Does Nursing change your personality and etc.

zoidberg, BSN, RN · Jan 29, 2012

being a good nurse and making your patients feel comfortable does not mean one must be a emotional touchy feely pushover-it just means you provide support when they need it. Being a nurse may change your perspectives on things, but it won't change who you are, unless you let it.

I bet more nurses find themselves being less caring outside of the hospital... it is hard caring for a job-very emotionally draining at times.

Aniva · Feb 10, 2012

Everyone encounters adversities in life. It really depend on the individual person as to how he/she will respond to them. When faced with stress or frustrations, one can easily become embittered or negative towards the world around them. Everyone changes throughout their lives, whether under the influence of their profession or personal life, but if you find yourself changing for the worst, I hope you can catch yourself or gain a new perspective. As I went through nursing school, I gradually became more short tempered with a lot of things or adopting more of a perfectionist personality..(not just health care related- e.g. road rage, group projects), but after I had a suspicious lesion removed, it put things into perspective. I realized I really can't stress the small stuff (life's too short) and nothing gets accomplished by taking it out on others and yourself. I'm not a guy, but I personally do not think being a male nurse would hurt you in the realm of dating. If you're a great guy, "you hot"!

Ariko · Feb 11, 2012

1) [color=#548dd4]my main concern is the like-li-hood of bringing the stresses from your job into your personal-relationships and home life. do you male nurses honestly see this as a problem and possible issue in your life?

the ability to deal with stress is an issue in all jobs and learning to deal with it in a positive way is a real accomplishment in maturing. nursing is full of stress, but fortunately, there are so many types of nursing and venues for practice that you can always move around to find a good fit for yourself. you will have limited options for the first couple of years, but then it is wide open.

2)[color=#548dd4] another question is do you find your personality as "warped" after being a nurse. basically, did the job change who you were prior to nursing school?

my personality is far less warped than before. the job changed me in lots of ways for the best and i can think of no drawbacks at the moment, aside from moving obese women with my bad back.

3) [color=#548dd4]i am just hoping that my care for others won't make me obsessed with "caring" for others outside the setting, and convert me into a "pushover" when looking for a women/partner in my dating life.

don’t lose sleep over that.

4) [color=#548dd4]women like "bad, risky guys," and i want to be able to separate my job mentality from the dating one.

some women like bad risky guys. you are probably not interested in that kind of women. it is my experience, and that of my son, that women looking for a future mate and father for their children are very selective. if the woman in question is attracted to the flashy bad guys, leave her be. you can easily do better. most, if not all women i have met, genuinely admire male nurses. including mds.

Railgun · Feb 16, 2012

Nursing didn't really change my personality but it definitely has influenced how I police myself. I was married before I became a nurse so I cannot attest to how it changes your dating life but I will say I am definitely more nuanced when dealing with people. That has less to do with nursing as a profession and more to do with nurses as coworkers.Your mileage may vary but the floor I work on has huge problems with gossip. I've had to learn that everything I say to my coworkers is amplified 10 decibels and picked apart for meaning. In response I have become very soft spoken and guarded. I don't believe this is how every floor everywhere is but I think my gender has a lot to do with how I am perceived by my peers. I am also the only male on the floor for my shift so I stand out a lot.In short nursing has affected my behavior but not my personality. At the end of the shift I hang my feelings up with my stethoscope and neither my professional life or home life have much effect on each other.

Mr. Murse · Feb 20, 2012

I'd say the vast majority of how nursing will affect you as a person has to do with what kind of person you are going into it. If you are the kind of person that worries a lot and feels like they have to fix the world, you will probably be stressed when you leave your shift. If you're like me, and are good at separating the different facets of your life, and are able to give your best while accepting your limitations, then your job will have very little affect on your personal life. I don't leave my shift until I feel like I've done all that I'm able and/or required to do that day, then I leave my work at the hospital and with my mind clear. For some of us it comes naturally to be able to separate our lives like that, others have to work at it. It just depends on the individual.

As for nursing changing you, I feel if anything it has changed me for the better. It has given me goals and purpose and satisfaction that I didn't feel before.

Frankly, being a nurse may actually keep you from being a pushover. Nursing requires confidence and decision making, and also you'll be caring so much for people in your professional life you'll probably sometimes have trouble finding much to give afterwards. Especially after being face to face all day with people facing the worst situations of their life, petty little things like dating drama and "bad boys" getting the girls all of a sudden seem like waste of energy (which, by the way, is a terribly inaccurate way to see things, if a girl wants a bad boy then you probably don't want her).

brainkandy87 · Feb 23, 2012

Here's my best answer to all of your questions, courtesy of Dr. Cox from Scrubs:

You see Dr. Wen in there? He's explaining to that family that somethingwent wrong, and that patient died. He's gonna tell them what happened,he's gonna say he's sorry - and then he's going back to work. Do youthink anybody else in that room's going back to work today? That is whywe distance ourselves; that's why we make jokes. We don't do it becauseit's fun. We do it so we can get by. And... sometimes because it's fun.But mostly it's the getting by thing.