An Unapologetic Reasoning On Why You Don't Want To Be A Nurse.

Being a nurse is a tough college course to decide to take and too many people are walking in eyes wide shut. There are a lot of disappointments on the way and at times you will feel like you've made the wrong choice. The purpose of this article is to make people aware of these issues but hope that it will strengthen the resolve of the ones who know this is what they want to do. Nursing Students General Students Article

OK, being a nurse is tough. I don't mean the training is tough, I don't mean you'll have tough days, I don't mean that continuing professional development is tough. Being a nurse is tough and you need to be prepared for a tough career. Yes it is rewarding, yes you will be pushed to become a better practitioner and a better person but it's going to be tough.

This article will have a UK bias but I'm hoping that the key message comes through, you need to be the right person to be good at this job.

So you've picked nursing as a soft option through University/College, think it will be an easy Degree/BSc with the healthcare system picking up your fees? Wrong. All those cool fresher parties, all the social clubs, the late nights; they ain't going to happen. Not only are you working on a full time academic degree but you have to put the clinical hours in too, you need to be willing to put this course in front of what you might want personally. This can include friends, previous hobbies or sports or even relationships. Most courses are based around the working system so while you're friends enjoy a few months between terms/semesters you get maybe two weeks off at Christmas and summer, with the occasional one thrown in if you're lucky.

Nursing education is evolving, you now need to learn biology, physiology, sociology, some psychology, healthcare management, healthcare politics, multidisciplinary team interaction management, and those books don't come cheap. The library won't have enough copies so you'll have to budget more than any of your friends and start pulling in some extra cash.

So now you've qualified it'll all get better? Maybe, but maybe you'll not get that job you really wanted and have to take a second choice. It's hard to be motivated for a job you don't really want to be doing, and believe me it shows. But you get on with it anyway and try to resist the insipid feeling that no one else really wants to be there either. Try to remember why you wanted to do this job.

For the most part you will be respected; people generally do love nurses. But that one person who says "just a nurse" or "didn't you want to be a doctor really" is really going to get to you, especially when you experience an issue where management takes the Drs side on an issue when you really believe you are in the right.

As a nurse and midwife mentor it's really hard to see students coming through who just don't have the stuff it takes to be a responsible practitioner. You can have the academic side but you need to be able to put that into practice and relate to your patients. Likewise the days of people getting through because "they're really good in practice and get really nervous in exams" are over, you need to able to perform in the classroom and the clinic.

Nursing courses have a very high attrition rate and if you think I'm saying all this to put you off then good, because you are the person who won't make it through and I don't want to waste either of our time. If you can read this and still want to be a nurse then please come and join the family.

It is tough, it is heartbreaking, it is ecstasy, it is pain, and it is not for everyone.

Hopefully you will find your dream job and have a long and happy career but the reality of it is that there will be some major obstacles which stand in your way, it will be tough.... but worth it.

Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

Great Article-thank you

As a UK transplant over in the US-nursing is very different than the UK

I somewhat agree with you in some ways but......I feel that you have to have certain qualities to become a nurse and to remain a nurse. I am sorry but you have to have a desire to help people, solve problems and just have good a good overall customer service attitude overall. But the one thing you will have to have above all this is integrity. You will be in a lot of situations in where if you decide to do something or not do something no one will know and you will be tempted to not only take short cuts but to out right not do a task because of the huge amount of work you will have to complete in such a short amount of time. If you do not have that little voice in your head nagging you and urging you to "Do the right thing" you should not be a nurse nor should you want to be a nurse. This is how I can can live with my profession as a nurse. You can have all of the knowledge in every text book, you can be able to execute every procedure that you do with excellence but if you don't have integrity and a burning desire to want to do the right thing and want to please people then I just don't know if you will be an asset to this profession.

I'm not sure if it is different governmental systems at play here but as I was reading some of the responses I thought "So young and so burnt out already". I've been a nurse for 25 years and while I've certainly had some moments, never once have I regretted going into the profession. I've had flexibility, worked in different areas, seen both the best and worst of human nature. Sometimes we can't change systems and procedures but we can change how we are. Stay current, recharge on your days off , try to make a difference anyway you can and don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.

