Am I Just a Cynic or Is nursing a poor career?

[MrsCaseyRN]

I need to ask other nurses if they are as dissatisfied with nursing or is it just not for me? I've been a nurse for 2 years and I hate it. (I am going back to school for something else, I will not be a nurse that hates her job and does it for anyother 20 years.) I am an RN and have worked in the hospital (tele & med/surg) and LTC. While there are differences, it seems that they all have the same issues that upset me.

#1 I feel abused from every angle. I feel like a servant to my pts, family can be so demanding and rude, some doctors can be more condisending that family (but even one it too much, a Ph.D. doesn't give anyone the right to belittle others.) Management is, well management. Short staffing the floor and aloof to issues. It seems these issues (which I've seen on many boards, are "just a part of nursing". There's always that nasty doc no one likes talking to, or that crazy family member that makes our day nearly imposible. Is it over sensitive of me to not want to deal with this anymore?

#2 I feel like the general public is moving towards a "anti-healthcare" attitude. People sue for everything. It seems that people don't feel we are entitled to break (as we've discussed in another post), I've seen first hand many times that the public wouldn't care if you were 9 months pregnant, they expect you to lift mom single-handedly out of the chair and into bed, and NOW! because they "don't want to wait" for you to get help. The nurse doesn't even need to be pregnant, she could be 110lbs and "mom" could be 400lbs and her 25 family members (8 of which are young strapping men) will demand you get mom up to the commode NOW!, and all 25 will stand there and watch and god forbid the guy across the hall is coding!!! Even another human being dieing is not important enough for you to derail from getting their 400lb mom another package of gramcrackers..and so an and so on. And all the while they think the nurse is LAZY!!! I hear this very often. (This actually happened to me at a diner) the couple behind me and my husband were having a bash fest on how lazy and stupid nurses are. They never considered that maybe a nurse was in earshot! My husband lit into them, and they apologized but said that the nurses at a local hospital "killed" their grandpa. I asked about grandpa who was 89 y/o had a "failing heart and kidneys" but "was doing well untiL he went into the hospital". I want to DUMP MY SOUP ON THEIR HEADS!! This seems to me to be very common that people blame nurses(or docs) for inevidable deaths.

#3 Short staffing that's only getting shorter...need I say more.

#4 Missing time with family. I will admit I knew about this before I got into nursing so I can't complain. But since I've had my son, I no longer want to miss holidays. I'm sorry, but my pts are not worth the times I will miss with my family on holidays. I want to be home christmas mornings with my son and 10 year from now I won't remember the pts I had on xmas but I will remember that I missed his first xmas (or second or what ever).

#5 Liability. I knew this too, so I can't complain, but people make mistakes Cashiers ring you up for the wrong amount, cooks make and waitress serve the wrong food, I'm sure plumber or contruction workers have been called it to fix something but after wards it still leeks or whatever and they have to be called back to do it again. I'm not saying that nurses are the only profession that our mistakes can be very dangerous, I'm saying that even the smallest mistakes, one that would never hurt anyone, gets everyone up in arms about it. And pts and there family expect nothing short of God caring for them or their family. A nurse on the floor I used to work on went to take a blood sugar on the wrong pt. The family was there, it never even got done. They stopped her, but the pt was confused and wouldn't have been able to tell the nurse she was a BGM. The family had a melt down and reported her and she got in a lot of trouble! Its not like she was about to give morpine to this lady. I know a mistake is a mistake, but there's no forgiveness in nursing, not matter how tiny the mistake. We can not make mistakes, as per the general public. Well, I'm careful, but I'm not perfect.

Sorry to sound so negitive. Am I just looking at this all wrong? Does anyone else feel this way, but it doesn't bother them?

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

That's a really good point. I'm the one that made the grass comment... And here I am getting ready to take my pre-req classes for nursing this fall

Sounds like you're none too satisfied with the grazing where you are, now, so making the jump probably make sense. No one in their right mind could guarantee you'll love nursing. I pretty much am willing to guarantee there will be times you'll feel just what the OP is saying. There are environments quite a bit more hospitable than the OP's sounds, but anyone in bedside nursing faces the same problems, from time to time. Hopefully, you'll find a place where those days are the exception, rather than the rule, and only time will tell whether you'll feel the benefits outweigh the costs. For me, they do, but even after working several years in healthcare, I was a bit surprised just how hard being a nurse is.

