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.

Tough is a relative word.

I used to be a heavy equipment mechanic, stuck outside on freezing winter days(and nights) busting my knuckles working on broke down equipment or stuck in a garage welding on a hot summer day, breathing in toxic fumes. I suffered broken fingers and frequent burns and tore my shoulder up twice, and would often be sore and aching after work twising my body into uncomfortable postions for hours on end. I had my boss breathing down my neck all the time and was always on a deadline and would frequently put in 16 plus hour days. I invested thousands of dollars in tools and it probably took the same amount of time and training to be proficient in my job as becoming an RN takes. For my troubles I made probably half of what the average RN makes.

Is Nursing tougher than that? It all depends on your perspective. Lots of jobs that are a LOT tougher out there, trust me.

I'm in the same boat as you. I'm finishing up my pre-reqs for nursing school and I'm so ready to become a nurse. I was stressed about about nursing school because I'd like to try to work at least part time if it's possible, but if not no biggie, thankfully I don't have kids or major bills that would require me to work. I don't think I'm too idealistic, I'm really just excited to be working a job where I can have a night shift, make a livable wage, and get away from a desk and answering phones all day. I'm not a big people person, but I can definately fake it until I make it. I'm starting out as an LVN because it's the quickest way to get out of business casual and into some scrubs and my end goal is to become a CRNA. I've heard horror stories about patients from hell and older nurses that mistreat the newer nurses but that doesn't scare me too much. Every job has some cons, at least nursing is recession proof for the most part, offers flexible schedules, you have the option to get paid to travel, and it pays really well. Granted I'm not a nurse yet ot even a nursing student, but it can't be any worse than what I'm doing now. Besides how the body works and functions is interesting to me so even if it is the job from hell it will definately be interesting.

Specializes in med surge.
I've been a nurse for six years. I love taking care of people but I absolutely hate the corporate hospital environment where it's all about the bottom line. I'd love to get out of this situation and work somewhere where I can actually spend a few minutes with the patients. What are you doing where you help others but in a different way? I'm open to all suggestions.

I really want to be a community health nurse. To teach healthy behaviors and prevent the cycle of hospital admissions.

Specializes in ICU.
Tough is a relative word.

I used to be a heavy equipment mechanic, stuck outside on freezing winter days(and nights) busting my knuckles working on broke down equipment or stuck in a garage welding on a hot summer day, breathing in toxic fumes. I suffered broken fingers and frequent burns and tore my shoulder up twice, and would often be sore and aching after work twising my body into uncomfortable postions for hours on end. I had my boss breathing down my neck all the time and was always on a deadline and would frequently put in 16 plus hour days. I invested thousands of dollars in tools and it probably took the same amount of time and training to be proficient in my job as becoming an RN takes. For my troubles I made probably half of what the average RN makes.

Is Nursing tougher than that? It all depends on your perspective. Lots of jobs that are a LOT tougher out there, trust me.

Honestly, that only sounds physically tougher, and only slightly at that. You may not break fingers or get burned, but in nursing you would be lifting people who are dead weight over and over again if you work in the hospital. About half of the older nurses on my floor have had back surgery at some point, many are wearing their back braces to work every day. People are heavy, and when you talk about trying to ambulate someone who is 300lbs or more, and they start to fall and they try to drag you down with them... you can get seriously injured, even disabled, from the physical labor in nursing.

You may not be breathing in toxic fumes, but you will breathe in the flu, TB, pneumonia, and meningitis instead. Droplet/airborne precautions only go into place once we have figured out the person has the disease, which isn't always right away. You may even get stuck by a dirty needle that was just in someone with a dangerous bloodborne disease. So exposures? Yeah, those happen here.

Management breathes down our necks too, especially when someone is nothing by mouth for surgery, they complain that you won't let them eat, and then management pulls you aside because the patient is not satisfied with the care you are providing. If you feed them, you get on the wrong side of the doctor, if you don't, you get pulled into the office by management. You can't win.

At least we don't put in thousands of dollars in tools... but you bet you could lose that money if you don't have good and you get sued.

Honestly, I think I would like a pure physical labor job better than nursing, but to each his own. It's hard on your body, but most of the time you don't have to worry about constantly getting sued and you're not usually worried about killing someone either. And you don't have to deal with all of your emotions, the family's emotions, etc. when someone dies right in front of you and you couldn't stop it. I am starting to think I would like a physical labor job better than one dealing with other human beings. Or maybe an accounting job, working with numbers sounds nice...

Balderdash.

I do not "love people," and I've been doing this for five years... long enough, I think, to have the perspective to say that I will make it.

People can and do choose nursing for purely pragmatic reasons and still be high quality nurses.

I told someone recently, "For me, I feel like I'm playing a role in a TV show. I change the role to match what I think my patient needs in terms of our interactions. I do it because I think it's effective, not because I am actually that way."

Nursing can be nothing more than a job.

I could have written this about myself. There aren't many days that go by when I'm at work and think to myself that my family would be surprised to see how I act and treat my patients because I'm pretty introverted outside of the job.

