Aren't You just Incredibly Proud?

Carpediem1012, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2013

Thank CodeteamB. You said it so well. Yours are the footsteps I would like to follow.

DroogieRN · Jul 28, 2013

I am incredibly proud to be a nurse! I was you just a few short years ago, and I remember the feeling well. I've been a nurse three years now, in an ICU the last 15 months, and I couldn't be happier with my choice of profession. I think being an RN is the best job in the world and as difficult as many aspects can be a great deal of the time, if I am going to exchange hours of my life for cash, there is not another thing I would rather do than this.

Best of luck to you as you start your nursing journey.

MassED, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2013

Sometimes there are those that choose to perpetuate "nurses eat their young." There are times when there are shining moments to be proud of, to participate in, or to have contributed to in some way. In the ER, you feel good when no one has died because of you or the lack of help, in all honesty, some nights. I feel proud when someone who is in need says thank you. That's pretty much all I need.

MassED, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2013

Take comments for what they are...other people's reality.
I came here to this forum and many people posted that I would learn how "hard being a nurse is," as if I had no idea what hard work is like. Now after working in a step down unit with up to 6 pt, I can easily say it is an easy job compared to my past jobs. My wife is an ER nurse and feels the same way.
Everyone has different ways of looking at reality. Life is what you make of it.

what was your past job??

MassED, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2013

I think a touch of my negativity comes from nursing becoming a dime a dozen profession. I think would have had more pride if it was special...if it was a profession not many did or could do. But, that is not the case. Everyone and their grandma is becoming a nurse, now. It's not anything special. It's a job.

With all due respect, I disagree. It is not a "dime a dozen profession." There is quite a high standard to get in and get through nursing school. Where I went to school, we started with over 30 and graduated 13. You had to get 100% on the math test, no exceptions, or you were out. It weeded out the weak or weak-hearted, because if you were not really IN IT for the right reasons, you would give up. You either had the mental fortitude and intellect to persist or you failed. I do think your post is more of a troll post.

The tough nurses that we have all encountered (or you will!) all have their own baggage. Many of them did not start out that way and were likely just like OP. When time and experience begin to sour you, then that is the time for some introspection into a new path. Not all of us can be so insightful. It is with this that I remember as I encounter these gruff ones and remember "it's you, it's not me."

I will agree with you that, like any, it is just a job. How it differs with most other jobs is the very real issues of life and death. Only doctors, medics, firefighters, and police officers know the threat of this like we do. As a nurse, you are charged for a person. It is just a job, but it is a job fraught with great responsibility.

HollyGoLightlyRN · Jul 28, 2013

As a new nurse I sometimes wonder when nurses will take back their profession and realize the potential strength in number we could enjoy. I am not normally one to feel that a unionized workforce is the best, however I think when it comes to advocating for our patients we should be fighting harder for safer staffing ratios and better work environments for ourselves. It saddens me to hear nurses say they regret their choice of profession...I would want better than that for my loved ones. If I get to the point where I feel that way I owe it to my patients to become a mechanic :-)

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Jul 28, 2013

Thank you lynda, apology accepted. Would you say then, that you regret your choice to become a nurse? Do you see any possibility of things improving, or things that you could differently? Would you advise all new students to look at a different career? I am asking this in all honesty, not facetiously.

.

You just had to ask. :sneaky: To answer your questions, I have regretted every minute of it. Why? Because it was not my decision to go to nursing school. Way back when, when I was just a tot, my dad decided I was gonna go to school to be a nurse. Back in those days, we did as we were told with no questions nor blinks of the eye. So, I applied, was accepted, and extremely giddy when my white uniform and blue-striped pinafore arrived. Boy, was I excited.....I was about to become a nurse!!!. Nursing school, as difficult as it was, was a non-issue because the clinicals provided all the joys a student nurse could hope to experience. We learned so much and did a lot, but most of all, we actually LOOKED like real nurses with our caps, white support hose, and snow-white shoes. Even the patients, each and every last one of them, we're WONDERFUL and more importantly, APPRECIATIVE! Life was good, shifts were short (8 hours), and I thought for the first time, my dad was actually on to something with career choice for his ONLY daughter. :yes:

Fast forward to today: Reverse everything I just said!. Nurses are crying on the regular because of mean and demanding patients AND their families. Doctors are chopping you off at the knees in their appearance to side with those who are paying them (the patients), co-workers are hanging you out to dry in an effort to make life easier for them for the next twelve hours, managers are smiling in your face and nodding in agreement at your concerns while they, behind the scenes, label you as a non-team player, etc. I will let you use your imagination to add to the list as I'm sure whatever you could possibly come up with, applies.

