At the end of my rope...hate nursing.

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Hey all,

I am a senior nursing student and I am in my last semester of classes and I will graduate in April. Everything has been going okay in school so far, and I am doing well, I just feel that nursing is not what I expected it to be. I have always thought of it as a very prestigious career, but know I have almost the opposite view of it.

I had an on campus job which I enjoyed, and was involved in a lot of on campus organizations (student government, started a Dean's Advising Board, taught a review class for microbiology, etc) and am still somewhat involved. In July, I got a job as a nursing aide in a nursing home, and then in August I got a call from a hospital to become a nursing assistant on an acute rehab unit. I went PRN at the nursing home, and am now working at the hospital PRN also. I HATE IT! I hate every minute of being there. I hate 12 hour shifts, I hate the staff, and I just hate the entire environment in general. As a matter of fact, I already know I do not want to work at that hospital when I graduate, because I will be moving after graduation so that I can live closer to my fiance (we have been long distance for 3.5 years). But I feel obligated to stay there until I graduate, so I have a little experience to put on my resume when I graduate. My biggest fear is that I will not find a job after I move. And just recently, the unit manager has been forcing me to work a lot of nights to cover for a person who is on sick leave until he hires 2 new part time night shift people. And I HATE working nights. I also hate working weekends. Which of course, nurses have to do.

This whole job experience just has dashed all my hopes of nursing. All of a sudden I am tired all the time, have no motivation to study for school, I cry all the time (before work, before clinical, when I drive back to campus for the week after being back "home"), and I feel like I am on the wrong career path.

Has anybody else had a similar experience? I just don't know what to do anymore :(

I do hear you, and sometimes womder why I am still here? I did finally land a job YaY! But once again, no training at all. And with 5 schools as a district nurse I am behind in everything because nothing has been done since last year when nurse left. I am doing my best but feeling like a loser because i have no clue what i should be doing or how to do it, or the what when where how and who. I know it will get better, i hope, but i just womder if I am A. A total baby or B am I wrong in thinking it would save money to actually train me so that I could become that much more efficient, instead of reinventing the wheel? But itis a job and i certainly need one!

can someone help me understand rationale to this question. Ques:What of the following should be include in the teaching planfor the patient who is scheduled for an upper GI series?

1) The pt will be allowed nothing by mouth (NPO) after midnight.

2)General anesthetic is usually used for the procedure.

3)moderate abdominal pain is common after the procedure.

4)A cleansing enema will be given the evening before the procedure.

The answer in the work book is 1. Im having difficulty understanding the rationale. I think all of them could be a teaching moment. so why is number one the answer. Please help I get really confused on these sorts of questions.

Struggling nursing student

Specializes in SICU, CVICU, CCU, Cardiac Rehab.

You could just be working at a crappy hospital. You can absolutely find a better work environment. Makes a big difference. There was a huge difference in the work environment between central Florida and Oregon when I moved from one part if the country to the other. Try to check out other work environments before to bail altogether.

Specializes in Forensic Psych.
can someone help me understand rationale to this question. Ques:What of the following should be include in the teaching planfor the patient who is scheduled for an upper GI series?

1) The pt will be allowed nothing by mouth (NPO) after midnight.

2)General anesthetic is usually used for the procedure.

3)moderate abdominal pain is common after the procedure.

4)A cleansing enema will be given the evening before the procedure.

The answer in the work book is 1. Im having difficulty understanding the rationale. I think all of them could be a teaching moment. so why is number one the answer. Please help I get really confused on these sorts of questions.

Struggling nursing student

This isn't really any appropriate spot to be asking for help with studying, but the question isn't testing you to see if you know what seems like a good educational topic. It's testing to see if you know what the procedure entails. The other three are incorrect because they're inaccurate. The pt will be NPO. He won't go under general anesthesia or get an enema and moderate abdominal pain is not a part of normal recovery.

can someone help me understand rationale to this question. Ques:What of the following should be include in the teaching planfor the patient who is scheduled for an upper GI series?

