Wow.. You people must really hate nursing!!

Nurses Career Support

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I posted a thread a few days ago asking some advice on getting into nursing. I got three negative responses all recomending I try to find something in my feild first, the third was esspecially negative stating everythng that is horrible about being a nurse. i work at a daycare where my hours are 6:30-5:00, occasionally I get sent home early, I also work a second job, I've delt with everything from buliding fires, to witnessing child abuse, and I work in an accreditted center, I make 8.20 an hour and pay 180 a month in health insurance, and you know what I LOVE MY JOB. But I oew it to myslef, after 15 thousand dollars in student loans, a better future. i HAD a serious heart condition as a child, and spent much of my childhood in a hospital, I know the work is never easy, but life is so precsious to me that i want something that will make a differnce. I have since talked to some nursing schools and nurses and while I'm not making any moves right away, pursing nursing in an accelerated degree program is an option I will consider. I guess I just want people who come on this board and are thinking about nursing to not expect a good response, yes I value the opinion that people should consider how difficult nursing can be, and its not a decsions to be taken lightly, but life is so short, and at the end I want to say i made a difference.

I graduated may 2003 with my lpn diploma and took a position at a nursing home that serves MR/DD. The in house census is at 60 and has been that way since I have started. (This is my 4th week working there.) Well, my first day there, state was there on a complaint. A nurse I graduated with has been there for 5 months and told me that it was about patient rights. Well, the end of my first week was hell. We only had 2 CNA's and 2 Nurses, so I had to help out with CNA work, no big deal right? I am still doing it til this day because they want to not show up or call off just because they want to have a day off. Then last week a CNA got suspended for hitting a res and blackening her eye. There goes another CNA. Then this week one of the LPN's calls off and leaves me by myself with 60 residents, 2 CNA's, kitchen people and 1 Activity person. Guess what happened? Anything and everything imaginable. This has also gone on since I have started, there are also around 3-5 residents almost every day falling and incident reports being written or residents getting into fights. I'm beginning to hate nursing. 2 nurses have threatened to quit already, and I think they are. State has been called on them again anonymously by word of mouth. These res. are getting no quality care whatsoever. I am finding that 4 res now have pressure ulcers on their scrotums and hip/buttock areas. Food trays being removed from a few for them eating too slow, the CNA's tell them they do not have time and just give them liquids and tell them to be on time for eating or hurry up and eat! I tell you what I think I am going to quit too. I do not want my lic pulled from me. My aunt who works for an ambulance service warned me not to even apply there. She said the State closed them down a few years ago for things of that nature or worse. I found online a report where they were being vs. by medicare and medicaid and had to pay monies back for some things. I told my mom about this and she said that I cant just quit on them because I have already quit a nursing job in a nother town due to the shift I was working did not work out with me and travelling 20 miles at 4 am and then get to bed at 5am and get up to take my son to school at 7 am and turn around and go in at 2 pm! also the gas prices being so high. (I live with my bf, he doesnt work and sits the 2 kids .) She said I have to at least stick it out for 4 years or no one will hire me that I will be a bad referneced nurse. But.....should I stay or go? I feel that the res arent being treated good at all. This is my vent. Let me know what you all think of this situation?

We all have those days when working at BurgerKing sounds glamerous compared to what we endure each day. Nurses are a special breed- the most caring and supportive bunch around. But how else can we deal with all we have to without complaining once in awhile?

Yes- we are overworked and under appreciated. The money sucks, and the stress is horrendeous. Find we one person in any field who doesn't feel that way at one point or another.

All in all- we are nurses for a reason-each and every one of us. Call it a duty or a calling, but we are who we are for a reason. Nursing is in our blood-it's who we are. And not many of us who stay nurses would be satisfied doing anything else.

And the end of the day, I can say with a tired smile on my face, I made a difference. What else matters?

Specializes in OB, Telephone Triage, Chart Review/Code.

Well, I don't hate nursing. I have always wanted to be a nurse. I just don't like how we nurses are being treated. Then again, I have been on both sides. There are downfalls to almost everywhere else you work.

We vent because it helps us. Our spouces don't necessarily want to hear about what is going on nor do they really understand why things upset us so much. This site gives us a chance to get it off our chests. We can make friends here. Most everyone here understands our rants.

Please don't use the negative comments to make your decision. As one poster stated, we learn from each other. Perhaps in one situation, we can be alert or aware of something because we saw it here and may be able to handle the situation differently.

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