Do you recommend becoming a nurse?

[BradleyRN]

Nursing is not an easy career path to choose. It is certainly one of the most difficult. When friends or prospective students ask, do you recommend becoming a nurse?:)

[lamazeteacher]

Job security isn't always what it seems.

A new administrator with different objectives, the resignation of someone with whom you work well, changing roles and addition of other disciplines (for whom you must chart - like RTs) can shake the cradle greatly. Then, when you are in middle age, the rug can be slipped out from under you by insurance companies demanding high premiums for those people over 55 years of age (with subsequent termination). Hopefully the latter won't happen since the passing of the Reform of Health Care Act, prohibits that sort of thing..

There have been so many changes on the medical scene since I started out almost 50 years ago as a a new grad...... I'm not complaining, as most were great advances; and earlier discharge is a real advantage, so long as it's followed by home health case management until resolution of the health problem is in sight.

The Reform of Health Care should bring greater involvement of all disciplines in the provision of health care with enriched input, and agreement (and sharing) in regard to the Plan of Care, which should reflect the patient's expressed expectations and the family's acceptance of it. Being on the "same page" is essential to the progress patients make. Mixed messages sabotage POCs all the time. The presence of NPs practising with doctors means that the POC should be communicated, as previously it seldom was acknowledged

Flexibillity is an attribute for nurses, as circumstances aren't always what they seem to be; and doctors are likely to make "about turns" in treatment modalities without making that known, other than flagging orders.

Patients' mental health is not always a "given", and its deterioration will slow physical progress down. Thank goodness the Reform of Health Care provides equal provision of funding of care for both physical and mental health; and with that, hopefully the stigma of having something "mental" will diminish. Nurses cannot be judgmental about the latter need.

So if all that seems a challenge that's interesting rather than daunting, a person has the right stuff to be a nurse.