Everyone realizes this doesn't apply to nursing alone, right? Every job has issues. The majority of jobs/careers have poor staffing, poor management, and poor salaries (the "I'm not getting paid what I'm worth" line). I entered college right out of high school. I've had a few jobs but none I wanted to keep. Anything I chose to do would have been challenging. Few people have enough life experience to know exactly what nursing (or any new career move, for that matter) is going to be like before they get into it. I'm watching friends in other majors struggle during college and after graduation; though there is a uniqueness to nursing, it is not the hardest or most challenging degree or field.

The problem, in part, is that you can't know what you are getting into until you're actually in it. That applies to most of life's adventures. You can read opinions on a forum like this one, but your experiences will most likely be different. I am halfway through nursing school. I don't like it. I enjoy learning, but I don't enjoy speeding through material during lectures so I can take an exam that only tests my ability to answer NCLEX style questions. I don't like the tedious task of writing care plans according to each instructor's specifications. I don't like "putting myself out there" during clinicals to try to get the annoyed, stressed nurse to let me start a stupid IV. I don't like how each nurse forces me to conform to his/her routine because "it's the best way." It sucks, and I want to quit most days, but I'm not going to. There are worse things I could be doing with my time.

The other problem can be summed up in one sentence: There's no such thing as a free lunch. No one is entitled to a high paying, low stress, super flexible job. Everyone wants to make a ton of money doing relatively little so they can travel or binge watch Netflix. You can't always get what you want. I'm sorry, but this is real life. In any job you will deal with consumers, bosses, and coworkers. You will have to work in order to bring home a paycheck. You will fulfill a need (and you can fulfill that need extremely well even if it isn't your passion). There will be things you don't like, and there will be things you love, but you have to deal with them both. Yeah, I realize nursing is rough, but considering I've made it through so many other things in life that don't even compare to nursing, I think I can handle it.

*steps off soapbox*

Everyone realizes this doesn't apply to nursing alone right? [i']Every [/i]job has issues. The majority of jobs/careers have poor staffing, poor management, and poor salaries (the "I'm not getting paid what I'm worth" line). I entered college right out of high school. I've had a few jobs but none I wanted to keep. Anything I chose to do would have been challenging. Few people have enough life experience to know exactly what nursing (or any new career move, for that matter) is going to be like before they get into it. I'm watching friends in other majors struggle during college and after graduation; though there is a uniqueness to nursing, it is not the hardest or most challenging degree or field.

The problem, in part, is that you can't know what you are getting into until you're actually in it. That applies to most of life's adventures. You can read opinions on a forum like this one, but your experiences will most likely be different. I am halfway through nursing school. I don't like it. I enjoy learning, but I don't enjoy speeding through material during lectures so I can take an exam that only tests my ability to answer NCLEX style questions. I don't like the tedious task of writing care plans according to each instructor's specifications. I don't like "putting myself out there" during clinicals to try to get the annoyed, stressed nurse to let me start a stupid IV. I don't like how each nurse forces me to conform to his/her routine because "it's the best way." It sucks, and I want to quit most days, but I'm not going to. There are worse things I could be doing with my time.

The other problem can be summed up in one sentence: There's no such thing as a free lunch. No one is entitled to a high paying, low stress, super flexible job. Everyone wants to make a ton of money doing relatively little so they can travel or binge watch Netflix. You can't always get what you want. I'm sorry, but this is real life. In any job you will deal with consumers, bosses, and coworkers. You will have to work in order to bring home a paycheck. You will fulfill a need (and you can fulfill that need extremely well even if it isn't your passion). There will be things you don't like, and there will be things you love, but you have to deal with them both. Yeah, I realize nursing is rough, but considering I've made it through so many other things in life that don't even compare to nursing, I think I can handle it.

*steps off soapbox*

I'm pretty sure that we all know this, but since this is a nursing forum and most of the members are nurses, it seems pretty relevant to apply this to nursing.

Great Article-thank you

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

That is remarkable to go from one continent to the other and practice. :yes:

I've been a nurse for 20 years and I still love every minute of it. The great thing about being a nurse is that there are so many facets to it; if you find you don't like one area, there are hundreds of other areas to choose from. I've been at the same hospital for all 20 years and I can't imagine being anywhere else. I knew when I graduated from nursing school that I wanted pediatrics and I had multiple people tell me to get two years adult experience and then transfer to a peds hospital. I'm glad I didn't take their advice and I hired right into pediatrics as a new grad nurse. Follow your passion - if you know what you want to do, set you path to achieve that goal. I started out on a 0-3 year old unit then transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit. I did that for five years and then went into education. I've had six different positions in education and I'm now the Director of Clinical Education at my hospital. I wouldn't have changed a thing. I'm reading all these posts and some of them are very discouraging and makes me sad that so many nurses out there are not enjoying the profession. Don't be afraid of change - if you are not happy - try another area of nursing. I'm a firm believer there is a niche and good fit for everyone - you just need to find it.

