Anyone want to share why nursing has been a POSITIVE career choice for you?

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Jan 30, 2005

Hey Marla ! I just LOVE the new avitar !!! Tooo funny ! That's EXACTLY what I do at work WHEN I get an opportunity to sit for a minute, and I feel like I'm about to lose it.. I get a case of the "about to lose it sillies", and start spinning a mile a minute !
My patients sit there in stunned silence... :uhoh21:

You & I must be kindred spirits.....I can't resist doing the sit-n-spin thing either, especially when I'm about ready to tear my hair out at work and I need a stress-buster! :chuckle

Glad you got a kick out of the avi.....

abundantjoy07, RN · Jan 30, 2005

I am still a student, but there is one positive thing that stands above everything else. I see patients who have not taken good care of themselves. Seeing diabetic patients with complications finally led me to get a pump. It's making me take better care of myself....kinda scared my straight about managing my diabetes.

Debbie_LPN · Jan 30, 2005

It feels good knowing that you have made someones day........just by calling them by their first name!!!

Antikigirl, ASN, RN · Jan 30, 2005

"it's not "NURSING" we get so frustrated with.. rather it is the policies and administrative/corporate greed which chisels away at what we are so capable and proud of.. our ability to give compassionate and competent care."

Exactly! When I get to help someone when they need me most with the info I have floating around in my brian, or simply to lead someone in the right direction towards helping themselves, or even just my presence making someone else feel that they are cared for and not ignored...that is when I feel like a nurse..and that is rewarding!

When I listen and send someone in to the ER because I noticed something someone else missed, when I fix a med probelm, when I explain medical things to people that look like doe in the headlights...I like being a nurse!

WHen I am respected and valued..thank you or not, when I can take charge and get things done, when the families/patients listen...I like being a nurse.

But so many times it all of these things are overshadowed by politics, beurocratic red tape, legal issues, and the all consuming fear of trying my best and still having my license and my livelyhood laying out naked for anyone to say one thing..and it ripped away...that is what I hate! I hate the disrepect, and the two faced theories most administrations have towards nurses in general..the 'be a professional always' yet treating us like less with our ideas, thoughts, suggestions or insistance! This is what I hate...and sad to say it is common, it is always...and it is very very consistant .

We all must individually strive to find the drive that keeps us being nurses through all of that..the goods, the bads and yes..the ugly of our job. Each one does it differently and many find sharing or talking to other nurses like on forums like this is very helpful. That is why one may see many negatives.

But then it happens...a question on why we like our roles comes up...and we all remember why..and hopefully it is like a thank you from a patient...keeps you going :)

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Jan 30, 2005

"it's not "NURSING" we get so frustrated with.. rather it is the policies and administrative/corporate greed which chisels away at what we are so capable and proud of.. our ability to give compassionate and competent care."
Exactly! When I get to help someone when they need me most with the info I have floating around in my brian, or simply to lead someone in the right direction towards helping themselves, or even just my presence making someone else feel that they are cared for and not ignored...that is when I feel like a nurse..and that is rewarding!
When I listen and send someone in to the ER because I noticed something someone else missed, when I fix a med probelm, when I explain medical things to people that look like doe in the headlights...I like being a nurse!
WHen I am respected and valued..thank you or not, when I can take charge and get things done, when the families/patients listen...I like being a nurse.
But so many times it all of these things are overshadowed by politics, beurocratic red tape, legal issues, and the all consuming fear of trying my best and still having my license and my livelyhood laying out naked for anyone to say one thing..and it ripped away...that is what I hate! I hate the disrepect, and the two faced theories most administrations have towards nurses in general..the 'be a professional always' yet treating us like less with our ideas, thoughts, suggestions or insistance! This is what I hate...and sad to say it is common, it is always...and it is very very consistant .
We all must individually strive to find the drive that keeps us being nurses through all of that..the goods, the bads and yes..the ugly of our job. Each one does it differently and many find sharing or talking to other nurses like on forums like this is very helpful. That is why one may see many negatives.
But then it happens...a question on why we like our roles comes up...and we all remember why..and hopefully it is like a thank you from a patient...keeps you going :)

Bravo !!! APPLAUSE !!!

Excellent post. Thank you for expressing what we all know and feel...

the good, the bad.. and the ugly.

