I hate nursing..

[flygirls2]

I graduated in December, and have been working on an inpatient oncology unit since. I DREAD going to work each week. The days I do have off, I'm too tired to enjoy. I'm not overwhelmed or any of the typical things you'd assume. I just don't like it!

Is this normal for new nurses? Does it pass? Were most of you in love with nursing from the get-go? Maybe I need a new are of nursing?

I just don't know what to do, I'm already pondering starting up a new degree program.

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

The one unfortunate thing is that in this economy, it's almost impossible to find the floor you want. You just take what you can get! Hopefully the economy will improve and allow most of us to find our "niche."

[shinyblackcar]

I went right into acute psych and love it. I will probably stay in psych for the duration. It is easier than most other specialties, cleaner, and really entertaining! I hated med/surg in clinicals, would never work it.

That's awesome! I'd love to do psych nursing at some point. :-)

[amalbon]

I am a new grad, about 6 months into my first job. I hate it too a lot of the time. Literally want to cry before I start 3 in a row on. I'm on the night shift. You didn't mention if you were or not, but I think that's what I hate about nursing. I'm having a really hard time on nights. Not so much because of the time adjustment but because I feel very isolated from my friends and family due to having to sleep when I am not at work. When you work nights, you dont' get together with your friends after work to go to dinner or have drinks or play sports in rec leagues or anything. You get off work, go to sleep, wake up and go to work again. It's making me depressed.

My worry is that it's not nights I hate, but nursing. I'm hoping that's not the case and just hoping I can get on a day shift sooner rather than later. If it is nursing I hate, well then, I have no clue.

Know you aren't alone. I wish I had someone on my floor to commiserate with. It's pretty lonely here. No other new (or even recent grads) at all. Good luck! Hope you find your place in it all.

[marie-francoise]

I think it's entirely normal to hate nursing. There are a lot of RN's out there who are not at the bedside. They will talk about the good sides of nursing, yes; but they are not at the bedside. Believe me, don't worry - you are not alone in how you feel. And those bedside nurses who like their jobs - we are very thankful for you; takes some fortitude, definitely.

[spongebob6286, BSN, RN]

a good friend of mine told me that if you dont enjoy your work then better resign especiialy if it gives you a lot of stress . its because when you dont love your job, you wont be able to perform and execute your job well. maybe at first you thought you wont like it but as days go by you will realize you are starting to enjoy it.

[Preeps]

I disagree that if you don't love your job you can't be effective etc. As I posted, I am not happy w/my situation or my floor (and right now due to economy feel I must stay put). But I still give good care, my patients like me, I am a consciencous and hard working nurse. I can function due to discipline and because I care about my patients and since I have taken on the obligation and my patients depend on me, every day I do the best for my patients that I can. My patients come first. That said, I feel my floor is unsafe at times and I don't respect my nurse manager or the administration because of this. And I myself have gone in, along with others to speak directly to my nurse manager and she always come back with some theme of, "But it's the budget". So, at this point I would feel it is true when I typed in I hate nursing. Not all of it, not the patients but the situation that many nurses, including me, find themselves in , yes, I hate it.

[marie-francoise]

That said, I feel my floor is unsafe at times.

True - and you will see on Web boards that older nurses regret & rue how nursing has changed over the years. It is a repeated theme. The mighty dollar now rules health care, and this has made for some bad changes over the years - short-staffing, 12-hour shifts, higher acuity patients with shorter stays, lack of respect for patient-care issues over money issues, etc., etc., etc. I would wager that many of the really good nurses notice & feel these extreme shortcomings of their profession the most, and are the ones who hate their situation the more for it. The good nurses, I bet, reach burnout quickest.

[Preeps]

. . . . The mighty dollar now rules health care, and this has made for some bad changes over the years - short-staffing, 12-hour shifts, higher acuity patients with shorter stays, lack of respect for patient-care issues over money issues, etc., etc., etc. I would wager that many of the really good nurses notice & feel these extreme shortcomings of their profession the most, and are the ones who hate their situation the more for it. The good nurses, I bet, reach burnout quickest.

Hmm, I never thought of it that way, about the good nurses burning out quickest. Good point. I am the type if I have a problem/complaint I will not just whine about it but will try and go and bring it to the person who can do something about it (purportedly any way). I feel better about it, atleast I have tried to communicate the problems. In my case it was like banging my head against a wall for all the good it did. My nurse mananger seems like a nice person on a personal level but she will not go to bat for her nurses, or her floor, or her patients. Forget about the conditions for the nurses but for patient safety. My hospital is wonderful at taking surveys but very poor at implementing changes that would solve the problem. One question they ask each year: Would you want a friend or family member to be a patient on your floor? Heck NO. Pretty much everyone answers the same. But nothing is every done to make things better. Very frustrating.

[marie-francoise]

One question they ask each year: Would you want a friend or family member to be a patient on your floor? Heck NO. Pretty much everyone answers the same. But nothing is every done to make things better. Very frustrating.

It's almost laughable - I like when staff coach the patient by asking the ill patient who is lying in his/her bed not giving half a $!%# about these survey questions, "So would you say you'd 'DEFINITELY' recommend this hospital to a friend?" It's a steaming load of baloney, to use a polite word. Yes, they are MUCH more interested in customer satisfaction surveys and graphs than they are about actually improving the safety of the workplace, including staffing levels. Better to capture how pts feel about the hospital food than about safe staffing, ya know...

[86toronado, BSN, RN]

For all of you who said that you hate nursing, I have to ask why you went into it in the first place...

Was it to help people? Was it for the money? The job security? The flexible schedule?

Try and remember why you got into it in the first place, and focus on that, rather than you coworker's bad attitudes, or the management's "customer service" initiatives. I personally went into nursing because I wanted to work three 12-hour shifts a week. That's it. You don't find a whole lot of jobs these days that allow you that kind of flexibility with your schedule, much less decent paying ones. So, when I get stressed, or ticked off at a coworker, I just think ahead to my next four day stretch with no work stress, no bad attitudes, and no management. Works like a charm. That said, 9 times out of 10, I love my job, my floor, and my coworkers, and wouldn't change a thing!

[ruralgirl08]

Hi, I sometimes feel the same way about my job, but I am trying to see it as a learning opportunity. I am trying to weigh what I like and dislike about my job, and find which direction to go with my career. Try and look at it more objectively, likes/dislikes of the Nursing Jobs you have had. Take a Myers-Briggs personality assessment, look at other specialties, and work toward a new goal. In the end, you can always quit and do something else, but you worked so hard to get here. I recently realized and accepted that I do not like floor nursing, though I am doing it now. I like one on one if that be: ICU, OR, Case manager, school nurse, occupational heath, ect. I just have to find the right fit. I ordered this book "Building and Managing A Career in Nursing," by Miller, its a Sigma Theta Taubook. It hasn't come in yet, but I am hoping it will give me some guidance. I wish we had a course in career planning in our BScN program:) Alot of new grads and seasoned nurses for that matter, seem to have similar feelings; feeling like they are stuck in a rut. Btw, I will let you know if the book is worth buying:)

[ruralgirl08]

"I ordered this book "Building and Managing A Career in Nursing," by Miller, its a Sigma Theta Taubook/Nurse Week recommended book. It hasn't come in yet, but I am hoping it will give me some guidance"

-I recieved the book this morning, and I haven't stopped reading it. I would recommend it to anyone in a nursing career rut, or wanting some more direction for change or advancement, new grad and seasoned nurse alike. I would suggest reading it, and doing a lot of self-reflecting & personality analysis as suggested in the book.