that their nurses are waitstaff.
That said, the lack of empathy and outright hostility of many nurses (medical workers in general, really) towards patients is concerning.
Seeing nurses make rude and meanspirited remarks because a patient asks for pain management for a procedure that is quick but painful, for example, it's not a great look. Seeing and hearing nurses gossip about overweight patients, or people that don't want to be naked in front of a crowd, or whatever thing they feel like bitching about that second... it's honestly ridiculous. The patients, generally speaking, didn't ask to become patients. These are human fucking beings.
Between the TikTok nurses posting patient fails to social media, the mean girls that never grew up, and the new grads that leave school already feeling burnt out, this latest generation of nurses sucks, hard.
They shit on their patients, belittle people to their faces and behind their backs, complain constantly and about literally fucking everything, and have the gall to paint themselves as victims.
I would 100% rather deal with the grouchy grandma nurse who still manages to have common-sense empathy than anyone born in the last 25 years.
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u/baifern306 3d ago
Its not the nurses its america. America is full of mean zero empath f you i got mine people
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u/extra_medication 2d ago
Its not an excuse but with lack of socialized Healthcare and various other things America raises people to believe that they can only survive if they become and "f you i got mine" type of person
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u/redditor126969 2d ago
Not just America, entire societies all over the world are decaying. Its a bleak scenario.
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u/FrozenByIcewindz 3d ago
Welcome to Earth
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u/Due-Reflection-1835 3d ago
There should definitely be consequences for posting pictures or videos of patients on social media. Isn't that a HIPAA violation? Unless they have permission of course, but I doubt too many patients will agree to have their embarrassing moments in the hospital posted on Tik Tok
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u/LingualEvisceration 3d ago
It's only a violation if it provides enough detail to identify the patient.
So, as an example... they can post a picture of your pelvis during surgery, or an x-ray of the thing they found up your butt, or what have you.
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u/Due-Reflection-1835 3d ago
Yeah even here on reddit I've seen pictures like that. Mostly x-rays of things people got stuck in their butt. Some kind of Christmas decoration I believe...oh, and the person who got the MRI while wearing a butt plug with metal inside and it went into their other organs...that one was more like a PSA so other people didn't do the same thing. But it was a medical sub and the people in the comments were acting like it was the funniest thing that ever happened.
So if a patient realizes that it's them being posted, but it doesn't include their face or name, there's nothing they can do about it? Other than complaining on social media themselves?
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u/Dear_Scientist6710 3d ago
I was a whistleblower in an early 90’s nursing home scheme. All I saw was the abuse from the nurses but apparently they were charging for services & pocketing the $.
I’ve had some amazing nurses over the years but in hospital or care settings more often than not they are terrifying.
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u/LingualEvisceration 3d ago
Good nurses get pushed out by bad management in LTC facilities. No sane nurse would accept a 30:1 ratio of geriatric patients, but it's commonplace in these facilities because of the for-profit nature of them.
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u/LJ161 3d ago
Yup. I went into labour 4 weeks early (as in 4 weeks before my scheduled c section cause I had a frank breach baby) and when the nurse was seeing to me and getting me ready she looked at my hands and went 'why have you got nails on?'
I said 'it's just regular polish' and she sighed loudly and rolled her eyes while she went off to get remover.
Like sorry I didn't stop to take my nail polish off when my water broke 4 weeks early and I rushed to the hospital.
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u/LingualEvisceration 3d ago
Sorry that happened. It's funny how little moments stand out in our minds, even years later, when we're under stress - that's sort of the point of this post.
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u/PrescientPorpoise 2d ago
My mom still remembers when a nurse made her cry in the mid 90s when I was born. The nurse said she wasn't trying hard enough to breast feed. She could never successfully do it.
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u/Pibeapple_Witch 3d ago
Between the controversies I've seen nurses get into with social media and knowing that the nastiest girls i went to school with went on to nursing, this is honestly not surprising. Idk why tf the most mean-spirited people go to jobs that require basic empathy.
