WHY do so many people hate nursing? Sigh.

martymoose, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2016

The problem is, we are no longer allowed the time we need ....to be the nurse we all want to be.
Health care is now a corporate money maker. Nurses are the commodity that make money for big business.
I never hated nursing, I hate that the corporate masters have taken it over.

THIS THIS AND THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

This is why nursing sucks. Its not the actual nursing.it's like nursing with your hands tied being your back and your patient , patient's family, and management punching you in the stomach repeatedly.

I completely regret my decision to have become a nurse. They don't tell you any of this in nursing school.

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Feb 12, 2016

Because people come on here to grip about their day. We need to do this, get stuff off our chest that we can only share with other nurses. I was just talking about this with one of my coworkers tonight. We do not have a "normal" job and the stuff we deal with every day is not something that others can tolerate therefore we cannot grip to anyone but other nurses. That's why you hear so many of us here sounding negative.

For the record, I love my job. No where would I have been able to come into a profession with an Associates Degree and been able to make what I was making. I make more now with my Bachelor's degree. And I love working with the patients (most of them). I'm looking forward to my Master's and Doctorate too.

OCNRN63, RN · Feb 12, 2016

Mavrick.....I want to be a med-surg nurse. I don't want ICU, ER, or OB/NICU. Those specialties are awesome and I completely respect the nurses who work them. It's not for me though.....at least so far.
I graduate in 85 days. People look at me funny sometimes when I tell them I just want to be a "plain" med-surg nurse. Even my teachers do it. It's nice to hear someone say med-surg as a goal is okay. I haven't heard it often. I respect all nurses, regardless of the specialty they work in. For me, I'm sticking with med-surg.

It's perfectly fine to want to be a M/S nurse. We need them. You'll gain plenty of skills that will translate to many other specialties. So, don't let anyone look down on you for wanting to be a M/S nurse. We all have our preferences, and there's nothing wrong with M/S.

SnowShoeRN · Feb 12, 2016

Just once I'd like to read a thread by some pre-nursing butterfly who's dream job is to be a really good med-surg nurse.
Enough already with the NICU/PICU/OB princesses.

I see where you're coming from and I agree that med-surg needs good nurses who want to stay put, but I don't think someone is a "princess" just because they're starting their nursing career with the hopes of working in a certain specialty.

Many nurses end up getting into nursing with interest in 1 specialty and then becoming interested in something else entirely. Including people shifting to med-surg who originally wanted to do something else. Myself included. I see that pretty frequently, actually.

I was, and am, one of the least feminine female nurses you'll meet, but I got into nursing with the original goal of working OB and becoming a CNM. Not because I'm a princess who loved little babies or anything like that, but because I loved the challenge of being able to care for both mom and baby, the potentially life-threatening emergencies that can arise, the role CNM's play, and am inspired, fascinated, and humbled by the level of skill, compassion, and strength of character it takes to be a NICU nurse.

And, honestly, the best L/D nurse I ever met came from a disadvantaged background, had a shaved head, and rode a motorcycle to work. She loved her job, was amazing at it, and no one would have thought her a princess in any meaning of the word.

Personally, I support interest in any speciality that can make student nurses or pre-nursing students think seriously about nursing and want to pursue it as a career.

But yes. We do certainly need more good, long-term, med-surg nurses. I definitely agree with you there.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Feb 12, 2016

Just once I'd like to read a thread by some pre-nursing butterfly who's dream job is to be a really good med-surg nurse.
Enough already with the NICU/PICU/OB princesses.

Well...

I happen to be a med-surg AND a NICU nurse. Med-surg is rough. I don't blame people for not wanting to work like dogs caring for seven patients with no unit clerk or ancillary staff, being forced to sit with patients two hours at a time while their assignments are left uncovered and just work in dangerous environments.

Thought NICU can be stressful, the amount of stress and work is small in comparison to the workload and stress in my med-surg job.

lunchboxRN · Feb 12, 2016

I went from a "cushy" mgmt. nursing position to med-surg. My former job was much more stressful overall. Now? I do my job and come home and do not bring any baggage home. Yes, med-surg can be trying. My floor is trauma, but we get general overflow too. I see everything, it's great. Med-surg is it's specialty with it's own certification as well. It's not my nursing goal, but I learn something every day. It is not always a cluster ****. We do not usually get heavy patient loads. We work together. I get a lunch break every night. I pee when I want. I think I work in a relatively ideal situation.