Specializes in Emergency.

Do not worry about naturally loving people, in nursing you need to be respectful and professional, and you will be good. If you find out you don't like dealing with people, it sounds like research may be a good fit since you enjoyed lab so much. :)

I hate people now and I do my job fine. You don't have to like anyone to be a nurse, in fact you WILL dislike a lot of your patients. Just do your job.

Specializes in geriatrics.

Generally, I do enjoy being with people and I care, but not to my own detriment and I am good at boundary setting. I refuse to absorb other people's feelings.

Nursing involves a lot of role playing, as many service oriented careers do. It's still a job and I value my off hours. Everyone has their reasons for choosing this profession.

This is an excellent article.

I can't even begin to comprehend the amount of work I'm going to go through once I make my way into nursing school. I'm still attending a community college where I can finish off my prerequisites, and I haven't had to make too much of a dramatic change to my schedule other than one or two hours studying for my courses; but I have this sinking feeling that this will change once I enter nursing school.

I'm still looking forward to it, though! Even if it tears my ambitious soul apart, I honestly feel it will be very worth it. It'll definitely be a decent, respectable career and I'll be able to live comfortably while being a part of an interesting field. I really hope I can land myself into being an intensive-care unit nurse; the first time I stepped into an ICU as a hospital volunteer, it took effort trying to pull myself away to attend to my other duties. It's just that interesting to me.

For now, I guess I'll worry about microbiology since that seems to be the next science-related course I'm taking next semester.

Hey Mr. Midwife! Interesting post. Being a male nurse myself and knowing how touchy things got during my maternity rotation - gender issues - I'd personally be very interested to hear how you have experienced the world of being a male midwife. WOW!

I don't think people think that nursing is very easy at all; yes the NHS pays our fees in the UK but you failed to mention the sheer amount of competition and the painful interview process that a prospective student nurse needs to go through before they can even start seeing nursing in their future. Getting into a nursing program is tough and by no means the " soft option through University/College" Seriously? People are committing 3 years of their life to a difficult course and obviously there are going to be people who drop out or just don't want to be there but if they hate it that much then they are not going to stay there long anyway. Those three years of learning are just the beginning of what it takes to be a nurse and I can see your point coming across about how you have to be dedicated but to even begin to suggest that students randomly choose nursing is incorrect. The interview process is difficult. It is competitive and it can even knock a person's confidence; there just aren't enough places and knowing this I don't think people would lightly choose a course like this at the drop of the hat "oh well, I'll just be a nurse then." No. They have to pass a literacy and numeracy test in most universities, then they have to go through a group interview/group activity and then they might also have an individual interview. Now I might be crazy but does anyone think that someone would go through that on the possibility that they might want to be a nurse or that it was a final option? I don't. I know so many people this year who haven't been able to get into a nursing course (even more for midwifery) and have to try again next year and possibly again after that. People who are devastated that they could not fulfil their dream.

I'm sorry I'm going on a bit but after seeing people I know lose their self-esteem and confidence after not being able to get into a nursing program because the competition for the sheer lack of spaces makes me wonder how a noticeable amount can walk into this with their eyes shut. Of course there will be a few but focus on the majority of students who are so focused they would do anything to become a nurse never mind all the social side and the things you have to give up; if you want it that badly then people should just go for it!

I appreciate this post so much because I'm starting to feel the same way! I always imagined going into pediatric nursing but after working the past two years in the front office of a radiation oncology facility, I really enjoy working with these patients!

Out of curiosity: what are the differences between UK and US? I have no experience with either other than hearsay from my nurse friends here; I'm CNA in the US and almost finished with prereqs.

Specializes in med surge.

I have my yearly review coming on Monday (first one since I'm a new grad). And I am trying to think what I really feel about nursing. In school during clinicałs it was fabulous. On the job however, and maybe because I'm ICU, it's do not. I really thought all that I heard about nasty, belittling, arrogant, eat their young nurses was a thing of the past. I love my patients, their families love me, but geez, the other nurses are a handful. It's so not what I had in my head.

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