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| No. 260 | 
Feb 02, 2008, 09:19 AM
 Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing Originally Posted by shmoofins  Even though I don't particularly like nursing or feel that it suits me, I always cared about my patients and tried to meet their needs. I didn't treat my patients badly because I didn't like the job. I realize I need to get out of it (or at least out of floor/hospital nursing), because I don't want to become like those uncaring nurses and I don't want to keep doing something that makes me unhappy, but at the same time you shouldn't assume that because we complain about the job that we are bad nurses.
This is a bit of a late reply, but I agree. I did care about my patients. I tried hard to do my best. And I tried REALLY very hard to think positively.
But it was horrible for me. I couldn't deal with it. Call me names, think of me what you will, judge me however you want. But you know, that's part of the reason I couldn't handle the job. Nurses, especially ones who claim to be most compassionate, seem to have little compassion for each other.
When I was struggling with the loss of family members, the stress of returning from a war zone, and afterwards chronic anxiety and insomnia, I received nothing but criticism and scorn from other nurses. I was told I should be "jumping for joy" at the prospect of flushing my first PICC line, three months after losing my mother, my little brother, and our family home.
My point is, I guess, that some of us are just not happy in the profession, and it's not because we're bad people or bad nurses. Maybe we're in a bad job. Maybe it just isn't the right career for us.
But it doesn't mean we're not intelligent, compassionate, hardworking people.
I finally found a nursing specialty I think I like. This one is causing me a little bit of stress, but only a little. I feel like I'm doing okay, whereas before, I was making med errors despite my best efforts, and going a bit crazy trying to find a system to help me remember everything I had to do, especially following up on things that came up unexpectedly. (As it turns out, I actually do have an abnormality with my working memory, which is totally beyond my control.)
I've been working as a nurse paralegal for nearly three months now, and I can use all my knowledge, experience, intelligence, and compassion in this role. I use therapeutic communication as well as assessment and documentation skills. I research. I like it. I still, in a way, get to deal with patients - but the aspects of the nursing role that I most strongly disliked are not part of this job.
I work in an office, 9-5. I can pee pretty much whenever I need to. I get my lunch break every day. I get treated like a professional, and spoken to respectfully.
That was never the case in any previous nursing position I've held.
Maybe it's true, you just have to find your niche.
 | | Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 262 |
Feb 02, 2008, 10:00 AM
Updated
Feb 02, 2008 at 10:08 AM by jlcole45
Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing
For those out there who are so negative --- IT'S TIME TO CHANGE YOUR JOB OR YOUR CAREER!
By being negative all the time, you do nursing, your co workers, and your patients great disservice. And I don't care about your personal reasons for staying in a job you hate - either suck it up or quit and find another career. We all have a choice.
If you go into work every day hating your job -- don't you think that others can sense that? YES THEY CAN!!!
I am damn sick of chronically negative co workers. Seek out help, get on antidepressants, do something! I don't need your negativity, this job is hard enough without it
Not only does it put a negative spin on my day, it also effects patient care.
We as nurses, have the power to negatively or positively effect our patients out comes. If you walk into a room, don't smile or greet your patient, then handle them roughly, and don't respond as needed - don't your think that could be harmful??? Of course it can.
Just put yourself in their place for one second and maybe you'll get a clue about how your negativity effects others.
| | No. 263 |
Feb 02, 2008, 10:17 AM
Updated
Feb 02, 2008 at 10:20 AM by WDWpixieRN
Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing
jlcole45:
I thank you for your spin on this.
I am a 4th semester nursing student and will be graduating in May. I am a career changer and a VERY non-traditional student. I chose this career for a number of reasons, one of those being the ability to have job options.
My husband and I were shopping last weekend and he ran in to the mother of a boy my son used to be in an organization with. She apparently, was a nurse for 20+ years and is doing something else now. He mentioned that I was finishing up my degree. She told him, "Have her call me <wink wink>. We need to talk."
I asked my husband, "What does she want me to do? Quit now because *she* was unhappy?"
I understand this job choice won't be all roses and happiness. Very few jobs are. But I also don't need the negativity that I get when a currently-licensed RN feels like dishing out their advice to run the other way. There is nothing more fulfilling to a student RN than to find a RN who boosts your choice of education/career. I did an internship last summer with an RN who was a great teacher, but does nothing but complain about the facility she works in. She's stayed there now 10+ years. Is it the career/job or her?!?! Those kinds of folks make you wonder.
I was in the IT/business field for 2 years when I realized it wasn't for me. I started prereqs for nursing and stayed until I started NS in '06. I knew I was miserable and couldn't see being that way for 20 more years. I MADE A CHOICE.
Thanks for your post. Hopefully those of us joining your ranks will find happiness or fulfillment where we fit in best. If RNs keep running off those who are considering the career, who the heck is going to take care of US?!?!?
| | No. 264 |
Feb 02, 2008, 10:43 AM
Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing
What about changing the nursing profession for the better? If all the nurses that were unhappy with nursing just up and left, you would be left to burn-out pretty quickly. I can appreciate what you are saying about negatively and how it impacts the patients and your day, but there is a larger issue at hand. So many nurses are unhappy because of the current working conditions and the frustration with not being able to provide the quality of care that patients deserve. It is more than just "taking an antidepressant" or quiting the job because the patients can sense it. I'm not suggesting that one should be rude or negative to patients, but maybe if public realizes that our health care system is breaking, they will help us to change it.
