[Energizer Bunny]

I, too, agree with MarieDoreen....I want to know as much as I can, good and bad, before I get thrown into any situation.

[Hellllllo Nurse]

Originally Posted by Jen2

Whine whine whine whine. Good thing this person is leaving, I wouldn't want someone like this taking care of anyone I knew anyway. She/he probably got into it for the money alone and then realized it was actual work with real respondability. .

I find the opposite to be true, in most cases. It's the nurses who persued nursing because they wanted to help people, and saw nursing as a way to do good work, who suffer from burn-out far more than those who are mainly interested in money.

[mattsmom81]

Those of you who blasted that ex nurses' heartfelt words say more about yourselves than you realize. I've been doing this a long time and can relate to everything she said actually. Knowledge of the truth does not necessarily make one awful to work with, actually. I prefer a savvy coworker vs a naive sucker.

In nursing school I felt I was prepared somewhat for nursing reality by my diploma program; yet one can never be fully prepared for the lack of respect and the doublespeak from administrators. It is rampant in my part of the country. We are seen as lowest level of the totem pole, a group to be controlled.

The comment about nursing's awesome responsibility and acountability with little authority is a line I've used myself many times and is quite accurate.

There are WAAAY too many physicians, administrators, and people in general that have little to no respect for nurses. And I DON'T think the nurses with rose colored glasses on will ever help us progress from that.

The comment suggesting that 'nurses who know their stuff' will always be respected is way off base in my experience. That implies blaming of the victim for not being 'smart enough'. Abuse and disrespect have little to do with the nurses' knowledge level, IMO. I DO get more respect from SOME docs in SOME situations (usually IM) because I'm an ICU nurse; but an abusive doc will generally be abusive whenever it suits them, because they CAN in my experience. And I haven't met a doc yet that won't turf a bad outcome to the nurses if they can get away with it.

I never talk to a potential student nurse without including realities. Obviously these realities are not being covered if one looks at the sheer #'s of new nurses who bail within their first year out.

[Paleobug]

If you go back and read the posts of people changing careers to go into nursing, then you will see that job disenchantment is in all professions. I've worked for years in the casino industry, and I can say that that industry sucks too. None of us can really say what it's going to be like for us until we get there ourselves. Every work environment is different. It's been said many times on this site that there are countless avenues to pursue in nursing. You're not a prisoner of your work environment. If it becomes too toxic, then try another hospital or another avenue of nursing, plain and simple. I've worked too hard and sacrificed too much so far, to be discouraged by anyone!

[Laurie888]

I'm not a nurse (yet) but I've done a lot of different things (massage therapy, aide work, data entry, production typing, editing, office managing, computer technician) and I gotta clue you in on something:

It's bad everywhere, if you let it be. No matter what you do, no matter where you are, there will be people who DO teamwork and people who do NOT do teamwork, and a whole lot of people who complain that everyone is complaining and there's no teamwork. Honest to God, that's how it is.

I work right now as a secretary on a floor which was at the time I was hired touted to be 'the best floor to work on'. That has changed, but it will cycle around again -- no doubt -- because depending on staff there are those who DO teamwork and those who DO NOT. Sometimes we are short-handed but we almost never MANDATE.

There are doctors who value the nursing judgement, and work as a team with their nurses, and there are doctors who are rude and have superiority complexes. We have both. Always will. By the same token there are nurses who work as a team and there are those who snub their noses at their aides. And there are aides and nurses who snub their noses at secretaries, but I gotta tell you the team players are quite happy to kiss my feet because everyone knows: the secretary is IN CHARGE.

So it varies. Job to job, floor to floor, department to department, and profession to profession it is all fundamentally the same. Sometimes you can make a bad environment better, sometimes you can't and you have to know when to cut your losses and move on, and not be afraid to.

Promise yourself you will never stick with a job you hate (that doesn't mean you won't work yourself through a few or even several really lousy days), never ever ever let someone else's lousy attitude reflect on YOU (don't take it personally, there are bitter people EVERYWHERE) and that you'll always BE that team player and my guess is you'll be fine. None of this well they won't play so I don't because then nobody plays on the team... get it? There are too many options as a nurse to stick with something you hate. Just don't.

