I'm New....and I'm Scared

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello Everyone,

I have been a "lurker" on this board for some time and really enjoy reading your comments about the nursing profession. I am however a little unnerved by the negativity some of you seem to have about your profession. Please don't take this the wrong way but you are scaring the HELL out of me. I feel like I'm going into a profession that I have little, if any hope of being happy. I guess what I'm trying to say is....Is it really that BAD?

Thank you to all the nurses out there for your service!!!

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There was a thread about this very same thing a while back. It's what you make of it, to be honest. Yes, it can be bad if it turns out that nursing is not for you, or if you let the bad take over. And it depends on your employer. Some of us have terrific employers, and some have the employers from Hades. And you have to remember that we come here to vent, so that tomorrow we can go back to work and care for people without biting their heads off.

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Seriously, you may end up loving it! The main thing is to find a niche that you love. I know people who love nursing and others who don't like it. People get upset, because there are a lot of unfair expectations put on nurses, without due compensation. It is a problem, but if you are doing something you love you won't mind as much. The main thing is to try and stay positive while you are going through school. It will help you get through the stressful moments.

Best of luck to you.

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I am a new nurse and I love it, becoming a nurse is one of the best decisions I have ever made. People have different experiences, bad days etc. Don't let some people venting or being unhappy in their job at the moment dissuade you from pursuing your goal of becoming a nurse.

If there were an alllawyers or allaccountants or all anything else you would find the same thing, some good comments and some bad. So hang in there if nursing is what you want. I love it, my friends that are new nurses love it and my friends that have been nurses for years love it but we all have the need to vent on occaision.

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All of the previous posters have hit the nail on the head (or something like that...lol). It's what you make of it, but no matter what profession you do there is good and bad. I was a computer tech/network engineer for 20+ years, I liked my job and what I did, but I've been a nurse for several years now and I can honestly say that I have never been happier with what I do. Like everyone else, I have bad days and I have to vent, but over all I wish I would have done this years ago.

Good luck with your career.

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Specializes in geriatric, hospice, med/surg.

I have been guilty of posting much negative comments about nursing but in retrospect, I was utilizing allnurses as my only support/feedback/sounding board since I have virtually no one else in the real world to sound off to who understands. The beauty of allnurses. Even tho' ya'll are cyberfriends, you sooo understand where I'm coming from....the support of just reading posts on here has helped me more than any amount of professional counseling could have with the angst of my beloved profession.

I'm choosing to take a break from nursing for a living at the moment to see if I miss it enough to return someday. I'm doing something fun at this time to bring in a little money to help husband out with bills. Although he's a bit disheartened about the lack of a nursing salary in the household contribution arena, I'm trying to ignore that bit until I get my head around whether to return or not.

I am hopeful that this break is the right thing for me.

I have nursed for twenty years and need the break for a mental and physical vacation.

You find moments/days/shifts of happiness in any field of nursing you choose to work. You find your heart bursting with love and compassion for so many of those whose lives you've touched. You even make new friends. You help pts.and their families understand things about the disease process they're going thru, you take these memories and many others to your dying bedside and it makes you feel as though what you did while on earth was a bit like helping those angels above.

Don't let others' negative thoughts/vents/situations/stories discourage you. You cannot let what others think/feel dictate what you do with your life. I had so many tell me while I was trying to get thru nursing school that it wasn't for me to return to college since I had two babies. Well, that made me all the more determined to succeed. I'd always wanted to become a nurse, ever since I was a little girl in about the second grade.

Good luck. We need devoted nurses to be like you out there to help raise the level of care and fight the good fight of taking care of folks in their hour of need.

You can do it. I did. With lots of obstacles to overcome.

Prayers and thoughts of success your way.

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Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I hear you. If I remember correctly my first post on allnurses was in answer to Brian's poll....."if you had to do it over would you choose nursing?" or some such wording.

I believe my answer was No, H... no! NO! or some such wording. That was about 6 or 7 years ago.

I'm on the down hill slope of 32 years since my RN and I hear you as do millions of other nurses. This little corner of the cyber-verse has held my head on my shoulders many tiimes. I'm glad you

feel the same.

