Would you recommend nursing to your daughter?

joliesmomizaRN · Mar 24, 2007

If the desire is hers, then support her. If it was yours, don't. I encouraged my daughter. Big mistake. She graduated from nursing school in 1998. It's been a disaster for many reasons. She is a good nurse and I have seen her interact with patients, she has a great bedside manner. She's smart and on top of things. But s he hated nursing for other reasons and has said many times that the only reason she went to nursing school was because she felt I wanted her to. She isn't practicing now and probably never will again.

kiiki · Mar 28, 2007

My children have grown up in a household of an RN mom. I've been a nurse for 30 years. They have seen how hard the life of a nurse is. The shifts, the weekends worked and most of all me being absent at so many holidays and special functions. I have begged, borrowed and worked steady 11-7 to be a part of their lives. We made it work. But none of them even considered being a nurse. I'm not sure I would have encouraged it either. Believe it or not I still love being a nurse

RuralNP4KIDS · Mar 29, 2007

I would absolutely recommend nursing to anyone. I have worked in a variety of positions and I have enjoyed every job. Both of my daughters gag at the sight of blood and can't stand to watch "gross" stuff on TV and neither have any interest in medicine. My eldest is good with little children and I am encouraging her to become a child life specialist.

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Mar 29, 2007

If my kids were to express an interest I would encourage them to enter nursing. But only if they expressd an interest first. Its not something I would push on anyone.

nuangel1, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2007

yes being a nurse is sometimes hard but it has great rewards. Very flexable. Lots of jobs and scedules to chose from. You always know you are doing usefull work. You will never get rich but you will always have a job.
New graduates are very different from the generation that is now getting close to retirement. The new nurses have higher expectations, more alternatives, better education and are generally more independent. This is a great time to go into nursing.

well said

i agree .yes if i had a child that wanted to be a nurse i would encourage and support them though i would have them be a cna or work in jospital shadow a nurse etc so decision would be well informed.nursing has a lot to offer and it is my profession and i am proud of it .

txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2007

my mother always told me that there would always be a demand for nurses so there is a great long term job potential.. so i have a 14 year old daughter and we are looking ahead discussing jobs and careers. i mentioned nursing and she told me "no"...she says she has seen what i have had to go through as a nurse then nurse manager and my daughter made the comment ..."to much drama" ..she is 14 and already knows how crazy it can be and she is still in middle school.... :lol2:

twotrees2 · May 10, 2007

My daughter is 17 and graduating this spring and plans on going to college this fall. She has expressed a desire to go into nursing but I really have a problem encouraging her to do this. I don't know if it is just the mother in me that wants her to go on to something else or if I just don't want to see her emptying bedpans and taking the crap we have to. She is so young and shy I am afraid she will be eaten alive. AM I being to overprotective or should I be more supportive and encourage her even if I think it is a mistake?

nope - never - i make sure i am very honest wiyth what the real world holds when i meet up with students and new grads also ( they usually see it themselves soon after being a new grad anyhow. ) have seen many quit - its just not worth it - if i were younger and had better health id be getting a new career myself - but that just aint happening - so i deal and dealing isnt always the greatest -

twotrees2 · May 10, 2007

Both of my daughters have emphatically stated that they want absolutely nothing to do with anything in the medical field.
That being said, I would NOT have encouraged them had they expressed an interest.

my DD has seen very little of what i go trough but what she has seen she alway says i need to get a new carreer - LOL says i need to go back to school - she is too funny sometimes.

am17sg05 · May 10, 2007

for me, i would recommend nursing.i was undecided on what to take before when i was to go to college.i love numbers but when my parents advised me to take nursing because of career opportunities, i followed them.they said if i won't like it,i could switch course anytime i want to.i had good friends when i was in college so i was encouraged to continue and just study until BSN is done.i would always say i am forever thankful to them because if not with nursing, i wouldn't be able to bring my family here in us(we are from asia) and we won't be able to provide a brighter future for our kids.talking about STABILITY and FUTURE.

