When I worked at my RN jobs in hospitals I got my hand slapped more than a few times. These incidents had nothing to do with breaching the standard of care or doing my nursing job. Instead, I was slapped down for being too mouthy and opinionated about patient rights and about doing the right thing for my patients. I felt like one of those moles in a whack-a-mole game. Every time I stuck my head up for a patient – you guessed it.
I felt like I was being punished for caring and trying to excel, while the RNs who kept their heads down and treated nursing as just another job, breezed through their day. And their lack of effort gained them the same lousy raise I got. Not exactly inspiring if you know what I mean. I knew I couldn’t be that head-down, no effort, just doing my job type of RN and that’s one of the main reasons I stepped out to start my legal nurse consulting business.
Consulting with attorneys on medical-related cases, I felt as though I had been freed. Even when I disagreed with my attorney-clients, I didn’t experience the backlash of administration or supervisory negativity. Just the opposite – attorneys encouraged the dialogue and seemed to like a little bit of sparring. I loved being an entrepreneur, I loved my legal nurse consulting business and I loved the intellectual stimulation of discussing cases with attorneys.
Before I left my last RN job at the hospital I thought I wouldn’t work nearly as hard owning my own business. Turns out I was wrong – even today I probably work harder than I ever did in any of my RN jobs. But I’m not just surviving, I’m thriving because I am free to express my thoughts without punishment. Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone; some people just don’t want to work that hard and that’s a good thing for those of us who aren’t afraid of hard work.
The hard work I can handle and have handled for 32 years. Censorship and being suppressed for trying to do the right thing – that’s a deal-breaker for me. Just surviving as an RN ain’t going to cut it for me. How about for you? Thriving or just surviving another day on the unit?
I’m Just Askin’
P.S.Comment and share if you are thriving or just surviving as an RN.
2 thoughts on “Just Surviving as an RN Ain’t Going to Cut It”
After 30 years surviving as a RN, my career took a turn to thriving as a CLNC® consultant. My opinions got me into a lot of trouble with my co-workers, supervisors, and even administration. I was told to keep my opinions to myself. They did not want to hear that we did not give quality care or we made any mistakes.
My introspection revealed that my resume has the appearance of 31 years of job-hopping. At first I felt bad, but now I see the value. The good thing is, all those jobs gave me first hand knowledge of multiple experiences which gives me the ability to take on various types of cases. My first case was a wrongful death where a baby died from a nurse’s neglect. I knew how to read those fetal heart monitoring strips and we won the case.
My only regret was not starting this business sooner!
No one wants to hear that we are not giving quality care. I am working as an APRN in a hospital and working on getting my CLNC® business up and running. The case managers department was cut and they are struggling. They were told by the VP of the hospital to “just leave”. That shows a lot of support. It is very disheartening going to work when you know the upper management really has no clue that all the hands on people for the hospital are trying to do what is best and right for the patients and get no support.
LegalNurse.com is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
The National Alliance of Certified Legal Nurse Consultants (NACLNC®) is the largest and oldest association of legal nurse consultants.
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*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.
After 30 years surviving as a RN, my career took a turn to thriving as a CLNC® consultant. My opinions got me into a lot of trouble with my co-workers, supervisors, and even administration. I was told to keep my opinions to myself. They did not want to hear that we did not give quality care or we made any mistakes.
My introspection revealed that my resume has the appearance of 31 years of job-hopping. At first I felt bad, but now I see the value. The good thing is, all those jobs gave me first hand knowledge of multiple experiences which gives me the ability to take on various types of cases. My first case was a wrongful death where a baby died from a nurse’s neglect. I knew how to read those fetal heart monitoring strips and we won the case.
My only regret was not starting this business sooner!
No one wants to hear that we are not giving quality care. I am working as an APRN in a hospital and working on getting my CLNC® business up and running. The case managers department was cut and they are struggling. They were told by the VP of the hospital to “just leave”. That shows a lot of support. It is very disheartening going to work when you know the upper management really has no clue that all the hands on people for the hospital are trying to do what is best and right for the patients and get no support.