why so many negatives about nursing?

[confusedstudent20]

I was reading another thread about someone wanting to leave their job to pursue nursing, and all the comments consisted of negativity about the nursing career. Is nursing really that awful? I'm still in undergrad and thinking about pursuing a second-degree BSN and working as a psychiatric nurse. But from what I see, all the nurses on here seem to hate being a nurse. Nursing seemed like the best choice for me having a psychology degree....but now I'm starting to reconsider with seeing all the negativity. So, why are there so many negatives about nursing?

[Pneumothorax, BSN, RN]

We all complain bc we are simply spread too thin. With that comes the stress of patient safety and loss of your own sanity bc u stress and worry ab not only ur patients lives but yourself.

Where I work , all they care ab is survey scores but they over load us and short staff us to save $. It's such a cluster.

I love being a nurse , I love my profession bc I know what I can do and have endless opportunities but I hate the facility I work at it's complete BS.

[iPink, BSN, RN]

Nursing is my second career. I've been working as a nurse for almost a year and it is the toughest job I've ever had emotionally, physically, and mentally. When I was a pre-nursing student on here, like many of you I would ignore the negative threads too. I didn't not allow them to deter me from pursuing my dream. Yes, there is good and bad to every profession, but nursing takes the cake for me. A few days ago my coworker got her head bashed in by a patient in ICU that somehow got out of his restraints. You wouldn't think this could happen in ICU but it can and it does happen everyday in different hospitals around the world.

My perspectives are coming from being a new bedside nurse, but there are days when I feel like a drug dealer to the frequent flyers who complain of pain "all over"; a maid to the patients who think they are staying at the Ritz; and a zombie with a manufactured smile due to the amount of work and orders that you think can be accomplished in 12 hours yet you find yourself 3 hours before shift change and hadn't eaten or even used the bathroom all this time!

But then there are days I'm so proud to be a nurse, when family members hug you and request you specifically to come back and be their loved ones' nurse; and the patients who had been discharged several weeks ago yet remember how well they were treated by you and mention your name when mailing back their patient care cards to the hospital. And then there was a patient who during my shift had a blown artery and he was bleeding profusely and I immediately put pressure on the site and called Rapid Response. In the end he came out of emergency surgery and back into my care and he hugged me with tears in his eyes and thanked me for saving his life. The vascular surgeon specifically called me to personally tell me the great job I had done.

I wish you all the best as you embark on the very challenging, very frustrating, yet rewarding career.

Sent via Glad2baRN's iPhone using allnurses.com

[txnurstud, CNA]

I wouldn't ignore the threads. They offer an insight to nursing that is very real. Nursing isn't for the faint of heart...it's a tough brutal job with rewards scattered sporadically. You will be responsible for everything but have very little power to change anything. The promise of Big pay and easy jobs are long gone. Many areas of the country have as high as 47% unemployment of new grads. The average job search is about 14 months. I know someone will come along and give anecdotal reports of how everyone in their graduation class had a job within 2 month of graduation...but the reality is there is a plethora of new grads out there all vying for the same positions in hospitals and there are very few spots that are open that will orient a new grad. There is NO NURSING SHORTAGE right now. It is a lie that is being perpetuated by the media and hospitals. Hospitals use this as an excuse to cut the bottom line and say...."we are looking for help but there is a shortage" that ia a line of manure. That they had to cut staff because of Obama care is another line of manure for if more people have insurance...they will have more money in their pockets because more people are paying for their insurance to reimburse the hospital and therefore more money is in the hospitals pocket....which will not translate anywhere near nurses pockets. You are going to work hard for your money. This is no gravy train. Nursing is demanding. Nursing is hard. Contrary to popular belief.....nursing involves grunt work like pill passing and bedpans....you WILL work holidays and weekends and you WILL have to do shift work....regardless of whether or not you like nights and patient excrement. I love being a nurse....I have been one for 35 years. But I expect to work hard and I don't shy away from the "menial jobs" for that is my job. Being a nurse means... You will never be bored. You will always be frustrated. You will be surrounded by challenges. so much to do and so little time. You will carry immense responsibility and very little authority. You will step into people's lives and you will make a difference. Some will bless you. Some will curse you. You will see people at their worst... and at their best. You will never cease to be amazed at people's capacity for Love, Courage, and Endurance. You will see life begin...and end. You will experience resounding triumphs and devastating failures. You will cry a lot. You will laugh a lot. You will know what it is to be human and to be humane. copyright © melodie chenevert rn, mn, ma [/quote']

I love this quote!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com