Why Bedside Nurses Deserve More Respect
With the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic came along the growing respect and appreciation for nurses and healthcare workers caring for those suffering from the virus, along with patients already in the hospital or there for other conditions. However, for a very long time nurses’ and women’s roles have gone far underappreciated. Our old society used to be run by the fact that women were strictly caregivers, whether they were stay-at-home moms or healthcare workers, such as nurses, these roles were consistently undermined as these women were just expected to embrace these roles and live with them the way they were. One role in particular that has gone incredibly underappreciated is the role of bedside nurses.
Our modern-day society has definitely evolved and become much better at treating women and their roles with higher respect. Such as the introduction of national holidays, weeks, or even months that celebrate various healthcare professions and what they do for all of us. However, there are some that still treat healthcare workers and nurses alike with rudeness and disregard. Bedside nursing care is one of the most critical factors in contributing to a patient’s positive experience with a healthcare facility, it is also crucial overall to how healthcare functions in our society today.
So, what exactly is bedside nursing care? The term “bedside nursing” refers to caring directly for a specific patient in hospitals, clinics, and many other facilities. The registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and more who work as bedside nurses have a plethora of responsibilities and tasks to take care of when on the job. These tasks could include administering medications, taking vital signs, caring for a patient’s specific needs, and much more. Overall, bedside nurses are expected to be a comforting presence and deserve the utmost respect for all they do to care for their patients, especially with the conditions of their job, which can be considered one of the most physically straining healthcare positions.
Nursing Burnout and Challenges for Nurses
Along with the fact that bedside nursing can be an incredibly draining job physically, that doesn’t spare the mind from also being vulnerable while working the job. Every healthcare job can be considered mentally draining, however, due to the critical work conditions that bedside nurses must go through every day, these nurses can be considered more vulnerable to experiencing burnout than some others may be. You may be wondering, though, why are nurses burned out, to begin with? Our frontline healthcare workers have a lot of roadblocks every day in their jobs and sacrifice a lot physically and mentally to properly care for their patients, this can eventually lead to burnout if they do not properly practice self-care.
While burnout is not considered a real medical health condition, the term and condition itself are still undoubtedly real, the term “burnout” itself being a term since the 1970s. As COVID-19 surged worldwide, the nursing shortage became amplified and thus amplified the pressure on the nurses currently working the job, all of this together made it heaps easier to become a victim of burnout. This condition is a state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion which is caused by stress over a long period of time. Due to the working conditions healthcare workers have, burnout is especially easy for them to fall victim to.
However, what exactly are these “conditions” and why are they so critical in the cause of nursing burnout? As we know, stress is the overall cause of the feeling of burnout, however, the stress itself is caused by the many challenges nurses and healthcare workers must face every day. One of the most prominent challenges is long work hours, nurses will often work ten to 12-hour shifts, not to mention the physical strain that comes with their job in those long hours. Another hugely impacting factor and why our nurses deserve all the respect we can give is the fact they can deal with poor treatment from patients or their loved ones. These two things upon many other challenges are the reasons why nursing burnout is so prevalent in today’s society.
Find PRN Nursing Jobs
Today, nurses have begun moving from place to place for jobs, which for some may be the better option than staying put in one place as a full-time employee as it gives the opportunity to meet new people and assist various different patients all over the states. Due to this, a plethora of organizations have come through to assist these healthcare workers in finding the perfect jobs for them. Those in search of jobs can find just what they need with our healthcare staffing app at NursaTM, sign up for an account with us today, and you can find the perfect job in no time!
