Do nurses hate nursing?

[pandora1212]

I’m a second degree, second semester nursing student and I’m feeling really discouraged. Nearly everything I see online about nurses and nursing is negative. From the “all mean girls become nurses” trope to endless comments on silly tiktoks from nurses telling students to “quit while they can” and talking about how much they hate their jobs. 

One of the clinical groups in my program even had a nurse walk up to their group at lunch time and tell them it’s not worth it and they shouldn’t become nurses. What the @#$% is up? 

I know burnout is real, especially right now.  But should I be as terrified as I am to enter the field in 10 short months? I’m really concerned that I won’t have supportive professional relationships to help me succeed as a new grad nurse. 

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

Those with the complaints are always the loudest. It applies to everything. Car reviews. Restaurant reviews. I've been browsing through the previous responses and it's a little bit of everything.

Like everything in this country healthcare is a business. You have people making policies, rules, etc who did the bare minimum at the bedside and are more concerned with climbing the corporate ladder and improving their lives only, not everyone else's. A co-worker said it best to me yesterday when we were having a similar discussion: nursing is the only field where we don't support each other. Think about it. You have CNO's and other executives who would rather make fellow nurses' lives worse in order to make themselves look better. You don't see that with doctors. 

It also depends on who you work for and what area you work in. Obviously if you can get in to a union hospital then your work life will be better than the majority of nurses in this country. 

As multiple people have said it's a form of venting. It could be from years of lazy co-workers, managers and administrators, patients, etc. I think you are only going to see the "mean girls become nurses" thing at very large medical centers where they have constant turnover and rely on larger hires of new grads. I work at the VA and there are very few young RNs and there are very few nurses who have the attitudes. 

I always tell students to find an area they enjoy and to go for it. However, I don't sugarcoat it. What nursing school portrays and what actually happens are two sharply different worlds. I just merely bring them back to reality. 

[John Oliver UK]

Thank you for this subject.As a former nurse I realise that nursing is a very subjective topic.I have realised over a long career that nursing is like a religion to many people. Those that believe their purpose in life is to care are passionate followers whereas those who get disillusioned are like believers who have lost their faith.I would suggest that those who have doubts about the  proffession are better to leave and save their sanity and those that believe keep going and following their purpose. 

[TAKOO01, BSN]

On 2/13/2021 at 10:55 PM, laflaca said:

Hospital nursing is a blue collar job, regardless of what they tell you in school.  That was a big change, coming from social work.  I mean sure, as I social worker I was often underpaid and disrespected, but generally no one was ***ing at me for punching in 90 seconds late, or telling me color clothes to wear, or insisting that I repeat some kind of canned script in sessions with my clients.  On hospital units, especially as a new grad, it's a bit of a shock because your coworkers and managers (not just the patients/clients) don't always treat you respectfully like an adult. 

 

On 2/13/2021 at 10:55 PM, laflaca said:

So, hospital nursing often has a low level of autonomy - you have no control over your workload, little control over your schedule, and you literally need to check in with someone before you can eat or pee - and yet a very high level of responsibility.  Nurses often adapt by becoming a bit harsh.

Yes, yes  and YES! As a second career nurse myself, all of these things aggravated me after coming from  a career where I was treated with more respect. There are some real trade offs in this field. But somehow I am still here......

[nursemike, ASN, RN]

First year nurse: I don't know if I can do this.

Second year nurse: I can do this!

Third year nurse: Why am I doing this ?

It's hard, even under the best of conditions, and the conditions I work under are about as good as they get. My employer cares whether we are happy. At orientation, many years ago, said our motto is Putting Patients First, but you can't really put patients first without first putting yourself first. And that idea has largely held up through the years with changes in CEOs, CNOs, and on down the line. DON'T try to give 110%. It ain't possible. Don't even give 100%. At least not consistently. Save something for your time off, to give to your family, your friends, yourself, and of course, your cats. First few years will be a struggle, but as you get more efficient, giving a consistent 70% on the job will give a life off the job, and some reserves on the job for when things go south.

I was off for a year on medical leave. Spent almost 4 months on the wrong side of the bed rails, most of it in ICU. Very nearly died--last time I took ACLS, I was the only one there who'd ever been in the patient role. Three times, I'm told. So I'm a 16 year nurse with 15 years experience, although I learned a good bit as a patient.

When I talked to one of my team of elite doctors about my thoughts about when I could return to work, he said, "I don't see why not. You're doing really well." I started to cry, I was so happy. I am not typically super emotional, although I do wonder if they gave me a female heart. I get coked up more than I used to, and really like salads.

Anyway, returning work was the hardest and best thing I have done. A lot like being a first-year nurse all over again, except that the walk from my car to the front door was tiring, but also that I had already survived my actual first year, so I knew my strength.

Four years later, I'm not entirely up to the speed I was before. I'm 64, now, and have to pace myself. My charting is a lot better, because I do it a bit at a time when I need to sit a minute. But I work 2 twelves every weekend and earn a better living than most. My Mondays are spent recovering, but after that I am basically semi-retired.

My first few months back I was exhausted, but happy. Then, one night, I was ***ing to the Charge Nurse about something trivial, and after I had vented, I had to laugh and say, "I must really be back, if I can find things to complain about."

Good luck. I love my stupid job, and hope you will, too.

[Maren Moyski]

I realized in nursing school that it wasn’t for me. I thought it was just school and fast forward 11 years...I was right!  It’s an exploitative profession and I thinks it’s also...hard yet boring. I’d make different decisions if I had another chance to do it

[TriciaJ, RN]

On 2/12/2021 at 5:52 AM, pandora1212 said:

What changes have been made in terms of clinical preparation of students?