Best of luck, in school and your new career. Study hard, learn all you can, and when the time comes to look for a job, think about this thread and how bad things can be.

[zuzi]

You need to find what you like and to go in that way! I could not tell you nothing about you, I don't know your dreams, but still, go wherever you want to go like nurse, each position in nursing field has it own phylosophy. But never to forget... who run JUST for money will never evere be happy with them. You really need to love what you do and to be payed for that. I told you that becuase I saw many nurses cases along the years when nurses run from bed site places for a management positions JUST for money without any love for that. Is not a big deal to change an unloving position with another that you don't love also just for money. Is like you sell your soul and for me is the worst ideea. LOVE before all! So find somenthing that you really enjoy, even if is less payed for the beginning, becoming THE BEST, in what you do, the money will come for sure!. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE before everythink else, love what you do, love your collegues, love your position, you will be happy, this is the key!

[K98]

Was this to me??

I have ZERO plans of being in management right away - or even 10years down the road at all!! I completely agree, I need to know the job and do it for a while (and well). I'm starting from the beginner level, and understand that completely; If its anything like any other job I've had, 10% of the education is formal, the other 90% is learned on the job from others. In my early 30s, I have a lot of working years left, and was simply stating a long-term goal!

Sorry if you thought I was saying I would jump right into nursing management (although I do expect to take Nurse Practitioner classes part-time once I graduate and get a nurse job) - I thought I was clear and I apologize if I wasn't.

And if this wasn't for me... Well, sorry for being neurotic.

P.S. With two kids and a dog, yes I've seen poo - In many forms.

Heh... I thought I had too, but I hadn't. Dog poo, kid poo, minor stuff. Nursing = Festival O' Feces...

[PhilaGuy]

Heh... I thought I had too, but I hadn't. Dog poo, kid poo, minor stuff. Nursing = Festival O' Feces...

Well what fun would it be if there wasn't anything new...

[RunningWithScissors]

Having people who are nurse wanna2bes expressing opinions about a career they have no idea about except as a patient is less than helpful here.

[blueiwahine]

I think you said it all...I feel the same way...I love my patients...but I know that my wellbeing must come first...that's why I'm going back for my master's in education...I'm sure there will be lots of abuse there too...I don't regret getting my degree in nursing...because there is so much you can do with it...If one area is not fitting your lifestyle...then just try another area.

[schoolnurse09]

Nothing is perfect, try to find your niche. If you can't, value the experiences you have had and the things you have learned, then move on. You only have so many heartbeats on this earth...don't waste them !

[flygirl43]

Here, here!!!!!!! I totally understand how you feel!!!!!! Why is it, that we are not valued human beings at work. Martyrdom! Gimme a break!!!! Nursing is tragic at times. The worse part is how we treat each other!!!!! Pts and their familys don't have a clue......we do

[blood13]

I am a fellow cynic, and I actually didn't choose to be a nurse for the flowery conotations it represents to some (caring, loving people, and oh, don't forget old Flo:nurse:). I chose it for the flexibility and pay. I almost quit nursing school because working on the floor was absolutely BORING. Once I hit the ER though, my adrenaline addiction was satified. Have you tried other areas of nursing, there are a ton of options. Maybe check out an aspect of nursing that doesn't deal with patient care like research or management. Checking into other options before you throw in the towel and go back to school might open a new door or interest in nursing. Good luck and remember we ALL have those thoughts at times:no:

[muskylounge]

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I do have something to say, and I do not mean to be harsh. If you hate nursing, please, for your patients, GET OUT! Especially if you work in OB. I just want to relate this story and I've wanted to for a while. When I was in labor, I was facing a bad situation and was trying to keep up my spirits. However, I had this nurse who HATED nursing, and hated EVERYTHING, life, and to my detriment, her patients. She made this so clear. After "working" with her for 8 hours, I demanded that she not come back into my room and I asked for another nurse at the insistence at my husband. He was livid and was calling nursing sups at 4:00AM.