May the GOOD prevail.

leslie :-D · Jan 31, 2005

ever since i could remember, i've been 'nursing' all sorts of people and animals.

the kids picked on in school, confronting the bullies;

seeing homeless people begging, people in wc's (esp kids); people that were destitute.....

then in the 80's reading about the aids epidemic and how infuriated i became of the spewed venom from our society's judgemental perspective.

the underdog. the neglected. the underserved. the rejected. the outcasts.

it has always been instinctive for me to somehow help these people.

that's why my philosophy has always been that nursing does not belong within the confines of a facility.

as fellow human beings, we are to nurse each other- to help those in need.

so for me to go to nsg school and learn the art and science was just a natural extension of my life.

and personally, have never been more fulfilled with what i do as a nurse.

leslie

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Jan 31, 2005

as fellow human beings, we are to nurse each other- to help those in need.
so for me to go to nsg school and learn the art and science was just a natural extension of my life.
and personally, have never been more fulfilled with what i do as a nurse.
leslie

DITTO !!! Well said, and I can so relate!

SmilingBluEyes · Jan 31, 2005

I get to watch new families and lives born. That is the best "high" there is!

pmchap · Jan 31, 2005

We nurses - like all people love to unload our stress - and unfortuanately that means forums like this can seem negative, but most nurses have a core desire to see that their patients are looked after in a positve way. For me as a Clinical Educator I enjoy my role only when I see nurses that I have worked with making a positive difference to patients lives.

I also like being a nurse when you see past patients doing well... The old man with the new hip stopping me in the street to tell me how his grandkids are going - it tells me that I have touched his life and made it enjoyable. Being able to sit with a patient after the doctor has flown through and explain what is going to happen in the next test are moments that tell me I am happy being a nurse.

Yes there are times when ever nurse asks - why am I doing this - but thankfully the positive times seem to stick in my memory more clearly then the negative.

Cheers

Peter

azgal40 · Jan 31, 2005

Thank you everyone, it is really refreshing to read a positive post. I am a pre nursing student and there have been many times when I felt like giving up my dream due to all the negative things I read about nursing. But I just have this strong desire to be a nurse that never goes away. Reading the positive things really helps me feel that this is the right decision.:)

widow2RN · Jan 31, 2005

I keep hearing (and reading on this forum and elswhere) some pretty negative things about nursing as a profession in general. As a prospective nursing student as a second-career, I am attracted to it as a career because of the interesting subject matter, importance of the role in other people's lives, job availability and flexibility (among other things). But I sometimes wonder if I'm making a crazy choice.
Anyone care to share if nursing has been a good life choice with you? If you find it personally fulfilling, or better than other jobs you've had in your life, I'd love to hear. Thanks!

Hi, I'm with you. Meaning that I'm a nursing student myself and have already started hearing the negative. But, I'm also practical... I'm 43 y/o... recently widowed, and realize that there is a nursing shortage out there that is only going to get bigger in the next few years to come. The way I see it... no matter what career choice we make, there is always going to be the negative. But, we can still make the choice in whatever we choice to bring the postive to the forefront. I take comfort in the thought that when the nursing program is behind me and I've already faced the NCLEX and yet am another year older, that at least I will be facing a career that shouldn't age discriminate when they so desperately need good nurses. To me... it's just a matter of making a choice... sticking with it... and going into it with the determination of being the best at it. All I can tell you is to 1) stick with your heart and 2) be practical and realistic about the negative that ANY job will bring with it. But, you know... it just might be that you can be the one to make a difference and go the extra mile that most don't... and that is what will make it all worthwhile to you. Good luck in your choices!

P_RN, ADN, RN · Jan 31, 2005

Circumstances as they are, I've not worked as a mNurse for the past 5 years. I've had LOTS of time to reflect on the past 30 years. I loved it at first while I was in school and when I graduated, my father had tears in his eyes when he said you're an RN now.

I think he thought I was an aide or something.

When I started hospital work it was a whole new world. They'd just moved to a new building so staffs who had been frends for decades were split up and assigned far away. It was HARD being the new girl there. I was 3 years there before I felt acceptable enough to accept going to lunch together.

I can only think of about 4 or 5 MDs DOs who were a pain. One of them groped me and I reflexively groped back just a bit lower.I wanted to make a lasting impression. He wouldn't be in the same area with me from then on. Another doc-real bear of a man-small in stature big in growling was in the on-call room one night when the light went off and all I could hear was a whispering wheeze. He was having a big attack and had no meds. We got a RT up there and called the Medical resident. Well tht story ended nicely. He made a 180 in attitude, He even brought his grandmother for her total joint to our place because the nurses are wonderful.

There are mean people, there are mean nurses, there are mean cops......just look for the good ones and occasionally feel sorry for the ones who just don't get it. I think you will do just fine.