Corporate America vs. Nursing- culture shock! Any others out there?

Nurses General Nursing

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:behindpc: Hi all, I was just reading some more posts and noticed that there are a lot of 2nd career nurses out there. Was wondering if you could share some motivational stories or experiences with me? I am also entering nursing from corporate America and am going through a bit of a culture shock with clinicals and starting nursing school and working as a CNA where I don't have time to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, or barely sneeze! How did you all do it? Are you glad you made the switch? Did you like your desk jobs better or do you like nursing better? Did you experience "culture shock" too? It's a totally different world. I really love taking care of the patients, but WOW is it hard work!

Thanks for all the support!

Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Motivation: Success Stories in Nursing

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Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
I definitely experienced back-stabbing, people taking credit for your ideas, etc. in the corporate world. But you got to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, and if you made a mistake, not one got hurt. I also got paid a lot more!

I've been pretty disappointed with nursing. I've been treated much worse by other nurses- constantly judged, constant scrutiny, and that started even in nursing school. Nurses really do eat their young. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in Jr. High School. I also have nurses tattling on me, and often get called to the "principal's office" for very petty things - like not swiping my badge properly. Also, I work med/surg, so I feel like a waitress with more liability. I often can't spend quality time with patients, and instead of doing critical thinking - which I like the most - I'm killing myself to carry out the constantly changing orders.

I don't mean to sound negative, but I do miss my old desk job. (I would have stayed in it, but I got laid off which is very common for my old field (marketing/PR). I now have terrible student loans, I'm miserable in my job, I'm physically killing myself and I'm making less money. But I've only been doing it for 7 months, so I'm trying not to give up yet. Next week I'm tranferring to a new unit (PACU) so I hope I'll like it better there. If it doesn't work out, I might eventually combine my degrees and do healthcare marketing or consulting.

But, as you can see from other postings, some people have really good experiences with it and are happy with their change. Good luck!

anne,

i felt the same way about hospital nursing. I was astonished at how many people acted- literally- like twelve year olds. and i had a manager YELL at me because I needed to have surgery to correct a problem that was making me fall on my a** on the floor. I was working peds, and my leg would just give out, and BOOM! I said it wasn't safe for me to take care of patients like that, and she screamed at me because i was 'inconveniencing' her. :madface:

also had a supervisor follow me in the bathroom to yell at me, which she continued doing while I sat on the toilet. I was embarassed by the behaviour of people like that, and I wish they were the exception to the rule. sadly, there were plenty of them.

i hated the fact that any physical injury immediately made you a liability and target for the wrath of management. I hated the fact that docs, patients, etc. seemed surprised that I was intelligent, as if they thought a monkey could do my job. But the thing that got me the most was the culture of martyrdom- not only was I expected to go without urinating for 13 hours, I was supposed to be PROUD I worked so hard that day! UGH.

Now I'm back in the corporate world (ok, it's a nonprofit, but similar culture) as a nurse consultant for a health insurance group. I make twice what I was making as a staff nurse, and I'm combining my former career experience in marketing and corporate strategy with my nursing training. It's interesting to come back to that world- it's hard to get caught up in the frenzy of some big project planning session when you've taken part in actual life-or-death situations, you know?

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I also got paid a lot more!

At one time, I supposedly made great money in the corporate world also. But, is it really great money when you include all of the months of lost income after layoffs?

I don't know about you but, for me, the layoffs pretty wiped out any salary gains I had made in the corporate world, and then some.

And when I counted all of the uncompensated overtime ... then that "great money" often was reduced to minimum wage.

At least with nursing you get paid extra for overtime.

:typing

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Hi i'm a Business systems analyst switching to a nursing career. This is the thread I have been looking for. I guess I didn't know how to work it. I have a question to add. Why does everyone feel there is job security when there is backbiting and your license is always on the line.

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It is definitely a cutlure shock (went from the hospital to an office environment), but I enjoy the hour for lunch. I think in my case there were definitely more benefits to the change. It all depends on the person. I do miss patient care, though. Sometimes.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Pediatrics, Geriatrics.
And, I definitely don't miss the prospect of my job being exported to India or my job taken by some 20 year old kid who will work for peanuts.

:typing

Yep! Job Security is one of the top 5 reasons I chose nursing. Can't outsource patient care!:monkeydance:

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I started in nursing, left and got a job as an executive secretary in the corporate world and am contemplating a return to nursing.

Corporate World has a lot of advantages. My clothes stayed clean, I got leisurely lunches, and more "perks" than nursing ever offered. I had a huge, private office, could take private calls and surf on the net to some extent. If the stress in nursing was a 10, corporate world hardly ever exceeded 5 (remember, I did corporate AFTER nursing). And, my pay was competitive with nursing pay.

So, why am I planning a return to nursing? Because I miss the patients and because I suspect I am a masochist. I was often bored in CW. I'm hoping I can find a job in nursing with a stress level of 5-6. If not, I'm going to beauty school.

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:behindpc: Hi all, I was just reading some more posts and noticed that there are a lot of 2nd career nurses out there. Was wondering if you could share some motivational stories or experiences with me? I am also entering nursing from corporate America and am going through a bit of a culture shock with clinicals and starting nursing school and working as a CNA where I don't have time to go to the bathroom, eat lunch, or barely sneeze! How did you all do it? Are you glad you made the switch? Did you like your desk jobs better or do you like nursing better? Did you experience "culture shock" too? It's a totally different world. I really love taking care of the patients, but WOW is it hard work!

Thanks for all the support!

I went to LPN school and worked as a CNA starting a second career in my 40s. School was like being in military boot camp. Very scary:uhoh21: Hang in there. You will get through it. If your program is tough, you will be scads ahead when you start your first employement as a licensed nurse. Organize your time by priorities. Time management will come with experience. I am very glad I made the switch and went on for my RN. When a patient says I'm glad you are my nurse, it makes my day. My goal was to get out of middle management and be a bedside staff nurse, and I love it.

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Why does everyone feel there is job security when there is backbiting and your license is always on the line.

Because if there's too much backbiting at one job, there's a dozen other jobs you can take tomorrow if you want to.

As far as your license always on the line, that's true. But, the main reason nurse's lose their licenses, actually, is drugs: either using them, stealing them or both. As long as you're not a drug addict and you're not completely negligent in your practice ... the chances of losing your license is pretty low.

:typing

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Specializes in Critical Care, Cardiothoracics, VADs.

RE job security- as long as you are a safe practitioner, and have some common sense, you can't screw up too badly. If you work with someone toxic who makes life hard, you can leave as there are a thousand other hospitals that need you.

In addition, you can work in hospitals, clinics, schools, corporations, etc etc etc. Really the job you apply your nursing skills to is only limited by your imagination and persistence.

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Thanks for answering lizz...

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Thanks everyone for your replies so far. You bring up a lot of good points. And just because something's different doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, right!? It just takes some getting used to. :wink2:

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