Her attitude had a detrimental effect on my labor when I needed someone to encourage me. She was hating her job, and a hateful person in general. I will never forget her horrible attitude, the way that she treated me, my doula, my husband, and a friend. I was at a very vulnerable time in my life, and she made it worse. 6 month later, she may have forgotten me, but I have not forgotten her. When I remember my labor, I remember this angry, spiteful woman who treated me like gum on her shoe rather than someone who was on the threshold of a new life.

I have just begun to get past this but it has taken me a while. I would like to have remembered my labor as a positive experience, but thanks to this person, I can not. It ended in a c-section and became one of the saddest days of my life.

I know that this is not a positive story, but please take this into consideration. You may not remember your patients, but your patients will remember you.

BTW, I was recently hospitalized for pneumonia and because of my birth experience, I was reluctant to go into the hospital. However, the nurses at this hospital were absolutely golden. They listened to me when I was crying because I missed my daughter because I was so sick (they didn't want the baby up there because they weren't sure what they were initially dealing with, and I didn't want her up on a med-surge unit mid-flu and other "yuckies" season). The answered all my questions, and they bent over backwards keeping pain under control. Oh, I can't even begin to go over everything they did right! They were so awesome and I WILL remember them. BTW, this was a different hospital than where I had my baby.

When I received my Press-Ganey survey, I made sure that I gave the nursing staff the highest scores I could because they truly deserved it! For all the nurses who take the time to show how much they really care by listening to my blubbering, by making sure my pain was under control, to listen to my input before procedures, THANK YOU!!! You are truly worth your weight in platinum!!!

This was a great story for me and my wife. My first childbirth (as a coach of course) and her second was awesome. I still remember her name. "Nurse Judy" St Lukes Hospital in St Louis. She made us feel like we were the President and the First lady. She had the day off when we left so we were unable to thank her personally but felt compelled by her excellent service to give a note to a co worker and make sure she got it. My wifes first child birth did not go well and she was very uneasy. Part of the placenta broke off inside and she was hemorrhaging. They had to remove it by hand and it was extremely painful. My son was born I cut the cord and we had a great experience. Nurse Judy was L&D nurse for 15+ years. She found her niche in nursing and I hope I find mind as well.

I hope the original poster can find in her heart where she once loved nursing and find a different niche in nursing. Their are many things a RN can do. Hopefully you can find something maybe in private practice you can enjoy. :)

[schoolnurse09]

I think it is a shame that circumstances drive nurses from the bedside where we are needed in the first place. I have no issues with nurses that are working in other places (heck, I am a clinic nurse), however, this clearly demonstrates that people are literally running for their lives to avoid situations where their consciences and their licenses are at risk on a daily basis.

AMEN to that. That is why I, too, am a clinic nurse. I don't see anything out there on the horizon that would lead me to believe that situation in the hospitals will improve. The dollar is the bottom line for the hospitals, no matter what anyone says.

[Truth66]

Nursing would be the great career that it should be if nurses were actually treated with the respect that they deserve. I've been Nursing for 12 years (next month) and the amount of crap that I see nurses go through on a regular basis is criminal.

Actually today at lunch I was talking with a colleague who had mentioned that she had to have a meeting with the Director of Nursing (DON) to complain about a male family member who would routinely go up behind her and other staff members to grab them. This family member has been spoken to before. She told the DON that she didn't like him touching her. The DON's reponse was, "what didn't you like about it?"

I was outraged and told my colleague that it was yet another example of how unprofessional this DON is. That's like a woman stating that she was raped and someone asking that woman, "what didn't you like about it?"

I've already told my wife (who's also a nurse) that we are going to do everything in our power to ensure that our daughter has all the education opportuntiues that she can have to make sure that she never ever becomes a nurse. I will not tolerate my daughter to be abused and exploited.