does anyone regret this career?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Sep 3, 2012

So interesting to hear you say that it has never been a higher calling for you. I felt that way for a long time and felt really guilty about feeling that way.

I feel absolutely no morsel of guilt for admitting that nursing has never been a 'higher calling' of mine. Neither should you. Sometimes the truth shall set you free. :)

No amount of passion in the world will pay one's bills. No amount of angelic caring will keep roofs over our heads or food on the table. I work as a nurse, but it is not tied into my identity or the core essence of who I am. Nursing, for me, is simply a means to an end.

determined2doit · Sep 3, 2012

OP, I understand how it can be your first year. My first 6months was so devasting, frustrating, agrivating, etc. :mad:I used to go home and cry, better yet, most of the time I never made it home, used to lock myself in the bathroom and bawl my eyes out! :crying2:Not only were the nurses mean, but the overall staff used to join in to put me down EVERY way they could, from the position I used to hold the diabetic needle, to IV's, to med transcription, to EKG's, not to mention the way they tore apart my assessments! It was horrible! Thank God, the Lord heard my prayers and got me out of that enviornment. :yelclap:Now it's not all peaches and creams, but it is WAAAAAAY better than the hell I just came from!

I know it seems like it will never get better, but it will! If the situation doesn't get better, YOU will! You will get stronger, wiser, sharper, your skin will thicken, AND hopefully, you will treat the upcoming nurses BETTER than you were/are treated. Just remember, YOU are the doctors eyes and ears, and there have been thousands of cases documented where the quick thinking of the Nurse rescued and saved lives. Even if you saved 1 life you've effected many! Chin up! Be blessed.

Rags2Riches RN · Sep 3, 2012

I don't regret going into nursing (not yet anyways). Partly because I've only been at my first nursing job for 6 months now. I have not had the chance to work in specialties that truly interest me (like the OR, ICU or gasp...Med-Surg) because quite frankly they wanted experience or you had to have an inside connect and I had neither. But there are days where I get to work and I just want to walk right back out, or there are times where doctors can be such drama queens/kings and then I start looking up the requirements to NP school lol. But I'm hanging in there until, I've at least sampled the specialities that interest me.

anotherone, BSN, RN · Sep 3, 2012

Interesting... I am pretty old school, but after reading all of the problems with finding a nursing job here, are people not doing this anymore? Every job I have ever had, except my current one, I applied for in person. The only reason I did not for my current position is because it is with an insurance company and they have very tight security, so you can't just go there unless you have been invited for an interview. I know we are in the internet age of google and monster.com, but are nurses seriously not dressing up, hand delivering their resume, filling out an application in person, knocking on doors and shaking hands when they are on a job hunt? If not, in my opinion, that is obscuring possibly one of their greatest assets- themselves. Live and in person! I want them to see me, not just my resume or an online application.

I tried this approach and only a few ltcs took my resume many ltcs, rehabs and all hospitals told me apply online no paper applications or resumes accepted .lol

determined2doit · Sep 3, 2012

lol!!! Good one Mazy!

NurseFrustrated · Sep 3, 2012

There are so many days I feel the same way. If I could find a job making the kind of money I do right now, I'd get out of nursing in a heartbeat and never look back. At the same time, I know I feel that way because my workplace is horrible. I don't mind taking care of patients, but watching the constant backstabbing that my coworkers do every single day, plus the fact that I can see management is way more interested in numbers than safe patient care really drains me. more.

I agree with you. I go back and forth regretting becoming a nurse and not regretting it. In my current job, I like my patients and I like the type of nursing that I do. I like the doctors and pharmacists there. What makes me unhappy on the job is the bare-bones staffing and unprofessional behavior that is allowed to go on. They don't seem to care about keeping patients safe and well taken care of. It's very stressful and hard to give the good patient care that you want to give when you simply don't have time or support. I have always been a hard worker and I don't like working in an unprofessional environment, which is what my unit has become lately. It used to be a good place to work but has changed for the worse.

There is a lot of laziness, unprofessional behavior, and lack of respect for authority that goes on. Management does nothing to change anything despite complaints from staff and even from patients themselves. It just goes on deaf ears and it makes you feel very underappreciated. This is what will likely make me leave my current job. No support from management. No appreciation. I have lost respect for a place that allows unprofessional behavior to go on even though they are well aware of it. Why does a person get paid to be a manager when they can't even manage a unit well?

