Does nursing satisfy your needs?

vanburbian · Oct 18, 2011

Yes, and switched from CM to ER. Haven't done bedside nursing for 9 years, so it was/is a challenge, but makes me feel like I am not stuck, never bored, and never under utilized.

I think some of us just like to try different things. I have done about 5 to 7 years in several "specialty" areas, and after that point, I get bored. I realize it, and know it's time to try something different.

Luckily, with a bit of time and effort, I've been able to move around to very distinct nursing specialties, and regain my passion for the learning, and feeling like I LOVE my job, and not just the paycheck.

VICEDRN, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2011

Hi-

I feel:

bored (nursing practice even in the er seems extremely limited)

underpaid (my last job, paralegal, paid better and i didn't need a license to do it

overworked (at my last job you could take a predictable lunch, etc)

stuck (nursing is generally a pressure cooker job)

doing good stuff: i am indeed doing good stuff

maybe i will try another specialty as suggested above...

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Oct 18, 2011

At this point the only thing I can say is it pays a living wage! It seems so few jobs in America pay a living wage, but they sure make you work for your money and jerking you around and mistreatment seems to be routine! Oh and you get to "help" people, but there are much easier and safer ways to help people then being a nurse!

I'm tired of not having my weekends and holidays off and I'm tired of the threat of mandation! Lastly I'm tired of being everyone's go to person (ie housekeeper, cna, secretary, etc, security as if I don't have enough work of mine own I'm supposed step in and do everyone else's job either because they refuse or aren't available. Most of all I'm tired of dealing with lazy, disrespecful CNA's which seems to be a problem on the night shift!

I was at my wits end and ready to quit today between the very heavy patient load, snotty insubordinate CNA and then being told I was being mandated at the end of a very difficult shift, it was all I could do not to walk out! And did I mention my back was killing me from the heavy pt load as well!

SoundofMusic · Oct 18, 2011

It satisfied the need for good money to pay off my debts. On other units I've been on (not the one I'm currently on) it did satisfy a lot of my need to be with people and feel like I have a purpose to get up in the a.m.

However, it does not satisfy my needs in terms of positive feedback, because we get so little of that. It also does not meet my need to be creative. I definitely need creative outlets on the outside.

Mostly it drains me and lately is making me a very unhappy exhausted person. I still haven't found my niche in nursing, and am having a tough time of it.

Still, I've had a lot of fun being a nurse at times ... and I've enjoyed a lot of the patients in many ways. Hasn't been all bad, but it's not something I feel I can do forever.

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2011

I had a prior career and now 25 years in nursing. Most of my nursing has been bedside but now I am in case management. I like it for what it is (good pay, steady hours, no w/e, nights, holidays, no on call). I enjoy the use of my knowledge base. I get my life enjoyment from my family and hobbies (yoga, knitting, reading, travel).

That probably doesn't sound like much of an endorsement for a nursing career but I'm just happy I have a job I can do and good benefits. I think we are in the age of "lowered expectations".

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Oct 18, 2011

The only "need" I ever expected from a job was a paycheck. I went into the field I did by choice because I liked it...so that was sort of the end of expecting the job to meet any other need than financial.

If the place I was working was no longer interesting, or I wanted to do weekends or nights, I worked somewhere else.

I think what needs are being met (or not) in the rest of one's life are much more important than what work does... it's a means to an end. jmho :)

Flo., BSN, RN · Oct 18, 2011

I am not satisfied. I feel overworked, underpaid and underutilised. I got into nursing because I wanted to help people and make a difference in their lives. 2+ yrs in and I just want to get out. Nursing school did not prepare me for the realities of nursing.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Oct 18, 2011

i am not satisfied. i feel overworked, underpaid and underutilised. i got into nursing because i wanted to help people and make a difference in their lives. 2+ yrs in and i just want to get out. nursing school did not prepare me for the realities of nursing.

i think this is a huge factor with new (and 'young') nurses....and it's not fair.

when i was in school in the early/mid 80s, i joked that the "recruitment poster lied"....but i still had a better idea of what to expect than what i'm reading from newbies now. it's sad.

i've been lucky. i've had some jobs where i went non-stop from start to finish more days than not. i rarely had a 30-minute lunch break- but i'd rather skip it (and grab a granola bar) and get out on time. but it didn't offend me. i liked what i did- and i had been told in nursing school more or less what to expect (and being a cna- only during nursing school- helped a lot).

then there are the folks who have been in it for a while, who don't understand what's going on with the newer nurses, because the whole process of school seems to have changed so much. instead of a foundation, it's become more of an introduction. :twocents:

not easy for anybody. :down:

SoundofMusic · Oct 18, 2011

Not to hijack this thread, but I'll tell you how little nursing school prepared me: during med/surg clinicals, I administered meds ONCE.

