Is nursing a good choice...?

[Whitney R.]

I really need some advice about nursing careers! I have been flip-flopping all my life about what career I should pursue. I am graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in African Studies (I love it, but it's useless unless I'm in academia, and I don't have enough original ideas to write articles and books every year to get tenure). I am going to UNC-Greensboro to start my prereqs for their nursing BSN program this fall. I was planning on being a floor nurse for a while (maybe ICU or ER), and then becoming an NP, nurse anesthetist, or getting some sort of management/administration degree. I really want to earn 90,000 or up, which obviously I can't do as a basic nurse. I would also like to volunteer with MSF or something and put my Africa and Kiswahili knowledge to good use! I've been around healthcare all my life (my mom is a doctor...hence you can see why I want to earn more than a basic nurse's salary) and I enjoy medical stuff. I wanted to pursue nursing because I thought I could do it reasonably well and that I would have a stable job (or at least I could always find a job).

After reading the discussions on this website for 5 hours last night, I am now questioning nursing. It seems as if pretty much everyone hates theirs jobs, isn't getting paid enough for what they do, are abused by managers who say to take what you get because you won't find a job anywhere else, there are no jobs because of money shortages and hiring freezes (one girl sent out 70 applications with no luck), etc. etc. I thought nursing would be a stable career choice, but now I know the truth about the "nursing shortage" myth. Are there some areas of the country where I could work? Is the job market really that bad?

I am willing to take a couple years of crappy pay and crappy work as long as I can be a higher-up later. Are there jobs for NPs, nurse anesthetists, management, other specialties? Would I have to get a master's in health administration to become an administrator, or do some places just promote regular floor nurses?

On an unrelated note: are nurses sued for malpractice if they make a mistake? Or are they just fired? Does the pharmacy mix all the drugs where you work? (I am deathly afraid of misdosing someone) Do the CNAs and other people do more of the dirty work (changing soiled bed sheets, cleaning up puke, etc.) and the nurses do charts, administer drugs, help with codes, etc.? I know in nursing school I will have to do some dirty work (and for the first year out of school), but I really don't want to be cleaning up feces all day long!

I know that was a lot of questions, but I really hope some people can help me! Should I stick with nursing because NPs, nurse anesthetists, and administrators have more job security than regular nurses?

Thank you for the help!

[Ayvah, RN]

Only you can determine whether or not nursing is a good fit for you. Nursing school is extremely time consuming and you need to be dedicated to get through it. I'd recommend you shadow a nurse or become a CNA to be able to see a little more about what the nurses do.

We are paid decently on the surface, but for the responsibility that lies on our shoulders it should probably be a little more.

Yes, nurses can be sued, which is why many/most carry malpractice insurance.

I have seen a person with nursing managerial experience be turned down due to not having a Bachelor's degree. You do need advanced degrees to have the higher up admin positions.

Pharmacy stocks meds into the department's mini-pharmacy system called a Pyxis. It is the nurses responsibility to remove the correct amount of medication and to administer it correctly. Sometimes you only need 1/2 a pill, or 1/2 a container, or 2/3 of a vial. It is also of critical importance how the medication is administered. If you run an IV at twice the rate it should be going, that could have serious side effects. If you push a syringe of medication into a patient too fast, that could have very serious complications. If you give a med to Jane May instead of May Jane that could have serious complications. If you give a scheduled med that is contraindicated due to the patient's condition or a test/procedure they are going for, they could have complications. If you crush a med and put it through a central IV line, that could have serious complications If you give a medication that was entered incorrectly into the computer, that could have serious complications. Just because pharmacy makes meds available does not mean they are removing all the liability, though they are always available for consultation. Daily, nurses have to be incredibly vigilant to ensure safe medication administration. ALL OF US HAVE ALREADY MADE A MED ERROR SOMEWHERE.

Yes CNAs do help a lot with the hygiene of the patient, but it is still a nurse's responsibility too. As long as you are a bedside nurse you can't refuse to ever clean someone up. That can actually be a very valuable time for assessment. Also, if you can't help a person off the commode and the CNA is busy you risk a patient fall while the patient waits. This is just part of nursing care and you need to get in there and work as a team.

Nurses do a LOT of interdisciplinary coordination. You prep patients for tests, utilize critical thinking and nursing judgment to guide patient care throughout the day, and solve multiple, multiple problems. You monitor lab results and call the doctor, and suggest interventions. Floor nursing is a very difficult job mentally and physically. It is the most love-hate job I've ever had, at both ends of the spectrum.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Hmm -

quote: "Should I stick with nursing because NPs, nurse anesthetists, and administrators have more job security than regular nurses?"

You probably need to do a bit more homework - nurse administrators don't have very long tenures at all. The jobs are incredibly stressful... loaded with continuous ethical conflict such as (using your own words) - maintaining their own jobs by keeping staff nurses in "crappy" jobs with "crappy" pay.

Yes - we get sued. Our liability increases with advanced education, credentials and authority. So we have to maintain professional Liability Insurance just like other health care professionals. Nurses are responsible for all facets of patient care, so having lesser-credentialed staff (CNA, LPN, etc.) does not exempt us from hands-on involvement in patient care.

BTW, I take exception to the term "dirty work" used by the OP to refer to patient hygeine measures- it is insulting to patients. [if anything should be called "dirty work", it should be all the &%#$*%^ paperwork that takes up waaaay too much time.]

You know, after re-reading it, I wondered why the OP didn't have a clearer idea of nursing since her parent is a physician (I don't use the term 'doctor' since this is not exclusive to medicine). But then I had a forehead-slap moment - DOH! - physicians are the least likely to understand what nurses actually do. LOL!