Is nursing a good career?!

[Mrs. Sparkle Pants]

Okay, so here's my story. I have B.S. in another field, and 3/4 of a masters degree. In my last year of college I worked as a home health aide, and I fell in love with healthcare and geriatrics. I was already so close to being done with my degree and already headed to grad school so I decided to suck it up and stick with my path. Well after a year of HATING grad school and still longing to be working with the elderly, I quit school and started taking pre-reqs for nursing school. Eventually, I want to be a geriatric NP (obviously once I get in clinicals my passion might shift, but this is the plan for now). I was so excited to finally be pursuing my passion, but then I logged on to allnurses.com...

No offense, but you all sound MISERABLE! Everyone just sounds so unhappy, not just with their workplace, but with the job in general. Aside from that those who don't hate their job are unemployed and can't find work. I KNOW I am supposed to be a nurse. I love people, and I truly want to help, but good grief is it worth it to put myself through nursing school, end up with a ton of debt, and be in a terrible career?

Please tell me you all just come here to vent, and it's not really as awful as it seems.

[Leelee2]

Is nursing a good career?

IMO, it Used to be a good career choice, like 15-20 years ago. Before corporate greed became excessive and affected how healthcare is delivered in a negative way.

[NoviceRN10]

While I think what you read on allnurses is certainly real, keep in mind that a majority of internet message boards (about ANY subject) are full of people that are talking it down or just being finicky about it. Do your own research, form your own opinion, and follow your own ideals.

It's people discussing nursing, the good, the bad, and the ugly .

[Guest717236]

Please tell me you all just come here to vent, and it's not really as awful as it seems.

Realize that this is a unique and challenging time in nursing. There are many different

factors currently like the economy and health care administrations cutting staff and

other costs.

If you truly feel that nursing is for you, continue on your path because things do change

with time. Look at the current concerns (not whining or complaining) that forum members

highlight. If you look closely, you will see that members are advocating for their patients.

Nurses are working longer and harder with less support staff. Nurses are so busy caring

for patients, they often do not have the time or energy to organize in the way that some

careers do like teachers. Even when nurses are in a union, there are good and bad aspects.

Good luck!

Having a nursing union does not allows protect your job. Nurses who have unions that

function correctly help take the burden of dealing with management off their shoulders so they

can practice safely. In a good union situation, nurses bring concerns about patient care, acuity issues,

and the union negotiates with the management to a fair outcome.

I worked many years ago, very happy and content in nursing in 2 different jobs and 2 different specialties

under the same union. The union was very effective in one setting, and not as effective in the second setting.

This is the uniqueness of nursing. Each setting is different, each facility affected by many factors.

You need to decide for yourself if nursing is right for you. What setting do you see yourself in?

Union or non union. What specialty/specialties? What educational level?

The members here are highlighting the challenges they face in the different setting that they work in.

It would be unfair to paint a "everything is rosey" picture, when reality reveals otherwise.

[Awesomepossum]

Is nursing a good career?

IMO, it Used to be a good career choice, like 15-20 years ago. Before corporate greed became excessive and affected how healthcare is delivered in a negative way.

This could be send of ALL jobs now, not just nursing!

[SC_RNDude]

I have a BA in another field, and went into nursing because i fell in love with it while working as a health unit coordinator in the hospital. i haven't regretted going into the field at all; however, i was not ready for the burnout. i love the complexity of medicine, the interaction with my patients and their families, the teaching, and the collaboration with the physician team. i work in a teaching hospital that fosters learning and I also work with a great group of nurses who all believe in teamwork so all of that has made my work enjoyable. What school does not prepare you for are the emotionally draining situations as a bedside RN- people that die under your care, either suddenly or over time; , getting sucker punched by confused patients who are paranoid due to their dementia; turning 4-500+ patients every two hours to prevent skin breakdown-not to mention having to clean incontinence; being yelled at by patients and/or their families, and/or being spread so thin that the care you give is not the care you want to give. The great thing about nursing is that there are all kinds of options-clinic, acute care, hospice, home care, management, anesthesia, clinical research, education, the list goes on and on. The one thing I do think, as nurses, we forget to do self-care and laugh. Decompressing with fellow RNs, self care, and being able to laugh is especially important after a stressful day. If you want to be a nurse, and want it for the right reasons, then I say go for it. Good luck!

I was about to write my own reply, but I think this covered it pretty well!

Also, from the perspective of someone who started his nursing career in his late 30's, I believe that many nurses don't have another career to compare it too and they lose sight of the many positives of this field.

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

To OP: To me sometimes it is WORSE than the vent I wrote on here or what I read. But I a am anew grad so maybe it will get better. Add to that the fact that I do not like the job itself even if it were at Utopia General Hospital. There are nurses I work with that seem happy and seem to like their job . There are also others who hate it and can't wait to retire. I would read the complaints on here as for the most part being accurate portrayls of working as a nurse.

[iPink, BSN, RN]

I have a B.A. and currently in an ABSN program and have appreciated the real and raw stories Allnurses brings. If for some reason anyone thought nursing was a "bed of roses", I'll point them to the General Nursing Forum on here. It hasn't discouraged me from pursing my goal.

