I HATE nursing! (long)

BIG MISTAKE! · Sep 23, 2007

BIG MISTAKE, HUGE MISTAKE! I wish I would have known how crappy the nursing field was before I sunk all my time into it. I'm a male nurse and I have only been on the job for a 11 months and I can not stand it. The bullsh$%t that you have to deal with is never ending. The type of bullsh$%t I'm talking about is as follows, I worked on the Med/Surg floor for the last 11 months and hated it for the last 10 1/2 months. I felt like a waiter everytime I went to work, I live in Las Vegas and mentioned to one of my coworkers that I should have not wasted my time going to school, I should have became a waiter. I finally quite the Med/Surg floor and decided to go to IMC. Since the IMC floor requires a critical care class, Ive been studying my butt off in this class. The hospital I am at requires us to do clinical times with a preceptor in the ICU. It has not gone well because my instructor does not except opinions well. I stated an opinion that was not excepted by this preceptor and ever since I have said what I had said, I have received bad evaluations from her. I did tell her that my feeling was that the eval was negative simply because she did not like what I had said, the preceptor just shrugged her shoulders basically saying " OH WELL". Other students in my class have stated to me that they have watched me do my work and that the teacher must have it out for me. Another student stated that these women are just a bunch of "power tripping bitches". I ended having to eat what I believed was the truth and apoligize and degrade myself just to please the instructor and possibly pass the class. I hate cleaning ass, I find the job unexciting, I recently have spoke to a union rep of the Nevada union for nurses. He stated to me that of all the nurses who enter this career, 50% of them leave in their first year. He stated to me that the reason the nurses leave is due lack of respect and being overworked. Im usually a pretty positive guy but this job is sucking the compassion right out of me. I,m getting out of nursing and plan to due nuclear medicine.

BIG MISTAKE! · Sep 23, 2007

Sorry for the spelling mistakes

RPNinTO · Sep 24, 2007

I am so sorry for your experiences!

I am an RPN(LPN) in Canada and have been practicing for 2 years.

Even though I am not an RN I have been responsible for floors many times in long term care, making a fraction of the money with too much responsibility and not enough support.

I am stressed out all the time, and generally work nights when management is not there, and some of the duties are lighter.

Of course, working nights is making me sick. I am never fully awake and feel crappy half the time. I was going to bridge to RN to do Public health in the hopes of a job with regular hours with normal responsibilities. I wish I knew if this is the right thing to do.

If I will be happy, or wasting more of my time. They make nursing very hard for people. I have heard in Canada that new grads leave within 2 years of entering the field, about the same percentage as you have heard in the states.

I wish you luck in nuclear medicine. I hope that things look up for you!

Volunteer · Jan 7, 2008

I feel so bad for you, but I know the feeling! I just happened upon this thread, and wanted to comment. I am a master's level counselor & case manager and I am going to pull my hair out because I can't get away from a desk job! I WANT to be up and doing things exciting and love to be right in the middle of everything. I am back in school right now to get my RN so I can move into medical case management eventually. Do you want to trade places???? :) J/K I really do wish you the best trying to find something that you enjoy. There is NOTHING worse than getting up everyday and hating what you do. Best Wishes!!:redpinkhe