I have heard from new nurses, older nurses, and NPs alike that a huge portion of nursing skills and education happens post graduation on the job. Do you think that part of the reason there is a decline in skill is that there just isn't the time/patience/care put into training new grads on the job? 

 

On this very forum within the past  two weeks I have seen threads/posts about the high cost of nursing education and the high cost of "training" freshly  graduated nurses.  It seems to me that nurses are spending piles of money to be poorly educated and hospitals are claiming to spend piles of money on "training".  Hospitals are using this claim to justify having new grads sign usurious contracts for the privilege of being hired by the hospital.  I smell two nefarious rackets.

On top of that, nurses are constantly being required to to more with less, policies and procedures change weekly and nurses are blamed for outcomes not remotely in their control.  Is it any wonder seasoned nurses are yelling at students to run and save themselves?

I spent years trying to get my coworkers to take more interest and be more active in our union.  It's going to take a very concerted group effort to turn  things around.  We have to start reminding ourselves and each other that hospitals run just fine for hours on end with no CEO in the building.  They do not run even 1 minute without a nurse.  They need us more than we need them and we need to start being aware of that.

[Chem0ninja, BSN]

What makes you want to become a nurse in the first place? I think attitude and intention play a huge part.

In my unit, I've noticed that the complainers tend to be the ones that go into the field just for the paycheck and have no compassion for patients. They would spend the majority of time either socializing with others or just sitting at the nursing station on their phone, and do the minimal amount of work ( not answering call bell, not turning or cleaning patients, not giving all the meds, not helping others ) to get by the shifts. Those nurses tend to have a low tolerance to stress because they allowed themselves to get used to not doing anything, and would whine over every little task that they are asked to do. I don't find their work to be miserable, its just that they have miserable attitude.

And then there are the hard-workers that are truly compassionate about nursing and make sure they get all the work done properly, and even go above and beyond for their patients and colleagues. They are the ones that tend to get the real burnt out but they are also the strong ones that are capable to handle critical patients and challenging situations. Of course, they also vent and complain sometimes but not over every little thing. I respect them alot.

Don't let other influence your view on nursing as everyone's personality and stress tolerance are different. Just make sure you set the right attitude before entering the field.

 

 

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

On 2/10/2021 at 12:10 PM, pandora1212 said:

........but at the end of the day there was always a "we are here to support each other and our work is important" sort of sentiment. I guess I'm wondering if that sort of comradery and support exists within nursing? 

 

I cannot say that I 100% like my job but nursing has been especially when I was a totaly broken human being with literally no soft place to fall. Sure there are bad days but for the most part I truly care about the population I care for and there families.

I can't speakto what happend atother facilities but when I work we have "Resource nurses" that new staff can call on for guidence. The way it works is new nurse has their first week of training with the resource nurse who is then available to them for a full year after higher.

We also have a strong sense of comradery andwe all support eachother  People who can't or won't work well with others don't end up staying for long.

Hppy 

[Kspeed]

Go into nursing with your guard up. Young nurses are eaten by fellow nurses.

Nurses do hate nursing for real

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

5 hours ago, Kspeed said:

Go into nursing with your guard up. Young nurses are eaten by fellow nurses.

Nurses do hate nursing for real

Speak for yourself. Nursing has been a very good second career for me. I love nursing and as far as I know have never been acused of eating a young nurse. True you do need to go in with your eyes wide open as it is certainly not all rainbows and lollypops.

[Julius Seizure]

On 2/10/2021 at 4:08 PM, Julia A said:

No it’s okay re reading now it does seem like my question wasn’t clear sorry? basically I’m asking if you became numb to the criticism that you were seeing at work and hearing in general? Many people tell me that you just get used to it after a while and focus on yourself and your own practice.

I know you addressed this to JKL33, but I hope you don't mind if I chime in as well.  I don't think I became numb to it either...in fact, the opposite.  Maybe it was because nursing was different when I was a new grad (in the mid-2000s), or maybe it was because I was young/straight out of college and didn't know anything else except being treated like a college "kid"...maybe it was both.  As I got older and my clinical skills, knowledge, and experience grew, that's when I started to become more frustrated.  I was good at my job, I was knowledgeable about my specialty...as were many of my colleagues.  And yet despite having more contact with the patient than any other group in the hospital, we were never consulted regarding any aspect of patient care.  If anything, nurses lost autonomy over the years - especially in larger teaching hospitals (in my experience.)

 

On 2/10/2021 at 4:31 PM, JKL33 said:

...it's been 5-10 years since I have seen nursing employers treating staff-level nurses like experts in patient care or any kind of valuable resource whatsoever.

Anyway, eventually I went back to school because I wanted to make a difference for my patients...and I didn't feel like I could do that as an RN.

[Julius Seizure]

On 2/11/2021 at 10:50 PM, Susie2310 said:

I think there are a number of reasons for the above.  Being an employed nurse doesn't mean one is an expert in patient care, or even particularly valuable as a resource, unfortunately.  I don't believe that one should expect to be treated as an expert nurse if one really isn't.

This is valid.  I think its also another contributor to dissatisfaction for truly experienced nurses.  I have seen veteran nurses (ones with true expertise, not just years under their belt) be passed over for opportunities to advance.  Meanwhile, nurses with just 1-3 years of experience will be given chances to learn new skills like caring for patients on ECMO or CVVH therapies.  Seems like experience doesn't matter so much as how chummy you are with the right people.