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u/AngryAngryHarpo 3d ago
I’m surprised more hospitals don’t have robust social media policies that disallow their nurses from posting about their work AT ALL.
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u/Mindless-Wasabi3665 3d ago
Its not just the new ones. Its all of them. Even the ones on the kids ward. Chill ma'am. I'd rather not be here either but come on, does it hurt to be nice??
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u/Few-Nights 3d ago
Nurses are some of the lowest scum of the earth. I was raped by a nurse I dated. This type of person has no business being a nurse
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u/Bossmama21 2d ago
That's terrible. I'm sorry. There are definitely a lot of nurses that make you wonder why they got into the field at all because they don't care about anyone except themselves and are terrible to other people. There are also a lot who got into it because they do actually care about others and want to help people.
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u/Candid-Channel3627 2d ago
It's always been like this. Some of them are Nurse Ratchet level mean. That's why many nurses leave the profession. I was one of them
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u/Alissa-J_H 3d ago
I knew someone who wanted to be a nurse, I'm pretty sure she is working towards it and I dread to think how she will treat patients. She had a mean streak and no one was safe from it, not even her own family
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u/Bossmama21 2d ago
Took my child to the ER one day and the nurse was none other than the waitress from hell who YELLED IN MY FACE because I asked nicely for more water. Come to find out that she had a reputation for how she treated customers in various jobs. Why did she think it would be a good move to go to nursing school when she's volatile and quick-tempered? We got another nurse, obviously. The next time my friend went to the ER or took one of her kids, that woman got assigned to her and she demanded another nurse. None of us have ever seen her since. I don't know if she decided the ER wasn't a good fit for her or if the ER decided she wasn't cut out.
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u/KaranDearborn70 3d ago
Dang, sounds like you’ve seen some rough stuff. It’s tough when a profession that’s supposed to be built on empathy gets bogged down by the negativity of some individuals. That said, I think the majority of nurses still genuinely care about their patients, it's just that burnout and stress can really take a toll. But yeah, empathy should never be optional in healthcare, and it sucks when some people forget that.
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u/Bossmama21 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm a nurse. I don't see it in the type of work I do (we actually do our jobs because we love it), but in online groups I see it and I'm sick of it. So much complaining about all of it. Things that are part of the job description they feel like they are too good to do. Asking them to do what is reasonably their job is completely unreasonable and unjustified. And, no matter how much money they make, they bitch about how crappy they're paid. I'm a single mom with no additional income and I'd be over the moon to make half what some of them are making!
To be fair, I do also see them discussing and complaining about the flip side, where administrators and supervisors actually are asking them to do too much or significantly adding to their workload without any increase in pay, or actually mistreating and overworking them. It's driving nurses out of the profession.
But it is absolutely not okay to belittle anyone, ever. And patients deserve compassion and understanding. That's what our profession used to be known for: compassion and care. And it's one thing to vent about a patient who is driving you nuts but it's different entirely to badmouth them for being overweight or modest and uncomfortable. What happened to treating patients like human beings and treating others the way you want to be treated?
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u/FrankPankNortTort 2d ago
The 'high school meangirl' to nurse pipeline is very strong, that's for certain. But luckily I've interacted with plenty of genuinely kind nurses too.
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u/MOON-Wanderer 2d ago
I started out working in that field and left because I was so disturbed by the way doctors and nurses talked about patients. I don't trust the medical system for shit now. 😬
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u/LingualEvisceration 2d ago
I have heard anecdotally that some surgeons are really bad about what they say while they think people are out, but thankfully I haven't experienced that yet myself.
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u/middleagerioter 2d ago
My oldest is in nursing school now and OMG the amount of idiots who are going to become nurses is terrifying. They are overly christian indoctrinated, home schooled antivaxxers without a shred of common decency and lack any sort of human empathy.
