[DianaJH]

Originally Posted by Hellllllo Nurse

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

Unfortunately, this person didn't mention one good/positive aspect of nursing.
Just the bad/negative.
There are those people who rant of doom and gloom and it's all they see. There are those people who only see the good in things and turn bad things into blessings. Interestingly, if you think about it, this person got quite the opposite reaction it sounds like she was after (on this board, anyway). It sounded like she wanted to chase people away from a nursing career, yet here, the people brought up wonderful insights in nursing because of her staements. It's good that her comments opened peoples eyes to reality of the negative issues. Fortunately, the nurses who are in it for the caring, compassion, and rewards of a job well done reminded ME anyway, why we are becoming nurses, or at least why we should be!

[weetziebat]

I agree with Hellllllo Nurse, and have one other thing to add. Saying that nurses who have negative things to say about the profession are "bitter".
I've been a nurse for over 25 years, have found a niche in nursing where I am quite content, am very grateful for opportunities given to me because I am a nurse (the wonderful opportunity to live overseas for 7 years) which would never have happened if I hadn't been a nurse, and the knowledge that, as a nurse, I have been able to help others.
Having said that, I also know, first hand, the negative realities of the nursing profession. It is wonderful to be an idealistic student - and more power to you for not letting the negatives change your mind. But please don't think it is just a bunch of tired, old, worn out, bitter nurses being negative. These are realities and the better you know them, the better prepared you are for the real world.
If you become nurses, and LOVE the profession no one will be happier than me. Good luck

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by Hellllllo Nurse

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.

Very true. It helps to address what our problems are specifically.

There are a lot of posts, however, that present themselves that nursing has unique problems of job dissatisfaction, backstabbing, management problems, etc. It helps to know that the grass isn't always greener elsewhere. This helps me to remember to stay in nursing and find my peace with the profression, as well as not to jump from hospital to hospital.

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by weetziebat

[font=Fixedsys][color=navy]I agree with Hellllllo Nurse, and have one other thing to add. Saying that nurses who have negative things to say about the profession are "bitter".

I did say the exRN was bitter, so I reread what she had to say. I still say her anger and bitterness is palpable. But also give her/him credit that it's probably deserved. I still say that person shouldn't be hanging around student nurses, and just leave the profression behind.

But for us in the profression to "vent our concerns" and express the realities of nursing to be called bitter is not accurate at all.

[weetziebat]

Hey, Tweety - I know you didn't mean it like that. I totally agree that the exRN WAS being bitter, and had no right to give her diatribe to a bunch of students. I just wanted to clear the air about negative statements = bitter nurses.

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by weetziebat

Hey, Tweety - I know you didn't mean it like that. I totally agree that the exRN WAS being bitter, and had no right to give her diatribe to a bunch of students. I just wanted to clear the air about negative statements = bitter nurses.

Understood. To me sometimes negative statements = reality. :hatparty:

[Sheri257]

Originally Posted by 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.

Well, you may not care about other professions. But the thread we're discussing is telling us to get out. The question is: Get out where? What are the real alternatives in other professions?

Maybe you think other professions are irrelevant but, actually, it isn't if we're supposed to take this advice and find careers elsewhere. It's not that easy. If it was, presumably you guys would have gotten out of nursing by now.

A lot of us have been out there in other professions. And a lot of us have been laid off. At a certain point, any job is better than no job at all. Maybe nursing does suck, but at least it's likely that you don't have to worry about layoffs and paying the bills.

While you're trying to get us to understand your perspective, we're also trying to get you to understand ours. When we talk about other jobs, we're not saying that nurses' experiences don't count. We're only pointing out that there's no job utopia out there ... that is ... if you're lucky enough to have a job at all.

It's a tough situation all the way around for both sides.

[Hellllllo Nurse]

My student web site still exists, but it is no longer interactive. I closed the message forums. It is now an informational site.

I have addressed the issue experienced nurses giving a realistic view of nursing vs. the idealistic student filled with excitment about their future as a nurse.

Here is a copy and paste from my student site:

Dear Nurses and potential Nurses ,



If you are a CNA going on to become a Nurse, or an LPN/LVN going to to become an RN, you may have some knowledge of the realities of nursing, and the many issues facing nurses today.



If you have never worked in nursing or nursing related field, the realities of nursing are something you must be fully aware of before you make a huge investment of your time, money, and efforts to become a Nurse.

Many people with no experience in nursing or a medical field view it as an exciting rewarding career. They visualize themselves in scrubs, with a stethoscope around their neck, walking hospital corridors. They see themselves doing important and respected work, helping others...and making a good living at it.



From what the media has shown us of nursing, it looks like the possibilities are wide open- want ads full of high-paying nursing jobs, nursing agencies on the internet aggressively recruiting Nurses, job security seems to be ensured, due to the "Nursing Shortage."

