For as long as I can remember I wanted to become a nurse. I apply for the nursing program this Spring. For the past 4 years, I have heard awful stories about working in hospitals and known of a lot of nurses who have quit. I want to help others but the medical world isn't the same as it used to be. I feel like the focus has been shifted off the patients wellbeing and become all about the hospitals making money.
Im worried that it might kill my soul to work in an environment where I cant give of myself to a patient like I want to because I am so overworked and controlled by hospital policies that only benefit the rich.
I want to know if any nurses out there feel this way or have struggled working at hospitals. OR if youve found something different.
I think it's important to bring up the importance of selfcare and mental health due to the stress of nursing, high rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide in nurses and sadly the recent death of a young nurse Tristan Smith. She had written a letter to her abuser (the hospital) a few months before her death! May she rest in peace.
May we all be mindful of our mental health and that of our friends and colleagues and reach out to them with love and encouragement to hopefully prevent this tragedy from happening again.
No regrets, I love being a nurse. That said, I knew very early on that hospital nursing was not for me (or for my family) so after two years moved on to visiting nursing and now I'm in a school. One of the many things I love about being a nurse it that it is not too hard to switch from one area to another. There are many options out there, keep looking.
If you pursue nursing, try to go to the lowest cost college you can find, community colleges are a hidden gem! Take out as little student loans as possible. Take a personal finance class and learn about money management which will help no matter what you do.
I'm always stunned at the people who pay $40-50,000 to get an RN degree in the name of being done 5 months faster than a community college program that will cost a total of $9,000.
No matter how the school tries to sell it, that 5 months is not worth an extra $40,000.
And then the first two things everyone buys with their shiny new nurse paychecks is a new SUV or Jeep and/or a new set of boobs (and take loans for both the car and the surgery) and then they wonder why nothing really changed for them financially. ?♂️
Specializes in Patient Safety Advocate; HAI Prevention.
I went to Nursing school (3 yr program) in 1967, when young women had limited opportunities...and we were steered by guidance counselors into nursing, teaching or secretarial work. I believe I made the right choice. I worked at 5 different hospital ERs, and an OR. ..both large and small hospitals. I also worked in industrial health, doctors offices and an Indian health clinic. All of my jobs were challenging and they gave me a wide spectrum of experiences and knowledge. After I finished working as a practicing nurse, I became a patient safety advocate, and worked for a dozen years during my retirement promoting safe practices and listening to the "patients voice". Without my education and experience as a nurse, I wouldn't have had the credibility to do my PS work as a volunteer. I am 74 now and will always keep my RN license, although I would never endanger patients by going into a clinical setting to work again. I earned it, I am proud of it, and I can still put RN behind my name if I write an article or do a presentation. I have no regrets.
There's a lot of ways to be a nurse besides being a hospital staff nurse. Bedside nursing tends to have higher salaries but it's not the only game in town.
Very few professions can give you the satisfaction that comes from helping others in their time of need. It is a noble career, always at the top of the 'most trusted professions' list.
Nursing opens a huge variety of career options. We have the honor of being at births, deaths, and family crisises that no one else sees. Also, nurses know for sure if your genitals are normal or not. Knowledge, baby. Knowing the reality of in hospital care is very helpful when illness strikes.
I'd still go into nursing, but I'd want to know earlier what I've learned about employers. They do NOT reward loyalty or committment. They will NOT have your back if there's a complaint. If it's not in writing, it's not real, no matter who assures you. Act accordingly and protect your time, your soul, and chart defensively. Even so, plan on being betrayed so it's not as much of a shock when it happens.
There was a time in my life I sort of regretted it, but I know it's because I was burned out by working med-surg type places in the hospital, and that's not what I ever wanted to do.
Now I work on mother baby in the hospital (the job I wanted since nursing school), as well as another non-hospital job, and now I do not regret becoming a nurse one bit.
I'd still go into nursing, but I'd want to know earlier what I've learned about employers. They do NOT reward loyalty or committment. They will NOT have your back if there's a complaint. If it's not in writing, it's not real, no matter who assures you. Act accordingly and protect your time, your soul, and chart defensively. Even so, plan on being betrayed so it's not as much of a shock when it happens.
I'd still go into nursing, but I'd want to know earlier what I've learned about employers. They do NOT reward loyalty or committment. They will NOT have your back if there's a complaint. If it's not in writing, it's not real, no matter who assures you. Act accordingly and protect your time, your soul, and chart defensively. Even so, plan on being betrayed so it's not as much of a shock when it happens.
The more you hear from management that "we are a family", the less you are going to be treated like family when anything goes bad.
The hospital will protect itself every time, and only protect you if it benefits them in the process.
Loyalty means nothing unless you're in a rare spot to be earning a pension - and even then you have to weigh your other options appropriately. At the end of the day, remember you owe nothing more than the current day's work in exchange for the agreed upon pay for that day. Never turn down whatever it is you consider to be a better opportunity out of loyalty to a facility that would drop you like a hot potato to save an hour's pay.
When I train new nurses I ALWAYS emphasize that you don't in fact work for a hospital or doctor's office or clinic or school, you work AT those places but you actually work FOR your license.
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brandy1017, ASN, RN
2,910 Posts
I think it's important to bring up the importance of selfcare and mental health due to the stress of nursing, high rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide in nurses and sadly the recent death of a young nurse Tristan Smith. She had written a letter to her abuser (the hospital) a few months before her death! May she rest in peace.
May we all be mindful of our mental health and that of our friends and colleagues and reach out to them with love and encouragement to hopefully prevent this tragedy from happening again.
https://nurse.org/articles/nurse-died-by-suicide-letter-to-abuser/
SAY HER NAME : Nurse Tristan Smith Takes Life & Sends Shock Waves Exposing Nursing Industry ! - YouTube
https://YouTube.com/watch?v=ghxC-Apvikk