#nurseproblems

12/17/2025

Scrolling through my old photos during my break this afternoon, I had one of those... wait, is that really me? moments. Looking at the blurry selfies in my old, wrinkled scrubs, it hit me... ang layo na pala ng narating ko. It feels like a lifetime ago since those early nursing years.

Back when I started as a Med-Surgical nurse, it wasn't just a job... it was a daily Olympic sport. Imagine me balancing more than 10 patients’ charts like a deck of cards while sprinting down the hallway. Mag-isa ka lang na magpe-prepare ng mountain of oral meds, while trying to remember if Bed 5 liked their pills hidden in applesauce or if they were the one by one type. Sabay-sabay yan... checking IV drips, carrying out doctor’s orders and following up on lab results.

And let’s not forget the extra challenge... handling the significant others. Bless their hearts pero sa Med-Surg ward, lahat ng kamag-anak instant Google-certified doctor! I’d be trying to finish my rounds, tapos may haharang sa’yo para itanong kung bakit nag-change ang heart rate from 82 to 83. Then there’s the ultimate test of patience... The Impossible IV Insertion. Grabe ang kaba kapag hard reach ang veins tapos nakatitig sa'yo ang buong pamilya ng pasyente. You’re sweating under your mask, praying for a flashback. Getting that line in on the first try felt better than winning the lottery! Ang nakakatawa pa, kung kailan ka uupo para magchart, doon pa may magca-call light dahil lang gusto magpa-lipat ng channel sa TV. Doon ko natutunan na ang pantog ng nurse parang camel... walang ihi-ihi hangga't 'di tapos ang shift!

Then, I leveled up to the ICU, where the pace changed from a sprint to a high-stakes chess match. It was just me and 4 beds for 12 hours but those 4 beds felt like the cockpit of a spaceship. Every single hour bantay-sarado ang vitals, titrating drips and updating doctors who were sometimes more caffeinated than I was. Here, the challenge was the intensity and the high stakes. And don’t get me started on some moody doctors. Not all pero may mga iilan talaga na kapag tinawagan mo about a crashing patient in the middle of the night parang kasalanan mo pa na naistorbo mo ang beauty sleep nila. I learned to handle those big egos with data, clinical evidence and a lot of deep breaths.

Transitioning into Occupational Health in a Corporate setting was like entering an alternate dimension. Biglang ang kalaban ko na, hindi cardiac arrest, kundi Paperwork Mountains. Swapped my stethoscope for a keyboard, drowning in annual reports for DOLE and tracking every sneeze on the floor. Ang pinaka-challenging dito? Managing the high-stress energy of the floor. Sa BPO, dahil sa pressure ng metrics, minsan ang mga employees ay nagiging "main character" ang level ng stress... yung tipong konting ubo o headache lang, feeling nila end of the world na. I had to be their voice of reason and gently remind them... Bes, breathe lang tayo, galing ako sa ICU... promise, we can handle this headache. There’s something funny about being an ICU-trained nurse tapos kailangan mo mag-explain sa isang executive kung bakit hindi dapat ginagamit ang staple remover panglinis ng kuko.

Now, as a Medical In-Charge in the Industrial Sector, ako na ang Health Sheriff. I spend my days implementing health prevention talks, convincing tired workers na kasing-halaga ng makina ang hydration at tamang stretching. Looking at my photos today, I realize I've traded the hospital beeps for factory hums but the mission is the same. From life-or-death scenarios to serious consultations about why someone's knee hurts (spoiler: kasi 8 hours kang nakatayo sa semento, kuya!). I handle everything with that same Med-Surg grit and ICU focus.

Look at this unholy goober. I'm not really that happy irl.

So I got a text message. Its still vague on the details. Saying that the plan is to decompress our ER by building a new ICU out of our surgery department. Which Ive heard sister hospitals say as well. So the insinuation is we have to staff it..I mean who else is going to.

Yesterday we had 20 icu patients in our ER holding for a room in an icu. Nowhere to go in the state. My hospitals icu is only 5 beds. That 20th patient in the ER is gonna have to wait for 24 patients to die or something before they can get a bed.