I'm still in nursing because it was NOTHING like this when I entered the field. So I've had time to adjust to all of the negative changes, beliefs, and attitudes. New nurses are thrown into a boiling pot and expected to float to the surface with no burns. A few years ago, there was a study done about why new grads leave the field within five years of licensure. I'm sure if you google it, you will find the article. There are even many posts on is site where new grads are saying, "this is not how it was in nursing school", or "I didn't know it would be like this", or something similar.

I think you get the gist of what I'm saying. One of our guides have a label at the bottom of his/her post. That label says, "A Proud Member of the Crusty Old Bat Society". Although I'm not very old, I have been in nursing as an LPN, RN, and current pursuit of the BSN for a grand total of 27 years and counting and I dare say I've earned my spot in that COB Society not because I love nursing but because I endured its changes well enough to be able to say no to the patients who REALLY don't want to hear it when that is exactly what they need at the time as opposed to breaking down in tears on the job because of being pulled in more directions than you can possible imagine. Being called a crusty old bat is like being crowned with a tiara in comparison to some of the many names that you WILL be called if you stand your ground and DO your job when the patients start the manipulation game. :yes:

Finally, NO! If asked for my honest opinion about going into nursing, I would not recommend it. My daughter failed nursing school and I was extremely happy about that. I talked my son into going and was ever-so-grateful when he listened as I told him I was mistaken. I want more and better for my kids than an opportunity to be treated with such a profound lack of respect when we know that we are doing our very best to care for others using a system that I feel has utterly failed its members.

No matter what your decision is for being or wanting to become a nurse, you will NEVER be able to say, "nobody told me it would be like this". You, Susan1012, have just heard it from LYNDAA! :roflmao:

(I know there are others with opposite views. I also know that I'm not the ONLY one with my take on it.)

wish_me_luck, BSN, RN · Jul 28, 2013

With all due respect, I disagree. It is not a "dime a dozen profession." There is quite a high standard to get in and get through nursing school. Where I went to school, we started with over 30 and graduated 13. You had to get 100% on the math test, no exceptions, or you were out. It weeded out the weak or weak-hearted, because if you were not really IN IT for the right reasons, you would give up. You either had the mental fortitude and intellect to persist or you failed. I do think your post is more of a troll post.
The tough nurses that we have all encountered (or you will!) all have their own baggage. Many of them did not start out that way and were likely just like OP. When time and experience begin to sour you, then that is the time for some introspection into a new path. Not all of us can be so insightful. It is with this that I remember as I encounter these gruff ones and remember "it's you, it's not me."
I will agree with you that, like any, it is just a job. How it differs with most other jobs is the very real issues of life and death. Only doctors, medics, firefighters, and police officers know the threat of this like we do. As a nurse, you are charged for a person. It is just a job, but it is a job fraught with great responsibility.

I am from a relatively small area. Not podunk, but small. I know between the school I graduated from and surrounding schools, they put out 200+ nurses a year (probably more). So, yeah, where I live there are many nurses. It is not a troll post.

I do not know if many of the people who have been on AN for a long time remember, but I used to be the sunshine, happiness flying out my patootie and I think reality set in. I have not gotten my first job as a nurse (I will probably have to move once I get an offer); however, I have involved myself in a lot of non profit/community involvement and the non profits and the like make a huge difference in peoples' lives. It is not just nurses or any other healthcare professionals. One group of people I admire a lot are social workers. Then, there's police officers, firemen, etc. God bless the mechanics...I do not know much about cars, I am sure glad they do.

Anyway, the most exciting thing to me about nursing is the education aspect of it. I LOVE the fact I can educate a client (which actually lay people can do too) on a certain topic and empower them to make healthcare decisions for themselves. I love "helping people" do for themselves, not me do it. Is that a sole nursing responsibility? No. Actually, lay people can do education on health topics.

I was never an ER or ICU chick. Sorry if I am less of a nurse or will be when I get my first job than those who deal with life and death. Technically, a lay person can save someone's life when doing CPR. I do not define myself and worth based on a profession. I prefer qualities and characteristics of a person rather than profession.

I have a friend from nursing school that nursing was a calling (I felt that, too) and she told me once that she wish she didn't go into nursing. The calling (for both of us) was as a nursing student; reality hit upon becoming a nurse, for both of us--the struggles to find a job and the reality of what nursing is. I did quickly realize that I was talking about the "sunshine and butterflies" that nurses should have when I wasn't a nurse yet. OP has not even started nursing school.

Yes, OP, there are great things nurses do, there are crappy things about the profession. It evens out to a neutral, "meh, it is a job" mentality for many.

Just my two cents.