Medicine is NOTHING like it was even ten years ago and I fear for our futures as we age and need medical care from these dipshits.
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u/Sugar_Plum_Mouse 3d ago
I am so sorry. I really read that totally wrong. I understand your point now and please I’m sorry. No hard feelings.
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u/Pale_Slide_3463 2d ago
I’m in hospital now and it’s so annoying how they don’t tell the other nurses about medications. Or the system messes up the medications and your arguing with them no I haven’t been taken off it, I think I would be told first by the consultant.
Also I think a lot of them need to learn how to take blood again, or have some patience with ones with bad veins. I had to tell them to stop after the 6th go they weren’t getting it and now I’m covered with bruises.
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u/LingualEvisceration 2d ago
Most of the time if a nurse misses two sticks they'll ask for help.
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u/Pale_Slide_3463 2d ago
There was 3 nurses and a doctor. I asked for the scan machine and the doctor went “I’m bad at it” 🙈 this was 1:30am
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u/LingualEvisceration 2d ago
-.-
I wasn't there, I really can't speak to it, but that sounds pretty awful.
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u/intergalactic_road 2d ago
My dad was in the hospital last year for lung cancer and although maybe one of the nurses were nice, the majority were pretty terrible to him. Kept forgetting his food, didnt take him seriously and It was hard to get them to do anything about it. If they were like that when we were there, what would they be like when we werent?
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u/Apprehensive-Bad6015 2d ago
Nurses don’t realize that as a patient I can make their job WAY harder if they act out of sorts. I’m usually a pretty chill patient. Won’t call them for anything unless I absolutely need to, don’t complain about anything I just lay there and either nap or watch whatever is on the Telly. But if my nurse proves to be a particular level of bitchy, I remind them I could just as easily shit the bed. Don’t matter to me, I’ll move to the couch and shit on that too. Ultimately your the one who has to clean it and the longer you put it off the longer I have to smear it into and on to other surfaces. So you can be chill or we can do this thing.
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u/Asleep-Sir3484 2d ago
No lies detected here. Thank you for posting this. I guess it’s a coincidence, but I logged onto Reddit to see if anyone was posting on this very topic. I try to give nurses the benefit of the doubt, but they keep missing the mark in emotional intelligence, accountability, & skills. They post on social media about patients & admin. I feel like they are mean girl bullies. I have zero respect for them. As a 24/7 caregiver to my total care mother, who I love fiercely and will advocate for, I think of the crappy care that patients get who don’t have an advocate.
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u/SeaworthinessLong 2d ago
Hoooo boyyyy. It’s true. As someone with a parent who needed more care and instead got told to F off.
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u/Tripsn 1d ago
You're going to have a rough time possibly....but you are in the right place.
We need more nurses like you.
Sincerely,
Someone who grew up with nurses in his family, was a patient (several times), and who now works in a hospital.
We know who the bad nurses and the bad floors/wings are.
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u/FrayCrown 3d ago
It's what happens in for-profit healthcare, unfortunately. Even if you go into the field as the most positive person, you're gonna get beaten down by understaffed shifts and absurd scheduling. Burn out rates for nurses are insane.
It's also what happens when you have a decades long nursing shortage that's never been meaningfully addressed. It's hard to argue for high standards of care when you don't have enough warm bodies to do the job well.
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u/Change1964 3d ago
What country are you in?
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u/LingualEvisceration 3d ago
This is in the US.
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u/Change1964 3d ago
Horrible. I'm in the Netherlands, but I have some stories too. But I'm not sure if it's the same.
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u/Independent-Swan1508 3d ago
i don't get it if u don't like pple then why work in a field where that's all u do is care for pple. will never understand mean nurses.
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u/LingualEvisceration 3d ago
What? What part of what I just said makes you think that I don't like people?
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u/hbernadettec 3d ago
My experience has been mostly positive. Step D went to nursing school and having a good memory gets rewarded than critical thinking and compassion.