I've been a nurse for 20 years and I still love every minute of it. The great thing about being a nurse is that there are so many facets to it; if you find you don't like one area, there are hundreds of other areas to choose from. I've been at the same hospital for all 20 years and I can't imagine being anywhere else. I knew when I graduated from nursing school that I wanted pediatrics and I had multiple people tell me to get two years adult experience and then transfer to a peds hospital. I'm glad I didn't take their advice and I hired right into pediatrics as a new grad nurse. Follow your passion - if you know what you want to do, set you path to achieve that goal. I started out on a 0-3 year old unit then transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit. I did that for five years and then went into education. I've had six different positions in education and I'm now the Director of Clinical Education at my hospital. I wouldn't have changed a thing. I'm reading all these posts and some of them are very discouraging and makes me sad that so many nurses out there are not enjoying the profession. Don't be afraid of change - if you are not happy - try another area of nursing. I'm a firm believer there is a niche and good fit for everyone - you just need to find it.

While I agree with you that nursing has many facets and there are many areas to choose from, in reality, it isn't always that easy to change as it may once have been. For example, it took over one year of applying to as many different nursing jobs that I could find that interested me within my hospital's corporation to get transferred to a casual position still in the ER. Once transferred, I figured it would be easier to move again into something that I found more attractive since it was a larger hospital with more opportunities. I was wrong. I again applied for everything that was posted that I found interesting and it still took me 18 months just to get a full-time position, still in the ER. During the entire time I also applied to local area hospitals for nursing positions including those that didn't include patient care, but have barely gotten 3-4 calls for a potential interview. I still apply for everything that I can, but it's been exactly one year now since I've been in my current position and still haven't been able to get out of the ER or away from patient care.

Specializes in Critical Care.

Nursing school was really easy for me. The only difficult part was the clinical because of my performance anxiety, but I had a gentle, encouraging clinical teacher and friends to lean on. The actual job was the hard part. From my lack of bedside experience and being clumsy with performance anxiety, and the preceptor who told me I was doing great, but I overhead her tell my manager the opposite the very first week so I lived in fear of being fired. It's a terrible and nerve wracking position to be in to have a preceptor you can't trust and then to be the target of a old bully who would recruit her friends to harass me. I was the odd one out in this situation.

There were three of us hired at the same time and we stuck together and helped each other, but one didn't pass boards and then was let go. So now just two of us against the world, being set up for first admit every day and given the most difficult patients so the others could have an easy night. It was trial by fire.

Then the natural learning process when there is so much you need to know that you simply don't and have to make decisions. I was afraid of making a mistake or a patient going bad so I erred on the side of caution. I must have drove the doctors crazy all the time I called about little changes in patient condition, but they were always kind. Somehow I survived against all the obstacles, perhaps because of my stubborn streak where I would not let someone get me to quit. In the end I saw my bully humbled and lose her job!

I've been a nurse long enough to be calm and confident, but I don't think it is an easy job. I feel the stress has aged me. Nursing is simply not a healthy career. God only knows what all the endless stress and the constant alarms, time clocks, pressure has done to my body! Not too mention the physical toll of moving obese patients all these years. I wish I had chosen an easier field. I don't recommend it to others. It is really not worth it!

I'm not going to lie and say I love nursing! Unfortunately, nursing is not like govt jobs like police or teachers where you can count on early retirement, complete with a great pension and paid health care! Nursing is really a pink collar assembly line job that will wreck your health and at the end you will be lucky to be able to enjoy or afford retirement!

Nor does the hospital admin respect nurses. Instead there is a condescending and punitive atmosphere such as the recent vaccination mandation and forcing long time nurses back to school for a BSN because of inane things like magnet status. I'm forced to be poisoned by a vaccine that could injure and even possibly paralyze me just to have a job! But I shouldn't worry I should blindly trust in the safety and reliability of vaccines, and the people who have been harmed by them are just fear mongers! Why the US govt has put such faith in vaccine manufacturers that they are legally exampt from lawsuits for injury! But don't worry there is a govt compensation panel one can appeal to if one becomes a statistic!

Magnet status is a joke, it is simply a money maker for the ANCC at the expense of the hospitals and staff. How is coercing older nurses to go into debt to get a BSN improving working conditions for the RN? It is about enriching the colleges via a captive audience and this without even a lousy raise for the money and effort! Instead of saving for retirement or paying off a mortgage or gasp taking a well earned vacation, RN's are being forced to go into debt for a BSN no matter how old they are or how close they are to retirement! This is just disrespectful! Let's not forget the bedside report with scripting "We have the time" BS! They don't need a nurse they need a robot!

I honestly don't know why any smart person would volunteer to go into nursing! If you read all nurses, you can't say you weren't warned!

I honestly don't know why any smart person would volunteer to go into nursing! If you read all nurses, you can't say you weren't warned!

It's my opinion that some who read allnurses are just stubborn enough to need to prove that they know better, that they can do exactly what nurses with experience are advising against, that somehow they will fare better because it is their "dream" to be a nurse and they will love it no matter what. Advising these types of personalities against nursing just makes them defensive enough to make them pursue nursing even harder instead of being wise enough to internalize the advice and make an honest assessment of whether or not nursing is truly the right career choice.

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