Is nursing really that bad of a career choice?

Nurses Career Support

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Hey everyone! So I'm 18, I'll be attending college next fall, and I was planning on majoring in nursing. I've always been interested in medicine, I'm very much a people-person, I want a meaningful career, and I also want something with a lot of excitement and change. Nursing seemed like a really good choice for me ... but then I discovered this site. It seems like a lot of nurses are on here are tired, miserable, trapped, and just don't like their jobs. It scares me because I don't want to end up like that! I mean, I know that every job has its bad days, and obviously nothing is going to be perfect. I just want to make the right decision.

So I guess my question is this: is being a nurse really that bad? Should I stay as far away from it as possible? And if you're a nurse, would you pick a different career if you could do it all over again? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)

To the OP, I hope you are still checking your thread...

I will probably be the only nurse who advises you to NOT be a CNA first. Being a CNA is NOT nursing because you aren't required to think like a nurse. Don't become an LVN first, either. You do the same job for less money and have an RN over you. Just go for the RN.

Honestly, I would have become a physicians assistant instead of going to nursing school after I got my BA. Would have taken the same amount of time and there is a lot more job satisfaction among NPs and PAs than nurses. Nursing is high responsibility and accountability with little authority or autonomy. That's why it's so stressful. Your range of decision making as a nurse is limited to raising the feet of a patient with 3+ pitting edema to the lower extremities or calling the doctor to see if he/she has new orders if this has been a change in condition or not. Or lowering the head of the bed of a pt with low blood pressure vs getting another nurse to get a reading to see if you got the number right. And then deciding to call the doctor for orders if after an hour the blood pressure doesn't rise. And documenting the whole thing meticulously. Don't forget the 7 am med pass, the 10 am med pass, the noon pass, lunch for the feeders, g-tub changes and flushes, the 3pm med pass, the 5 pm med, pass, the PRN pain meds, changing the IV bags, hanging antibiotics, calling the doc with critical lab values that get faxed in by 8 am, making sure you have assessed all your patients and documenting, oops! the guy in bed two just puked all over the floor! Bed 6 is short of breath and needs a breathing treatment, bed 2 will probably need a bath, you just missed your 3pm pass, doc whats-his-face is calling, uh oh! Bed 1 just ripped out his IV and is heading out toward the door! Its 6pm and you have't had lunch but the next shift is coming so you give hand off report and they ***** about how you are lazy and never do anything right and then you go home, shower, sleep, and do it two more times this week before you get your schedule and realize you have to work Christmas AND new years AND your birthday.

That's nursing.

Specializes in Psychiatric/ Mental Health.
Hey everyone! So I'm 18, I'll be attending college next fall, and I was planning on majoring in nursing. I've always been interested in medicine, I'm very much a people-person, I want a meaningful career, and I also want something with a lot of excitement and change. Nursing seemed like a really good choice for me ... but then I discovered this site. It seems like a lot of nurses are on here are tired, miserable, trapped, and just don't like their jobs. It scares me because I don't want to end up like that! I mean, I know that every job has its bad days, and obviously nothing is going to be perfect. I just want to make the right decision.

So I guess my question is this: is being a nurse really that bad? Should I stay as far away from it as possible? And if you're a nurse, would you pick a different career if you could do it all over again? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)

I honestly don't think nursing is a horrible career choice. I think nursing at its core is a fulfilling career. How many people can look back in their golden years and say they've possibly changed the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people? People whose names you'll forget, but their faces will remain with you forever. Yes, it's hard on your body, feet ache, back hurts, sciatica sends sharp pain from your back to your feet after 12 hours running all over the hospital. Some patients think you're a maid, telling you to run and get them a Coke because they hate Shasta, management doesn't support you, and some nurses come to work to make the shift 8-16 hours of pure hell for the newbie, or the nurse who refuses to play their games. Really though, nursing isn't bad, a few STAFF give nursing a bad rap. Those are the ones who only come to work for a check, those who haven't learned the definition of teamwork, those who bring issues from 20+ years ago to work.

Sure, we all come here to vent because we can relate to each other, only a nurse really understands the issues nurses go through on the job, so we talk about it. Now would we all choose this career if we had a do over? Most likely not, but for the most part, I would dare say 80-90% of the nurses on this site enjoy their work 75-80% of the time, that's not too bad.

Real talk though, if you think you want to be a nurse, try working in a hospital as a tech/CNA, just so you can kinda see nurses in action. The running around from patient to patient, assessing, charting, paperwork, calling docs, getto g order...so on so on. Yes you won't be the nurse, but you can observe, while also seeing how busy it gets on the unit. And trust, just because an RN isn't a CNA doesn't mean we don't do that job. I've cleaned up my share of poop, puke, urine, fetched towels, changed linen, handed out trays, etc. Being a CNA first will help you see what little things need to be done, help you learn to organize and prioritize, and allow you to appreciate the CNAs/techs on your team when/if YOU become an RN one day.

Depending on the setting in which you work, you will work 8/12/16 hour shifts, most likely 12's. You will work holidays, yes, you WILL work holidays, unless you work in a clinic of some sort.

You can advance your career, obtain a Masters or/and a PhD. You can be a nurse educator, a nurse practitioner, a professor, a Dean of Nursing at a college, a clinic instructor, a nurse who evaluates charting systems, a legal nurse consultant....the possiblities are endless really, you just have to go get the education. There really are no limits in nursing, we put the limits on ourselves by not obtaining the education needed to advance ourselves in the field.

So no, it isn't that bad, we just vent sometimes, because only a nurse can truly understand what a nurse goes through.

Specializes in Public Health Nurse.
I believe schnookims summed it up very nicely. :)

This is a second career for me. I started nursing school at 32 years old. I love what I do and wouldn't change it for the world. Well....maybe if I was a taste tester for a chocolate company...I might entertain the idea.......Ok, what was I saying?

LOL....I would love being a chocolate taster too, what a dream job :yes:

Nursing is a very nice field, while I have yet to practice it in the hospital setting, but is like other jobs that have its ups and its down for what I read on here. Then again it is not for the faint of heart. It all depends in your unit and manager my friends tell me.

Definitely look into the new nurse saturation in your area, and sign up for internships if you can. We have one hospital here that will give you a job if they pay for your nursing, which is a heads up compared to others that paid on their own....sorry I know this paragraph is off topic :nailbiting:

Yes, try becoming an CNA first since you are still very young to make sure you like it before you invest more years in this career.

As others have stated, this site is for nurse students and those that are already nurses, it is a place to come to complain, vent and celebrate our victories.

PS....Nurse Frances....I just sent you a private message. Interested more in RN for eye surgeons.

OMG...so true.:wacky:

I would not do nursing again. I am leaving nursing actually.

Wouldn’t wish this career on my own worst enemy. I hate it

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