In my previous career (the corporate world), I could easily tell you the long sleepless nights of presentations I had to do, getting paid peanuts for the sometimes 10-12 hours/day I had to put in to meet deadlines, the backstabbing I encountered, and many thankless days, etc., etc. From stories I read on here, nursing is the same way too. So, I look at it as I guess I'm well prepared then.

But with the bad, there is the good. I thank all those nurses who have shared with us touching stories from patients and their family members. OP, they are on these boards, you need to just read them to get that extra motivation.

[sunnycalifRN]

Just as when you read restaurant reviews on Yelp (assuming that you do, of course). There are some that sound too good to be true (probably written by the owner) and others that say everything sucks (written by a competitor, maybe!) Somewhere in the middle, lies the truth.

Likewise, here on Allnurses, some of really bad posts are either from burnt out nurses, nurses who just had a totally miserable shift or nurses who should really find another profession . . . and on the flip side, the Pollyanna posts are BS, too. For me, nursing is my fifth career; machinist, tire builder, systems programmer, respiratory therapist and now ICU nurse!

So, looking back over many jobs, I can say that I like nursing the best and it is the highest paying (over $100K annually). Not to say that there aren't unpleasant aspects of the job, because there are . . . nasty patients, nasty relatives, unpleasant MD's, unpleasant co-workers, plus blood, poop, sputum, urine, and other foul smelling things!!

But, all in all, the pro's outweigh cons for me and I plan to retire from nursing . . . no more new careers for me!!

[glencovediva]

Nursing is a noble profession, but it is also a dirty, thankless one.

[Riseupandnurse]

I love, love, love nursing. That is not the problem. The problem is that there are too many times on the job that you cannot do any nursing, or at least decent nursing. How can you when there is no time to even go to the bathroom on a regular basis, let alone take a lunch break? And I wanted so much to make life more bearable for my patients and ease the pain and loneliness of the little old people who have no-one and who would benefit so much from a kind word and some extra attention. Problem is, these little old people don't fill out Press Ganey surveys and bend the ears of the managers with foolish complaints and demands for ridiculous European-spa treatment. THAT (and especially their family members and friends) seem to be what is important. That is why nursing is so hard and so heart-breaking. You just can't do what needs to be done, what should be done, what you went into nursing to do. I hope so much it will change, that the new Institute of Medicine reports, the ANA, the sheer common sense of new graduates who will not stand for dog-eat-dog and tearing down their team-mates for the benefit of administration, will put us back in a position where nursing can be what it is supposed to be again. The world I saw 40 years ago. Instead we turn on each other instead of standing together for our patients. That's why I got out. I hated the kind of whining, frustrated, hateful person I became on the job. I hated this even more than I hated giving up bedside nursing.

[huntercary]

Well ;

I will be honest , open , candid with you .

YES , Nursing itself , as a job , meaning working to help those in need , who are sick , dying , suffering , is very rewarding in knowing you are doing something to ease the suffering of others.

I have been an RN for 25 yrs. I LOVE being a nurse , am proud of being able to give care & compassion to my clients

THAT being said , be prepared for one of the most challenging careers ever , mostly because you will definitely have to deal with those whom I have come to term as "Armchair Athletes" ( Administrators/Managers) , who will make your life miserable . Just remember , those types of people are NOT on the front lines of the profession for a REASON! They are usually power-seeking folks who don't like the 'people' part of nursing , rather they like to be away from direct day in day out patient contact YET weild a lot of power ...over you ! Add to that , this truth....Most Provincial Licensure Boards (in Ontario Canada its the CNO) have madated over the past few yrs. a mandatory reporting system rendering ALL employers obligated to report ANY areas of concern with any RN/RPN in their employ , for ANYthing (ie: absenteeism THEY consider too high ; lateness , information about you they get via the workplace grapevine , etc. & they WILL forward this stuff to these regulating bodies , who will then investigate you & scrutinize you for several yrs . and THEY can literally ruin your nursing career or at the very least , they can control where & when & if you work in nursing . May sound like an exaggeration , BUT sad to say , its NOT . That is currently my own personal experience , so I would NOT rec ommend Nursing as a career choice to anyone . I have NEVER had a complaint against me by a patient or by their families EVER , and have never made a serious or life-threatening clinical error of any kind , yet my past employer chose to buy into gossip & rumours circulating the workplace , about me & other nurses & ran with it to the CNO . Who can really say why they did this ?? Perhaps I ****** someone off ( unbeknownst to me ??) ( perhaps someone in power just did not like the colour of my hair ??) Be FOREWARNED , that YOU have NO control over your career when it comes to management teams & the CNO or other State /Provincial Boards of Nursing . They can destroy your career with the flick of a pen . TRUTH ! GOSPEL TRUTH as GOD is my Witness !!

[Burlshoe114]

I am going to agree with a lot of what Hunter says, as well as the posters before me.

The actual nursing job is rewarding, fulfilling, and can be a great career choice if a lot of factors play into place - good coworkers, good management, good skills match, good schedule etc.

But the nursing job on paper and in theory is a lot different than the nursing job you actually end up experiencing. I love seniors, too, but after 12 hours of taking them off and on the commode, your back is sore and you are behind in your work!

People need a place to come to and get their feelings out. Also to ask their questions. Have you ever read a parent's board? Many parents will complain about their children, but still love them and will feed them in the morning!