So I am at a crossroads as to what to do: stay and try to cope with it or leave and try to go elsewhere which may be just as bad or worse (which I know is very possible as I have seen it in other jobs). I have experienced this type of thing over and over at hospitals and it has made me lose faith in the entire medical field. I wonder if other careers have more professional behaving workers. This is when I regret becoming a nurse.

I am grateful to have a job and to make the money that I do, don't get me wrong. But it is a stressful profession.

determined2doit · Sep 3, 2012

A job that I hate I normally leave it right away...there was one job I worked at for like 4 days, so it sound to me that you got a bit left in you. Sounds like I got a tough future ahead of me, and I really hope I like it. 1.5 years is not really long in any profession, but reading your post it sounds like you do like being a nurse, you just dont like the circumstances which are around you. My sister felt the same way, but stuck through the hard times, now at 35yo and several years later, she found that long term care was for her, and she makes a great living doing. Give yourself more time to find the area you will love. On your days off add activities that counters your high stress so you can feel balanced. Sometimes the only thing that keeps me in at job is reminding myself, to not do it for my managers, not for my coworkers, not for my customers and not even for my family, just do it for God and he will get you through this time and always.

Doing it for God is not always easy...but worth it in the end! Thanks for sharing.

kdtiller · Sep 3, 2012

Hi ~~ Family and friends will never understand. I have been an RN for 25 years and have regretted working in healthcare settings with difficult administrations. One of the things that would probably help is to try to get into another area of nursing such as home health, research, case management, teach nursing Some of these areas are not as stressful as the hospital. This is why there is such a shortage. Hang in there :)

joanna73, BSN, RN · Sep 3, 2012

I'm toying with the idea of returning to school for OT/PT. This means a separate 4 year degree, but then I could work casual as an RN and as a physiotherapist. Working a floor is not for me. I'm currently working LTC. I actually enjoy geriatrics, but I can't see myself staying in LTC for longer than a few more years.

aflack41 · Sep 3, 2012

How did you find that job? I'm in Illinois, any suggestions, and what does that entail?

RX.Coffee · Sep 3, 2012

I have had a few jobs at various hospitals in the DC metropolitan area. I can say with absolute confidence, that it is not the taskof nursing or the professional standards and responsibilities which degrade ones nursing career. It is the work ethic and disrespect by other members of the medical and administrative team towards the nurse. Nurses are the boots on the ground, first line of defense between the physician, administration/management,the patient, the family and friends. The nurse must also be able to rapidly defuse many situations from a change in status, to a patient's dissatisfaction with their care, room, doctor etc... There is not enough time and or energy to chase down a tech when a patient needs to be changed or repositioned when you have another patient going south in the next room. It is more than aggravating,when you ask a tech to do something and they simply say they are busy, will get to it, or they walk away... Then you find them in the break room for the millionth time. Or management wants another duplicate, time consuming, paper trail, report. And God help the nurse busy with a coding patient, that Opps... forgets to document or change a dressing. And ask for help???? Then the nurse will be considered incompetent and not only talked about, they will be given the worse patient load as retaliation. The Answer, TERMINATE the Techs that are not team players. Hire more techs and nurses, so the patient to nurse and tech ratio will be reduced. Apparently, if the patient dies and all documentation is up to par, it's no biggie. Management and their legal team will be able to spin the story. But, if the nurse neglects to document in a timely fashion in the midst of caring for the patient, the nurse will be disciplined or in some situations terminated. So, yes NURSING as it sits today, is the worse decision a well-educated person can make. That is, if the individual's desire is to enjoy a professional career with growth and actual autonomy. Tell me another career which requires higher and higher levels of education, pushing nurses to not only obtain their Master degrees, but PhD's as well. Then to treat the nurse like an indentured servant, not the professional that he or she is. A nurse, more times than not, has a calling to serve those in need. Yet the bureaucratic redtape, disrespect and work ethics which encompasses the health care field is not only deplorable, it is destructive. Last words of advice, if you are thinkingof a nursing career, run don't walk to another major/ career!!!!

Guest343211 · Sep 3, 2012

That's very sad. I love my job and I don't regret it for a minute.
Why do you dislike being a nurse? Have you tried working in different settings? How long have you been a nurse?

I regret the inside abuse, and the fact that too many don't want to face or discuss it. How can it possibly be dealt with unless people face it. Seems like it has to be an "in-your-face" and overt kind of abuse in order for it to even begin to be addressed.

That is truly my only regret about nursing--well, also poor staffing and mentoring issues.