2nd thoughts about being a nurse

smileysenior · Oct 2, 2006

I am having mixed feelings about my job....I am not very happy with it. Nursing isnt what I thought it was. It is stressful, demanding, long hours, grueling, little time for my family..........I am thinking of leaving nursing as a whole because of it.......some of my coworkers think that it is unwise to leave my job after 4 months and try to find another because it is "unwise" and told me that I need a year of medsurg. They say it takes a good year for a new nurse to feel comfortable and that I need to to stick it out for a year. They tell me that it is bad everywhere and I had better stay here.........they even told me I was spoiled for wanting to leave because I need to pay my dues! I was hurt. I already feel like a failure and I invested 4 years in this........I wanted to be an NP. It is very hard to deal with the reality of nursing..I was gonna try to stick it out a year or at least 6 months but I am so tired of feeling grouchy and edgy and like shyt...........I am turning into a bitter monster. I want to be happy. And the majority of people at my job are on meds for depression and anxiety.......and try to offer me some and say that I will be doped up like them in no time. I dont drink.....and they always try to pressure me to drink..........I am so sick of this shyt. I have been through alot and try to deal with my life experiences and stress in healthy ways.......baths, exercise, praying, talking, journaling, and fo course chocolate. But I am just tired of working with all these old bitter vultures who are here because they have kids and hubby and need the money........many of them dont want to be here......and I think sometimes they get a little upset because of some of us new nurses being single and childless meaning that we have the ability to up and leave one job and find another without worrying bout kids/hubby. They tell me that they worked more than me with a family and that if they can do it, so can I. I am so sick of them. I am so angry. I feel like nurses eat their young and most nurses are pissed off, stressed out, and underpaid and overworked. I would not encourage anyone to become a nurse unless the research this career thoroughly....it is not what I thought it was. I wanted to spend time with my patients, not feel rushed and crazy.......all I ever do is tasks, and get yelled at, and be stressed.........I need some hope. Sadly, I talked to my some that I graduated with and we all feel the same, frustrated and considering new careers.

bcskittlez · Oct 2, 2006

SmileySenior, How many days do you work a week? How many kids do you have? And are you married?

smileysenior · Oct 2, 2006

SmileySenior, How many days do you work a week? How many kids do you have? And are you married?

I am not married. I dont have kids. I work 5 12 hour shifts a week and then I work 2 12 hour shifts the next week........the 5 12 week is grueling. I need a more balanced schedule..........please dont say that u have 5 kids and are married and that if u can do it then so can i. I am doing the best I can.

indynurse#2 · Oct 2, 2006

I know a lot of people have already said this, but what you're going through is very common! I graduated 3 years ago and started out working on a high acuity surgical floor fresh out of school - much of what you've written could have been written by me 3 years ago!!! I always dreaded going to work, I was given too much responsibility too quickly and often ended my night of work at the least frustrated and wanting to quit, and at the most crying and looking for a new job - As I've said to a lot of people, there are too many opportunities/jobs in nursing to stay in something you hate!!! I left for a job in a Peds office - better hours, coworkers were a million times better and I actually enjoyed the job!!! Keep at it, there is a nursing job out there that you can love and thrive in - sometimes it just takes some really horrible experiences before you find that place - I know, I was there!

smileysenior · Oct 2, 2006

I know a lot of people have already said this, but what you're going through is very common! I graduated 3 years ago and started out working on a high acuity surgical floor fresh out of school - much of what you've written could have been written by me 3 years ago!!! I always dreaded going to work, I was given too much responsibility too quickly and often ended my night of work at the least frustrated and wanting to quit, and at the most crying and looking for a new job - As I've said to a lot of people, there are too many opportunities/jobs in nursing to stay in something you hate!!! I left for a job in a Peds office - better hours, coworkers were a million times better and I actually enjoyed the job!!! Keep at it, there is a nursing job out there that you can love and thrive in - sometimes it just takes some really horrible experiences before you find that place - I know, I was there!