Do I love my job? Not really. I would love to be independently wealthy and not work. However, I do like my job. I can tolerate most of my patients, I like my coworkers. No matter how crappy a shift is, something funny happens that we can laugh at or at least roll our eyes. I go in with a decent attitude, shifts go quick, and I go home to do stuff I want to do. Then I get paid (I love that part).

Interesting ideas on empathy here. I can say that I am not a people person or out to change lives or get some sort of meaning from helping others. That said, those patients that recognize I am trying to help them give me a little hope for humanity and make it a little easier to take care of those who are rude or trying of my patience. It is self serving for me, but I don't think that's always a bad thing. It keeps me going at times.

ashrose1992 · Feb 12, 2016

Just once I'd like to read a thread by some pre-nursing butterfly who's dream job is to be a really good med-surg nurse.
Enough already with the NICU/PICU/OB princesses.

New grad totally in love with non tiny human care. Very excited and grateful for my job offer on a surgical floor!

Whispera, MSN, RN · Feb 12, 2016

I've liked my nursing jobs most of the time (not that there weren't difficult moments/days/weeks). I loved two of them. I wondered why they paid me to do one of them, I loved it so much!

I think you read and hear about the dislike because people don't tend to talk about the good things as much as they talk about the bad things. Negativity is always "louder" than positivity, as well.

Now, about empathy, here's my two cents-worth, after the quote:

"In the field of positive psychology, empathy has also been compared with altruism and egotism. Altruism is behavior that is aimed at benefitting another person, while egotism is a behavior that is acted out for personal gain. Sometimes, when someone is feeling empathetic towards another, acts of altruism occur. However, many question whether or not these acts of altruism are motivated by egotistical gains."

Empathy is the core of life, and the core of nursing. It's where we become most human, as we put ourselves in others' shoes to help them live the best possible, healthiest lives they can live. While it definitely can be compared with altruism and egotism, that's not a bad thing. We aim to help others and that in itself is us acting for personal gain--to help, to feel we did a good job, as a mission, and/or to get a paycheck. Our ego is our basic self. It holds us together. There's nothing wrong with helping our ego be fed. I wouldn't want to be without empathy, ever...

Been There, where'd the quote come from? I'd like to use it in an article I'm writing.

canigraduate · Feb 12, 2016

I love nursing, but I hate my job.

Actually caring for and helping patients makes me happy.

Doing all the BS to make the government and corporate auditors happy is hell.

Hoosier_RN, MSN · Feb 12, 2016

Just once I'd like to read a thread by some pre-nursing butterfly who's dream job is to be a really good med-surg nurse.
Enough already with the NICU/PICU/OB princesses.

I'd like to see the same statement about LTC. Back in the day, I said never! But, here I am, and cannot even fathom doing anything else.

not2bblue · Feb 12, 2016

Don't have time to read all responses, so I will only say that every career on the planet will have days that the people will vent and if that is the only encounter you have with the person, you will think they hate their job. The thing is, we might hate that day or just the place we are currently working. So, why do we stay in nursing? It is a very personal answer. Honestly, nursing is a very hard job. And we all have reasons to love it or hate it. It isn't just "I like helping people" because many jobs help people. And, there are many varieties of jobs within the nursing world that have differing reasons. A recovery nurse may like seeing people get clean, but hate that they relapse. A rehabilitation nurse may like seeing someone walk out of the facility after learning to use artificial legs after bilateral amputation even knowing that the next patient will never get out of bed again. It's hard, it's bad, and it's good all at the same time. But, I agree with the others (of the ones I did read) that say most of the time, this is the only forum on which to vent after a horrible day and there are not any real repercussions since it is anonymous. There are close to 4 million nurses in America, and they aren't all using this site.

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2016

Just once I'd like to read a thread by some pre-nursing butterfly who's dream job is to be a really good med-surg nurse.
Enough already with the NICU/PICU/OB princesses.

Thank you. I was beginning to wonder if there still was any other nursing besides the "dreeeaaammmm jobs".

On topic;

OP, you aren't a nurse. You aren't even a nursing student yet. You don't have any frame of reference to understand how we can do what we do day after day, year after year, and still say "This **** SUCKS!!" on occasion.

Back a hundred years ago, when I started, there was no Internet, no social media. These conversations took place in the nurses' lounge or the local watering hole after work. The entire universe wasn't privy to our rants about rude patients and families, incompetent management and impossible staffing ratios (yes, we had all those way back in the 70s. The more things change, the more they stay the same).

Join the club as a working nurse for a few years and you will better understand the love/hate relationship most of us have with our chosen profession.