Even The Johnson & Johnson comapny is currently running a television campaign, encouraging viewers to "Dare to care...Be a Nurse."



In 1980, I became a hospital volunteer. I became a CNA in 1990, an LPN in 1992, and have been an RN since May of 2000..

Many CNAs and other para-professionals are disatisfied and unhappy with their working conditions, work-loads, and pay. They long for the "greener grass" of being a Nurse, not having to work as hard as they do now, and are looking forward to being IN CHARGE.



Often, CNAs do not believe me when I tell them that being a Nurse IS MORE DIFFICULT than being a CNA. But, it is.



Many people who have never worked in nursing feel that the hardest things about being a nurse are probably the blood, vomit, feces, urine, infected wounds, etc. that nurses come into contact with, or that it must be the suffering and sad situations that nurses see and are involved in. In my opinion and the opinions of many other nurses, those are the easy parts of nursing. Other non-nurses feel that it must be all the clinical, technical, pathophysiological, pharmacological and legal knowledge that nurses must obtain, and the continuous learning process of being a nurse.

Those things are difficult, but are obtainable for an intelligent, motivated individual.



In the opinion of many thousands of nurses, myself included, the hardest aspects of being a nurse are the working conditions, lack of respect, patient/work loads, and pay that is not commesurate with the level of responsibility of being a nurse, with pts lives in your hands.



I do not wish to discourage anyone from becoming a nurse or advancing their career in nursing. On the contrary, I want you to go into nursing fully aware of what it is all about, with your eyes wide open.

In order to avoid disappointment and disillusionment in your chosen career, you must have a good knowledge of the issues facing Nurses and nursing today.

The "Nursing Shortage" is not about supply and demand.

The shortage and the factors that created it go much deeper than that.



In having been a nurse for twelve years, and CNA for almost 3 years prior to that, and having worked in many clinical settings and positions, I have first-hand knowledge of nursing and the State of the Profession. In addition, I have been the web-master of two nursing web sites, and have been actively involved in many nursing web-forums, and have done extensive research into the current state of nursing.



Therefore, I am going to post on this page articles and documents which I SERIOUSLY URGE YOU TO READ before you make your life and career plans in nursing.



It is my sincere hope that this page is helpful to you.

With love and respect to my fellow nursing colleages, and future nursing colleages,



XXXXXXXX, RN



http://www.nysna.org/news/press/pr2002/pr031102.htm



http://allnurses.com/forums/showthre...=&pagenumber=2



http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...g-shortage.htm



http://www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/2001/pr0206.htm



http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl.../ownwords.html

[nontrad1964]

Hi

I clicked on the link to the pulled post. I must say it was very negative.
As for the Lawyer, that sure is a lot of degrees to find happiness. Maybe nothing is good enough. Hope that is not my ambulance he/she is chasing.

As far as exposure goes. I would feel better in a hospital setting working with body fluids than the firefighters and EMT's coming on the scene. There situations are a lot messier than those in the hospital. If fear kept us from doing our jobs, then we would have no volunteer ambulance and firemen and first responders that do an invaluable servie to our small communities.

[lisamc1]

Originally Posted by weetziebat

I agree with Hellllllo Nurse, and have one other thing to add. Saying that nurses who have negative things to say about the profession are "bitter".
I've been a nurse for over 25 years, have found a niche in nursing where I am quite content, am very grateful for opportunities given to me because I am a nurse (the wonderful opportunity to live overseas for 7 years) which would never have happened if I hadn't been a nurse, and the knowledge that, as a nurse, I have been able to help others.
Having said that, I also know, first hand, the negative realities of the nursing profession. It is wonderful to be an idealistic student - and more power to you for not letting the negatives change your mind. But please don't think it is just a bunch of tired, old, worn out, bitter nurses being negative. These are realities and the better you know them, the better prepared you are for the real world.
If you become nurses, and LOVE the profession no one will be happier than me. Good luck

I think, (at least I hope) I made it very clear the differences in a negative statement and a bitter statement, IMO. I stand by my remarks that she was bitter. I don't think that I included everyone who expresses negative remarks about the profession in that category, though. Indeed, I think that most everyone here has been quite kind, even when they have said things that were negative about the nursing field. I'll say it again... I'm not equating negative remarks about nursing with bitterness.

This woman certainly had the right to say what she did, wherever she wanted to say it, so long as she wasn't violating any TOS. I choose to take what she has to say with a grain of salt, because of her presentation of the information . It might be taken entirely different coming from one of the nurses on allnurses who feel that it is only fair to let us students in on the downsides of nursing as well. I'm all for that.

At the same time, please don't assume that just because we are students that we are naive or can't tell the difference between bitterness and someone who is stating an opinion with the best of intentions of helping prepare us for the real world.