A Nurses Life

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Well I know this may sound silly, but I'm under the impression that all nurses do is work. By the time I finish nursing school I'll be 21/22, which is still pretty young. I'm afraid I won't have time to do fun things any more, and I'll just be a workaholic, living a sad lonely life [lol]. So when you're not working, what kind of things do you do? Are you able to live a comfortable lifestyle? How old are you? These are just things I happen to be thinking about.

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Specializes in LTC.

24. You'll have a life if you let yourself have a life. Depends on the shifts you work, the days you work and all that. I worry about it too sometimes, but you have days off....nurses don't work 7 days a week...well sometimes that happens but not 365. You'll have a life if you let yourself have alife.

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

There are times when I miss things (such as holidays) because of my schedule, but since a can have a lot of choice when I work I get to do things that other people don't. Shopping, banking, a day at the beach, museum, etc. are much more enjoyable on a weekday, when the rest of the world is at work.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I'm 30, been an RN for going on 9 years. I was a CNA for 5 years before that, from 16-21.

I agree with the poster who mentioned missing holidays, and yea, that does suck. However, I far from "always work." (I am curious what gives you that impression?) I work 3 12's a week, and am content with that (I could make more money if I sought out overtime~which we aren't offered, anyway, in fact, it's discouraged due to budget!~or a second job, but I would rather be happy with my income as is than work more than I do). I just had off Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and I'll be off the weekend.....not bad, right? Yes, the days I work are long (what else would a 12 hour shift be ;)), but I do enjoy my days off. I also love having weekdays off, I can run errands, make appointments, etc, without missing work or having to manipulate my work schedule around them.

If I only had off Saturday and Sunday every week, THEN I'd feel like I worked all the time!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

As others have said, nurses don't work 365 days per year. At my hospital, the typical is 3 12-hour shifts per week. That means that they are not at work 4 days per week.

But it is also worth considering that you are at a time of your life at which things are changing. You are in the process of becomming an adult and assuming the responsibility of taking care of your yourself. For most people, that means having a full time job.

You'll no longer be a "kid" -- and you will have the responsibilities of full adulthood soon. Babies have no responsibilities. Little kids have maybe on a few little chores to do to help around the house. Older children and teenagers gradually take on more and more responsibilities -- hopefully, to prepare for adulthood. And yes, adults don't always get as much chance to "play" as kids do.

But that would happen in any career -- not just nursing. The trick is to learn to balance your work life with your "play." Live frugally so that you don't have to choose a job you hate to make more money to pay your bills. Live frugally so that you don't have to work a lot of overtime hours to get more money. Learn not to take on too much responsibility so that your burden does not become all consuming. A lot of new nurses take on more than they can handle and end up working too many shifts and get burned out. They want to care for everybody all the time. Learn to pace yourself and say "No" as appropriate.

As others have said, you can have a fine personal life -- if you learn to manage your work-life balance. But that is a skill some people need to work on.

BTW: I am old (54) ... and I like to think wise about these. I've been a nurse since I graduated from college at 22.

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Specializes in Emergency, critical care.

I started work as an RN at 24....and 1st job in a new state, sunny south Florida; by 25, a 2 week vacation in Mexico, seeing the ruins; fit a couple trips to Cape Cod in there by 27. At 28, 3 weeks in Hawaii....by 29, 1st time ever skiing in Colorado, and have had skiing trips every year since then, in Ca., Utah, NM, NH, Vt. Wy., Nv., Or., Alberta, British Columbia, and Chamonix....I've been to China and Prague, and Montreal.....I've been camping all over the Smokies, Az., NM, Co., Ca.,Vt., Wy.,Mt.... Been to Mardi Gras a number of times....

and a lot more....would take a full page to list it all...What you need is:

Good attitude, a budget, and payroll deduction savings...your fun is just beginning....I've been married...raised a child...live in a vacation home now...driven old and new cars....it's all do-able...simply put, you were looking at the glass half-empty, now look at it half full....another poster said wisely:

You work to live, not live to work....

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:nurse::yeah::twocents:As an old nurse(53) I have had problems in the past with being a workaholic. This helped ruin one marrage and put me behind financially for a few years. I have since learned to get a hobby and away from nursing, ie; motorcycles, blacksmithing, carving, canning, etc. If you want to have some fun and away time get some memories as that is what we have when we get older. At your age why not try traveling nursing it pays better and you can travel and be paid to do it. They pay room and board and travel expences and you are at a place long enough to see the local sites and learn some things as well collect some different skills and memories. Need to do this when your young enough to enjoy and without to many difficulties. Some nurses I know did this and actually lived close enough to one of their assignments to pay off their home years earlier then they could have. good luck in thefield.
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Specializes in LTC.

i became a nurse at 20, im now 21. i totally have a life. i enjoy times with my friends, family, and hubby. my friends memorize my off weekends so they kno to plan fun things on my weekend off. i have to admit that i feel much older than i am, due to the responsiblity i have as a nurse.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

As previous posters have said, you have to let yourself have a life. We are lucky that we are able to work full time and have it take up only 3 days of our week, although they are very bust days (or nights for some). While you are at work, all you think about is work, but it should not consume your life when you are not there. I have a friend who works in PR (we live in NYC so you can imagine what that is like for her!!) and her life is work, work, work. Her blackberry is attached to her hand, she gets emails late at night and has events in the evening and weekends. Oh yea, and she makes a lot less than me and works in a very negative environment. I would not trade my job or lifestyle for what she has at all. It does suck working holidays, but where I work we still manage to celebrate whatever holiday it is. Everyone cooks and brings in goodies and we have lunch together so you never really feel alone or like your completely missing it. On my days off I get all my food/clothes shopping done, I can go to the gym when it's not packed and not have to wait for equipment, I can sleep late!!! You will be fine, but it will take some getting used to. It is tough at first to get used to your days off because while you are completely free in the middle of the week, the rest of the world is working and you might be bored if you like to have company. Luckily I have befriended many of my co-workers who live nearby and we often get together on our days off, but I know not everyone likes to mix their social life and work life. You'll figure out what works best for you.

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I started work as an RN at 24....and 1st job in a new state, sunny south Florida; by 25, a 2 week vacation in Mexico, seeing the ruins; fit a couple trips to Cape Cod in there by 27. At 28, 3 weeks in Hawaii....by 29, 1st time ever skiing in Colorado, and have had skiing trips every year since then, in Ca., Utah, NM, NH, Vt. Wy., Nv., Or., Alberta, British Columbia, and Chamonix....I've been to China and Prague, and Montreal.....I've been camping all over the Smokies, Az., NM, Co., Ca.,Vt., Wy.,Mt.... Been to Mardi Gras a number of times....

and a lot more....would take a full page to list it all...What you need is:

Good attitude, a budget, and payroll deduction savings...your fun is just beginning....I've been married...raised a child...live in a vacation home now...driven old and new cars....it's all do-able...simply put, you were looking at the glass half-empty, now look at it half full....another poster said wisely:

You work to live, not live to work....

wow thats great...how did u do all that?

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

OP, keep in mind that if this impression is coming from reading posts on this site ... we come to this site to largely talk about nursing, therefore to talk about work ... not to talk about the other hundred things we may have of interest in our lives. ;)

Good luck to you.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.
OP, keep in mind that if this impression is coming from reading posts on this site ... we come to this site to largely talk about nursing, therefore to talk about work ... not to talk about the other hundred things we may have of interest in our lives. ;)

Good luck to you.

Very true, Altra! Also, coming here on my off days doesn't make me feel like my whole life is work, either. It actually energizes me, and helps me to look forward to my next shift!

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