Whats to Enjoy about Nursing?

nurse_drumm · Feb 6, 2007

Cooper!!! I think you're my twinn!!! Those exact words come out of my mouth, every time someone asks me what I feel about nursing. Here here!!!

~Alicia:cheers:

ckben · Feb 6, 2007

i can't answer for anyone else at the moment, but i can say for myself that i have recently become tired of the situation myself and am actively looking to leave nursing. let me say, at the start, that i have several relatives and friends who are nurses who enjoy what they do and whose job stresses are, as others have said, no more or less than any other job. but for myself, working 13+ hours shifts just trying to stay afloat of basic patient needs while disregarding my own need to eat, drink, and pee only to have to spend 1-2 hours after the shift is over catching up on charting (most of which is bogus anyway - why is it necessary to fill out a fall precaution assessment every 4 hours when all three of these assessments [over a 12 hours shift] take place after report has been given to the next nurse?) and then hear continual complaints from management about overtime? a typical response is, "do they want us to leave on time or do our jobs correctly?" i actually think even this is an understatement, because leaving 1-2 hours late still is no guarantee that good care was given to my patients despite my best efforts.

why do people put up with this? because their patients thank them for the care they've been given? after a typical shift, when saying goodbye for my patients for the day, i usually have at least 1-2 tell me they've enjoyed having me as their nurse and that i've done a wonderful job. does this make up for the agony of the previous 12 hours? no, it actually adds to it, because i can think of numerous times during the day when i SHOULD have been there more often, responded more quickly, or simply done more for them but i couldn't because of time issues and requirements elsewhere. and it just kills me that these patients, while recognizing that i've done my best, are thanking me for care that i perceive as being substandard.

my advice for everyone is this: if you get into nursing school and you love nursing, don't sell yourself short. fight for a job in an area you want (DON'T SETTLE), and be aware of what sort of working conditions that place has. if you get into nursing school and you don't like nursing or aren't sure if you like it, take some time to seriously reflect whether you want to continue pursuing this career. yes, it's decent pay and great job security, but that doesn't always trump having a job you like, or tolerable working conditions.

mrsluckyaz · Feb 6, 2007

I am an LPN and have worked in home health, insurance, nursing home, and a medical supply company. At present I work in a new hospital on an acute rehab floor; the work is sometimes physically tiresome but the progress that our patients make here is so awesome. When these patients come to us some do not have the strength to sit up and one week later they are getting into wheelchairs and to the dining room by themselves and in the next couple of weeks they are walking by themselves, or with a cane or walker. To see them go home and be able to have some freedoms and capabilities that 3 weeks before was totally gone to them - it makes my job worth every minute of time I spend there with them. When you don't enjoy what you are doing - then it is time for change and with nursing there are so many aspects to choose from.

carlarn, BSN, RN · Feb 6, 2007

ok so i have just read with great interest all these posts about "whats to enjoy about nursing" and couldn't help but post my own response.

i have been in nursing 17 years. i have not only my bsn, but my msn. i have worked in icu, ed, or, neurointensive care and as a nurse practitioner. i have had good days, bad days and going half-mad days (to quote jimmy buffett), but of all the professions i could have entered, i am more than satisfied with my choice.

i have held the hands of family members as they received good news and as they received bad news. i have been yelled at by patients, doctors and my coworkers. i have yelled at doctors and my coworkers. i have cried because my patients died or because my coworkers have had family disasters. i have also laughed at/with/because of my patients, coworkers and doctors; and i have even made fun of all of the above.

why wouldn't i like nursing? i have seen the best and worst of people, well and sick alike. i haven't always liked everyone i've worked with but they haven't always liked me either. i don't always like doing what i had to do but oh well. it happens

i have had the pleasure of telling someone she is pregnant/not pregnant. i have had the displeasure of telling someone their loved one died. but these are the things that make our profession special. nowhere outside of medicine can you find a profession that offers such a contrast in life/death. we hold the power of both in our hands every day. we are the ones, appreciated or not, that make our healthcare system work. it isn't the hospitals, the administrators, the doctors or the insurance companies. it is the nurses.

we are the ones the patients look to for comfort, support, care and pain relief, just to name a few. our patients take out their frustations on us because we are there. for better or worse, nursing is one of the most honored and trusted professions. it is often ranked above the physicians.

i love being a nurse and a nurse practitioner. i wouldn't, at least right now, be anything else.

