No I wouldn't recommend nursing

I have worked as an RN for 15 years in a variety of settings- most being in the hospital. It has always been my intention to bring compassion, appreciation and respect to my job and whatever I endeavor to do but I must say the things that nurses endure as described in all these postings are true and I certainly have felt the frustrations of this troubled profession. I have felt at times that I was entering a "war zone" in which it is imperitive to not only be constantly on alert but also ready to defend. The defending part (on behalf of my patients and myself) would be everyday on the job and leave me exhausted. I have recently discovered, however, that I posess an incredible weapon in my arsenal. It has saved me from the ravages of anger, anxiety, depression and fear. This powerful tool is possessed by all of you too: the power to say, "NO!".
"NO" is a beautiful word and can be quite liberating in this world. Of course "YES" sounds more positive but it is just what you're taught to believe.
I know change is hard so my suggestion is to make this small affirmation: "Say YES! to NO!" - it just may work for you.

I've been a nurse for almost five years in a high-risk labor and delivery unit at a university hospital and I love it more and more. Invariably, when I'm ready to give up (for all the reasons listed above-and more) I'll have a patient or a family who teach me once again what it's all about. I feel useful and needed in nursing. It is without doubt a high calling. I don't know anyone who is in it for the money, although you can do fairly well depending on area. Nursing offers so many different specialties, so many different experiences. But you all are so right, it's not for everyone.
I'd say if you read all the negative postings, really think about them, and then still can't get enough of your clinicals in school, you're hooked.
Even with all the administrative problems, I have never regretted one day that I spent with patients.
Good luck.

No, I wouldn't reccommend nursing as a career. Peaceful2100 says even people making $70,000 don't like their jobs. Well, I doubt that few of the persons in those jobs risk the potential of physical injury (lifting or moving unconscious or combative patiets up to 500+ lbs. with little help), of being assualted (by drunks,druggers, or upset family members), of risking life threatening infections (TB, Hepatitis B & C, AIDs, Meningitis, etc-since you don't know that they have those problems and if they know, they often don't tell you), or of being sued everyday they go to work and try to help their patients. A person in the computer or business/marketing field doesn't risk killing or injuring someone when they are working mandatory overtime (and I bet they don't have to) or when their department is understaffed. They don't risk being sued because they were unable to give the correct phone tech support solution to someones computer problem-even after multiple tries. We get one shot to help someone who might only a give minimal or false history, fails to follow instructions, continues to pursue detrimental habits (drug, smoking, etc) and yet we can still be held liable. I've been a nurse 20 years with my BSN. I've worked ER the whole time. I've been CEN over 18 years and have never gotten any compensation for the certification ar reimbursement for the testing. I made $6000 less last year then I made in 1994 and I work the same hours (7p-7a) full time. Since there are only 4 full time night nurses here (28,000-30,000 pts a year in our ED), we all have to work atleast one or more OT shifts. It's not really "mandatory" OT, but since the hospital will not bring in agency nurses to help and is unable to hire adequate PRN or FT nurses that'll work nights, you have to help cover your co-workers. You work one night with staffing 1-2 nurses and 1-2 techs short and you and your patients are suffering. So you try to cover each other. I've gone 3 years without a raise. I've gotten married, have a 3 year old and another on the way. Am I considering getting out of patient care nursing--YES. Believe it or not, most of the time I like what I do, I like my co-workers, and I consider myself a very good nurse. But I'm considering other options in the field, such as legal nurse consultant. I have a nephew who finished 4 of the 7 components of the MSCE certification (computers) and he started at the same pay I making after 20 years!! It's very frustrating--little recognition from administration (do more with less with no additional compensation) or patients ('why do I have to wait", "why'd that person get to go ahead of me", "you have to hurry cause I have to be somewhere (but I'll sue you if you make a mistake)" or doctors--why is it that the person making $150/hr gets to go to lunch or take a nap if it does slow down and the person making $20 who saves the patients life before the doctor can get back or be awakened and the doctor gets the credit?

Kelman: My feelings, exactly. My younger brother (without the degree) is simply doing computer "help-desk" and troubleshooting type stuff for a major communications company in California. I say “simply” because I don’t feel he knows the difference between his real work stress and physical exhaustion, compared to mine. He can basically live and work wherever he wants. His company will help him move. His income has greatly surpassed mine, and the "risks" in his profession are minimal. He's never been spit upon or physically abused for his income. He doesn’t need malpractice insurance to keep his house and personal possessions. He's never had to run to the ER for emergency treatment for possibly acquiring a contagious disease. But yes, he hates his job right now. Although his company paid for his relocation back to a desirable southern California location, he has had enough and wants to return to the Midwest.

