Is nursing as bad as some say???

Nurses General Nursing

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i am currently working on getting into a nursing program. I have been so darn excited until i started reading some posts about how bad nursing is and how Obama Care will destroy the entire health field. Is all this really true? I know Obama Care isn't going to help anything and will affect nursing but will it completely destroy it? Is there something i am missing??? Is the nursing profession really like high school with all the drama? Basically I want to know that there are nurses who LOVE it and are proud to be called a nurse. Or is everyone upset that they chose this path???

"This response, I hope, is not an indication of how you will react to nursing school's trials and tribulations. Please remember that when seeking helpful answers from people, it's generally best not to antagonize them instantly.

As for your original question:

While it clearly will not effect the profession, how it will affect the profession is up for debate, and has been discussed ad nauseum on these boards. You will find much "information by clicking around this website."

As stated this comment was not meant to sound rude in any way. I am very sorry it came out like that. And I know God will help me through the trials and tribulations I will face in nursing school and as a nurse in general. I was feeling very discouraged while reading so many stories of how nursing is just terrible, i just want to make sure that the way I perceive nursing to be isn't entirely wrong.

Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

Obamacare was originally a derogatory term coined by its opponents.

Later, the president took the phrase as his own. In fact, I have a bumper sticker, supplied by the democratic party that says:

I Obamacare

I don't know what I hate more, calling it Obamacare, or putting it on an "I Heart" sticker. :mad:

Specializes in FNP, ONP.

I have a few (not on my car-I would never, never put stickers on my car) that says "Obama Cares" and has a web address for information about the ACA. I put them up in my exam rooms.

Specializes in ICU, Geriatrics, Float Pool.

"Obamacare" will ruin nursing forever? For the rest of time? With what, its evil powers of devilry? Where could you have gotten that idea from?

Wait, don't answer that.

Nursing is hard work. I do not regret becoming a nurse though. I have been a nurse for 2 years now on a medsurg/tele floor and it is hard and there are days that I wonder why I chose to do this. Those are on bad days. I've learned so much on the floor that I am on and do enjoy being a nurse. But to say that it's always butterflies and rainbows and fulfilling would be lying to you. If you go into it with a realistic view ahead of you, you won't be as disappointed when you are in the real world after nursing school. Will it be tough? Yes. Will there be days that you feel defeated and beyond frustrated with all the demands? Most likely. Will there possibly be tough coworkers? Maybe. (But they can be in any profession) I've been lucky to have a wonderful team of coworkers which makes the day go by easier when you are in the trenches. The best thing I love most about nursing? There are so many different doors and opportunities. If you don't like one area, you have a multitude of options to expand and grow and do something new. I'm moving to home health soon and considering one day going into case management or utilization review which requires no direct patient care and will be good for me once I get older I think. You can specialize in anything, go into management/administration, case management, quality control, research, informatics/IS, sales. So many other options. If it's what you want to do, go for it. I came here before nursing school and during nursing school and also got very frustrated by the constant negativity about my chosen career, but now that I've been through it, I understand it, and mainly it's just a big vent session anyways. You probably will to. Good luck in school and for the future!

Thank you so much for this honest to goodness response!!! It feels good knowing that there are nurses that really do love there job and don't just feel stuck in their position. So thank you very much for enlightening me on the realistic view. :)

Specializes in Neurology.
I've misplaced my crystal ball, and I I don't know anyone who has a working one. But you make your own happiness in life, so if you want to be a nurse, be a nurse. As far as this snippy reply, you ought to be concerned with "What it's called at the moment." Asking about "Obamacare" has a certain connotation that implies you're not looking for objective information.

i dont think the op knows anything about objective data yet ! but they willllllllllll

Nah, but that's not to say you don't have bad days.make sure you have a support network that you can chat to when you need to

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Nursing is NOT for the faint of heart. It it a very tough job......whether you love it or not. Nurses have immense responsibility but have little authority. We are responsible for every flaw... but have very little authority to change anything

There are two camps in nursing...the "CALLING" crowd and the "Money" crowd...the two just do not see eye to eye.

The "CALLING" crowd "LOVES" their jobs! They LOVE their patients. This is ALWAYS what they have wanted to do!!!! While disappointed by the present state of affairs.....but love caring for people. You have a Subgroup here that went into nursing because it was a calling for when we graduated we weren't paid much over minimum wage....we fought and clawed for benefits, wages, patient ratios, and respect.......and we are watching it go backwards and we fear where it will stop. We are disillusioned and heartbroken

The "MONEY" crowd do it for a steady paycheck. They came to nursing because of the "Nursing shortage" (which doesn't exist anymore) and/or because they lost their "other job" and we offered re-training by unemployment AND be paid for and since nursing was a guaranteed JOB with a good paycheck......flocked to nursing in DROVES! Ended up being very disappointed, and shocked, at how nurses were treated, what we are expected to do, HOW MUCH we are expected to do.....that the money, in reality, isn't that great. To them....it's just job.

Then you have those that use nursing as a stepping stone for the real jobs that pay the big bucks.....like Nurse Practitioner and CRNA. They have their sub groups...... but in the last 5 years the class of "using this position to get to my real job" have grown disproportionately.

Both sides are angry....... for we all are being abused by a system that doesn't care about the bedside nurse and seem to be single handedly destroying the profession that some love and respect and others need and respect. One side can't believe what they are being asked to do and will not eat lunch sit or take bathroom breaks for the patient comes first, they LOVE their patients....the other side is the same thing and is extremely disappointed at the profession as a whole.

Both sides are ANGRY.