worldtraveler · May 10, 2007

No. I would not recommend Nursing to someone young or otherwise. I would recommend something else like Phy Asst but not Nursing! No way Jose! I was asked about this 3 years ago from a young Lady who resides in my neighborhood. I advised her not to go into Nursing but she went anyhow; she graduated 6 months ago. Last week she called me and said "How right you were" Now she is in a Hospital and cannot take the Patient Load, backbiting ect. She is looking at something else in the Medical field. 6 months or so and she is leaving, Burned out,,,

wilbur's mom · May 10, 2007

No, and no again. Nursing is a beautiful and rewarding profession. That said, the workplace in which we find ourselves is not beautiful or rewarding. We don't have a national shortage of nurses, we have an abundance of nurses who are no longer willing to work in such a dangerous, understaffed, underpaid workplace where nurses are taken advantage of and placed in unsafe situations daily. My students job shadow and work in several healthcare workplaces, where day after day they ask why the staff are so nasty to them, why they see and identify such poor practice and why nurses work at a job they obviously hate. Well, look at how old we are. It is very difficult to switch careers just a few years from retirement, with years coming fast, in which we are going to be physically unable to keep working at anything, much less as a nurse. Job stress, i.e. taking care of 12 high acuity med/surg patients, (thanks to HMOs and budget cuts where smart CEOs cut RTs, Lab techs, housekeeping staff to the bone because, why, nurses can give nebs, draw labs and mop floors in his/her spare time on their way to one bathroom break in a 12 hour shift), is killing us. Look at the Nurse's Health Study data coming out of Harvard. Mandated overtime, being forced to float or work night or rotating shifts are killers in more ways than DONs care to admit. Too many of the new grads I see are either chewed up and spit out with a broken heart, or put in their 8, leave their notes unwritten, call lights unanswered, their patients in soiled beds, not medicated for pain, and demand nights, weekends and holidays off. We are not a disposable resource. We are running out of time to break this cycle. Nursing schools con't to close, or keep waiting lists that run for years due to lack of faculty. I taught for years with my annual 25 cent raise, no benefits, until I found out the nurses I had taught were making 22 cents more per hour than I was, and the school is now in the process of closing. My daughters said they saw how hard I worked, how often I went in on my days off, and didn't remember why I did it, because I truly loved my work, but that I wasn't home in the night or on way too many Christmas holdiays. We must do better to uplift and support each other through difficult shifts and dangerous situations with harsh, legal, consequences. We are, after all, licensed. How many of us get thrown to the wolves?

Toddbe · May 10, 2007

It is really sad as I read through these posts. Overworked, underappreciated, underpaid, are three common threads among the stated items. Added to that is the 'eating our young syndrome' - as one writer put it - I tell every student nurse or recent grad how bad it is and to get out (paraphrased).

I cannot help but wonder several items. First what have you done to change the situation? Have you talked to management, and I'm not just talking about your supervisor. Have your written letters and called your state representative/congress person? Have you tired, and I mean recently and really, tired to make a difference?

Next, what is keeping in you in nursing? Oh sure I read - I'm close to retirement etc - but really, what is keeping you in the profession - I'm sorry for many of you it is a job. Maybe it is time to find something else, or maybe find a new position in nursing. Find something you enjoy. When was the last time you changed position, not just departments, but position. New hospital, new type of nursing - home health care, Occ health, anything, something?

Lastly, what kind of care are you providing? If the attitude of these post is carried to your care - and many of your comments indicates it does - what type of care are you providing?

Not all hospital, not all employers, not all nursing is bad. However, there must be some personal responsibility. After a long self review - if it is not you that is making nursing a bad profession for you, then what is and change it! If it is you, then change or leave!

I teach at a community college and work at a local hospital. They are both great, if not the greatest place to practice my profession. Nursing is a great profession, but as in life it is your attitude and what you are going to make of it!