Lowkey my shifts just feel like a never ending loop of this lately: Untangling charging cords from pumps Untangling tele/ekg leads Untangling iv tubing from literally everything and then ultimately giving up and trashing everything half way thru bc you realize it’ll just be easier to start over with all new tubing than salvage what the previous nurse set up Reorganizing the room bc everything is in ur way (bedside table, iv pole, countless cords plugged into the wall, recliner + chairs, pt belongings, extra supplies/linens) Reorganizing the whole bed because everything is getting tangled up with the pt somehow (call light, phone cord, foley tubing, drains, their gown/clothing, excessive blankets/sheets) Opening the packaging of 3 syringes, 3 blunt tips, 3 vials, 8 pills, a million flushes, 1 primary tubing, 1 secondary tubing, 1 antibiotic w/ a 100 ns bag, 1 liter of fluids, 2 insulin needles, and a million alcohol swabs for just ONE pt’s med pass (obvi not every pts’ meds will require all this but u get the point) Throwing away all this fucking packaging ^^^ afterward and making sure all the trash is being disposed to the right place Constantly opening new curos caps and throwing them away everytime u have to push something Cleaning up all the food+trash on a pts bedside table, throwing it all away, and then taking out the trashes in their room cuz now they’re full Throwing away all ur PPE every time u leave an iso room and then having to take out the trash multiple times cuz it fills up so fast w all the gowns/masks Disposing of dirty chucks and linens for the millionth time when u have an incontinent pt that’s soiling themself every hour Cleaning up miscellaneous substances on the floor/bedrail/table/counter all night (blood from starting iv, pee that dripped from foley while emptying it, unidentified sticky spot on floor that u keep stepping in) I’ve only been a nurse for a year and a half but constantly doing all these repetitive & tedious tasks drives me crazy and is honestly what burns me out the most. Especially the nonstop cleaning and reorganizing lol. It definitely doesn’t help that I work on a chronically understaffed med surg floor with a 5-6:1 ratio and limited resources… Im starting my new job soon and im hoping I’ll be less frustrated/burnt out since it’s a different type of unit and I’ll have less pts with more help, but idk. Im wondering how many of yall relate to this feeling and if it correlates to what specialty u work in. I know it’s inevitable to get bored of repeating the same tasks on any unit, but i think the large pt load in addition to the endless monotonous chores is what makes med surg so exhausting and frustrating for me.   submitted by   /u/ren23_ [link]   [comments]