Here is the deal.

Nursing isn't what it once was....nor is it what it should be. I believe it will be again...however I think it is going to be a while before we return to some semblance of order...history will tell the ending of this story.

Nurses are being asked to do more with less. We don't receive raises for they are frozen. Our benefits are cut. We have NO pension and NO benefits when we retire. We watch our quality of living decline while the CEO..... who preaches budget and hands down arbitrary decisions that endanger patients and ourselves....talks about tightening "OUR" belts (give me a break) receive MILLIONS in corporate bonuses for "successfully" "saving the system...which is code for corporate.

We are angry.

The "shortage" (which never really existed) is over. Many parts of the country are referencing a plethora of applicants for each position. In some parts of the country the unemployment of new grads is 47%. For profit schools propped up over night...opportunists/capitalists.....looking for quantity of applicants/graduates NOT QUALITY. Nurses have become a "dime a dozen" which has dropped the "value" of the nurse.

Many new grads...now with hundreds of thousands of debt now can't find work and are going to default on their loans...the next financial crisis. Older nurses can't retire. Hospitals have decided to have a narrow window of who they want to hire....because they can....so if you are a new grad or a laid off experienced nurse over 50.....you WILL BE unemployed or underemployed ESPECIALLY if you do not have your BSN

We are angry.

Somewhere along the line.......Hospitals have decided that they no longer want to train new grads. They refuse to train the next generation.... the good news is....without training the next generation adequately......you won't have replacements........those who are waiting will move on......the good news? eventually we will be back in the bargaining chair.

Obama care? Senator Kennedy's big idea? Governor Romney's folly? What will it do Other than line the pockets of big insurance companies and force and already struggling middle class to fork over more money to the elite few, cause small business to close and hospitals hire only PRN workers and deteriorate health care itself at the bedside......no one is sure.

Is nursing worth it? Crazy enough...I think so. I'm the "calling camp" I love my patients and love being a bedside nurse.

Is nursing worth it? YES......If you're tough enough it is.

Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

It depends on where you live and where you work. I would say explore other careers before you dive into nursing school.

Yes it is as bad as some say and there will be days you go home from a bad shift wondering why the heck you became a nurse.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

I've been through nursing since the early 2000s.

I have been a CNA, LPN, and a RN...

If I wasn't happy with this profession, or felt I couldn't be objective and assertive or personally happy with this profession, I would've probably found something else to do, or found a rich man, lol. ;) Seriously.

I have friends in healthcare, public safety, military, education, research, business, IT, real estate, construction, public health, social work...people are people are people...personality does not always transcend professions....the most important aspect in interacting with people; especially peers and the public is your expectations of YOU...The only expectations that I have of myself in this profession is to remain objective and to maximize myself and my profession; I have the attitude of "what can be done?" MOST of the time throughout my time in this business in each role I have been in. Do I vent? Sure; but I vent and move on; tomorrow is another day; life is too short to be unhappy.

As far as discouragement; I remember ping to a career day when I was in middle school in the mid 1990s-around the time when the other financial crisis occurred, there were new changes to insurance and the delivery of healthcare back then as well; a nurse outright told me not to go into the profession; I'm very fortunate that I was very objective at the time; she was VERY negative; and if I think back on what she stated, it was most of the venting that people talk about ad nauseum; if I had listened to her instead of remembering the nuggets of what my parent and family instilled in me, and being the objective child I was, I would've missed out on a career that has been a wonderful fit in my life.

As far as the ACA; I am VERy supportive of it in twofolds: a) One of my nursing instructors was a part of the healthcare team that provided evidence-based practice for the first stages of the ACA; and helped craft how the expansion of NPs will help with primary care. She was my research teacher in my BSN program. She has met an collaborated with the nursing theorists that you will learn about in nursing school-these, along with MANY nurses in our profession and on AN, are the people who have the "what can be done" attitude; they are the "changers" of the profession.

And the second reason is b) I am a direct recipient of the benefit of the ACA. I had a major medical issue occur, and insurance priced me out; I had to get in SSDI and Medicare in order to survive, save my home, and achieve my goal for becoming an RN. I enjoyed having private insurance, to be yanked away because of a condition that I had control over. I also have pediatric clients that can have insurance now...keeps them having the ability to MAXIMIZE (my favorite word to describe nursing and my patients ;) ) and in turn keeps their nursing services, thereby keeping us in business-and that's a good thing. :)

OP, I suggest to be objective; seek out nursing chapter leaders and organizers; nursing union and organizers your area. Find out about the ACA DIRECTLY from the bill itself; there are also free classes that are taught by nurses online that provide information in an objective way.

If you decide to be a part of this business, understand the various people and the intimacy that is invoked with patients of various backgrounds an culture and personalities; this business is NOT for the weak or faint hearted :no: but it can certainly be as satisfying as any other profession, it's what YOU put into it. :yes:

I love your response!

Specializes in OR.

In my BSN program, we have a nurse leadership class. One of the topics will be about the ACA and how it affects nursing. You most likely will cover this topic at some point in your program, but it will be imperative (as others have mentioned) to learn about it objectively. Don't listen to either political side. Instead, read the bill and do your own research, and formulate your opinion from there. You'll hear "evidence-based practice" a lot in nursing school; keep that in mind when researching the bill.

I'm in my junior 2 year, and I absolutely love nursing so far. I've had excellent experiences and worked with some very incredible nurses,

PCTs and patients. The only way to know for sure how you'll do in nursing is to give it a try. Make sure you have a back up though, just in case. Student loans are nasty!

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