RN's are you happy with your career, why or why not?

[anjoku13]

I've seen so many posts about nurses hating their jobs, and this is kind of scaring me from the career, but I still want to go through with it. But are you happy with your choice to become an RN why or why not?

[Scooter59]

Nursing is a second career for me. I made waaaaay more $$ in my first career, but am totally happy as an RN. I work in behavioral health and the satisfaction of helping someone through a psychotic break or a suicidal depression is beyond description. I'm really glad I chose nursing. If I'd done it earlier in life, I might be an MD now. But hindsight's always 20 20.

[KatiejonD, RN]

I was a school nurse for five years - it was the ONLY job as in my 12 years of Nursing that I felt fulfilled doing. The money was a joke, but I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Unfortunately, working for people (read: administration) who not only have zero concept of what a nurse does (legally, ethically, etc), and zero respect for nurses... I walked away from the school job. So no, I would say that overall, I regret every going into Nursing.

[anewsns]

It took me more than 5 years to learn to love nursing, because I felt so incompetent and stressed out. Now I dislike the barriers to good care that I push against every day: Staffing, bad planning and processes, leaders who don't remember what it's like to actually deliver the care. But I love what I do and I love my patients and their families, even the jerky ones, because they are who they are and the fun part for me is figuring out how to give them what they need even when they're struggling so hard against that. Mainly what kept me going for those first 5 years or so was the feeling that I was building a knowledge base, and quitting would invalidate all the hard times I went through. I do feel lucky to have made it to this point, though. The deck is so stacked against good nursing care, in so many ways. You have to learn to tolerate mistakes and bad outcomes *that could have been prevented* and that can be so, so hard.

Yes, I relate to every bit of this! I've been a nurse for 8 years and echo this sentiment. It took me a really long time to like it but I do now and am happy with my career choice !

Oddly, when I was about 22 and choosing this career choice I said "I may not like it but I feel like I'll be happy in 10 years since it seems satisfying overall". Good prophecy, I'm 33 now and have been happy for a couple years now.

[Estateboy, RN, EMT-P]

Having owned a successful business and been an employer (10-25 employees) and now an employee (I've been an RN for only 4 months), the two most important factors to job satisfaction are: What you do and who you work for/with. Money and benefits are number 3 and 4. Your boss and the pressure they bring are vital to retaining good employees. All is well, now, working at a small Med-Surge unit but I don't know if I will be here in 2 or 3 years. Best thing about this career is ...if you don't like your job, find another.

[Farawyn]

Love it, since I've been a school nurse.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I am happy with both my career and my job. Being a nurse and an educator is part of my personal identity and I love that what I do for a living matters on a fundamental level. I am proud of being a nurse.

[HalfBoiled, BSN, RN]

I am happy with the work I do.

I am unhappy with most of the people I work with.

[Not_A_Hat_Person, RN]

Because one of these things is not like the other. Once you do the work for the BS you'll know. You'll know!!!

"Accolay's Deep Thoughts" or "Well, you asked."

To answer the OP- I've had a lot of jobs. Some of them were really crummy, some were ok, but none of them paid very well. I get paid the best as a nurse. :)

And here I'll generalize: I don't think a lot of the kids these days did any work before they started nursing. Like real work. Like horrible, day in and day out crappy low pay, soul-crushing working for the man work and did that job for as long as was required. The work hiring economy is different now- you're not looked down as much by a potential hirer for quitting a job as you were 15 years ago- there's more of an easy out now.They didn't have to learn to deal with stupid stuff "mind over matter" to get ahead.

There are many people these days who think that they are supposed to have things given to them. They graduated high school and college, so now they deserve to have the best job and the highest pay without having to start at the bottom and work their way up.

Those that enter nursing as a second career think they are going from that soul-crushing job to something more fulfilling, but somehow forget that they'll be cleaning up poop.

I've done those jobs and as it turns out, cleaning up poop isn't that bad for my hourly rate. I think a lot of the complainers haven't experienced the true wonder of working a full 40 hour week, looking at a paycheck and thinking "what the hell?" Too much Facebook warps a persons reality. The grass has always had a touch of brown.

And no, money isn't the end game, but once you get to a certain age, you may think differenty about the future and what you'd like to create for yourself. A nursing paycheck goes pretty far these days if you're smart with your funds. And you can go anywhere. And you can do many different jobs in the field. And your pay will usually increase. It's a true career, but many get bogged down with existential crises.

Let the millenial bashing begin!

[llg, PhD, RN]

I am one of the "somewhere in the middle" people. Now that my career is in its last stages, I find myself wondering what my life might have been like had I chosen something else -- something more lucrative -- something more satisfying -- something, oh anything else.

But I have had a few good years and done OK financially. So I shouldn't complain too much. I just wish it had been more fun.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

Hating your job is not the same thing as hating your chosen career. I have never actually hated any of my jobs but have grown to hate many of my past employers. When that happens, I move on.

This!

[dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I]

The university of Michigan did a study of which careers have the highest "early retirement not for financial reasons" rates. Number 1 was RN's, number 2 was heavy equipment operators. Notably, these 2 had the same injuries preventing work. (I'd heard the same thing long ago from a rehab doc).

Of course, all this was published after I was already disabled from back injuries. Nurses are just a commodity used to make money, which irks me because what other profession works so closely with people. Had I kept to my original plan of becoming a NP I would have been so much better off. I'll try to post a link to the study I mentioned. Be warned it's 60 pages of the most boring reading you can find.

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/117396/wp331.pdf

or you can read the synopsis below.

I know of many people who became nurses as a stepping stone to other careers.

[needlesmcgeeRN, ASN, RN]

A few months ago I left a good, laid back Primary Care office job with great co-workers, in order to work closer to home. I am really enjoying my new position and awesome co-workers, but there are changes coming that have me anxious for the future. I hope changes are ultimately good and I can continue liking my new job.