1) The pt will be allowed nothing by mouth (NPO) after midnight.

2)General anesthetic is usually used for the procedure.

3)moderate abdominal pain is common after the procedure.

4)A cleansing enema will be given the evening before the procedure.

The answer in the work book is 1. Im having difficulty understanding the rationale. I think all of them could be a teaching moment. so why is number one the answer. Please help I get really confused on these sorts of questions.

Struggling nursing student

Critical thinking here. Stephalump is right tho.. This isn't the right place to post this question.

The patient should receive NPO before an upper GI series. Having NPO, so to say "lessens the activity and secretions" going on in the GI tract to lessen the potential for "complications." NPO can help avoid potential complications/effects of anesthesia on the stomach, intestines, and bladder; for example vomiting (aspiration). General anesthesia may not be used, dependent upon the procedure. Moderate abdominal pain is not common. A cleansing enema being prescribed the night before would be case specific. Enemas have the potential to irritate the GI tract so I would think that an enema would not be prescribed prior to GI surgery.

I understand how you feel. I am struggling with some of those same feelings now. Nursing is a tough career. I'm tired of giving up holidays with my family (I have been for 10 years). I had to leave my job working full-time with long-term and rehab vent patients because I began to get depressed. I work in a med/surg unit and this seems like a happy place to me (even though I know it's not...really....). Nurses spend so much time in nursing homes and hospitals, families in crisis, it's hard! Sometimes patients are difficult and they can seem unappreciative. I know that if you stick with it you will learn coping mechanisms that will work for you. In time, you will learn a lot and be able to make a difference in people's lives :-)! Maybe administration or clinic work would work well for you. Sometimes I think that I would like to have my own business flipping houses. It would be fun :)

Sorry for your troubles....

That said....I have a very very difficult job. In fact I nearly quit when they cut my orientation short. I really cannot imagine a more difficult place to work. Brutal.

However,

My coworkers are mainly angels. The docs are fabulous. Management is fantastic. I guess my point is this.

Any facility, any job is going to have plus and minuses....

It is up to us to CHoose to focus on the positives. When I have a bad day I know that a good day will soon follow. Just breathe, take one day at a time and make it though each shift, making sure your patients and yourself are safe.

I am in my fifth month and its getting a little better one day at a time.

Yesterday I had an old lady, arms wrapped around me, sobbing as she made the choice to make her husband CMO. She thanked me for caring for her husband. It was a powerful moment and I knew that I had made a profound impact in the life of that familiy....

That is what I live for and work for and that is what I focus on.....everything else is just noise.....

Specializes in CAOHC, Occ Health.

Stick it out and graduate! There are many many divisions in nursing, you don't have to be the typical nurse!!!! There's legal council nurses, admin positions, etc just look up online what type of jobs you can get as a nurse (besides the obvious). Im sure the wide variety will amaze you!

Sorry for posting here. Im new to the site and not sure of where i should be posting. Please inform me.

Sorry

I hate to say this to you, but it is only going to get worse. I hate nursing!!! I've been a nurse almost two years and it has been a nightmare. I am looking at walking away from nursing altogether. Patients don't appreciate crap and my boss feels that it's ok to keep overworking us and giving us heavier and heavier workloads. There is no end in sight. Every nursing job I have had turns out the same.. crappy pay, lots of stress, and more work than any one human should have.

My advice is for you to get an doctor's office job if you can or stick it out in med surg for a year... then make your move. You have to have at least one year of RN experience to get any kind of a nursing job. Good luck.

Hello nurses and students,

my name is margarita I am new in this forum. I was a nursing student from January to April, I got a C and needed at least a C+ to pass fundamentals. I was not expecting this, my grant money is gone, I have a student loan to pay and I am out of the program, I am so upset and I really don't know what to do next? Any one there with a similar problem in the past who can give me advise, thanks

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