ndering if I had forgotten to do something.

Workplace overload is a contributing factor to staff shortages. Job dissatisfaction is overheard everywhere. I often hear "I can't wait until I retire or "If I find something else, I am out of here."

This is very disturbing to

Poor Sally!

I ran and picked up my ringing telephone. It was Sally. She was upset and was crying. I gave her the time and listened. What's up? And then she tells me, "that place is really the pits."

As we chatted together, she finally settled down and agreed that the nursing profession is not as attractive as it was in the past. I remember those days well. I actually had the time to hold a hand, wipe a tear, and give a hug. Those days are long gone. Today, we nurses rush through our day, leaving patients often frustrated.

The many things we do, often go unnoticed by our supervisors. However, we were recognized during National Recognition of Nurses Week, but for some reason that didn't seem enough.

Sally started to sob again. "One nurse can't be all things to all people." "I am tired of this." "There's just too much to do in eight hours." "They want you to punch out on time and all you hear about is their budget."

I too sacrifice my lunch and often break times. I feel the stress of hurrying through my tasks to finish them. My mind doesn't stop processing on my drive home, wondering if I had forgotten to do something.

Workplace overload is a contributing factor to staff shortages. Job dissatisfaction is overheard everywhere. I often hear "I can't wait until I retire or "If I find something else, I am out of here."

This is very disturbing to

nursing profession is not as attractive as it was in the past. I remember those days well. I actually had the time to hold a hand, wipe a tear, and give a hug. Those days are long gone. Today, we nurses rush through our day, leaving patients often frustrated.

The many things we do, often go unnoticed by our supervisors. However, we were recognized during National Recognition of Nurses Week, but for some reason that didn't seem enough.

Sally started to sob again. "One nurse can't be all things to all people." "I am tired of this." "There's just too much to do in eight hours." "They want you to punch out on time and all you hear about is their budget."

I too sacrifice my lunch and often break times. I feel the stress of hurrying through my tasks to finish them. My mind doesn't stop processing on my drive home, wondering if I had forgotten to do something.

Workplace overload is a contributing factor to staff shortages. Job dissatisfaction is overheard everywhere. I often hear "I can't wait until I retire or "If I find something else, I am out of here."

This is very disturbing to

gs we do, often go unnoticed by our supervisors. However, we were recognized during National Recognition of Nurses Week, but for some reason that didn't seem enough.

Sally started to sob again. "One nurse can't be all things to all people." "I am tired of this." "There's just too much to do in eight hours." "They want you to punch out on time and all you hear about is their budget."

I too sacrifice my lunch and often break times. I feel the stress of hurrying through my tasks to finish them. My mind doesn't stop processing on my drive home, wondering if I had forgotten to do something.

Workplace overload is a contributing factor to staff shortages. Job dissatisfaction is overheard everywhere. I often hear "I can't wait until I retire or "If I find something else, I am out of here."

This is very disturbing to

st too much to do in eight hours." "They want you to punch out on time and all you hear about is their budget."

I too sacrifice my lunch and often break times. I feel the stress of hurrying through my tasks to finish them. My mind doesn't stop processing on my drive home, wondering if I had forgotten to do something.

Workplace overload is a contributing factor to staff shortages. Job dissatisfaction is overheard everywhere. I often hear "I can't wait until I retire or "If I find something else, I am out of here."

This is very disturbing to

ndering if I had forgotten to do something.

Workplace overload is a contributing factor to staff shortages. Job dissatisfaction is overheard everywhere. I often hear "I can't wait until I retire or "If I find something else, I am out of here."

This is very disturbing to hear, because I relate to this every day. I hate it when nursing staff is short. Patient care is often compromised. I find myself not accepting overtime, because I'm too exhausted to work another additional 8 hours. Most of the time, refusals for overtime doesn't go over well with management. Most of us don't care and just go home.

The nursing force is aging. We are just getting older. Most want to retire. Others are looking to something else that is less stressful and demanding.

As I attempted to console Sally on the phone, we considered other options to cope with the workplace. "We do have a choice," I reminded her. "What's the choice," she asked. I rambled things off like, "we can quit," "we can stay," or "we can find something else out there." "We're to old," she quipped. "No we are not, Sally!"

I told her I had surfed the Internet and finally found something. Oh, I had her attention now, as she stopped sobbing. "I didn't know you were so computer savvy." "We both are." "We use the computer at work all the time, putting those orders in, don't we?" "Tell me," she begged!