Thanks for the support! I would love to work in peds or ob......I am currently looking for a job in one of those areas......I dont think medsurg/tele is for me...I do appreciate the experience. :)

LisaCRN05 · Oct 2, 2006

I too, share that 2nd thought. I haven't found my niche. With only a year and a half experience, I am considered still a "new nurse" but I have done travel, oncology, nursing home and turned down several psyche jobs. I am now in the process of getting a job at the VA. I'm so confused. I love the actual nursing part of the job, it's al the rest of it. My husband is so disappointed that I will waste my degree but I am finding it hard to find my "niche" and am getting very worried. Just wanted to share and vent. THanks for reading.

bcskittlez · Oct 2, 2006

I am not married. I dont have kids. I work 5 12 hour shifts a week and then I work 2 12 hour shifts the next week........the 5 12 week is grueling. I need a more balanced schedule..........please dont say that u have 5 kids and are married and that if u can do it then so can i. I am doing the best I can.

:no: That is horrendous! I would be crazy?! are you serious?? You actually work 5... 12 hour shifts??... I really believe that here lyes (sp?) your problem. How bout just 2 12's? Maybe 3... Where is the day for your mind to rest? For you to meet someone that brings you joy? I would be so sick of that place I would probably throw up before each shift. Saving some days to recoup doesnt make anybody a bad nurse.

smileysenior · Oct 2, 2006

That is horrendous! I would be crazy?! are you serious?? You actually work 5... 12 hour shifts??... I really believe that here lyes (sp?) your problem. How bout just 2 12's? Maybe 3... Where is the day for your mind to rest? For you to meet someone that brings you joy? I would be so sick of that place I would probably throw up before each shift. Saving some days to recoup doesnt make anybody a bad nurse.

THANK U FOR UNDERSTANDING! I am dead serious. This is my schedule.

work Mon, Tues, off wed, off thurs, work fri, sat, sun= 5 12's a week (really 14 hours because i never leave on time) . I spend wed and thurs recuperating from work.....I am too tired and grouchy to do anything but sleep. The next week I am off mon, tues, work wed and thurs, then am off fri sat sun.......so thats a little better but I am still exhausted from the previous week and I would like more balance.......I am totally wiped out one week and spend the next trying to recuperate! I have no time or energy for a social life.......the few friends I have left say I am grouchy and whiney and complain and they are right. I never see my family.......I spend my off days sleep, running errands.....i try to go see a movie or something but I usually am too tired. It sucks! I am making a decent living but I am honestly not enjoying my life right now whereas in nursing school I was poor but happier......I felt like I was making progress towards a goal. Now I just feel drained. My boss thinks my schedule is just great! But I hate it. I want to just work 3 12's a week, day shift 7a-7p on fri sat sun but she says I need more experience first before I go to straight weekends unless I want to work nights......she will let me work nights but I dont want to work nights......true, days are rough and busy but I like having a "normal" sleep schedule........I am not a night owl.........but it is so draining........and I am sick of people saying that they worked my shift for years and that I am spoiled.....

bcskittlez · Oct 3, 2006

Do you all have the Baylor plan anywhere? So that you can work 2 12's and get paid for 40 hours? I would really look into that if I were you. That schedule to me is unreal. That's just my opinion. Nurses have lives too.

HealthyRN · Oct 3, 2006

Like so many others have already posted, I too could have written this post. I am so unhappy with my career choice and I wish that I would have taken more time to research the nursing profession. I went into nursing with the goal of becoming an NP. I got accepted to a few NP programs right out of my BSN program, but I decided to get some experience first. Now, I am thinking that nursing is not for me at all.

