Don't you feel guilty for not working in a hospital?

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A coworker (non-nurse, very nice) said to me yesterday "Don't you feel guilty not working in a hospital? Don't you miss it, being a real nurse?"

I politely explained to this person that "real" nurses come in many forms, it's just the environment and skills utilized that vary. As far as feeling guilty...no. But the question had me wondering...are there nurses who have decided to leave the hospital setting but end up feeling guilty about it?

I have worked a LOT of years in the hospital setting and in the past 5 years or so branched out to other flavors of nursing...I have toyed with the idea of returning to the hospital setting, but frankly, I am not sure I am up to the 12 hour shifts on top of the drive time (45 min on way if traffic is good) plus the weekend/holiday/short staff issues that plague and will continue to plague nursing. I work a M-F, no weekend/holiday position closer to home with occasional call.

Just curious as to what others who have left hospital nursing think about what she asked...

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Specializes in MCH,NICU,NNsy,Educ,Village Nursing.

Well, goodness! It sounds like you have a great deal, at least schedule wise...why change it just because someone asked a question like that? Maybe SHE feels guilty about not working in the hospital.

To answer your question--no, not at all. I do not miss the wear and tear on my body. I miss the bedside (patients), but not the hours, the aforementioned wear and tear on my body, the schedules, etc. I still get to be involved in patient lives as a NP and that "feeds" that part of nursing for me.

Enjoy not being at the bedside rather than letting her guilt be yours. A "nurse by any other name is still a nurse" (a sorta but not quite Shakespearean comment.

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Specializes in ER.

Your coworker sounds confused. Just smile and say "No, but I miss my coworkers, they were a lot more intelligent than the idiots I work with here!".

Just kidding, of course. ;)

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Specializes in school nurse.

I do more well-rounded nursing (in a school setting) than I ever could in the cookie-cutter, assembly-line morass of overwork that is now acute care.

Feeling of guilt? Hell to the no. More like feelings of sympathy for fellow nurses working back in those soul sucking trenches.

Just as well, too. If anyone gave me a "script" to use with my "customer" I would be mortified after having vomited on their shoes...

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I left the floor approximately 8 months ago to work for an insurance company.

I do not regret it one bit, nor do I feel any morsel of guilt for removing myself from the verbally aggressive families, demanding patients and unrealistic administration at the specialty hospital where I worked for six years.

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Not even remotely.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

No I don't. I am happy NOT working in a hospital and I challenge anyone to ask my coworkers and patients that I am, indeed, a "real" nurse. I am very real.

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

Well that's an ignorant thing to say. What do you have to feel guilty about? Is it some great sin to not work in a hospital? Don't give that comment any more head space. :nurse:

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I have gotten similar questions about having a career away from the bedside -- as if bedside nursing is the only way one can be a "real nurse." I even wrote a paper in graduate school about it -- discussing how all types of nursing roles constitute "real nursing."

Yes, sometimes I have missed the patients. (I was a NICU specialists and I miss the babies sometimes.) But no ... I don't miss my former jobs. And I have never felt guilty.

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Guilty?....:roflmao: no.

I think your non-nursing friend has a romanticized view of the nurses's role. Hope you set her straight.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

Not at all. I'm happy not working in a hospital. I have significantly more impact in my current role than I would in a facility

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Specializes in ER.

I left ED for insurance UR; I will never work for hospital system ever again. I do not love this job, but I can much better tolerate it, and will never do clinical job again, unless I can tell stupid people that they are stupid. M-F, weekend, holidays, I don't care even if I am not a "nurse", I will take this anyday.

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