Is it okay to love parts of nursing and hate others?

[luckymichelle]

I'm a first year RN student, and I'm admittedly pretty green. However, so many areas aren't what I expected. I'm getting the impression from my instructors that "If you don't love ALL of nursing, that you are in the wrong profession..." Obviously, no one has said that directly, and I have a positive attitude, so I doubt that these comments are directed at me. I'm just curious at what you all experienced nurses have to say about this...

As always, I love lurking and reading your posts... you guys really do educate this poor girl!

Michelle :)

[Dinith88]

........NOBODY enjoys cleaning up incontinent diarrhea, or smelling feet..

...

[NeuroICURN]

Don't worry. I love cardiac, but pregnant women make me nervous as hell; therefore, you won't find this nurse working OB, ever.

I hear ya rollingstone! Although, I love neuro, kinda hate cardiac (more like sick of it) and DEFINATELY hate pregnant women and babies! Like you said, they make me nervous as heck too!!! Once had a neuro patient that was pregnant with twins.....those were the longest two 12-hour shifts of my life! So not only was I responsible for the two adults I was assigned to, I also had to consider the two babies! UGH!

So, to answer your question....YES, it is OK to hate certain parts of nursing! Even as much as I love my neuro patients, there's still things in my day that I don't look forward to! Any instructor who tells you that you need to eat, sleep and breathe nursing 24/7 needs a reality check themselves!!!

Hope this helps!

[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

......Seriously, do you think your instructors became instructors because they love bedside nursing?.....

Excellent point.

[talaxandra]

I think the key thing is that you love at least one part of nursing, whatever that is. That's what's so wonderful about it - there's an area for (practically) everyone, and the same thing that nurse A adores above all else is abhorent to nurse B. I have friends who run away squealing, hands flung in the air, at the prospect of medical patients, and if I never see another psych patient it'll be way too soon :)

I just wish instructors like yours would think before they say things like that, though - how many other students are there who think that because they hated their last clinical they'll be a bad nurse? :angryfire

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edited for typo correction

[MelissaRN]

Alot of nurses hate "working the floor", it's not for everybody. You have to find the right area that you can thrive on. I was at my best friend's pinning ceremony on Friday and one of the faculty spoke on this very subject. She said that many nurses find where they want to be specialty-wise right at the start while others try many areas searchhing for their niche. Don't get too frustrated that floor nursing isn't for you. I've been doing it for a year and some days I enjoy it while other days I'm tearing my hair out!! I'm actually about to make a move away from floor nursing within the next month myself.

[missmercy]

For Pete's sake; you can't love all of nursing! How could anyone love doing painful dressings, or seeing someone die senselessly. I think that great nurses get rewards from what they do that far exceeds the many situations that could break your heart. Maybe that was what she was trying to say, and didn't.

VERY well said!! There are moments of days when I want to be anywhere but where I am, doing anything but what I am doing..... but then I remember that there are not very many folks who have the gift that enables them to do what we do, where and how we do it! It isn't always fun, but it is a special job that I believe God prepares and rewards certain folks for.

[Canuck RN]

Do I Love Every Area Of Nursing? Definitely Not!!!! But Having Celebrated 39 Years Of Graduation On May 10th,i Can Honestly Say I Have Loved Nursing For Those 39 Years And Though Retired From A56 Bed Medical Unit I Just Couldn't Give It Up. I Do Some Teaching For A Community Agency On A Casual Basis And Also Do Wellness Clinics In The Community. In My Heart I Will Always Be A Nurse. And I Can Honestly Say I Would Have Gone To Work Evenif They Didn't Pay Me (well Maybe). Come To Think Of It When I First Started Working In A Large Metropolitan Hospital, Our Salary Was $300 A Month With No Overtime Or Stat Holiday Pay. It's Been A Great Career And One I Wouldn't Change. I'm Sure There Will Be Some Who Think I Live In Lala Land But To Each His Own.

[Audreyfay]

The nursing instructor was a pie in the sky idealist. Like the saying goes, "those who can't do, teach."

Sign me: "Still looking for Utopia, but loving the scene along the way."