Oh, why did I do this??

TCASII, ADN · Jul 11, 2010

I don't know what to say. I knew this prior to entering nursing school, but I did it anyhow. Maybe I'm a sadist. I worked the OR of a very respectable hospital for a year and a half. I was able to secure the job through a friend and eventually got the anesthesia tech position, although I wasn't paid to perform it and was still expected to do NA work. Overall I liked the job, but the nurses were by and large not friendly and the supervisors (charge, manager) were downright cold, manipulative, and dismissive. I eventually lost that job because I had problems with the day anesthesia tech sitting on his Mac in the supply room working on his website all day while I did his work, and I was the night guy! Unfortunately I let my emotions get the best of me and didn't stop to think about the fact that he had been employed there for years and had made friends with some doctors. The supervisors didn't believe me when I told them he sat on his computer all day and it was all downhill from there.

Other experiences I've had since then? Well, in my CNA clinicals a few years back (after working at that hospital), I noticed most of the RNs were not nice or sympathetic people. Then I went on to obtain a PCT cert at the local college and had trouble with people there too. I did my clinicals at a good hospital, and I'd say maybe 3 of the nurses on the floor were nice. The rest were abrasive, nasty, maladjusted, and jaded.

Of all the places I've been, I've noticed that nurses are largely miserable people with a myriad of psychological problems. I think depression is highly prevalent, as are various personality disorders. Aside from that, there seems to be a level of contempt among nurses that translates into hostile behavior with patients and coworkers.

It just so happens that healthcare is often a very malignant field to work in. Doctors can be lofty, ego-inflated, narcissists. Nurses can be cold, manipulative, back-stabbing, and evil. Everyone else below the nurse or doctor is often treated poorly because of this nasty atmosphere, so it just propagates.

I believe, from what I've seen, that most pre-nursing students have good intentions and really expect a world completely different from the one they end up with. They are usually all smiles and happy as a lark to be entering nursing school. What I would call "normal people", at least on the surface. Nursing school and the nasty patients/families begin to wear that varnish away, leaving a broken individual who has lost all passion for medicine or life in general. If school doesn't ruin your dreams, then the awful post-grad jobs/coworkers will. It's not like you are treated very well after school. Are there exceptions to a bad experience or post-grad job? Yes, but I don't think they are very common. RNs feel that they must treat new grads poorly because that is how they were treated.

To be honest, MDs/DOs aren't treated very well either, especially during their PGY (post-grad years) training. Not only have I seen it, but I've heard and read a ton of stories about awful experiences. Some MDs actually do quit during residency because it is so bad. The way I saw some new MDs treated in the OR made me cringe. A lot of alpha behavior.

If most people who applied to medical school or nursing school really knew what they were in for, they wouldn't consider it for more than a day.

FWIW, my mother, my girlfriend, and I have worked in the legal field, and let me tell you, lawyers are not a fun bunch of people to work for. The office politics is terrible there too.

Interestingly, my only positive experience was with an old hospital that was verging on BK. For the most part, the people there were much nicer than the people at the high-end facilities.

JBGC4 · Jul 11, 2010

Your instructors will tell you that THE FIRST YEAR OUT OF SCHOOL IS THE TOUGHEST. Explains why that have a forum on this sight geared towards newborns. The real learning is "out there." Or so they say. It's like learning any other new job. 4 long years of school, then out to the real world where you are a fish out of water. But remember when you are reading that forum, that is a small percentage of new nurses. If you want inspiration, look at a forum swamped w/ seasoned nurses.

Someday, you WILL be over this. Nursing is a huge responsiblity, as you already know. Getting out there by yourself for the first time is going to be scary. Heck, I can't pass a tylenol in clinical w/out getting clammy and I know my instructor isn't going to let me pass the wrong med, so I can only imagine how it will be when I'm on my own. We WILL get over this.

As far as some not finding work, depends on what field they are going into. In my area, everybody wants to do OB. There are only so many positions open. Or they may not like the hours available. Newborns have to pay their dues, just like the nurses before them did. And if you really want to see new graduates looking for jobs, go to a elementary education board, lol. Going into teaching is the LAST idea on my list right now.

Saysfaa · Jul 11, 2010

People are much more likely to talk about what irks them, and it takes longer to do so than to say things are going great.

The people who have jobs have much less time to post.

I get a much different take from the people I'm in contact with in real life.

Nepenthe Sea · Jul 11, 2010

I am about to enter my second year of nursing school, and sometimes I get freaked out about that, too. I have worked so hard, and really enjoy school - I hate to think that I may hate it when I get out. I agree with the previous poster who said that the first year out of school is supposed to be the hardest. I keep hearing that it takes 6 months to a year before you start to feel at all competent, and sometimes longer. Also, you're still learning new stuff.