I was very unhappy in a direct patient care role, but I am certain that I never let it affect the way that I treated my patients. In fact, I was often recognized by patients, families, coworkers, and management for providing excellent care. That is not to say I have never witnessed a negative attitude from a fellow nurse, because believe me, I have. But some people who are unhappy with their jobs or with nursing in general don't take it out on patients. In fact, my unhappiness came from the fact that I wanted to provide the best care possible, but it was becoming harder and harder under the working conditions. The problem is larger than any individual nurse. Originally Posted by jlcole45 For those out there who are so negative --- IT'S TIME TO CHANGE YOUR JOB OR YOUR CAREER!
By being negative all the time, you do nursing, your co workers, and your patients great disservice. And I don't care about your personal reasons for staying in a job you hate - either suck it up or quit and find another career. We all have a choice.
If you go into work every day hating your job -- don't you think that others can sense that? YES THEY CAN!!!
I am damn sick of chronically negative co workers. Seek out help, get on antidepressants, do something! I don't need your negativity, this job is hard enough without it
Not only does it put a negative spin on my day, it also effects patient care.
We as nurses, have the power to negatively or positively effect our patients out comes. If you walk into a room, don't smile or greet your patient, then handle them roughly, and don't respond as needed - don't your think that could be harmful??? Of course it can.
Just put yourself in their place for one second and maybe you'll get a clue about how your negativity effects others. | | No. 265 |
Feb 02, 2008, 12:52 PM
Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing Originally Posted by jlcole45 For those out there who are so negative --- IT'S TIME TO CHANGE YOUR JOB OR YOUR CAREER!
By being negative all the time, you do nursing, your co workers, and your patients great disservice. And I don't care about your personal reasons for staying in a job you hate - either suck it up or quit and find another career. We all have a choice.
If you go into work every day hating your job -- don't you think that others can sense that? YES THEY CAN!!!
I am damn sick of chronically negative co workers. Seek out help, get on antidepressants, do something! I don't need your negativity, this job is hard enough without it
Not only does it put a negative spin on my day, it also effects patient care.
We as nurses, have the power to negatively or positively effect our patients out comes. If you walk into a room, don't smile or greet your patient, then handle them roughly, and don't respond as needed - don't your think that could be harmful??? Of course it can.
Just put yourself in their place for one second and maybe you'll get a clue about how your negativity effects others.
Here we go again with the judgmental attitude. Just because someone's unhappy doesn't mean they're letting it affect their behavior towards patients.
We're here to discuss our perceptions and experiences on nursing. Some will be positive, and some will be negative. You're free to ignore it if the negativity bothers you, but please don't assume that just because a person chooses to vent here, among other nurses, that they're doing the same thing in the workplace.
I saw plenty of people handling patients roughly, treating them rudely. I didn't let myself do that. I would hope that nurses in an anonymous setting like this would all give each other the benefit of a doubt, instead of jumping to conclusions like some in this thread have done.
Of course, I'm someone who DID change careers... and yes, I had to accept I'd be making less money. You shouldn't have to medicate yourself every day just to be able to get through another shift.
To anyone who's really unhappy and trying to figure out what to do: don't listen to any holier-than-thou nurses telling you you're selfish or a bad person for not loving your chosen career. If you hate your job, there are more opportunities out there than you think. Insurance companies, law firms, and medical supply companies are all looking for nurses to do non-clinical work.
I have felt hopeless, crushed, and used up by my nursing jobs in the past. Now, I'm happy. I've found a way to change my situation. So can anyone else, if they keep trying.
| | No. 266 |
Feb 02, 2008, 03:14 PM
Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing
Regarding the advice to "stop the negativity" and just "leave your job already" - if all the nurses who didn't like their jobs left, we'd be left with darned few nurses.
Anyway, the nursing shortage is here for a reason. The larger, systemic problems have to change before the shortage is truly addressed.
Meanwhile, we will infuse more new grads without addressing the real problems in nursing.
| | No. 267 |
Feb 02, 2008, 03:21 PM
Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing
Wow, it's hard for me to believe that this thread is 7 years old, but still going strong.
In other news. . .
| | No. 268 |
Feb 02, 2008, 04:38 PM
Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing
Sorry everyone for the rant - but I really do get tired of the negative folks!
All it takes is that one bad apple to spoil the atmosphere of the whole unit. Don't you agree?
| | No. 269 |
Feb 02, 2008, 04:47 PM
Re: No I wouldn't recommend nursing Originally Posted by Athena I only recommend nursing to mature individuals who don't have a problem with pride or the thought process "what do I get out of this deal". Nursing is a "calling". It isn't glamorous and it is selfless. For the most part, NO, I don't recommend nursing. But it isn't for everyone. A lot of nurses need to find a different job. I am looking forward to nursing being viewed as a profession...we need professional-thinking nurses only.
How can it be a calling when you are working to fatten the coffers of a large for-profit corporation and its' shareholders?
Working for Mother Theresa is a calling. Working for for-profit health care is a job.
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