lynnanj77 · Jan 16, 2008

I agree with you whole heartedly. I am a bit frustrated and need to vent so bear w/ me. I graduated in 2007, passed my boards in June 2007, and got my RN license in 2 states. I thought I had it made and was so excited to get into the profession. I put out my resume and waited, and waited..... There was one day where I actually responded to 42 job openings as a new graduate!!!! My resume was created using a project in nursing school where we submit a resume to the DON, she reviews it and makes changes to make it more appealing, so that wasn't the problem. The positions I applied to were in Med surg, ICU, CCU, Dialysis... so being a new graduate wasn't the problem either. I had a great GPA, and left with multiple references from instructors, the DON, and nurses I worked with in clinical. I'm confused. I thought we had a shortage of nurses. After 4 mos and the fear of losing my house (no job at that time) I literally picked up the phone book and started calling. I got a job in a nursing home that doesn't use computers to check for applicants. I make $30/hr, work five 8 1/2-hour days on 3-11 shift, and hate my job. My husband and I are expecting our first child, so I can't leave just yet, but I am left confused and a little disgusted. This is not what I went to school for. It would appear that the shortage is not in nurses, it's in experienced nurses, and administrators that fill nursing positions. The profession does not take care of it's own (especially the babies). I am bored, tired of pill-pushing, and feel I am losing my skills I learned in nursing school. I have been working in nursing for less than 6 mos in a position that does not render me skilled, and already want out. My only hope is that nursing is filled with so many specialties. I will probably work in a hospital and get my bachelors, then masters in something like informatics. I don't want to work the floor and certainly don't want to pill-push the rest of my life. I'll leave that to all those who post that nurses who are not happy with their career choice should try harder to make a difference or get out. Wanna make a difference??!!! Get your butt into the position of DON or administration, listen to your nurses, and make a change so us newbies have something to come in to. Then, read a few resumes and make a few phone calls. How's that for an idea??!!! I am sad at the way I feel, and am disappointed in my self for letting the school feed me with unrealistic BS about the profession (who was apparently just interested in meeting state requirements re: graduation and GPA rates). I am going to have this beautiful baby in July and, while on leave, will send out my resume. Tuition reimbursement and ultimately furthering my education will be important so I can get out of this slump. Maybe go into computer programming as an RN and take care of all these new systems in local hospitals. Now that's an Idea! See what happens when you don't take care of your own, you will be the one covering my shifts!!!!!!

contaveras · Oct 3, 2008

It's been over 3 years now since this thread was started. I wonder how InfoNurse is doing?

NursingStudent2222 · Nov 26, 2008

I am a 24 year old male in my 2nd year of nursing school and I HATE NURSING!! First year was a complete waste and full of ********! I swear they just had to make up some random classes to take up time. I almost quit after the first year but I keep trying to stay positive and think that next year is going to be better!?? Now I am in that next year and it still blows!! All I can say is that I can change those diapers with my eyes closed!! I hate every second of Nursing school that I had to go through!! I want to stay positive but I cant. Every time I go to class and sit there for hours I think to myself why am I here? All the teachers do in the class is just read notes and post them on the website. I took the Drug Calculation exam....everybody was flippin out about that exam and made a big deal about it.. everybody was goin nuts... we had labs to prepare for that exam for like 3 weeks....of course I didnt actually study till the day before the exam and still got 91%. I dont actually think that nursing school is hard... I dont do any homework at all and still manage to pass classes, learning is the easy part....but what we actually have to learn is retarded and boring... all this garbage about feelings and self disclosure, immediacy, and all that ******** just makes me sick. I want to bang my head against the wall every time i go to class. I feel like I am being brainwashed and they are trying to change the way students think. I do not enjoy class nor do I enjoy Clinical....all we do is clean ass and change diapers...I do not want to be a Nurse if I have to do this my entire career. I want to like Nursing but it wont let me. Is this all that nursing is about? changing god damned Depends and giving out a few pills? I feel like I am wasting my life..... dont know what to do. and everybody here hates it too for many different reasons.....

Does Nursing get better with time and experience? or if I hate it already does that mean i'll hate it even more later on?? I like making money not wasting my time on ********. What should I do?

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Nov 26, 2008

Nursing is about much, much more than changing Depends and passing pills. Nursing is about taking care of the whole human being; a person who has emotional responses (i.e. feelings) as well as physical responses to the disease processes that they are experiencing. If you hate cleaning people up that badly, believe me, they can sense it. Imagine it's you in that bed, being cleaned by someone who you can sense despises every moment. Now, it's not that I actually enjoy the more mundane aspects of nursing care. I don't. They bore me, quite frankly. But when I am in that room providing basic nursing care, I make myself fully present with the human being that I am interacting with. I do this to protect their dignity and self worth, and because nobody should ever be made to feel ashamed that they are incontinent of bladder or bowel.

