Changed my mind

Erin RN · Oct 12, 2003

I agree..I actually just found this forum, and I love it!! I wish I would have been a member when I was in the trenches in the ER. I have been looking back through the posts off and on all day since I am "single" and childless" this weekend. There is some negative posts but most of them seem to be about staffing which we all KNOW is terrible. It has been on the news, in the paper etc etc..there are not enough nurses and even if there were there are all the financial problems, insurance reimbursement, cuts in funding. I noticed a few threads where people disagreed..so what?? That is life, if we all thought the same it would be a boring world not to mention if we all thought that same nothing would ever change or advance....the crazy radicals out there tend to get the ball rolling. I agree, if you have a hard time with the discussions in the forum just wait until the first time an MD throws a chart and gets in your face or a patient yells profanity while swinging at you...happens every day!! Most nurses don't have time for BS at work so this is the perfect place to blow off some steam.... Erin

barefootlady, ADN, RN · Oct 12, 2003

Oh NO! Work as an RN for awhile to gain experience before going to NP school. What a HORRIBLE idea.! Well, fellow BB posters, we can add another name to the list of never getting sick and needing nursing care. Will I ever find a job now that my service is not needed for this person? Can I sleep tonight thinking this person will not need a nurse. SURE CAN , BABE! Hope you find a profession with stress, negative events, overwork, and unfair labor practice. I really mean that, cause you are sure not nursing material.

Teshiee · Oct 12, 2003

She has the right to express her opinion. If someone can be easily swayed on misguided perceptions, would you want someone like that at the bedside trying to make a nursing judgement. At least she knows her limitations. Everyone isn't cut out for this job. Although nursing can get rough, tough and dirty I like what I do and don't regret doing it because I can change my destiny as see fit. There are too many opportunities in this profession to just chuck it away. I wouldn't get offended be blessed saving the BRN from snatching a licensure away........

Tweety, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2003

What Deb said.

Good luck to you.

Also best wishes in finding a career where there isn't any negativity, where people love their jobs, and there is no gossip.

I think it's wise of you to no your limitations. Nursing is a tough demanding field (thus all the venting on this board).

live4today, RN · Oct 12, 2003

Originally posted by SmilingBluEyes
........--just want to add:

Just remember a lot of times we use boards like this for
"blowing off steam"......it is appropriate and healthy...rather than going "postal" at our work places. Remember this also, this is NOT an all-professiona behavior-controlled environment where we are all Stepford folks who just LOVE our jobs 24/7. Best face the reality of HMO/PPO profit-driven medicine/nursing. Really, either way you go, frustrations will meet you some how. Hope you can deal with them w/o getting all mad and giving up too easily and in a huff.

Best wishes, whatever path you choose.

Right on Deb!

Quicksilver · Oct 12, 2003

Jamiers,

Sorry that you have let the whining and complaining attitudes of a few on the boards give you a negative perception. I have been a nurse for 12 years now and I have had my share of heartbreak and dissapointment. But in the end I knew I never wanted to be anything but a nurse. I too am planning to become an NP and I really don't see how anything but the experience I've gained as anRN will truly prepare me for that. Maybe nursing just isn't for you, if being an RN before becoming an NP isn't something you could do, then you don't need to become an NP. I think that bedside experience is invaluble if you are going into advanced practice. You have to be willing to put up with bad tempered patients and families and other people. Being an NP won't insulate you from that problem. You will still have to deal with similar problems even then. In fact just like alot of people have said here, there is NO career that you won't have conflict in. At least if you don't think you could do the job then at least you are honest enough to say so. Good luck with whatever you choose....but watch out!

Kimburly · Oct 12, 2003

I have always liked to go to NPs for my medical care because usually they spend the time to actually see you as a whole and not as a chief complaint. I feel that this is because they were bedside nurses first. So if someone doesn't want to become an RN before being an NP, then I think maybe NP is not their true calling. The N does stand for Nurse.

Jamiers · Oct 14, 2003

Quicksilver, thank-you for your words.

I failed to mention a few things in my posted thread. First, yes, I was very interested in the NP program...I looked at the requirements, I read articales on the profession from the perspective of the patient, and interveiwed a few NP's to get an understanding of their role...all of which I still believe is an admirable field. In retrospect, it was one of a few possibilties that I had in mind. I do have to apologize for not mentioning that this chat board was one of many other and more significant reasons why I choose another route. I understand that, there is gossip and politics everywhere in the workplace, and yes, everyone at a certain point in their career will complain about the things that happen to them while working, indeed we know that for sure. The main point I was trying to make by writing my thread was to suggest for some people to have a realization of how their behavior weighs down the nursing profession.I apologize if I came across as though I was stereotyping all nurses, I know first hand that there are RN's to make you think "thank god he/she is my/his/her nurse today" I thought I made that an understanding by saying that there are many excellent nurses out there. Many of you are right by suggesting that maybe nursing wasn't for me in the first place.However, I DO have alot of personal qualities that could attribute to excellent patient care, let's face it, this is a chat board, all we know of one another is what is written in this little space. My first job was working in a nursing home where I meet and said goodbye to many inspiring patients, I took care of my father who was a brittle diabetic, I have a BS/BA in Mental Health and Cultural Anthropology, and I currently work with individuals who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia. When I wrote my last thread,( I have been reading this board for about 1 year) I just got done reading about a dozen different threads on how some nurse felt as though he/she is suffering from the demands of the career, how somone thought it was ridiculous to have to have a Bachelors to be a professional, how another is disgusted with the salary of the profession, etc. My mind frame at the time was like; why do these people feel so inclined to complain about anything and everything, yeah not everyone is happy with things that go on in their job, but to have such a pessimistic attitude is draining on the people around you, and at the time I felt it necessary, whether dramatic or not to express my opinion of that. I didn't change my mind of pursuing a career as an NP based soley on this chat room, however, when people are given the opportunity to express their opinion over the internet, are inhibitions are weak, sometimes we are more inclined to speak the truth, which is more than an interveiw could have ever answered for me. That was the reality check.

Quicksilver · Oct 14, 2003

Jamiers,

Thanks for the reply. I understand where you are coming from. Anyway, just wish you the best in whatever you decide to do.. I just didn't want you to think that ALL nurses were like some you hear whining and complaining. Nursing or any career is what you make of it! If you don't like your current job, then GET OUT and DO SOMETHING ELSE!! I left a very well paying job in a great institution because I couldn't stand being put down and nagged at by my supervisor like I didn't know anything. The job I have now isn't as well paying and the place isn't a "nice" as the hospital I left but I do feel accepted and respected for myself. Too many nurses spend all their time whining and complaining about their jobs, nursing is a broad, broad field. There are way too many things to do in it to tie yourself down and be miserable!!

Didn't mean to get on the soapbox, sorry. Thanks and good luck!!

Jamiers · Oct 14, 2003

Well taken, thanks.

Actually I love the job I have now, I just want to pursue a master's to continue my education routed formally in direct patient care. I was considering medical school along time ago, but it was weeded out for multiple reasons. I have choosen to get my masters in PA. I've discovered the perfect median to adhere to career desires. :balloons:

katscan · Oct 14, 2003

Sorry Jaimers, but you sound young and inexperienced. If you took a job ANYWHERE you will hear complaints about the co-workers, conditions, pay, etc etc etc. This goes on in business, technology, management, sales and in just about any other profession. This is very evident where members are allowed to vent on their boards. We just happen to be on the nursing board, so the other professionals' complaints and not here. You have to be sure nursing is for you and base it on legitimate concerns, not on just what you have read here. And you don't think gossiping, pessisism, and negativity goes on in other fields? If you do, I have a bridge I can sell you.............

Jamiers · Oct 14, 2003

Katscan....did you read my reply?? Young and inexperienced, nice observation, too bad it is false. I'm sorry you can't read and rebuttle discussion more effectively. Are you implying that your "experienced", please enlighten me....please write something that is worth my time in reading, or don't respond. thanks.