[Angela Mac]

I love being a nurse and I love helping people. Nothing is more rewarding, than fixing someone up and sending them home to their families. Or making their last few years in a nursing home comfortable & happy years. I must admit, however, nursing has some drawbacks- but in all my experiences, I can honestly say- the only problems I ran into was with the administrative staff & their dirty politics. But I understand their plythe, they must remain fully staffed at all costs. And yes, there are many times they are rude to their workers- trying to get them to work all hours. But that is the way the profession is- nursing is a 24/7 duty. Unfortunately, these demands cause many to burn out fast. When I am stressed, I take a long break or find a hobby to take my mind off my troubles. If in your heart, you want to be a nurse, go for it. The most important quality one can posess is the ability to care about other people. Good luck.

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by mattsmom81

Those of you who blasted that ex nurses' heartfelt words say more about yourselves than you realize. I've been doing this a long time and can relate to everything she said actually. Knowledge of the truth does not necessarily make one awful to work with, actually. I prefer a savvy coworker vs a naive sucker.

What bothered me most about the poster wasn't that what they said wasn't true, but they had left nursing and was on a student nurse's board. Why would an ex-nurse even be surfing on a student board and offering such unsolicited advice? They've left nursing. Time to find some peace and move on, unless they feel some sort of mission, IMO.

I appreciate the realities of nursing, and people definately need to know what they are getting into. I would much rather hear about the realities of nursing from one like yourself, who has made some semblence of peace with their career choice, in a thread where the question "what are the realities of nursing". But you can't generalize. One persons perceptions of what nursing is isn't the end all of the reality.

Guess I'm being nitpicky though. But as I indicated before I definately could relate to the poster.

[hypnotic_nurse]

I want all of you who are students to take this to heart...

When I was hugely pregnant, random people would tell me about horrible deliveries, stillborn children, horrible tantrums, teenagers on drugs -- you name it, if it was awful, I heard about it. (I have one of those faces that make people think they can tell me things they might not tell someone else). Random people usually did not stop me to tell me how wonderful childbirth is...and frankly, the joy of it is what stays with me to this day (no, I didn't have epidurals with either child).

Sometimes people are so overwhelmed by their own situation that they can no longer see the positives. Or they are regretful of their own choices and can't see that anyone would like what they don't.

Nursing does have problems. SO DOES EVERY OTHER FIELD (just ask a teacher. Or an IT person). Get a bunch of supermodels together and I betcha they b*tch and moan and whine about their jobs too.

[lisamc1]

I don't have a problem with the content of her remarks, just her presentation of them. I don't think I am being naive by not wanting to hear bitter remarks from someone who has left the profession. I have seen and heard plenty from my relatives and friends in the field, but have not heard such bitterness about it from them. Why is the ex-nurse's word so much more valid or poignant than those who have remained and have positive things to say as well? As students, I think it is wise to hear the downside of your chosen profession, but choose wisely who you listen to. I want to listen to those who have succeeded and who have chosen to stay in the chosen field. If we listen to her, we might as well give up now. Is that really what we want to transmit to students and new nurses? JMO.

[Hellllllo Nurse]

When someone responds to the negative things that many nurses have to say about nursing with a remark like "Every other field thinks they have it rough, too."
It really bothers me.
It doesn't help our situation to dismiss nurses' legitimate opinions that way.
If there's one thing we don't need, it's more people invalidating our experiences and opinions.

I'm sure other occupations do have their problems, but frankly, I don't care.

NURSING and the problems and issues of NURSES are what I'm concerned about.


I used to have a student nurses' web site where I tutored nursing students and offered them encouragment.

After graduating, more than one of my members was upset with me for NOT telling them enough about the bad in nursing. I was afraid of "bursting their bubble", so although I did bring up some of the negative aspects of nursing, I did not stress the negatives.

Any nurse who is willing to give you her honest opinion on both the good and bad in nursing is doing you a service.