Carpediem1012, BSN, RN · Jul 29, 2013

.
You just had to ask. To answer your questions, I have regretted every minute of it. Why? Because it was not my decision to go to nursing school. Way back when, when I was just a tot, my dad decided I was gonna go to school to be a nurse. Back in those days, we did as we were told with no questions nor blinks of the eye. So, I applied, was accepted, and extremely giddy when my white uniform and blue-striped pinafore arrived. Boy, was I excited.....I was about to become a nurse!!!. Nursing school, as difficult as it was, was a non-issue because the clinicals provided all the joys a student nurse could hope to experience. We learned so much and did a lot, but most of all, we actually LOOKED like real nurses with our caps, white support hose, and snow-white shoes. Even the patients, each and every last one of them, we're WONDERFUL and more importantly, APPRECIATIVE! Life was good, shifts were short (8 hours), and I thought for the first time, my dad was actually on to something with career choice for his ONLY daughter.
Fast forward to today: Reverse everything I just said!. Nurses are crying on the regular because of mean and demanding patients AND their families. Doctors are chopping you off at the knees in their appearance to side with those who are paying them (the patients), co-workers are hanging you out to dry in an effort to make life easier for them for the next twelve hours, managers are smiling in your face and nodding in agreement at your concerns while they, behind the scenes, label you as a non-team player, etc. I will let you use your imagination to add to the list as I'm sure whatever you could possibly come up with, applies.
I'm still in nursing because it was NOTHING like this when I entered the field. So I've had time to adjust to all of the negative changes, beliefs, and attitudes. New nurses are thrown into a boiling pot and expected to float to the surface with no burns. A few years ago, there was a study done about why new grads leave the field within five years of licensure. I'm sure if you google it, you will find the article. There are even many posts on is site where new grads are saying, "this is not how it was in nursing school", or "I didn't know it would be like this", or something similar.
I think you get the gist of what I'm saying. One of our guides have a label at the bottom of his/her post. That label says, "A Proud Member of the Crusty Old Bat Society". Although I'm not very old, I have been in nursing as an LPN, RN, and current pursuit of the BSN for a grand total of 27 years and counting and I dare say I've earned my spot in that COB Society not because I love nursing but because I endured its changes well enough to be able to say no to the patients who REALLY don't want to hear it when that is exactly what they need at the time as opposed to breaking down in tears on the job because of being pulled in more directions than you can possible imagine. Being called a crusty old bat is like being crowned with a tiara in comparison to some of the many names that you WILL be called if you stand your ground and DO your job when the patients start the manipulation game.
Finally, NO! If asked for my honest opinion about going into nursing, I would not recommend it. My daughter failed nursing school and I was extremely happy about that. I talked my son into going and was ever-so-grateful when he listened as I told him I was mistaken. I want more and better for my kids than an opportunity to be treated with such a profound lack of respect when we know that we are doing our very best to care for others using a system that I feel has utterly failed its members.
No matter what your decision is for being or wanting to become a nurse, you will NEVER be able to say, "nobody told me it would be like this". You, Susan1012, have just heard it from LYNDAA!
(I know there are others with opposite views. I also know that I'm not the ONLY one with my take on it.)

I very much appreciate your frankness LyndaA. I respect the time you put into explaining, much more than "yes she Is new". And I will remember you told me so! I have no illusions that it will be easy or that there won't be some trying (many) moments. Makes me all the more determined to follow the path of those I admire so much. Just think of the knowledge base that you have. Also the fact that you are there for people when they are most vulnerable. Yes, I am proud to be joining this group of people.

LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN · Jul 29, 2013

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.

So LEAVE, and do something "special". Why did you get into nursing? Certainly the money had something to do with it. Not trying to be testy, but jeez..... if you aren't happy, leave the job. Also, just because YOU are suddenly a part of a profession doesn't mean that the nursing pinnacle has been reached and no one else should bother to strive for it. It bugs the hell out of me how some veteran nurses, or whatever you want to call them, think that the nursing profession is all theirs. It's not. So I don't think the "jealous" comment describes the actions of some of the people in these forums, but honestly, you aren't gatekeepers meant to keep all us new nursing majors out of a career. Yet many of you see yourselves that way. I can't think of a single other profession where I have seen such crabbiness and just snobbishness towards people who are pursuing a nursing degree.

wish_me_luck, BSN, RN · Jul 29, 2013

lori, I am not a veteran nurse. I did not go into nursing for the money. I actually like public health. I want nursing students to realize that it is not sunshine and butterflies; there is reality. It is not being negative in stating reality.

I have considered doing something non-nursing. Just as you have stated your opinion, I can state mine.

LoriRNCM, ADN, ASN, RN · Jul 29, 2013

Well everyone is entitled to their opinion, obviously. But did I read this thread right, you haven't even started a nursing job? Are you a new grad and can't find work? Or did I confuse your post with another? Honest to God, I am just so over the negativity that some of these forums have. Advocate, for God's sake!!! That's what nurses are supposed to do! If someone is intelligent and diligent enough to have actually made it into nursing school, how about a little support? (This isn't just directed at you. but so many!) Can't you just be happy for them?