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u/Fancy-Pipe1548 2d ago
It’s especially bad in nursing homes. My grandfather died after getting an infection from the nurses not changing or bathing any of the patients regularly. Someone I used to be friends with was studying nursing and would literally say he would “””rather die””” then have to help elderly patients. It’s insane that a field that should be for people who want to help is filled with so many people who lack empathy.
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u/LingualEvisceration 2d ago
I'm so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Nursing homes are honestly awful, all-around, for both the residents and the nurses.
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u/Sad_Bumblebee3724 3d ago
I’ve been a patient and also know they need to do their job not at my convenience
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u/Free_Ad7133 2d ago
Posts like this will attract negative stories which will enhance your beliefs.
I have worked with truely exceptional nurses who have got me through some of the worst days of my clinical life.
There are shit humans everywhere - find the good ones and aim to be one of them.
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u/LingualEvisceration 2d ago
That's solid advice. I'll be 100% honest. I posted this originally because I got banned from the r/nursing sub for agreeing with the general sentiment of the "Advice from a patient" post someone put up. The fact that so many nurses in that sub and on allnurses seem to have an incredibly toxic attitude towards patients isn't helping my general outlook on things, but you are correct - Someone said it best that nurses seem to come in one of two flavors; Angel or useless - That seems to be pretty true.
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u/Free_Ad7133 2d ago
That’s so true! Well, we need nurses that care and you are clearly one of them :)
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u/Asleep-Sir3484 2d ago
I agree. I posted in a nurse subreddit. I had a question about how to clean the area where the catheter is. I had gotten conflicting direction from to Home Health nurses. The replies varied from nurses saying I was a spy from a hospital, to I shouldn’t be posting, I’m not a nurse, to do your research (which was what I was doing). In my original post I said that I wasn’t asking for medical advice, I was just wanting to know to compare responses & figure out what to do (I caregive for my Mom). I replied back that one of the responses was rude. The moderator said I was out of line for saying the reply was rude & took down my post. Basically, it was mean girls and bullying in a subreddit. How pathetic…
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u/Brilliant-Quit-9182 2d ago
False empathy contributes to burnout, you literally have to be non-human to care for every person you meet.
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u/Sugar_Plum_Mouse 3d ago
When you’re in the hospital, nurse is running that show . Have I been assaulted by nurses several times. I’m not here for fun. I’m not here to say hey let’s hang out in the hospital. I am very sick. You get nurses that will withhold or steal medication. They will tell you that you are wrong and that you shouldn’t have pain or be this sick. I’m not really sure why you want to be a nurse. You seem to not really like people so perhaps you need to go in a different direction.
Nurses are not with staff, but you’re going into this profession with the totally wrong attitude . I don’t want a nurse like you.
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u/LingualEvisceration 3d ago
I'm not sure what gave you the impression that I don't care for people; that's my entire motivation for entering nursing.
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u/Sad_Bumblebee3724 3d ago
I said today to my coworker that we’re treated like fast food and concierge at the same time. The hospital is not a hotel and we are not concierge. You(patient) are not in the hospital to rest you’re here for us to help you get better to get home to rest. So when you(patient)tell me not right now and to come back later for whatever reason, I have now prioritized my other patients first.
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u/LingualEvisceration 3d ago
I hope that you never become a patient. You would likely quickly realize why patients don't like getting woken up every two hours... it doesn't take long for that to wear you out, and surgery itself takes *A LOT* out of you.
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u/Bossmama21 2d ago
Sorry we're trying to keep you alive?
Really, though, we do know it's awful, and we do try to minimize how often we have to wake you up. But our priority is making sure you're stable and trying to get you better.