If you absolutely hate what you are doing that much, then know that there are other things out there in life. There is nobody holding a gun to your head and telling you that you must be a nurse. If, on the other hand, a little attitude adjustment is all you need to get through the more boring stuff so you can also do the things you're excited about, then find ways to adjust your attitude, and get through it.

allibear · Nov 26, 2008

I just sat here and read every post in this thread...because it pertains to me. I thought my nursing school was bad, but it seems that it's the same no matter where you go. In nursing school, I would write notes to my (now) husband that would say, "Why am I here?!" and "I hate this!" I kept on going, though, because it was what was familiar, and I was trying to make other people's goals my goals. I regret that every single day of my life. I can't stand my job. My advice is that if you absolutely can't stand nursing school, get out and do something different before you get in so deep that you graduate! I blindly signed this ridiculous contract with a local hospital for 3 years, and oh how I sorely regret that. I graduated in May of this year and took this job and have been at it for almost 6 months. I want out! I have to fulfill this contract, though, so I'm on the lookout for something within this hospital that I could tolerate for 2.5 more years...which seems like an absolute eternity. I want something out of direct patient care. I want something very simple and boring...(how about night shift OR?) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will look into some of the things already mentioned in this thread.

:bluecry1: :banghead:

Scrubby · Nov 26, 2008

I just sat here and read every post in this thread...because it pertains to me. I thought my nursing school was bad, but it seems that it's the same no matter where you go. In nursing school, I would write notes to my (now) husband that would say, "Why am I here?!" and "I hate this!" I kept on going, though, because it was what was familiar, and I was trying to make other people's goals my goals. I regret that every single day of my life. I can't stand my job. My advice is that if you absolutely can't stand nursing school, get out and do something different before you get in so deep that you graduate! I blindly signed this ridiculous contract with a local hospital for 3 years, and oh how I sorely regret that. I graduated in May of this year and took this job and have been at it for almost 6 months. I want out! I have to fulfill this contract, though, so I'm on the lookout for something within this hospital that I could tolerate for 2.5 more years...which seems like an absolute eternity. I want something out of direct patient care. I want something very simple and boring...(how about night shift OR?) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will look into some of the things already mentioned in this thread.

Night shift OR can be anything but boring and simple at times. You have ruptured AAA's, organ harvesting, MVA trauma, ruptured cerebral anaeurysms and as an RN you have to be able to scrub or scout for anything that comes through the door.

The only simple and boring suggestions I can think of is pre-operative clinic.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Nov 26, 2008

It's been over 3 years now since this thread was started. I wonder how InfoNurse is doing?

She last posted in April 2008, and is apparently working as a clinical analyst. We can glean plenty of information from her most recent post:

Clinical Analyst here. Myself and another analyst are required to be oncall to troubleshoot security and access issues for nurses (our endusers, of course!). I am proposing the purchase of a wireless broadband card for us to conveniently access the network from...anywhere!
Does anyone have knowledge on security issues related to wireless broadband? Can anyone suggest a service, or at least clue me into how YOU handle being on-call?
Would love the feedback! Thanks.

allibear · Nov 27, 2008

Night shift OR can be anything but boring and simple at times. You have ruptured AAA's, organ harvesting, MVA trauma, ruptured cerebral anaeurysms and as an RN you have to be able to scrub or scout for anything that comes through the door.
The only simple and boring suggestions I can think of is pre-operative clinic.

thank you for telling me this and really opening my eyes...this is what i need! i need help and suggestions. so...tell me about this pre-operative clinic. what is that, and what is the job description? is it known by any other names?

what can i do dealing with papers with a bsn and only 6 months of experience? i'd like to wear normal, dressy clothes and work 8-5 three days a week. haha.. i type that with a smile on my face.