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.
There was a thread about this very same thing a while back. It's what you make of it, to be honest. Yes, it can be bad if it turns out that nursing is not for you, or if you let the bad take over. And it depends on your employer. Some of us have terrific employers, and some have the employers from Hades. And you have to remember that we come here to vent, so that tomorrow we can go back to work and care for people without biting their heads off.

Excellent response! My sentiments exactly.

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I, too, have been a "lurker" on this board for awhile and seen the negative things that have been posted but have taken it all as it is meant to be, venting to relieve some of the stress of what we do. I have also seen some of the positive things and the amount of support that is shared among the "friends" that are made on this board. Just by reading the posts on this board, I have gotten so much encouragement, even though I don't know anyone that has written anything. I have been a nurse for almost two years and I have to say that I truly love what I do. Even though I feel this is my calling, it is not perfect. There are days that I get frustrated, just like any other thing that I have ever done. Keep the faith, remember that you have the power to control your attitude and touch lives. That alone makes it all worthwhile!

Robin

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Specializes in none yet.

I am a new RN currently in orientation. I discoverd this website when i was in nursing school but didn't really know what it was all about, hadn't had the time to visit the site much. i just joined shortly after graduating. I only started to just lurk like yourself and came across a lot of comments that made me anxious, scared, and wondering if i had indeed made a wise decision just as i started orientation. Now that I am about 2 months into my orientation. It has been a roller coaster, some days I go home crying, wondering how am i going to make, overwhelmed, overworked, tired, etc. Other days I have a very good day things are not as crazy as others, I get to spend time with the patients, the days is just not so hectic. I can truly say that it is all about the patients, just knowing that I am making a difference in a person's life when they are most vulnerable. I can't lie I still feel that it is hard work and sometimes still I question myself but bottom line is that you have got to make the best of it. I keep telling myself as I gain more experience and learn more, things will eventually get better and that is what drives me, along with the real reason people become nurses, to take care of patients. I used to work in the business field where i was behind a computer all day. Now my days are longer, 12 hrs, on my feet most of the time, so it is a big adjustment that will take some time getting use to. There will be days where you are going to be overwhelmed, overworked and underpaid and frustrated, etc. I just keep telling myself that I am here to help someone, that is my motivation along with being the best nurse I can possibly be. This is the reality of nursing, there are many sick people who need care and less personnel to take care of them. We work in a short staffed environment most of the time and that is why there are so many unhappy nurses. Nursing is definately not an easy profession, there are challenges as with I'm sure other professions. You take the good with the bad. Just know that nursing is a challenging profession, people always told me "you have to be a special person to be nurse" and now i know what they meant. I believe that i am that special person, and if you believe that you are that special person, do not let the many variables that will affect a nurses job get in the way of becoming a nurse. I see a lot of nurses not taking breaks, or working impossible hours, I have decided to keep my insanity, to try to take my breaks regulary and enjoy my days off to the fullest. Take care of yourself physically, emotionally before and during your nursing career because your body will thank you later.

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Thank you. You have eased my fears a great deal.

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Specializes in Neuro, Critical Care.

Don't be scared! I abs. LOVE nursing. I'm new and have def. found my niche. I couldnt be happier. Nursing is everything I hoped it would be, faced paced, challenging, fun...I love my pts. Its been a wild ride since I decided to start NS but worth it. Ive had my ups and downs but more ups! Ive been very lucky to have a smooth ride through NS, a great job offer, great orientation, awesome preceptor. Trust me, I know how lucky I am.

The best advice I ever received in NS was from my peds clinical instructor. She said to me one day-dont anticipate a problem unless there is one. So dont worry about issues that dont exist! Just enjoy the ride and learn everything you can even from the bad experiences.

Besdies, start reading some of the posts that include-why we love nursing, how happy we are we passed NCLEX, how much we miss our nursing school friends and times, the best thank you we ever received..there is even a thread on why we love nursing!

The experience is what YOU make of it. I could look at some of my experiences and feel bad about them or I can look at them as learning experiences and feel good about all the good things that have gone on in my career.

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