I'm only 22 years old.

Nurses General Nursing

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My friends are finishing up college with majors like sculpture and philosophy. I just moved away from my hometown in June. I don't have a lot of close friends here besides the boyfriend I live with. I'm only 22 years old. Am I really supposed to be seeing this much suffering? To face these problems? Am I really the LEADER in the hospital experience? I'm only 22 and I think people that only have breast cancer, no mets, are the luckiest people in the world. I think that people with cancer everywhere, who are combative and try to get out of bed and don't know who they are and need to constantly be on narcotics are the norm. I am ONLY TWENTY TWO.

Specializes in Community, OB, Nursery.

My first gray hair came in nsg school...at 21. :(

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Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.
My first gray hair came in nsg school...at 21. :(

my poor boyfriend's hair fell out in nursing school @ age 24... he keeps whats left really short...

i thank god have not sprouted any greys.... but i have gotten my money's worth out of proactiv.... i broke out like nobody's business in nursing school!

i don't know if this will help you OP, but this is something we did in the ED.... we had monthly meetings c/ the doctors that we called "the brethren time" (it was named that before i came, dunno why).... and any staff who wanted could attend. we would review difficult cases, talk about feelings, what went wrong, whos mad at who, who needs to cry, and how we would improve pt outcome if situation presented again.

maybe initiating something like that with some of your peers at work could help? i was suprised at how many of the nurses/techs/MDs i worked with who seemed so calm and collected would talk about a code gone wrong and tear up. we wouldn't rehash.. just try to reorganize chaos and lay it to rest. i think we all felt better with a little bit of venting.

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Specializes in DOU.
Additionally, some people are simply not designed to deal with this kind of environment. I wish some people would put away the machismo and realize that certain people simply cannot tolerate such an environment without sustaining significant psychological insult. I cannot say anything about the OP in regard to this concept; however, we should realize not everybody can work oncology. In addition, supporting each other can be quite helpful.

This "tough love attitude" only alienates people who may have much to offer the profession if they perhaps work in other areas. Have a bit of empathy? In addition, watching people suffer and die from cancer is hard at any age and any level of maturity.

Gosh, thank you for saying this. I am horrified by the lack of compassion being shown by so many people who are supposedly in a "caring" profession. :(

I think oncology nursing would be very difficult for a 22 year old. In fact, I know many people twice the age who wouldn't be able to do it. I think you should seek some counseling, 22-year-old-oncology-nurse.

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Specializes in med-surg.
my poor boyfriend's hair fell out in nursing school @ age 24... he keeps whats left really short...

i thank god have not sprouted any greys.... but i have gotten my money's worth out of proactiv.... i broke out like nobody's business in nursing school!

i don't know if this will help you OP, but this is something we did in the ED.... we had monthly meetings c/ the doctors that we called "the brethren time" (it was named that before i came, dunno why).... and any staff who wanted could attend. we would review difficult cases, talk about feelings, what went wrong, whos mad at who, who needs to cry, and how we would improve pt outcome if situation presented again.

maybe initiating something like that with some of your peers at work could help? i was suprised at how many of the nurses/techs/MDs i worked with who seemed so calm and collected would talk about a code gone wrong and tear up. we wouldn't rehash.. just try to reorganize chaos and lay it to rest. i think we all felt better with a little bit of venting.

Now that is what I call excellent patient care. I am happy to hear that!

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Specializes in Medical.

I'm almost 40 and have been nursing half my life (20 years next June). In the first six months of my (hospital) training I saw more death and disease than all my siblings and my school friends combined have to date.

Because I spend most of my time with friends and colleagues from work, it's often only when I'm speaking to a lay audience (like yesterday at uni) that I realise that what I take for granted in my day to day life is extraordinary. I find it really difficult to step back from what is routine and appreciate that, for the vast majority of people in my society, all the machinery, invasion, pain, suffering and death aren't the norm. That for normal people an injection is an annual vaccination, not something they do half a dozen times in an hour.

Working with sick people is rewarding and inspiring and all those other great things, and I still love it. But it's not normal, or ordinary, it can be exhausting and frightening, and sometimes the suffering and unrelenting onslaught - especially if patients are demographically similar to us - can be overwhelming. Going from that to spending time with people who think it's the end of the world that they missed a clearance sale can be isolating.

I think it's great that so many members have no trouble with their work. Your experience isn't everyone's experience. Cut the OP some slack.

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