I am not yet a nurse (will start school Jan 05), from the various threads that I have read on this and other nursing sites, the nursing profession, it seems, has as many internal problems as external problems. Sure I imagine that the work is hard, the respect is not given, and the pay may not be up to par with other pofessions with simular levels of responsibility, but are nurses hurting their own cause? Now please dont torch me for this (as my flame protective jumper is in the mail), but the way nurses treat each other is as big an issue as the lack of pay, increased work load, and lack of respect are. It seems, from reading certain threads, that nursingschool students are treated more like pests than future colleagues in certain teaching institutions. And the power trip that some nurse educators displays is down right awful (so I he been told). No I dont believe that nursing school should be easy, but to play mind games will only cause resentment, hate and discontent, and hard feelings once those students are nurses. This can have a trickle down effect on the way these "newbies" will treat other "newbies" once they become "veterans". Another thing that I dont understand is this. If the conditions are so bad, than why havent the nurses formed a strong union? One national union that servres and protects the nurses? I dont know anything about labor practices, or unions, so this is just a question. Being in the Coast Guard we cant have a union, if you dont like the treatment, you just leave the service. But its not that bad.:) I still plan on persuing my nursing career, and have really enjoyed reading the not so rosey side of nursing as it has opened my eyes, and ripped off the rose colored glasses. I am sure that in every profession there are challenges, but it is nice to know up front the challenges that I will face as a nurse.
i believe that you'll only hate nursing if you pursued this profession with unwarranted reasons...
it is already a given that this profession has many frustrations (what profession doesn't??) if you really love what you're doing, no matter how tough it gets, you still get going...
however, if you don't like what you're doing, all the frustrations would eventually build up and ... who knows what you will do or what you will become!!
since the demands of nursing is high, it is vital that nursing school should impose their standards diligently... hey, we are dealing with life...!!
personally, i had one clinical instructor who is so nasty!! her shouts of demeaning adjectives to the student nurses whenever they made a mistake could be heard all over the ward and the adjacent ward... she is fond of calling names like.. (you're so stupid, you're not fit to become a nurse, you don't have a common sense)... charts go flying all over the floor whenever there's an error...
it was the most horrible experience of my life - BUT it was also one of my productive years... it was because of her that i wept a lot (intermittent crying for over 24 hours)... BUT, i learned how to approach doctors and not be intimidated by them... i learned the hard way!!... after that, most of my classmates would convene and instead of crying over it (like we used to) we end up laughing about it afterwards!!
counting from this day, i will be graduating in less than 2 months and still i kept thinking... why did i took up nursing?? is this normal?? even if my first choice of career is not nursing, i still think that i could not imagine myself in other profession...
I love nursing but presently I am not working as one. After finishing my BSN in 1991, I worked as a volunteer staff nurse for a year. Yes, here in the Philippines, most nurses work for free just to get the working experience needed before being hired! But with little options of getting a job as a salaried staff nurse, I quit.
I missed the job of a nurse when I started working as a pharmaceutical sales representative for an Irish company. I missed the feeling of satisfaction that after 8 hours of work I have made little difference in the lives of my patients. Knowing that I was able to ease their pain and suffering is sure one big boost to start my day. Because of this, I am going to nursing in a couple of years.
Specializes in M/S, Onc, PCU, ER, ICU, Nsg Sup., Neuro.
Love my job and nursing guy. This is the second of your posts that I have read and it seems like you really don't want to do this. I grew up in Philadelphia hanging on street corners and being a junior juvenile delinquent. When I decided to become a nurse I went to someone that was a legend in our neighborhood and as my friend he told to go for it and I have no regrets with my chosen path in life. I have been called a "gentle giant" in the past by several of my patients and their families. Sometimes it has freaked people out that a 6 ft 250 lb male with my background can be as kind and caring as I am. My first wife was a nurse and my current wife would love to be one but being completely kinda gets in her way. trust. me, if you don't want, then don't do it. We don't need another person in the profession who doesn't want to be here. I have always been respected by my patients, co-workers, family/friends and the docs i have worked because I am good at what I do and not an airhead or an idiot. Over the past 18 yrs I have had to straighten out the attitude of a couple of smart mouth, old-fashioned docs(and quite a few resisdents I have feasted on as well) and that's where maybe my being male helped, but I still to this day will stand up to any doc and get away with it. It changes their attitudes towards us nurses......................... Paul
The only other thing I would ever want to be is a comedian, and hey I get to be that at work. Always keep em' smiling(or at least mildly amused):roll :roll :chuckle
you have received some great replies. My opinion is that most of us love nursing, it is the working conditions that beat us up. My frustration is that alot of nurses like to do their job and go home. I understand and agree that your family comes first. But somehow we need to be very vocal/active in our role as patient advocates. We need to demand a strong voice in patient care decisions. A huge problem is managed care and our American profit is key mentality. If nurse's were completely in charge , patients would get the high standard of care they deserved and nurses would have a dignified and sane working environment.
