Does anyone here like nursing?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 31, 2017

I've seen so many topics and posts about those who hate their nursing jobs. As a future nursing student this worries me. Most of the nurses and nursing students I talk too in my area seem to like nursing some even say they love it and that all the hard work at the nursing school was worth it.
However in my area with the 4 year nursing degree there are alot of jobs and nurses start off with high pay so that may be a factor.

First off, this is a NURSING forum, so you will have nurses (and students) discussing their feelings about their jobs, their instructors, etc. It is not our responsibility not to scare future nursing students.

Second, people who have gripes are more likely to post than people who are happy with their jobs, their colleagues and their lives. That's just human nature. Someone who has had a really bad shift is more likely to post to complain about it that someone who has had a good shift. I am surprised that you haven't noticed this about the internet.

Many of us like nursing, love our colleagues, enjoy our jobs and DO post about it. But such posts are much more difficult to find.

Nursing is an interesting, challenging career with stable employment, comfortable working conditions (as opposed to outdoors when the temperatures are 106 or 37 below), decent pay and usually good benefits. You get the opportunity to make a real difference for people. I've had a decent lifestyle with a comfortable home, reliable car and the occasional fabulous vacation. There are negatives, of course, but there are negatives with every job under the sun.

bluestar776 · Dec 31, 2017

Thanks everyone for the replies. They are all very insightful :)

Susie2310 · Dec 31, 2017

I think that often the issue is really about reasonable expectations for those considering entering the profession. From reading on this forum it appears it is fairly common for people considering nursing as a career/job or nursing students to like the idea of nursing and the relatively stable employment opportunities and opportunities for earning a decent income, but not to actually be really interested in doing the work that nurses do, which for most nurses is providing direct care to sick patients in hospitals, or to not like the unsocial working hours. Also, nursing education has changed so that nursing students today are not as prepared clinically as in the past to function in their first jobs without significantly more training by the facility, which a facility may or may not provide.

It is also often mentioned here that one doesn't need to be "called" to be a nurse and that it is quite reasonable to become a nurse for practical reasons (which I agree with up to a point; the point being that one still needs to be interested enough in nursing and willing to put in the time to learn/become competent and do the work that nurses do to conscientiously provide good nursing care to the best of one's ability).

While there are multiple reasons for people being disappointed with their career choice, I believe that managing one's expectations at the beginning is very sensible. When that doesn't happen, new nurses seem to want to very quickly move on to advanced practice roles without ever becoming competent let alone experienced nurses, and we have a proliferation of advanced practice roles with inexperienced or non-experienced nurses which is not good for patients or for the nurses.

It appears from reading here that a number of people are going into nursing with the goal of avoiding or quickly getting away from learning to provide actual bedside nursing care and actually doing this for a significant period of time in a job before they move on to graduate school. No wonder some people are disappointed and don't like nursing - the Holy Grail is always somewhere else. Then we read about how some of the people who have moved on to higher degrees/advanced practice roles are still dissatisfied.

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Dec 31, 2017

The main problem with nursing is even if you can find your "fit" TPTB choose to understaff to pad their pockets, disregard nursing input if it gets in the way of money which is pretty much all the time, combined with lack of control over your assignment, and dealing with some people that are impossible to please and being expected to do every other person's job on top of yours. If you were only responsible for your job and had adequate staff and resources and were respected and listened to it would be ok.

I'm glad I'm nearing retirement and can put this behind me. Why do I stay, for the pension, for the benefits I've accrued, its convenient close to home, pay is ok, and I don't like change. It's comfortable, I know the routine, I'm happy with my schedule, I like my manager, just not the corporate yahoos dictating things now. If I knew then what I know now I would have went back to school for my NP. I think I would have enjoyed that job much more than floor nursing. I'm not willing to take the pay cut required to do other things such as homecare or clinic nursing. I'm saving all my money to be able to retire early and my mortgage will be paid off before I'm 62.

Honestly, I feel sorry for the new grads and what they are walking into because at least when I first started we had great staffing and plenty of resources. I would advise anyone going into nursing to plan on getting their NP.

Workitinurfava, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2017

I like nursing but not the conditions under which some nurses are asked to work. I will always like helping and healing people. I would never go to work and be nasty to a patient. If I need to go the extra mile for them and can I will. That will never change despite it all.

Been there,done that, ASN, RN · Dec 31, 2017

Nursing will be what you make of it. It is a most difficult career..anywhere you go.

Best wishes to you. I myself.. would not have become a nurse., knowing what I know now.

KeepinitrealCCRN · Dec 31, 2017

i also love nursing and my job most of the time. as others have said i wouldn't want to do anything else.

LadysSolo · Dec 31, 2017

Being a nurse and now a NP, I will say I like the patient care/contact and the intellectual challenge of helping people, but I detest the paperwork (which only gets more and more ridiculous,) and the constant pressure from TPTB to do more and more with no increase in compensation.

Green Tea, RN · Jan 1, 2018

I have a nurse friend who is still in her 20s and has only 1-2 years of med surg experience. She broke her back lately and now she doesn't know what to do with her nursing career. She hasn't been able to find a nursing job which accommodates her disability. This is awful because she spent lots of money and time to get a nursing degree.

People who can keep working bedside for many years are actually very lucky in my opinion. It may seem many nursing jobs are out there, but many of them are physical. If you become not able to do lifting, you may have to find a job which is outside of nursing.

AutumnApple · Jan 1, 2018

I've learned, with regards to liking nursing vs not, I tend to create my own reality.

If I've done the footwork and selected a job that suits me, has compensation that supports me and doesn't ask for anything I can't give in return (for instance, I simply can't do 16hr shifts anymore) then I'm happy.

If I've recklessly jumped into the first job that presented itself or went into if for the wrong reasons (delusional about some aspect of the job such as thinking "This time I'll be well respected because I'm in *fill in the blank* specialty".) then I don't love nursing.

Over time, I've come to learn that things like schedule, parking and commute are what keep me happy (or unhappy). When I'm unhappy about my job, its usually something like that upsetting me, not nursing per se. I could be a lawyer, politician, accountant, waitress or whatever else and those things would still affect me so, no...........it's not a question of liking nursing or not.

Cattiness, people expecting more than their due accommodation with scheduling, people not wanting to do their work etc etc........it's in nursing everywhere, and in other professions everywhere. If those things are bringing me down, then I need to look at myself. They aren't going anywhere. So best to take care of the things I can change like parking and commute so I'm happy.

Workitinurfava, BSN, RN · Jan 1, 2018

That is horrible. Injuries are all to common in this field. You are right, with bedside nursing you will always have a job.

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Jan 1, 2018

Injuries are a real problem in our profession. I have a dear friend who underwent fusion surgery in her neck which was probably related to many years of service in busy ERs. She went back to work & is in pain again. I think many of us nurses who aren't getting any younger should face the reality of moving to a less physically demanding position when our bodies tell us its time. However, our stick-to-itness and working through pain which have served us so well through the years may become impediments to this & our "golden years" maybe highlighted by chronic pain