Job Story: Nurse Technician.......Nursing: Do No Harm????

[Unregistered]

Thanks for sharing. You seem like an intelligent guy and I have no doubt that things will look up for you in the end.

Good luck! :)

[Unregistered]

ditto!

[Unregistered]

I have been talking with my fellow nurse tech about this very same thing. We are underpaid... i could make more at Taco Bell than i do now, but i am trying to get into nursing school and thought that this job would be a good experience.
Boy do i wish i knew what i was getting myself into. Nurses are assigned a few patients apiece, however i am a caregiver to EVERY patient on the floor, whether there are seven or seventeen! I don't know how many times a nurse has sat at the nurses station eating or telling some story to another nurse, or staring at her charts in an effort to look busy, and turned to me as i scramble from one room to the other answering call lights and asked in a condescending tone "will you get my vitals for me... oh can you get all our vitals for us? and i have three accu-checks at 1700, can you get those for me? AAaarrrgh i just want to scream!
My husband thinks i am just making a big deal out of nothing and that i just need to grin and bear it until i get my nursing degree. I wish he could spend a week or so in my place and see what it is really like for me.
Another thing is how one of them will see a new product for trial, ie: a new vial access device for needleless entry into a vial. i explain to her how the thing works, she goes on to search for a nurse to explain it to her, and gets the EXACT SAME EXPLATION from the nurse. I am nothing more than a moron! How could a mere "tech" know anything? This is a regularly occuring event. Tonight a nurse proceeded to explain to me how a heart valve worked cause i "probably don't know that" hmmm... yep, im just a gopher. Good enough to wipe butts, feed patients, get I+O's, clear iv pumps, take vitals, get accuchecks, transcribe dr orders (which of course as we all know requires the ability to translate masses of scribbles and scratches that make no sense to most people) order labs, xrays, ct scans, empty foleys, jp drains... the list goes on.
i feel for anyone in this position with us and i swear to myself and all that is holy that i will never misuse a tech, ever ever ever when i finally do become an RN. Ive suffered too much to do this to another human being. Im sure someone is reading this and thinking, well why doesnt she just quit! well, its like that carrot in front of the mule that he keeps reaching for... they keep telling us we will get more respect, better pay, and we just keep hoping its going to happen.... and hoping.... and hoping....

[Unregistered]

i am currently enrolling in the nurse technician program. i was once a CNA so i know where you're coming from. the nurse technician program is a part of my nursing program. being a CNA sucked and you're right no one wants to give you the respect that you deserve. i'm not sure who was worst the nurses, the patients, or the other CNA's. i didn't even complete my two years as a CNA, after a couple of months i knew that that wasn't the route for me. it's hard work which i can do, but the abuse and embarrassing low wages that you have to endure is not worth it. i made just about the same at SUBWAY and got just about the same treatment but for what it's worth any idiot can fix a sandwich so i wasn't complaining. being a single parent force me to find another way. i am eager to complete my nursing education and i hope and pray by the time i get there that the nursing team will be just that a TEAM! we need each other and we're all a part of a team. i think the salary should be raised for CNA's and Tech's it's not easy work, it's manual labor! i don't mind doing the work but i'd like to have something to show for it, the nurses do! thank you for sharing your story and good luck in the future. i am praying for you and your family. you can overcome this. and the fact that you decided to speak out shows that you are couragous, kind, and caring. i know that you're going to make an awesome nurse!!! God will give you the strength you need to weather the storms. keep your head up, speak your mind, and hang in there!

[Unregistered]

That is really sad!! I feel very bad for what you endured at that hospital. I don't think its that bad everywhere and do think that you should have worked somewhere else. My sister (RN) opposed working at hospitals because of all the social stigmas and gossip in them and instead she took a job at a mental health facility where she said everyone is really nice. As an RN, she basically passes out meds and goes on whatever floor she is assigned to and takes the doctors orders. The nurse techs and doctors are nice there and they treat her good. I really think with everything you endured and went through, why the heck did you stay? I would have gone somewhere else or gotten another job elsewhere while in nursing school. I hate snobby mean people.

[toomuchrock]

I am a second year nursing student and in July I took a job as a student tech in the emergency department at a local hospital. After less than a month I was told I was not cut out to work in the department with no further explanation. I worked very hard to be an asset for the short time I was there and do not know what on earth I did wrong. I held my previous job for over 4 years and I am only 21 years old.
It's beyound devastating to be told you are not cut out for the job you are going to school for. Who do they think they are to tell me something so devastating.
I really don't know what to do now. I haven't had a job since last month, and funds are running low. I'm having a very hard time finding another tech job, and if i were to return to my previous job I would not be getting nursing experience and i would be taking a signifigant pay cut.
I've been told that nurses eat their young, and I can honestly say I beleive this whole heartidly.
I don't know what kind of mean, cruel, hateful person would want to ruin someones dreams and cause them great emotional distress.
I have never been so unhappy in my entire life, and I don't know what to do about it at all.