Originally Posted by TonyFl
Thanks guys....
The problem that i am seeing on this board are the pervasive negative remarks from nurses about the field of work...(sigh).
I will make another post on the positives of nursing....and see what i can get. There's always pluses and minuses...Right?
I love my stupid job. Sometimes I am reminded that nursing is a synonym for sucking, but it has been my experience in life that anything that's all fun, all the time, costs me money. So, even though I'm just six numbers and a Powerball away from being exnursemike, I continue to recommend nursing as a career to anyone with a serious interest. It is stressful, but there are a variety of sorts of stress available. Critical patients can go from bad to worse in a heartbeat, but you don't have as many. Acute care patients (med/surg, for example) aren't as likely to crash, but still can, and you have to juggle several of them. Home health, you get to spend a good deal of time one on one with a patient who's usually delighted to see you, but then you spend even more time writing about it.
Not all stress is bad. Sometimes, when you're up to your ears in alligators but getting the job done anyway, it's downright satisfying. Going full-tilt and keeping ahead of the curve is empowering. Going full-tilt and falling behind can get pretty discouraging.
My Dad tells me that when he was in the service, generals didn't worry about troops who were griping, they worried when they
stopped griping. Nursing is a bit like that. On some level, I think a lot of us who aren't particularly dissatisfied just enjoy complaining. It's part of the bonding process. A lot of times, too, what you're pulling your hair out over this week, you'll laugh about in six months. Get a bunch of nurses talking about PITAs from the past and it's hilarious.
That said, this profession is not without problems. Some of it is inherent. Every day, people die under the care of nurses (and others) doing everything humanly possible to keep them alive, and death is not the only bad outcome you'll see. It's damned difficult to think of something to say to comfort someone awaiting surgery to amputate a limb, or who has just learned they'll be paralyzed for the rest of their life, or has chronic pain with little hope of relief. But then there are other frustrations that can't be written off as part of nature--patients who can't get the care they need, not because it's beyond human means, but simply because there's no way to pay for it. Workloads that aren't really manageable, not because there aren't enough nurses, but because bean-counters figure it's better for the bottom line. All of the problems of any industry--plus sick people.
And then, after busting your tail for twelve hours, then staying an extra hour just to finish charting, and feeling like crap because you left something (or several things) undone for the next shift, and you're just about to drag your weary butt out the door, an aide comes by to say one of your patients has requested that you stop by their room so they can give you a hug before you go.
I love my stupid job.
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