do you ever felt like nursing is not for you?

[2008el]

i'm new in nursing. they say i learn fast and i believe that i'm doing good in this very busy hospital where i'm working at; and i'm leaning a lot for that i like it. however i feel many times that i don't have time to be with my patients... i feel like i do many paper works... papaer works that they say to "cover yourself up"... i just don't like doing tons of paper works and maybe spend very few hours with pt. sometimes i don't even get the time to read their HP which i feel is so important for me. my friends told me to get my experiance and swithc to more less smaller hospital. i don't think i'll be happy to spend my days in small hospitals... i love the experiance but it is just to much to deal with too much work! yesterday on my day off i slept the whole day and night... this has never happened to me before. do you guys out there also feel like you are good in what you do ... you like to learn new things but you are not sure if nursing is for you because maybe you get too much to cover in one shift?

[interleukin]

Good hospital nursing is very very hard work...period. And today, increasing tasks take you further away from the patient than ever before.

Enormous amount of time wasted when computers crash, are slow, or freeze. But patient expectations remain the same.

And if and when hospital nursing gets really easy for you, it usually means you've stopped doing a professional job.

[Valerie Salva, BSN, RN]

Most nurses everywhere have too much paperwork, and too little time with their pts. Many of us are exhausted and sleep a lot on our time off.

I've been a nurse for 18 years, and this is pretty normal.

[shellsgogreen]

some days are better than others. i would worry if i ever stopped wanting to do more for my patients.

[grandkids4]

Nursing has changed over the 30yrs I have been in it. I agree with what everyone above me has said, but I want to add something. we all want to spend more time with our pts, what matters more is what you say and do in your short time you're in with them. It is amazing how you might change a life, or give inspiration to someone without even realing it. And you may never know. But I am sure you have in some way. I think every nurse has. So don't give up the boat, do the best you can, and be satisfied that you have helpd changed someone's life in a positive way. sometimes just a sincere touch of the hand or smile or going that extra mile. You never know what difference you made but be it known You did. I have never regretted being a nurse.

We may not have a crown here on earth, but there is a special place for nurses in Heaven. Hang in there.

[NurseRachy]

Every shift i doubt my choice of profession! Sad but true.

[Blee O'Myacin, BSN, RN]

First and foremost, you have a responsibility to take care of yourself and live a satisfying life. If you are unhappy with your profession, do something about it. There's no need to martyr yourself over "not doing enough", when you are probably a compassionate person, an hard worker and the kind of nurse I'd want at my bedside if I were ill or as a coworker in the room with a coding patient.

But if you are overwhelmed and not getting out of nursing what you thought you would, you could change jobs until you find what you are looking for, you can stick it out and do the best you can with it (as long as you are happy about that), or you can decide to make flowers out of fruit. My point is, you have to think about yourself and make yourself and your family happy. You work 36 hours per week - that's a lot of hours per week where you are *not* at work.

Take care - and selfishly, I hope you stay in nursing because we need people like you.

Blee

[Nurseinprocess]

Why not sit in the patient's room to do some of your paperwork? Do you have flowcharts to fill in? I've seen nurses have a seat, grab the flowchart and spend time with their patients that way.

[Iam46yearsold]

After almost a 1/4 century. I still love it