I love what I do --on a good day. I know that I do all I can for my patients to make them feel safe and cared for. My opinion is that if you are telling me " maybe it is time you moved on"(a classic management response ------so they don't deal with the real problems) then you (as in the entire American population)are in serious trouble.
As a nurse with 15yrs experience in med surg , I think we need nurses working at the state and national level and a single payer health care system---to insure that patients get the care they need and so do the caregivers!!!
I think we are all guilty of hating our jobs sometimes,whether it be as a nurse or the proverbial Walmart greeter.I don't hate the job itself,I just can't stand some of the people I have to work with sometimes.I get tired of the backbiting ,complaining,whining,etc.i just have gotten into the habit of ignoring it all and finding something else to do(anything else) to stay away from them.Luckily at my job there is always plenty to do to keep me busy.:)
Some nurses will treat you badly. That is a given that an education and creditentials do not make you a decient humanbeing. I am sorry you were stuck with such a hateful imature instructor.
I also find that my own attitude made all the difference. When my class mates complained of mistreatement I found those same nurses treated me well.
I tried to see things from thier perspecive. She has to precept a student in addition to a full patient load. Things don't always go well, maybe she is on her third day of 12 hour shifts, students slow you down. The student sometimes puts thier self interest ahead of everyone and every thing. The student is not self directed at all. The student asks questions that she would be better off discovering for herself. The nurse has a headache, has just dealt with an emergency, she is worried about her kid. etc. She is behind. The student does not pich in and help or offer help. Yes you are there to learn. However, there is a price you pay for this and that is you need to help out, not just do your patient care. Make some beds, take vs etc for the nurse's other patients. Answer lights, give bed pans, water etc. Ask how you can help her. run errands. in return she will help you learn. Show compasion for the nurse.
She does not have to precept you. She is not getting paid to teach you. You are an imposition. If you make yourself less an imposition she will generally bend over backward for you.
As for your childish tempertantrum chart thowing instructor, see her for what she is an immature child. It would not be inappriate to tell her you expect to be treated with respect. It is ok too to reserve that talk until you graduate. It is appropriate to file a formal complaint against that instructor.
I think it all depends on what area you work in, how you feel about it, what the staff is like, where your heart is, etc.
I think in general, ICU nurses seem to be the most satisfied because we always have lower nurse-patient ratios than on the floors. It's easier to get and stay organized, and you spend more time with your patients overall. Most people who don't LOVE working ICU tend to leave anyways, because it's really easy to burn out after so many life-and-death situations. So you often end up with a bunch of people who love their nursing jobs, and that makes it so much easier to put up with the crappy politics of nursing today.
I'm a NICU nurse, and I've yet to meet another one who truly hates her job. Some don't like their hospitals and management, maybe, but put up with it because they still love nursing those little ones! NICU seems to be unique in that you take care of babies from their most critical first days until they go home, so there tends to be more personal satisfaction overall. You can spend days or weeks absolutely working your butt off trying to save sick babies' lives, and then a couple of weeks or months later, you're feeding those babies and cuddling them, and eventually you're helping their parents snap them into their corificeats to go home.
There are many, many nights when I think, "My GOSH they actually PAY me for this?!?!"
amycar11
13 Posts
i believe that you'll only hate nursing if you pursued this profession with unwarranted reasons...
it is already a given that this profession has many frustrations (what profession doesn't??) if you really love what you're doing, no matter how tough it gets, you still get going...
however, if you don't like what you're doing, all the frustrations would eventually build up and ... who knows what you will do or what you will become!!
since the demands of nursing is high, it is vital that nursing school should impose their standards diligently... hey, we are dealing with life...!!
personally, i had one clinical instructor who is so nasty!! her shouts of demeaning adjectives to the student nurses whenever they made a mistake could be heard all over the ward and the adjacent ward... she is fond of calling names like.. (you're so stupid, you're not fit to become a nurse, you don't have a common sense)... charts go flying all over the floor whenever there's an error...
it was the most horrible experience of my life - BUT it was also one of my productive years... it was because of her that i wept a lot (intermittent crying for over 24 hours)... BUT, i learned how to approach doctors and not be intimidated by them... i learned the hard way!!... after that, most of my classmates would convene and instead of crying over it (like we used to) we end up laughing about it afterwards!!
counting from this day, i will be graduating in less than 2 months and still i kept thinking... why did i took up nursing?? is this normal?? even if my first choice of career is not nursing, i still think that i could not imagine myself in other profession...
pretty confusing...