Aren't You just Incredibly Proud?

[Carpediem1012]

I am a newbie. Like I said in a previous post, I am at the wiggly puppy stage; just about to embark on my schooling as a nurse. I have been drawn to this forum lately and have been reading like a sponge (okay, finishing statistics is boring too...), but the stories I am reading are amazing. Struggles to get in, to find a job, to keep a job, to balance all that life throws at everyone here. I can't help to think how proud (and daunted) I am to join this unique group of individuals. I am humbled to think of what you all have done to make it through and to make it work. I can't wait to get started.

[seemerun]

I have been a nurse for 10 years and I can say that I am proud! I mean it is definitely "just a job" many days. I get tired of the BS and tired of being tired.

But I worked really hard to get here, I am glad I went down this path. My job is interesting to me and interesting to others. When I get an easy patient I enjoy those moments. When I get a tough patient or tough situation....well it sucks but they often make great stories later. I have gone through periods where I wanted out but try as I might I can't think of anything else that holds my interest AND pays the bills.

[andreasmom02]

I think it's great you're excited to get in to nursing. If that's what you want to do, don't let anyone stop you! :)I love the quote: "Hold on to your dreams, your day will come!"

[dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN]

I managed to find a job in a profession that is often cited as having one of the largest workforces in the US.

I actually enjoyed my time working as a WalMart cashier more. And I didn't have to work nights or as many holidays.

My pay actually came out *more* as a waitress but I had no benefits and no real job stability.

So. Yeah.

[vintage_RN, BSN, RN]

I worked incredibly hard to get to where I am. It's competitive to get into the program, hard to stay in it, and even harder to get a job. Nursing has always been what I wanted to do, and I love it. It isn't always fun, but I feel like I'm doing what I'm suppose to be doing. Yes, I am very proud.

[Cinquefoil]

I am a new grad, but also have been working for almost six months now.

I worked for 2 years in LTC and loved it. Not all of it (management/staff split was pretty bad, and I ended up a somewhat a lower rung middle manager) but I LOVED the responsibilities, the problem-solving, and the relationships I built with residents and many of my coworkers.

I love working my heart out. I love challenges. I actually really like trying to keep my (professional) standards and meet other people at their (personal) standards as well, even when that's hard.

But I have a background in conflict resolution, so that helps. I actually like that stuff.

On the other hand I have a stellar unit, a great manager, and our nurse to patient ratios are very reasonable, in a facility where people choose to work for the atmosphere despite the fact that it pays $5-6 less per hour than others in the same town. My coworkers are mainly affectionate, helpful, and receptive to questions.

Kinda sounds like the Lake Wobegon of nursing, doesn't it?

Charting is my bugbear. I think I subconsciously avoid it, because I don't enjoy it at all. And our health care system is still broken in so many ways that frustration is built into the job. Discharge the homeless person to where again? And they can't walk yet?? Oh yeah, I'm sure they'll do great at that shelter!

But many of my coworkers share my concerns.

I struggled terribly to get a job and I thank my lucky stars every day that this is the one I found, even if I had to uproot to find it.

[Panasonic]

Yes, I'm proud of myself, my accomplishments, and my profession. Keep in mind there are bad apples in every bushel, and they like nothing more than to sour the rest. Keep your head up and give it your best! You'll be glad you did.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I'm not swelling with pride or anything like that. However, I am fortunate to be a nurse. After having worked in the fast food industry, low end retail, the grocery business, and other menial jobs, I am thankful for the income, flexibility and work/life balance that nursing bestows upon me.

I've posted about this issue previously, but I'll post again. As a bedside nurse, it is the explosive families, visitors and external 'customers' that make my job overwhelmingly hard.

For instance, the customer who harasses the pilot on a major airline will be forced by the air marshal to exit the airplane. The customer who takes cell phone pictures of the cashiers at McDonald's will be asked to leave by the manager, especially if this person is getting into peoples' personal space.

However, hospital management wants nurses to accept the public's disgusting behaviors because our so-called 'customers' are stressed. They want us to kiss up to abusive families and coddle threatening visitors because peoples' coping skills supposedly disappear when loved ones are ill.

I personally think workers in other occupations get a great deal more respect from society than your average bedside nurse.

I wouldn't ever dream of showing up to another person's workplace to tell him/her how to do the job, hover over the staff all day, and make threats when people aren't moving fast enough for me. This appalling level of personal disrespect is shown to bedside nurses on an almost daily basis and it makes me mentally sick.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

Yes, I'm proud of being a nurse. I actually left for a bit and felt like part of me was missing. No other job has every been as fulfilling for me. The ones I would love to do (Special Ed advocate for parents getting screwed by a school system) are either voluntary or low paying and can't support my family.

I'm also proud of being a med/surg nurse. Yeah, that's right! I work on a med/surg floor and even though I have floated to other areas in my career, I always return to med/surg.

Am I proud of what our health care system is and where it's going? NO. And I don't like what it's done to nursing.

[plinytheRN]

sigh... I am proud of my education and accomplishments but regret going to nursing school instead of medical school after it's all said and done. For many of the reasons posted here. It is what it is, I work hard and am good at my job- barely paying the bills. there are good days and bad days like any job. There is way too much responsibility, liability and not enough pay to make it worth it... feeling like I do everyone else's job and taking the most abuse from all ends of the spectrum. I am better off than many of my friends that don't have any college degree and working in dead end retail jobs, so I am grateful- just being honest!

[wish_me_luck, BSN, RN]

Wow! It's nice to hear these veteran nurses', it really is a reality check! I am used to hearing everyone around me including my big sister say they love being a nurse. I have always been proud of every job I have had from customer service to warehouse work. I hope that I don't lose that as a nurse. And to say that you are negative about the job because because more people are becoming a nurse is crazy! Jealous much?!

I am a nurse...why would I be jealous? I want something that is not something 10 out of 12 people are doing. Everyone and their grandma is becoming a nurse because they think it will bring good money. When everyone does something, you are not special. It's just normal...nothing special or anything that makes you different.

I think I am fortunate enough to have a college degree and such (especially not having debt in a time where other new grads are drowning in it), but being proud of a profession is not something that I am. Every profession has something to offer. I am glad that I am humble and keep striving for bigger and better things for my community. I do not care about recognition. Big deal, it is nursing, not coming up with the solution to end world hunger or creating world peace.

I just want to meet my communities needs (and then some) whether it be as a nurse or some other profession. It is what I would do as a nurse that would bring me pride, not the fact that I am a nurse.

[CodeteamB]

Yes Susan, I am incredibly proud. I am closer to a hound status post one kick too many than a wiggly puppy, I was not "called" to nursing, and as you can read in many of my posts I am more than a little jaded. However, I love being a nurse, and I am darn proud of it.

No, I am not the only nurse in the world, no I am not curing cancer or facilitating world peace. I will never be famous, I'm not special or a VIP, and none of that matters.

What I do every day is valuable and important, not just for the people I treat but to society. I go to work, I do my job well and I stay positive even when things go wrong.

So, you bet I'm proud! And you all should be too. To think that you must be somehow unique or unusual to be proud of your accomplishments, or that the challenges you face will somehow devalue being a nurse is a little silly.

[tokebi]

Good luck to you Susan as you take on this journey!

It is true there are nurses everywhere, and simply being a nurse does not automatically confer some prestige to be proud of. However, I totally agree with Codeteam above. It is the kind of nurse you are that will make you stand out.

I hope you keep and nurture your positive enthusiasm as you continue on.