RavenC · Feb 7, 2007

I do it now strictly for the money. Sorry, but I can't fake that I do it because it means so much to make someone's day or to be told thank you (I can count the times that has happened in my six years of nursing on one hand, anyway). Other nurses will turn on you, patient's and family will turn on you, you can't possibly meet every expactation and demand of all the people all the time (not even close) and no matter how hard you try you end up getting it spit back in your face. Everyone is looking for a lawsuit these days and the stress of contantly looking over your back gets you down after awhile. And if you think you have an employer who cares about you and will protect you think again...they will hang you out to dry faster than you can say "but yesterday you were going on and on about how you appreciated me."I've gone from a good-natured gentle person eager to help people to a cynical, bitter old woman who thinks things she never would have thought when she started in the business. Nurse Rachaud? You better believe it. Nurses who have been in the business awhile can understand what could make her the way she was... I'd rather go collect cans or wash dishes but who can live on that? I'm working my way out of this hell hole called nursing, though. I've taken steps to get my master's degree (definitely not in nursing) and maybe do some counseling and teach at a community college.

Wow. I could have written your post. Sad isn't it that we thought we were going to be doing some good and instead it's nothing but stress and disillusionment. But like you, I'm working toward getting out. I'm studying to be a vet tech which I'll supplement with part time nursing until I can get far enough up the ladder to support myself with that. I also plan to raise and sell cockatiels which is a hobby I already enjoy. Animals may bite you but at least they do it to your face and don't plan to sue you later. I'm also studying photography, another hobby, with the hope that I might sell a photo or two. The point being, I finally learned that I should do what I love and not dread getting up in the morning. I have a coworker who also plans to become a vet tech and raise rottweilers so she can quit nursing. When someone tells me they're considering nursing for a career I just look at them and say, "Haven't you paid attention to what we're going through?" I encourage them to go into a different branch if it must be health care. And if they're already unhappy with every other weekend and holiday, why make it a lifelong choice?

Mel in MO · Feb 7, 2007

I've thus far done Home Health and Geri Psych nursing. Most of my Home Health were geri or long-term chronic. I stopped mainly because of the way they paid (screwy company), and the smoke in the homes (Love them COPD/O2 via NC clients!) Now I work for 8 or 12 hr shifts (in theory.)

When I went to nursing school, it was with the specific goal of wanting to work w/ geriatric people. I hate to, but I have to take breaks, so I just leave my hall to go hold hands and get smiles from the geri people on the other halls. My favorites are always the "problems". The ones who yell, the ones who are angry a lot, the ones who are miserable. We lost a two this past week, and I was happy for them. I have yet to shed a tear for any of them when they have passed on. They've earned their peace.

We get hit, kicked, and spit on pretty much every day at some point. And we get hugs and kisses and Thank You's even more often, if we stop long enough to let them. They have psych issues, but they also have the same health problems of 70-90+ yr old people everywhere. It's just harder for them to understand, and harder for us to help them at times because they don't understand. And 8 hr days turn into 15 hr days with all of the paperwork, and falls, and emergent issues.

Most of the other nurses here are so.....competitive? Overworked? Burnt out? Tired? I say 'most of' not as a generalization, but because I can run a mental checklist and only think of 4-5 out of 25 who really show any love for the people they are there to help. But I'm really and seriously just honored to be there. And when I come home covered in every body fluid there is, most of it put there on purpose, and have to go back and do it again tomorrow (probably for way longer than 12 hrs), I will, with pleasure and passion.

I DO have bad days. I did yesterday. And my family is kind of over it, because we can't plan anything, because I can't pass ANYthing on to the next shift, even stuff that happens 5 mins before the end of your shift (they won't do it, and they'll tell you they won't!). But I'm off today. And I'm just dying to know how everybody is. I hate to leave my "people", because I have come in and found them bleeding all night after several falls, blows to the head, bleeding from the eyes, and just sitting in a chair in the MDR, given a couple of Tyl ES for pain. My CNA's call me at home to see if I can come in and "Do Something" at times like that. Because it's a pain in the butt and lots of paperwork to transfer, and the hospital doesn't want to deal with them, either.

My husband asked me last weekend whether the other day nurses leave on time. I said "For the most part". He asked "How?" "Because they just leave, no matter who is bleeding or what is going on.". He said "Then you need to do that.". My answer:

"When I can see a person who trusts me to help, who is bleeding or sick or unable to breathe well, and I just leave.....I will quit. I wish they all would." He also says that he wishes he could find something like I have, that he could feel so fulfilled and passionate about. So he is getting over it. If I can come, I come. If not, he is learning to go anyway.

I wish I had pursued drama and acting, it was my first love. But I didn't. And there aren't a lot of parts open for an overweight 40 yr old ingenue... Or my second, but I never learned to play guitar, so I can't really go for the rock star thing....So Nursing will have to do

Good luck. I hope you find your passion. And there are SO many kinds of nursing, if you aren't passionate where you are, try another area!