All nursing staff is overwhelmed. Nobody wants to work outside their general scope. I don't want to work outside my general scope.

Frankly I just want my regular job. I have my regular job for a reason. Theres a reason I don't work with sick people and its scary that you could be assigned the sick of the sick when you don't know how to work with them. I could probably finagle a single icu patient some how, with help..but its never just a single icu patient is it? its always "oh you're here, take more than a full load, we are desperate" and thats when things get missed. When you don't know what certain medication does or how to use it, the inexperienced accidentally misses things. You don't want to have to explain to a doctor or patient family member why you missed things.

anyway, over this covid shenanigans.

But I WAS A LONER. I had like 2 friends in high school that I don’t even talk to any more. I was called fat and ugly. I thought when boys were nice to me it was just to mess with me and make a fool out of me.

Don’t get me wrong. I knew how to stand my ground and stand up for myself. I knew how to shut that shit down quick. But I was never MEAN.

I think I’m meaner now that I’ve been a nurse. I really don’t let people walk all over me and don’t give a damn what people think.

To those of you working on becoming Doctors/Surgeons: Rumor has it they tell you one of the first lessons you learn is to work with the nurses. Is that true? What do you all think nurses do? Do you think we are itching to call you and wake you up at all hours of the night for work? Do you think we sit around waiting for a good reason to inconvenience you with YOUR PATIENTS?

Here’s why I ask:

Last week, I had a new admit at 2030. (Right after shift change) They were admitted to one of our general surgeons from the ER. The ER Dr. is supposed to communicate with the admitting physician and send the patient up with an order set. That did not happen, so in the midst of administering meds, Starting a unit of PRBC, monitoring a patient on new chemo, doing my full assessments, answering a million questions and fulfilling requests in every room, I had no orders for my new admit.

I stopped what I was doing, and sent a Doc Halo to the surgeon (who was on call) saying that their “patient arrived to the floor and to please give me a call at # with orders.” I waited for a call on my IP phone and none came. Literally two minutes later I got a DocHalo message back saying, “No one answers the phone so deal with it.” I tried to have him paged and he never responded.

(I spoke with the charge nurse who wasn’t up front to answer the main phone because a patient on the other side of the floor was declining, ((and we don’t always have a unit clerk at night))THE CHARGE NURSE WAS IN STAFFING WITH SIX OF HER OWN PATIENTS!)

So, I stepped out of my scope of practice that night and made orders for a patient. I stuck to the basics and made the call because I was put in the position to. THIS IS NOT OK. When you become a physician DO NOT do this to your nurses. You signed up for this life! You decided to be in a position to be called at all hours (y’all it was only 830pm and he was on call), and to be responsible for other peoples lives. Do not be unapproachable, Do not be a pompous ass.

The next morning this physician came in, saw the patient and gave me a smug look and went to talk to the floor manager. He told my manager, “One of your nurses called me for orders she should have already had at 0200 and didn’t answer the damn phone when I called!”

I sent a screenshot to my manager of the DocHalo conversation right after it happened. My manager said, “ Actually sir, it was 2030. Why couldn’t you tell that nurse to call you at a specific number? Why couldn’t you call the specific number she gave you? Why would you put my nurse in the position to do your job when its not in her scope of practice?” He said nothing and backed into the elevator and didn’t say a word.

I wish I could say he is the only Dr. to act like this that frequently puts patients on my floor (several of them prefer our floor) but he isn’t. I did what I had to do to get my patient through the night, but it is not my job to write orders.

If you’re becoming a Dr. please try to remember:

1. Nurses are human beings. If we have to call you, then we HAVE to. We do not WANT to, especially if you’re known to be difficult or unapproachable, but we do it for the patients.

2. This is our livelihood: Please do not put us in the position to step out of our scope of practice and potentially lose our license. DO YOUR JOB, and put your petty crap aside. Please.

3. I field patient requests and questions in the middle of the night to make sure that you are not called for stupid reasons. I back you up. When patients complain about your lack of bedside manner, I talk you up and help them feel more comfortable with your ability to treat them. I have your back, why on God’s green earth cant you have mine!?