As good as, Better or Worse than you thought it would be...

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello,

I'm a pre-nursing student due to start my prereqs in August. Before I do, I wanted to make sure that being a nurse is something that I really can handle...if my dreams of being a nurse is realistic.

For those who have graduated and now working as nurses--is being a nurse as good, better or worse than you thought it would be and why?

Every nursing student should read "American Nursing and The Failed Dream" by June M. Harrington. I am sure it will never be on a nursing class must read list though.

So much of the why nursing is the way it is, is in this book - finally somebody answered my questions!

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Worse. It was my dream since I was young to be a nurse and nursing school pretty much validated what my "dream" would be. Nope. Nada. Not what I was expecting. I could have shadowed 100 nurses and taken 100 extra clinical hours but until I was the one doing it and on own I really didn't get the big picture. I like what I do but I don't love what I do. And that makes me really upset. But I'm also not working in the department that I want...that could have something to do with it.

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The great thing about nursing is that it is all of the above and more. Some times it is so great and fulfilling it will give you the chills. Unfortunately you will also have days when you want to scream and cry and wonder what you are doing. Overall, I would say there are far more good days than bad. If you like roller coasters than nursing will be a great ride! :-)

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I didn't work as a CNA prior to becoming a nurse, but I'm pretty realistic and nursing hasn't really surprised me too much. It's about as good as I thought it would be, and it sucks in the way I expected it to suck. There have been a few surprises and disappointments along the way though.

If I was in med/surg, my answer would be that it's much worse and that I hate it. I'm in the ER though, which is very well suited to my personality and temperament. The right department (or the wrong one) can change your entire outlook on the profession.

Would I say I'm in love with the profession? No.

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Specializes in ICU-CCRN, CVICU, SRNA.

Lol, I cried every day on my way home for about 3 months. All while applying to jobs at Target:)I also did go as a new grad to ICU and had a hellish preceptor who was on a mission to murder me. (We are now friends??)Anyways, I can say I do like my job now - cant really say what I like about it but some days I feel pretty good about it.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, OB/GYN.

Much much much worse. If I could do it over, I'm not 100% sure I would have went with nursing. It is devastating to me to feel this way...

As another poster mentioned, you could shadow 100 nurses or do millions of school clinical hours or do CNA work or volunteer but once you are actually an RN on the floor, you can never get an idea of what it's really like. Nursing school only gives you the positives and does not tell you how underappreciated and disposable you will be as an RN. Or the array of bulls*** you have to deal with on a regular basis. Dangerous understaffing, completely unsupportive administration, families taking out all of their frustration on you. You will never feel like you're getting the credit or respect you deserve.I often feel like my license is in danger given the amount of responsibility/work that is dumped upon me. Double checking other disclipines, picking up other peoples' slack, at times performing unit clerk/housekeeper/maintenance duties...it is horrible. And if anything goes wrong, they will be quick to blame the nurse. We are scapegoats. And to top it all off, we get crummy paychecks that don't reflect HALF of the hard work that we do.

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It better be better than I imagined ...I don't like regrets

I know it is impossible for a job to be perfect, but I want more positives and less negatives. If everything was positive it would be boring, sometimes negatives give us something to do---like fixing the problem.

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Specializes in Pediatric ICU.

I really appreciate everyone's responses. I am taking them all into consideration. It seems as though where you work/specialty plays a big roll. Well, I still have time to make up my mind. I really want a career where I can spend more time with my kids and nursing seemed like it would be the job where I could do that, but after reading everyone's post, it seems like I would be working more hours and being stressed out more. I do not have any nursing/hospital experience. I just don't want to be in shock after all my hard work in school and time away from my family by going to school and then regretting my decision to become a nurse....

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Specializes in cardiothoracic surgery.

Nursing is a love-hate relationship for me. One day I say to myself "what in the world was I thinking?". And then the next day, you have a great patient who simply says "thank you for everything you did for me", and all of the negative thoughts about nursing go away just like that. Clinicals did not prepare me at all for what nursing is really like, but I wasn't really too shocked when I started. What I wasn't prepared for at all was the families and how rude and nasty some of them can be. I still have a hard time dealing with them. So, if I won the lottery I would put in my notice the next day, but I honestly think I would still want to work a couple days a week or prn because I think I would miss my patients.

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I was in my third semester of nursing school when a professor mentioned in lecture that nursing isnt what you think it is, especially that most nurses will not be in nursing 3-5 years from graduation. I was most surprised but I had to suck it up considering I had sold my home to go to nursing school and my family and kids were counting on me.

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worse..I had glorified thoughts of healing and saving lives and making special connections with patients..and yes that does happen..but had I known the reality, I never would have gone thru school. I don't mean to discourage you, but I knew the second week of nursing school I was in the wrong place. BUT..you never know unless you try..I know a lot of unhappy nurses and I know a lot of happy ones.

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When I see nursing students on the floor I ask them if it's too late to change their major. They always laugh. I don't know why.

Seriously, I went into nursing for purely pragmatic reasons. I wanted a guarenteed job, flexible hours and the ability to take a few years off to raise kids and then rejoin.

Well, the money has gotten better. Everything else has gotten worse. These horror stories from GNs not being able to find a job make me want to cry. All the hospitals are moving towards 12 hours. When I was young you could pick either one. The technology has, of course, gotten way better. Administration's expectations for us have gotten way worse.

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