I posted this on another thread recently, but I will tell it again. My med surg professor last semester said that a new grad came to her and said "We didn't learn ANYTHING in nursing school!" My instructor said "You had to have learned something. You can't just walk in off the street and be a nurse!" But getting oriented, especially to a critical care unit (as this student had) or similar area, makes you realize how much more there is to learn.

Whenever I feel myself freaking out, I have to remind myself of this: I spent the last two summers and Christmas breaks working as a cashier in a grocery store. Anytime a nurse came through my lane I would ask them where they worked, how long, and did they still enjoy being a nurse. Out of all the times I asked that question, I had ONE nurse tell me that she really didn't recommend that anybody go into nursing. We're talking ALOT of nurses, too.

Nepenthe Sea · Jul 11, 2010

Oh, and btw, I have a little mini-freak-out session right before the beginning of every semester. I mean crying, hyperventilating, wondering what the HELL was I thinking??? And then the semester starts, is a little overwhelming at first, and then I get in the groove and it's never as bad as I thought it would be. You're not alone. : )

allnurses Guide · Jul 11, 2010

Eh. I work at a hospital and am friends outside of that environment with a lot of nurses as well. Like any job, it goes in cycles and has good days, bad days and in between days, just like being a student, just like working in an office, just like being a parent or doing any other demanding activity.

I don't notice a predominance of depression or any other personality disorder and none of the nurses I know in real life are anywhere near as miserable as some of those who post here. People are a lot more likely to get on the Internet when they are in need of support than when they are content in their lives.

Life is what you make of it. No job is perfect and nobody is perfectly happy in any job. Go forward with faith that you know what you want. Will it be everything you are dreaming of? Not a chance. Will it be as bad as you fear? Highly unlikely.

Sendana · Jul 11, 2010

Have you ever heard of James Herriot's All Creature's Great and Small? It's about a country vet in England. He talks about his first months out of school- his book learning versus his practical learning. It's a funny, charming book, and he talks very much about his feelings of inadequacy. All of that book learning is no substitute for practical experience. He finds himself in many embarrassing situations brought about by a combination of his inexperience and a hostile clientele.

Read it before you start class. It's like eight bucks at B&N. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll realize that being new isn't the end of the world.

Calinurse4 · Jul 11, 2010

Thank you for all your responses :) I feel better today, after putting it all in perspective. I already work in a hospital, so I'm familiar with the setting. Although I deal with some jerk people (mostly doctors), it doesn't generally ruin my day. I figure I would have good days and bad; it's just so many people make nursing sound like hell on earth. The thought of busting my ass through 5 years of school to hate every second is just discouraging, KWIM?

I will put on my big girl panties and deal with it; I have waited for this for a long time and I just have to remain positive :)

VioletKaliLPN, LPN · Jul 11, 2010

Hi :)

Maybe a reason people may hate nursing is because they have not had any type of healthcare experience, so they may find the job to be very overwhelming. They have this rainbows and daiseys view of nursing instead of realizing that it is like any other job, there are great days and awful days. I have been a CNA for 7 years, and before that I worked as a resident assistant in an ALF. That was before CNA certification became the requirement for ALF centers.

Taking care of people is not easy, is very emotionally draining, and sometimes you are never good enough.(to patients or family)

I have been peed on, spit on, pooped on, slapped, punched, and called nasty names, but it just rolls off of my back like water off of a duck. I have an incredibly thick skin, and I am hoping that through my nusing school journey it stays intact.

I am also hoping that I have some excellent nurses willing to let me ask a LOT of questions.

Finding an.com has been wonderful. Reading the replies by experienced nurses has been very helpful.

Edited for spelling mistake

Highlandgirl1 · Jul 11, 2010

Whatever you don't don't let others discourage you! Maybe they themselves don't like it but that doesn't mean you won't like it! Not everyone is cut out for nursing, I believe that you must have some type of passion for it. I start school in the fall and I have already talked to a couple of the other students that will be starting as well and guess what they are not even excited! Well, I am not going to let them ruin it for me and although my excitement will probably wear off in the first few weeks of school as it gets harder I am just going to stay focus and I refuse to let anyone bring me down. Just because someone gets into nursing school does not mean that, that is their calling, so just hand in there and go for it and whatever you do don't get caught up in any of the drama that might take place among some of the students just ignore them!! I have already decided that I am going to weed through the students and find the ones that are positive. :rolleyes: :up:

kcochrane · Jul 11, 2010

This is a site for nurses, so you are going to hear a lot of venting. I can't complain to my husband, he just doesn't get it. So I either grumble to my coworkers or come here. So don't let our whining get you down. I love being a nurse and would not want to do anything else. Just like other jobs, there are good days and bad days. Like my job at Kodak, you are constantly trying to balance doing you best with trying to please administration.

I will be honest in that I did not enjoy clinicals - either for LPN school or for RN school. So if I judged being a nurse on that, I would have never became one.