Do any of you feel that you will not like a career in nursing?

[iceangelred86]

I for feel that I will. However, I have several classmates who have told me that they don't like their clinicals and don't think that they will like nursing either, but are sticking with it because they know there will be plenty of job opportunities when they graduate, and they should make "ok" money.

I can't figure out why you would waste the time and money to go into a career that you feel you will hate. Does anyone here fell the same way? And if so, why are you being so masochistic?

[Renald]

I loved my clinicals even though at times, the instructors were frustrating. I can see some people doing this career for the money. I believe people working in the health care industry have better financial security than others working in other career fields.

[JanisM]

I agree with you, I don't know how you can be a good nurse unless you are passionate about it.

[TinkerNurse]

I am kinda like that. I love to help people, but i hate some of the aspects of nursing, like the politics.

[FLmomof5]

For some folks...."I work to live not live to work!" I came from an old school family and graduated HS in 1979. Long story made short....my father told me what I was allowed to study! Even though my mom was a nurse and my sis in NS, my dad discouraged me from the field. I became an EE. I hated it. It paid VERY well. Later I converted to programming which I loved!

IT is rife with layoffs and one can only take so much of that. I started pre-reqs so nursing would become my "Plan B"....the career was if nothing....stable. (Well, before the recession!)

Regardless of ANY dreams or desires....everyone has bills to pay. You might like Art....but can you live off it? Can you find a job in the field? At some point each person has to determine what is right for him/her.

Although some of your fellow students dislike clinicals....RN may be a stepping stone to something else they want to do. They could be an RN while studying hospital administration. The RN experience could get them a leg up on selection for that field. Others want to be a NP or CRNA.... RN pays the bills and gives experience as they work their way to their goal.

I love people and I love helping people. But the major reason why I chose nursing was it was a career that needed little more from me in the way of education and would be the closest to replacing the bulk of my income. Will I like it? I don't know that ANYONE can really answer that before they actually do it. I believe that this is a contributor to nurse burnout in the first year. It wasn't what they expected and they realized they couldn't do it. Others get into it...find a great job...and LOVE their work. Only time and temperament will tell.

[sikesjj]

There are so many oppurtunities for someone with a nursing career, beside working on the floor. You could be a nurse recruiter for a hospital, drug rep, work for a drug company in another capacity, insurance adjuster. There are so many options. You and your friends may be burned out! I did after 5 years of school, I took a break becuase I couldn't even say the word nurse, I hated it and anything to do with nursing. Now after a year I am getting my LPN license and looking into schools to finish my last semester of my BSN. I had to step away becuase I lost focus of why I was there, why I wanted t be a nurse and started doing just enough to get by. In short, I was becoming a danger to my patients becuase I was so burned out. It is okay to break away from your orginal plan and take a break if needed.

[deftonez188]

I agree with you, I don't know how you can be a good nurse unless you are passionate about it.

The same way I can be an accountant, hate my job, but still do a good one...

Besides, hospital nursing isn't the only thing you have to do. I'm almost done with school for my RN and won't be working in a hospital so there are other options.

To add, i'm not interested in hospital nursing partly due to the business side of things controlling every aspect of your care, while JCAHO adds new demands to your limited time already yearly, and the fact that no patients actually get the 'care' of a nurse on some busy units - instead you get a pat on the back and a pill in the mouth and out you go.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Isn't everyone forgetting something here??? We don't work with numbers, or circuitboards or drill presses -- our work is with people, vulnerable and fragile PEOPLE. THAT is why nurses who "hate" their jobs are not the same as an accountant.

Nursing is emotional as well as physical and intellectual work. Our patients deserve more than marginal task-oriented care.

[NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN]

Nope I don't love, I just love nursing.

[DLS_PMHNP, MSN, RN, NP]

are sticking with it because they know there will be plenty of job opportunities when they graduate.

Really?

Where?

[lvnlrn]

I can't imagine going to school for computer programming or business with the only thing motivating me being money. I doubt I'd even be able to get through school. Most people have to work and earn a living. Why not choose something you love to do?

I worked in HR before going to nursing school, and one thing I've heard many times is that nurses are highly looked upon when they apply for other career fields (due to being burnt out, etc.) because of the nursing process: assess, diagnose, plan, implement, evaluate. Nurses are good at problem solving because we have that process drilled into our brains (it's pretty much the scientific method modified for nursing).

Hopefully your classmates will be able to utilize some of their education and find a job they truly love instead of only doing it "for the money".

[motivated2nurse]

There have been days, while in clinical, that I thought there is no way I can do this. I have ran into some ignorant nurses and some very ignorant doctors. I cant say that Ive met the patient from hell yet. But Ive commited to this and I will finish and hopefully I'll be the best nurse in the world.