I'm going to keep working toward my masters in rural family health, I want to be a small town nurse practitioner eventually. But I'll be happy where ever I am as long as there is a glowing wrinkled face smiling up at me!

Mel:nurse:

honeyz · Feb 7, 2007

I am soon to start my nursing program--I guess I'm just getting worried! I hear so much about the bad things that I feel like there may be no good in nursing, even though I know better than that!

:nono: if i had to do it again, I sure would STAY AWAY from nursing. most folks think you're a Marriott slave towards there demanding wants. And oh honey , dear, missy etc. and thanks are useless. :uhoh3:

code50 · Feb 7, 2007

Sissy....don't let "those" nurse scare you off! The profession cannot be fulfilling unless it is in your heart before your wallet.I was injured at work 5yrs ago & have not been able to return to work.Following 2 back surgeries & a knee surgery, my life has fell apart because the day I lost my job, I lost a part of who I am. At the time of my injury I had been a med/surg nurse for 14yrs....getting ready to go in to the ER....did not make it! Sure, I complained plenty about staffing,meetings,CEU's,holidays,etc.etc. but I chose my profession and after 2-3 days off to "re-coup" I was ready to start in again. So, don't draw any early conclusions or be frightened off by what others say about nursing. It is a noble profession & it can be rewarding (mentally,spiritually & yes financially as well) God Bless & don't give up.....not yet anyway! Theresa=sissyboo;2040360]I'm a student and have been reading up on some of these forums and many, many nurses would leave their jobs if they didn't need the money. Everyone continually talks about how stressful their jobs are based on scheduling, continuing education, pay scales, nurse/patient ratio...etc. I was wondering..why do nurses even bother with work? Why don't they switch professions into something less demanding and as good of pay? What makes you get up in the morning (or evening or night!) to go to work?

code50 · Feb 7, 2007

Sissy....don't let "those" nurse scare you off! The profession cannot be fulfilling unless it is in your heart before your wallet.I was injured at work 5yrs ago & have not been able to return to work.Following 2 back surgeries & a knee surgery, my life has fell apart because the day I lost my job, I lost a part of who I am. At the time of my injury I had been a med/surg nurse for 14yrs....getting ready to go in to the ER....did not make it! Sure, I complained plenty about staffing,meetings,CEU's,holidays,etc.etc. but I chose my profession and after 2-3 days off to "re-coup" I was ready to start in again. So, don't draw any early conclusions or be frightened off by what others say about nursing. It is a noble profession & it can be rewarding (mentally,spiritually & yes financially as well) God Bless & don't give up.....not yet anyway! Theresa=

mmurphy · Feb 7, 2007

There is absolutely nothing to enjoy about nursing. If a nurse is a manager, supervisor, educator, or administrator; in order to function he/she must be devoid of moral character. These jobs are nothing but political bull, they talk patient care at meetings, but in reality anyone with any brains, in the above mentioned positions soon realizes that "care" is the last priority.

There is an occasional reward when a patient "feels gratified" or you may feel that you have made a little difference in someone's life. But these rewards come only at the direct care level. The rest of the time nurses working in direct care positions are lied to by administration, belittled by busy doctors, overworked, not respected, demoralized and put to the impossible tasks oof balancing the "paperwork bull****", with the impossible physical and time demands of real time care delivery.

I would not recommend nursing to my worst enemy.

91C_ARMYLPN · Feb 7, 2007

I'm a student and have been reading up on some of these forums and many, many nurses would leave their jobs if they didn't need the money. Everyone continually talks about how stressful their jobs are based on scheduling, continuing education, pay scales, nurse/patient ratio...etc. I was wondering..why do nurses even bother with work? Why don't they switch professions into something less demanding and as good of pay? What makes you get up in the morning (or evening or night!) to go to work?

Hi sissyboo!

Why? Lots of good reasons....

1. Despite the negativity of some, this is still an honorable and well respected profession.

2. I sincerely enjoy helping people... To share in the birth of a newborn baby, to provide comfort to the elderly gentleman who is in pain, to hold the hand of the young man who is dying of AIDS.

3. To put bread on my table and earn an honest living.

4. To show my children that it's OK to work hard and reap what you sow.

5. Having the personal satisfaction of knowing...that at the end of the day,

I gave it my very best and it came from the heart.

That's what I enjoy about nursing! :nurse: :balloons:

General E. Speaking, RN, RN · Feb 7, 2007

What makes you get up in the morning (or evening or night!) to go to work?

There are good days and bad days. The good days make you stay...