What he needs is balance. He needs to know the difference. He needs to suction blood from a GI bleed with an "aiding and abetting" family member hovering over you, screaming that you "are hurting him!" He needs to have gang members come back to him after failing to save another gang member whom, through choice of lifestyles, received street retribution for flashing a gang sign. He needs to weigh his $64,000 a year, supposedly high stress job against my "professional career" income of $48,000 with overtime/multiple shift work. He can depend upon continuing wage increases and profit sharing as he goes through life. I can faithfully depend upon forty-eight to fifty-two thousand a year until retirement. They will always need nurses. And we all know why.

And ya' know what the crazy thing is? I really feel that the people in ICU/CCU/Intensive care units have it WAY EASIER than the step-down, transition units. At least there is some semblance of necessity when it comes to staffing. Yeah, it's more intense. Yeah, the risks are higher for your permanent loss of income and law suits from quick decision pressures. But at least I'm only trying to satisfy one or two critical situations instead of a myriad of people ****** off about the lack of care you are providing their loved ones. And in ICU I can kick em' out when they get in the way. Sometimes the hospital will back me up. Rarely though.

Nope. I haven't gotten someone "back on-line" so they could meet a deadline to send an email. Didn't get a mouse to work, or a printer to print. Didn't get $30.00 an hour and better health-care benefits and vacation leave. But I've seen coworkers share the excitement of having their blood tested to see if they’d sero-convert. I've helped them scrub out bite-marks on their arms, and wash saliva from their eyes. I've consoled them, crying in the parking lot, worn-out and frustrated to tears. Tears induced by patients, families, managers, "all-knowing" physicians, and upset husbands because they will be late home...again.

As for me, the unholy name of "deathnurse" still strikes an unnerving cord in the spines of the unknowing. Yes, I've quasi-legally helped people to die. We’ve all done it and do it by the book. I've also unmercifully kept them alive. I'm very good at that. I've received change of shift report that was simply "He's dead," and I continued our high-priced, keep them in the unit maintenance while playing cut-rate psychologist to appease someone’s mixed emotions. I'm good at that too.

Try as I may, I attempt to not compare my life to those of others that I feel are more fortunate financially. They have the larger homes in the finer areas, the more reliable, dependable cars and health-care programs. They have an easier time planning for their family’s futures. Yeah, everyone has stress. Everyone gets yelled at for not doing something on time or more efficiently. Everyone makes decisions, some more appropriate than others. And everyone has rewards.

It's just too damned bad that the feelings you get from converting someone’s heart-rate, stopping their bleeding, or buying them more time for more invasive abuse just don't add up to much more than that--feelings. A good MD may get more out of it, but not a nurse.
They will drive the older car and live in the higher-crime neighborhoods.

Nursing has done me a favor, however. Damn it, I can do ANYTHING. I have the confidence and the in-your-face determination to yell at anyone that yells at me. If an MD that has done a procedure over and over for 20 years can’t, for one damn moment, understand that someone else may find that procedure strange and challenging, I can tell them off. And I can apologize when I’ve let something slip. And I and every nurse can always blame the system for failures. The system is set-up for that. But I will NEVER take the blame for lack of consideration of a patient’s acuity. If the hospitals want people to have better care, you buy more nurses, not more carpeting. You pay higher salaries, not build higher, empty buildings. You continue to reward longevity, experience, and knowledge, not let it stagnate.

But fix someone’s mouse, or re-boot his or her locked-up computer. They’ll respect that and marvel at your expertise. They’ll reward you with a good income. And you won’t have to get yearly injections for TB tests, wash the feces from your shoes and be followed out the door by family members wondering why you let one die.

Fixing “things” pays better money than fixing people. While fixing people may pay better in “feelings,” ‘dat don’t pay da’ rent. We have no nursing shortage. We have a shortage of nurses willing to work in these conditions. Enough already with these “be a nurse to help people” stories. If you really want to help patients and yourself in the long run, fight for more. Get in someone’s face.

