The Twelve Disadvantages of Nursing

Being International Nurses’ Week, my social media is awash with beautiful well wishes to nurses. Nurses are appreciating the role they play in the wheel of healthcare while the public is slowly appreciating the value of the nurse. I have seen messages calling nurses heroes, others have called them angels and still others believe that nurses are a backbone to the healthcare spinal cord. These are buzzwords that I do not ascribe to. All that nurses need is safe staffing ratios protected by law, definitive career progression paths, and proper remuneration commensurate with their education, skills, experience, and expertise. That is not too much to ask on a Nurses’ Week, is it?

Though recent statistics are showing an increasing uptake of nursing in universities and colleges, we must inform aspiring nursing students that nursing has its disadvantages. As promised in the advertisement, you get to care for people in a professional way but you also get a few demerits here and there. The following list of disadvantages is not exhaustive. Nevertheless, be aware of these common side effects of the nursing pill.

1.??? High Stress Levels: If you are not dealing with the burnout of emotional care, you are dealing with the management and trying to balance your needs versus those of the service. Nurses are generally under too much stress and we all have particular ways of coping. We do not like to admit that we are under stress though, because resilience was preached to us as a value and its definition involved keeping calm and carrying on.

2.??? Lack of resources: This is geography-dependent. If you are a nurse in a public hospital in Kenya, you will need to be creative and thoroughly inventive. There are no gurneys to transport patients, wheelchairs have only one rickety wheel, there are no medications besides Calpol in the hospital pharmacy and God help you when you tell patients to buy drugs or run various tests privately. The patients will accuse you of ransacking their hospital to start a private practice. You are lucky to leave that scene without a black eye.

3.??? Emotional Toll: Unlike what you have been told, nursing will chip at you emotionally. It will remind you of your vulnerability. If you lack boundaries (most nurses don’t anyway, they want to heal the entire world), you will end up with medical manifestations of unaddressed traumas. Nurses emotionally euthanize themselves from the pain of their patients. But I will let you know that this is tragic. Human beings were not made to ‘not feel.’ Should you have unaddressed or resolved trauma, either address it or leave the hospital environment. Did you know you do not have to deal directly with patients as a nurse?

4.??? Administrative burden: What is not written in nursing is not done. That is nursing commandment numero uno. Thou shall always remember it. Unfortunately, nurses spend about 60% of their time documenting as opposed to actual patient contact. Hospitals come up with creative new software for capturing patient data which sounds like a good idea but there is a catch. None of the software communicates with each other.

Nurses spend more time charting than on direct patient contact

Nurses have to sometimes write the same thing twice and if you are in the NHS sector in the UK, sometimes three times. Do not forget that some have lists to be checked every shift and a list to check that you checked the lists. Do you want direct, holistic, and continuous patient contact? Well, write it here. And here. And here. Then here.

5.??? Shift Work Challenges: The health impact of irregular hours and overnight shifts cannot be understated. Yet we must remember that nursing is a 24/7 assignment. What would be better is to have staggered as opposed to continuous and frequent night shifts. This will not happen because your nursing manager might decide you are the designated nocturnal champion. The continuous night shifts will mess up your melatonin release further making it difficult to naturally fall asleep which only exacerbates your stress levels. During the holiday season, all hospitals will pay you better if you work as opposed to spending time with your family and friends. After a decade of nursing, I still fall for this trick. Works like magic.

6.??? Lack of Recognition: Nursing is an important profession in healthcare delivery but it is always fighting for recognition. The lack of recognition and appreciation comes from nurses to other nurses whom they see as different or from other cadres who see nursing as a mere afterthought to medicine. An unnecessary accessory to healthcare. I hope you rise above this and hold your value close to your chest. Defy all limits because none exist in your nursing school of thought. Be bold, be audacious, and dare to be different.

7.??? Job Insecurity: Indeed, you will never lack a job as a nurse. However, that job will be as valid as you can carry it out. Do not be unwell. Speaking of which, get comprehensive health insurance early on. You are not indispensable. ?You might get fired on the spot for daring to be different as well. Oh, I encouraged you to be different? My bad, you might get fired. In times of economic uncertainty and organizational restructuring, you surely will be on the sacrificial altar ready to be axed. You will get another job though, definitely maybe.

8.??? Limited Career Advancement: Unless you are willing to pull through the red tape, nursing can be a stifling career. Career advancement is personal though. You decide what you want to do with your nursing degree. Then do it, or seek ways to do it.

9.??? Work-Home Balance: Did you know that in all professions in healthcare, nursing has the highest rates of single people? Probably the statistics are skewed because nursing is indeed the most populous workforce in healthcare. Either way, balancing a demanding work schedule and personal life responsibilities might not be the easiest.

10.Volatile Autonomy: Once again this depends on where you are. I know they told you that you are the patients’ advocate and that you can work autonomously but they left a few points out. True advocacy in nursing depends on local policies and protocols. Abide by them. If you question them, one of the best responses you might get is ‘It is policy.’ That response tastes like wet car keys. But you will have to take it. Take it deeply if you are a staff nurse in the United Kingdom.

11.Compassion burnout: It is hard to care for people and not have their pain rub off on you. It is worse when we add long shifts, poor staffing ratios, and an inadequate skills mix. These factors will leave you open to feeling worn out in your spirit. It may manifest as impatient outbursts and anger. When this starts happening, it is time to re-strategize.

12.Save Your Back: They teach us proper body ergonomics but I am yet to meet a nurse in their 70s and 60s who does not have one or another form of musculoskeletal disorder. Though they ask you to have two nurses to carry out the most procedures, they pull the rug under your feet by ensuring that you never have an extra nurse to help around. That is the only way you end up twisting your body in unnatural positions as you try to move and reposition patients.

Nursing may be a glorious profession but it has its underbelly. The above is a reminder of the same. However, we have to appreciate that it opens vistas that pan from here to Kingdom Come. We put in our 10,000 hours and aspire to leave the profession better than we found it. Happy International Nurses’ Week!