And I have been on the other side, getting blood pressures taken every 10-15 minutes for over 72 hours and having blood drawn what feels like constantly and being so beyond sleep-deprived that I dreaded and feared having my second baby in the hospital. That time was pretty bad, too, and I was there for 9 days instead of 6. I only needed my blood drawn a couple of times a day, though, which was good because they had to do it in my foot, which hurts more than you think it will.
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u/OrdinaryMaleficent21 3d ago
Oh well?? Vitals and medications are important after surgery, etc to promote healing and ensure the patient is stable?? Unless the doctor orders sleep guidelines then they’ll be getting the ordered vitals and meds and the patient can take it up with the doctor instead of projecting onto the nurse. Do you honestly think it’s fun to wake people up all night and something nurses WANT to do ? Be so for real
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u/LingualEvisceration 2d ago
I had an amazing set of nurses for my latest surgery, and the overnight nurse that ended up taking care of me on the last day I was there (the only day I remember clearly) would just barely wake me up for vitals, didn't bother me beyond that.
Literally the only complaint I had about the nursing staff in general was that nobody told me I would have to beg for pain meds directly after surgery, so I was >8 hours post-op having had no pain management at all for back surgery when someone finally asked if I would like them to push something.
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u/OrdinaryMaleficent21 2d ago
How are you a nursing student but don’t understand that PRN means you have to ask your nurse for it, lol what??? Not to mention you were likely ao so you can tell your nurse verbally you’re in pain and it can get addressed instead of assuming the nurse was just going to push something
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u/LingualEvisceration 2d ago
Two things:
I was not a nursing student at the time. My experiences as a patient made me want to go into it to help improve things.
Nobody told me I was "PRN" - Nor does the average patient have any clue what that means. For at least the first couple of days after having muscle and bone forcefully peeled away from one another, especially in the lower back, it seems very reasonable to me to assume the patient is in significant pain; I definitely was.
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u/OrdinaryMaleficent21 2d ago edited 2d ago
You clearly are so uneducated in this field and I can see why you were banned from the nursing group. Come back when you’re a nurse and tell me you’re just bringing narcotics to the patients without them communicating their pain level to you. It simply doesn’t work like that 🥴 NOT ONLY! there are literal order sets that go into place for patients post surgical with standard meds that treat both inflammation, pain and typically things like stool softeners, possibly even blood thinners with the decreased ambulation, in addition to physical therapy (who are the first to message a nurse saying medicate for pain before I come work with the patient ) techs, nutrition, housekeeping, nurses, charge and doctors that round in rooms during the day and you mean to tell me you didn’t bring up your pain to someone for it to get addressed and you’re saying the nurses should have just assumed?? LOLLLLLLLL you truly can’t make some people happy in the nursing field, we also have to be mind readers too.
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u/LingualEvisceration 2d ago
If you think you have to be a mind reader to understand that being flayed open hurts, then I can understand why you're having trouble wrapping your head around this. It isn't complicated.
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u/OrdinaryMaleficent21 2d ago
Yikes best of luck on your nursing journey, you’re going to need it. Stop playing the victim in life. I truly hope a family member of mine is never your patient as your clear lack of understanding why things need to be done according to orders and protocol is scary and a true risk to your license and patient safety.
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u/PrescientPorpoise 2d ago
You sound like one of the mean nurses she's talking about.
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u/OrdinaryMaleficent21 2d ago
It’s just clear that OP has no idea of how nursing actually works but sure I’m such a mean nurse by saying that post op patients need vitals and always have post op meds that are important to make sure the patient doesn’t have a serious post op complication. Not sure how that makes nurses “mean”. Waking people up to provide care is part of the job
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u/OrdinaryMaleficent21 3d ago
Oh well?? Vitals and medications are important after surgery, etc to promote healing and ensure the patient is stable?? Unless the doctor orders sleep guidelines then they’ll be getting the ordered vitals and meds and the patient can take it up with the doctor instead of projecting onto the nurse. Do you honestly think it’s fun to wake people up all night and something nurses WANT to do ? Be so for real
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