I appreciate what more experienced nurses are trying to share with us new nurses. It makes sense that a new nurse would feel more comfortable and confident with time and experience. However, I'm not really sure that the job ever truly becomes easier. I look around at my coworkers and they seem just as stressed and unhappy as I am at times. I am on my second job already, at two different facilities and two different specialities (med-surg and ER), and the things I dislike about the job are essentially the same. Nurses are expected to care for far too many patients, with too little resources, and too little help. We are expected to sacrifice our own needs (having lunch, being able to take a bathroom break when needed, etc.) to save a couple of bucks for the hospital. No matter what part of the country you are in, what hospital you work at, or in which speciality you work, I'm sure that these are universial problems for the staff nurse. It doesn't get easier, you just get used to it. You learn not to expect to get a bathroom or lunch break, or if you do, one that is not nearly long enough. I am jealous of my friends who have normal jobs and are able to schedule appointments during their lunch break or can actually go out and grab a bite at a restaurant. You learn to expect to come home with your feet and back aching and barely able to get out of bed in the morning (I'm 22 and in excellent shape, by the way).

I did work in a clinic during nursing school, so I know that things can be much better outside of the hospital. These jobs are few and far between though and the competition is stiff. Why? Because there are so many other nurses who want to get out of the hospital! There is a reason that there are 500,000 licensed RNs in the US that are not working in the profession. I am very angry at myself for not researching this career before jumping into it. I am also angry at the nursing school that I attended for not providing a realistic look at the profession. I'm just thankful that I'm young enough to move on and learn from my mistakes.

BernieRN · Oct 3, 2006

I have been reading along with these posts and in the mean time, just found out this week that more general courses have been added at Ivy Tech, plus, most of the courses I received A's in aren't going to count now towards their point system, None of my algebra A's count, nor the A in psych second semester, although 1st semester A does.

I'm looking in to radiology at IUSB and with transfers, would actually take less general courses. It might be less money, and maybe there aren't as many jobs available out there, and maybe there aren't as many choices, but it is sounding better every day.

Diana

TXNurseBSN · Oct 4, 2006

Like so many others have already posted, I too could have written this post. I am so unhappy with my career choice and I wish that I would have taken more time to research the nursing profession. I went into nursing with the goal of becoming an NP. I got accepted to a few NP programs right out of my BSN program, but I decided to get some experience first. Now, I am thinking that nursing is not for me at all.
I appreciate what more experienced nurses are trying to share with us new nurses. It makes sense that a new nurse would feel more comfortable and confident with time and experience. However, I'm not really sure that the job ever truly becomes easier. I look around at my coworkers and they seem just as stressed and unhappy as I am at times. I am on my second job already, at two different facilities and two different specialities (med-surg and ER), and the things I dislike about the job are essentially the same. Nurses are expected to care for far too many patients, with too little resources, and too little help. We are expected to sacrifice our own needs (having lunch, being able to take a bathroom break when needed, etc.) to save a couple of bucks for the hospital. No matter what part of the country you are in, what hospital you work at, or in which speciality you work, I'm sure that these are universial problems for the staff nurse. It doesn't get easier, you just get used to it. You learn not to expect to get a bathroom or lunch break, or if you do, one that is not nearly long enough. I am jealous of my friends who have normal jobs and are able to schedule appointments during their lunch break or can actually go out and grab a bite at a restaurant. You learn to expect to come home with your feet and back aching and barely able to get out of bed in the morning (I'm 22 and in excellent shape, by the way).
I did work in a clinic during nursing school, so I know that things can be much better outside of the hospital. These jobs are few and far between though and the competition is stiff. Why? Because there are so many other nurses who want to get out of the hospital! There is a reason that there are 500,000 licensed RNs in the US that are not working in the profession. I am very angry at myself for not researching this career before jumping into it. I am also angry at the nursing school that I attended for not providing a realistic look at the profession. I'm just thankful that I'm young enough to move on and learn from my mistakes.

Kat,

Well said. I so agree with you that I would feel more poitive if I looked at the nurses I work with who have been nurses 5, 10, 20 years and they were not as stressed and unhappy as me. However, they are! I knew the first year would be hard, but you have to want it really bad. Personally, I don't.....I am just not at all into it, and this is a very unsafe practice. I often think, well at least I got a Bachelor's degree out of the deal even if I eventuallly do not even utilize the nursing part of it!