I'm a fairly new nursing student, going into the profession after 17 years of working at a newspaper. I know about the odd hours and holidays and your family members saying to you "you have to work Christmas again?!" It took me 10 years to make $10 an hour and in the end never have any satisfaction of thinking your doing society any favors other than selling them something they didn't know they wanted. I know, I've heard the fallbacks of becoming a nurse, and to be honest BEFORE computers mine was an exciting job to do. I miss the stress of hands on work and my butt has grown 3 sizes to big from sitting in my cubicle all day. I guess it just depends on what make you happy, what floats your boat. When I finally became a supervisor and team trainer, it was the "helping people" part that kept me coming in the door every day. If you think that in other professions everything is rosey, think again. No, there's no know-it-all docs or family members screaming at you, but there's politics, back stabbing and an empty feeling of "what the heck am I doing with my life". Then, just when you think you're doing a great job, you find that they act as though you were never there. At the end of the day, no one gets better. Blah. Don't go into the newspaper business!!! LOL

and where does it all start? At the university level. Colleges thinking they can pay nurses less than "real professors," not give them tenor or even a living wage. Professors can make more $ on the the floor! The reason nursing is so bad is because we are not united. The MD's have the AMA...nurses have the ANA. We all know the ANA is not a powerful force because half the nurses I know don't belong. Nurses are the "sleeping giant" - everyone knows a nurse but we're either raising our kids, or have left the profession. We are mothers, wifes, fathers, husbands trying to have a life outside nursing.

So, if every nurse banded together, we would have better working conditions. But that's unrealistic. And the more nurses they are bringing to from foreign countries who are just thankful to be here are earning a living wage, the worse it's going to get (I'm not against foreign recruiting but not a substitute for solving our nursing problems here)

I left the profession after 9 years, most of which was in ICU. I loved my coworkers and miss them. But it is backbreaking work and it is hard having the life sucked out of you by family members, being understaffed, etc.

There are so many problems in nursing. I know the students who use these forums know that and are expecting it.

I figure it's just like the whole Howard Stern argument. If you don't like what you're hearing on the station, turn it.

If you don't like the profession, leave. You only live one life. Don't spend it doing something you don't enjoy.

I also figure if you don't like it so much, and you're scared to leave, then do something about it. Change something. There was a quote I heard somewhere.... One candle can light an entire room.

I get so tired of hearing my coworkers complain all the time. It gets old. Gripe....moan...whine, whine, whine. And then they come back another day and do it again.

I guess I'm probably just really lucky. I feel like it was a calling, and I love every second of my job. I would do it for free (though I do fight for fair staffing and pay). I have fun with my fellow nurses and physicians. I have a good time with most of my patients. I have challenges, but I learn from them. I'm figuring that those of you who don't like your job probably either didn't have a calling, or chose to ignore it.

Most of all, I find it incredibly sad that so many people hate their job. Then again, I figure most people hate their jobs, because it's just that: a job.
Too bad, it seems like a waste of a whole lot of time.

Edited to add:
I just re-read the post, and it sounds sort of hoity-toity. I have days that it sucks, and I cry. There is a lot wrong with the profession. I guess I'm just speaking overall.... maybe just venting about all the whining I've heard lately.

Extremely old thread alert

If not nursing what would you recommend as a career choice if you had to do it all over again? Are you still in the Nursing Field? I would like some advice from you. I'm a mother of eight children I have started my pre-nursing classes for nursing. I currently attend a local University. I have always loved the idea of going into Nursing. I have never worked in the field. What would you recommend for me. I have maded many mistakes in my life and I don't want to make anymore bigggggg mistakes. I want a better life for my kids and i want to be in a job where I can get one. i was also looking into health education and academic couseling. Help

I've been completing courses towards a Networking Administration degree when I had a realization that maybe it wasn't for me. My husband does it but he's also spent money towards getting a Masters. If you really want to make money in Network Administration you have to work your ass of, 80+ hours a week doing consulting. I just didn't like the fact that the need for Network Administrators dropped significantly after 2001, pay dropped and you've still got kids coming out of college ready to be paid 8 bucks an hour to do the same job you're getting paid to do 10 for. Theres no demand for em basically, whether you've got elite skills or not.

I switched to Nursing and I'm starting to do some pre-reqs for it in the Spring.

Most of the issues here I've experienced (save a few of the regular nursing-specific ones) in administrative support environments. Being a secretary you get crapped on by everyone. It does make you a stronger person since you do have to learn how and when to say "No" to people.

All of the comments in this thread haven't discouraged me from continuing with my education towards my R.N., but they have made me consider the fact that people will become bitter in any environment no matter what job they're doing if they don't learn to make it better for themselves. Circumstances may dictate that I have a "crappy day" but it all depends on my attitude towards it and how I deal with stress/workload etc.

I'm in nursing for various reasons, not just to help people. Some people don't want to be helped. Its a learning experience like the rest of life. I don't think theres a perfect job out there unless you are born into money. Thankfully life gives us a choice on what we want to do with our time here.