We did ONE care plan. Only ONE. The ENTIRE four month clinical period!!!

What we did in those clinicals I am not sure. Mostly just observing and philosophical exercises. And they seemed to give us the most simple patients, because they didn't seem to want us to see the "difficult" (i.e. detoxers, codes, etc) patients. They protected us way too much.

Nursing needs to get with it and reform the educational process. We need ON THE JOB training, from the bottom up, looking at REAL patients and real cases. We need MORE time on the floors, getting our questions answered. We need more time to learn the hospital system, equipment, learn about various departments, tests, labs, etc.

How about a week on just learning how to do various wound care and dressing changes. The next week could be on managing vitals. Next TEN weeks could be on assessment skills -- and what changes could possibly MEAN. Next week could be spent doing baths and ADL care. WE need to get better mastery of basic skills, THEN learn how to tie that all together.

It's like we never get time to learn our basic "math facts," but then are sent on expected to do calculus!

elkpark · Oct 18, 2011

Not to hijack this thread, but I'll tell you how little nursing school prepared me: during med/surg clinicals, I administered meds ONCE.
We did ONE care plan. Only ONE. The ENTIRE four month clinical period!!!
What we did in those clinicals I am not sure. Mostly just observing and philosophical exercises. And they seemed to give us the most simple patients, because they didn't seem to want us to see the "difficult" (i.e. detoxers, codes, etc) patients. They protected us way too much.
Nursing needs to get with it and reform the educational process. We need ON THE JOB training, from the bottom up, looking at REAL patients and real cases. We need MORE time on the floors, getting our questions answered. We need more time to learn the hospital system, equipment, learn about various departments, tests, labs, etc.
How about a week on just learning how to do various wound care and dressing changes. The next week could be on managing vitals. Next TEN weeks could be on assessment skills -- and what changes could possibly MEAN. Next week could be spent doing baths and ADL care. WE need to get better mastery of basic skills, THEN learn how to tie that all together.
It's like we never get time to learn our basic "math facts," but then are sent on expected to do calculus!

One of the reasons I'm no longer in nursing education (and will probably never teach nurisng again) is because, when you say this to the administration of nursing programs, we get told that we're out of date and missing the point, which is that the point of nursing school is not to teach nursing skills but to teach "critical thinking." Ironically, I attended a hospital-based diploma school in the early '80s, before the term "critical thinking" had even been invented, but, somehow, while acutally getting a solid foundation in the actual "nuts and bolts" of day-to-day nursing practice, and excellent clinical skills, we all also came out well-prepared to think critically in practice. Now, everyone in nursing education talks all day and night about "critical thinking," but what I have seen in recent years is students and new grads who know very little about basic nursing practice or clinical skills, and also have a very hard time thinking in any sort of organized, productive way about the nursing situations in which they are placed.

This is a big part of why hospitals have become increasingly reluctant to hire new grads over the last several years (and that was starting even before the economy tanked). But I won't belabor the point further -- I've made this same rant many times here over the years. :)

To get back on topic, I've found nursing a very satisfying choice for myself over the years, in terms of producing income, career flexibility and opportunities, and in personal satisfaction.

lapoRtaN · Oct 18, 2011

Not to hijack this thread, but I'll tell you how little nursing school prepared me: during med/surg clinicals, I administered meds ONCE.
We did ONE care plan. Only ONE. The ENTIRE four month clinical period!!!
What we did in those clinicals I am not sure. Mostly just observing and philosophical exercises. And they seemed to give us the most simple patients, because they didn't seem to want us to see the "difficult" (i.e. detoxers, codes, etc) patients. They protected us way too much.
Nursing needs to get with it and reform the educational process. We need ON THE JOB training, from the bottom up, looking at REAL patients and real cases. We need MORE time on the floors, getting our questions answered. We need more time to learn the hospital system, equipment, learn about various departments, tests, labs, etc.
How about a week on just learning how to do various wound care and dressing changes. The next week could be on managing vitals. Next TEN weeks could be on assessment skills -- and what changes could possibly MEAN. Next week could be spent doing baths and ADL care. WE need to get better mastery of basic skills, THEN learn how to tie that all together.
It's like we never get time to learn our basic "math facts," but then are sent on expected to do calculus!

Not to further Hi-Jack-But Holy Cow we had 1 care plan a week and literally need naps after clinical. Lol Hope you find Nursing better now. :uhoh3: