Changing careers to Nursing?

coolnurse80 · Sep 23, 2009

hi

i don't think so. but i am a nurse only for 6 yrs and mostly worked in small hospitals were i knew all the drs well. none of them ever mistreated me, but i did saw them getting frustrated at other nurses. in those cases i would be too.

i think if you know what u are doing no one will mess with u.

and when i don't know some thing i tell them (dr or pt) that i don't know , let me look it up. and i get back to them.

if drs are called for some emergency and they didn't acted right on phone i make sure i tell them what i think of them... we have a good relationship, i love them all.

let me tell u nursing is fun... u will find urself talking about poop, vomit, wounds, on ur lunch while eating.... all the things that disguise u now will sound soo funny.

u will have good days and bad days but in the end its rewarding...

goodluck

doubleplay · Sep 23, 2009

You must be crazy to leave a teaching job to be a nurse. Your husband didn"t want you to change careers for a reason. Let me be honest, there is nothing fun about being a nurse. I guess if you enjoy helping to lift 300 lb patients and then spending the next half hour cleaning them up from a bowel movement fun, then you will have a blast. The hospital is run by people whose only job is to make money. This will put you at the short end of the stick. Enjoy your summers off and have a good time with the kids.

Diaper, RN · Sep 23, 2009

Well I think the biggest challenge in nursing is the amount of stress that we have. Apart from the long working hours, we have to be 100% alert all the time and make sure we do everything accurately. However, I still love nursing and I wouldn't trade for anything else :)

al7139, ASN, RN · Sep 23, 2009

Hi,

Don't let the horror stories scare you. IF you decide to become a nurse you will, at times have run ins with MD's. When I was a newbie, it bothered me, but in truth I was just as much to blame.

Consider this:

As a nurse you have from 4-7 patients at any given time, depending on where you work. Md's have from 16-25 (at leat at my hospital). No, they don't spend as much time with them as we do, but are expected to be available for on call, and make snap decisions based on OUR assessments over the phone since they can't keep running to and fro to evaluate patients every time we call them.

And they are ultimately responsible for any orders given based on what we tell them.

I did not really get this when I was new. I thought I could call a doc, and get what I needed just because I was calling. Most docs have a problem or earn a rep because the nurse was not prepared with all info to give the doc, or calling in the middle of the night for something mundane like a laxative that really could have waited until the day shift. It also takes time for your regular docs to get to know you and trust you as a nurse, so they will be sometimes harder on you at first.

I have been on my unit for 2+ years, and have a good relationship with all the docs, because I learned what to call about and when, and that if I was waking them up at 0300 it was because the patient was in dire straits. Also because I treated them like people... respectful, but human ("I am really sorry to bother you but patient x is desatting and I have tried a, b, and c and they still are in distress...).

In short, my advice: Treat any doc as a human being, but have all your ducks in a row and you will have no problems.

Your hubby is a doc... ask him what really sets him off when he gets called in the wee hours ...

Don't sweat it if you get yelled at, it's NOT personal.

Amy

misplaced1 · Sep 23, 2009

You want to leave a job you LOVE in this economy to go KILL yourself going through nursing school, for what? I had all but a couple of my classes for a teaching degree and I could kick myself for not going that route. Yes I know you have to do work at home and the kids are bad etc etc, but you are not going to be wiping poop, working in the middle of the night, getting written up because you were sick 4 days this year, on and on and on.

There are big perks in nursing, especially if you are a person that really likes having people think you are wonderful but, I don't need that because I already know I am wonderful! I don't need a lot of oos and ahs from people I don't know thinking I am an angel and in fact it makes me feel a little weird cause I am not an angel I am a human being. When I was younger though and needed that affirmation all the time it was different. If you need it you'll do anything to get it and in nursing you will get it from lots of people. From what I have seen it just will not likely be the people that pay you, or that you work with!

misplaced1 · Sep 23, 2009

By the way, I have all the teaching stuff except two classes and I can tell you that going back to nursing school will be much differnt than teaching. When you are in nursing school you will be eating, sleeping and breathing nursing.

tencat · Sep 23, 2009

I was a teacher for 12 years and went back and got my BSN. I'm not sorry I did it. I do miss all the time off I used to have, but I make more money as a nurse than I ever could have hoped to make as a teacher. I also feel like I have a lot more choices and opportunities for advancement in nursing than in teaching. I guess you should look at what your goals are....are you planning to have a family? Teaching is a fabulous career to have while raising your family as it allows you to be on the same schedule as your kiddos when they get to be school age. My husband is a teacher still, and our kiddos always have a parent available for them. Your husband probably pulls in a pretty good salary, so I say do whatever will make you happy, regardless of pay etc. If being a nurse will make you happy, go for it.

Most doctors are pretty rational human beings, in my experience anyway. I've know a few pompous rear-ends, but if you stand up and don't let them intimidate or belittle you, you'll be fine. I've had more trouble with fellow nurses than with physicians.

LetsTeach09 · Sep 23, 2009

Is there a way I can shadow a nurse...possibly during the weekend?

As a Teacher I have some college kids that does a full day of shadowing about twice a month so they can figure out if they really want to be a Teacher.

Let's just say after some college kids shadow a 8th grade Teacher...they realize Teaching isn't for them. In Teaching you either have a passion for it or you don't...it doesn't take long to realize what you have.

I would like to know if there is a way I can shadow a nurse to see if it's really what I want to do.

wishinguponastarLPN · Sep 23, 2009

By the way, I have all the teaching stuff except two classes and I can tell you that going back to nursing school will be much differnt than teaching. When you are in nursing school you will be eating, sleeping and breathing nursing.

Well, maybe you should go take those 2 classes and become a teacher. :down:

jessiern, BSN, RN · Sep 24, 2009

I was reading the posts on here...and noticed a lot of nurses venting about Doctors. Do they really treat nurses that badly? It's making me quite nervous.

Rude, arrogant, abusive doctors are not the normal from what I have seen in clinicals and work experience. Most doctors I have dealt with are easy enough to deal with, and many value the nurse's input. Our favorite doc at work is often heard remarking that the nurse's are his eyes and ears, and people that make caring for the patients possible for him

But, we do have a couple that are donkey's rear ends. That can really put a damper on work, if you let them. It's like every other profession, their are eogs and personalities involved. Some you will like, and others you won't.