What do you think about negative comments from exp nurses about nursing?

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Does it discourage you?

Does it intimidate you or make you not want to do it?

Especially for you career changers, if you read other forums on this site it can be discouraging!

No. I never allow others to dictate my mood, life or expectations of life in any way. How many times have you heard someone say something nasty about a job or another person. Then find out in your own experience with that job or person, that the opposite was true?

Originally posted by renerian

Nursing is the hardest job you will ever do and sometimes we get very very tired. Sometimes we have no social life, work odd hours, weekends holidays. Hard to do.

A saw a post about not worrying about lay offs?? Sorry it happens to nurses. I have been laid off 6 times in 10 years.

renerian

I guess I was looking for some reassurance not more negativity but whatever..

I think i am currently working on of the hardest jobs, plus going to school and night and managinf my family of four.

Thanks for the warning but I'll have to rise above all of that :rolleyes:

I tend to agree with Caroline about the abuse you take in service industry jobs. Like I said in another post, I have spent years working in the casino industry where (for me anyway), you are treated pretty much like a piece of garbage by the public, backstabbing co-workers and bosses. I guess that's because people tend to assume that you must be an uneducated moron and you can be easily replaced. I feel that I am pretty much prepared for the dark side of nursing in dealing with condenscending doctors, other nurses, patients etc., because of my past negative experiences with people.

At least with nursing, there are so many avenues you can take if one working environment becomes too negative and toxic to stay at, you can go somewhere else.:)

Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

agent

I think you are asking us to paint a picture that just isn't so. It's not that nursing is bad, but it is very hard work....harder than most other professions. Saying you have to "rise above all that" is an insult to renarian who gave you some good feedback. Really, what are you looking for here?

I worked years ago as a CNA and now when I see my old co-workers and tell them that I graduate in Dec. with an ADN, they look at me like I'm out of my mind. They say 'that's the last thing I'd advise anyone to go into, etc. But it doesn't bother me, they must have liked it, they're still working at the same hospital as I used to over 20 years ago.LOL :)

I know only two nurses and their opinions are positive. There are always negative issues in every occupation and I have to find that out for myself. If we listened to all the negative people there would be no one to make any changes ! Listen to them, file it away and form your own opinion.

Well I havent yet entered the program so I am truly evaluating ppl's opinions and then forming my own.

I WANT TO KNOW what the nurses who are advising us that we should think twice about nursing would rather have done with their lives???

I want you to convince me NOT to go into nursing... with all of the negativity I've already heard I'm still not convinced.

I am not a fool and nor do I want to be made into one by involving myself in something that is going to be bad for me and my family.

So if you've got something meaninful to say that may help me make a life decision then say it.. otherwise I'm going to continue to use this thread as a pep rally for us up-and-commers.. nieve or not.

Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

OK, agent, I understand what you are getting at...but please don't mistake some of the comments here for negativity when what we are truly talking is reality.

That said, I can say lots that is purely positive about nursing as well.

1)Nursing allows me to have a full personal life and a rewarding career. I would never want to work 5 days a week again and I can't think of any profession that would allow me to work 3 days and have 4 off every week and still get full time pay/benefits. I like that my day is done when I leave the hospital. After that my life is my own. Nothing to take home, no calls about work to my home.

2)It is hard to get bored in nursing. I learn something new everyday. This is a field where stagnation occurs only when allowed. I have a low threshold for boredom, but in nursing just changing specialties is like entering a whole new field sometimes. If I didn't want to work with patients, then I could go into research as an RN (with a bit more education, anyway.) Or I could teach. Or be a nurse consultant. The opportunities are endless.

There's more, but i don't want to get long winded...

Best of luck in your future nursing career!

Thank you so much!

I didnt mean to be an ass I was just get aggravated with the "you'll regret its" but no "this is what I would have done and why.."

:)

Specializes in Obstetrics, M/S, Psych.

You're welcome! And thanks for urging me to ponder and realize anew that this profession definitely does have it's perks!

Originally posted by agent

I WANT TO KNOW what the nurses who are advising us that we should think twice about nursing would rather have done with their lives???

I want you to convince me NOT to go into nursing... with all of the negativity I've already heard I'm still not convinced.

I am not a fool and nor do I want to be made into one by involving myself in something that is going to be bad for me and my family.

Check the stats on divorced nurses who do NOT have custody of their kids due to the demands of their careers. That's the biggest sacrifice, and NO, it is NOT worth it. Nurses are expected to sacrifice their own families (intact or not) for the sake of their patients. Somewhere along the lines priorities are just all screwy. Do a search on the research done on the correlation between codependents and those who enter any service occupation, particularly nursing. It is no accident that the divorce, substance abuse, and suicide rates of nurses (especially those in "critical" fields such as critical and emergency care) rival those of cops. It's extreme. Families of nurses are required to make sacrifices that maybe they didn't ask for. Then we feel we have to ...what's the word I'm looking for?....disparage them for taking a stand in THEIR own defense...as if they're supposed to hold to the very same unrealistic standard that the nurse is held to. You want facts? Do the research. Look up the long-term effects of shiftwork, particularly night shift work, on the body and mind. Don't turn a deaf ear and don't complain when you get the answers you asked for, negative or not. People are telling you what they feel from their own experiences and whether they feel it has been worth it or not. It pays the bills, but if I could do it over again, I would probably be in PT or OT instead...or, I would have gone on to med school as originally planned and become a radiologist....

In either case, I would have more respect and more independence and FEWER job descriptions and responsibilities than I do as a nurse who gets paid MUCH less than those in those professions....and much better hours, too....I wouldn't be so sleep deprived that I sleep through my alarm clocks (I keep three clocks set, sleep through all of them several mornings a week) and I would be able to be a MOM to my kids who are growning REALLY fast, and maybe, just maybe, I might be able to make a dance recital or a soccer game or two...something I can't do now because I'm working all the time or else I'm passed out cold...all life consists of as a nurse is work and sleep, work and sleep. Quality of life means SO much...don't sacrifice the quality of your life for something that is perhaps cheaper to go for or easily accessible where you are.....there is a dire shortage for a REASON....

Best of luck...

Barbara

As I said in a earlier post:

Any "health promotion" practitioner will tell you that exposure to chronic persistent stress leads to a wide variety of problems that if left unchecked can lead to serious consequences to one's health.

In nursing we learn about the concept of ineffective coping and the negative outcomes this has on our patients.

Nursing practice today can be described as an environment filled with chronic persistent stress so it is no wonder nursing practitioners everywhere are fed up.

But...

The reality is that we as a society tend to be reactive and not proactive and thus things have to get really, really bad before the "powers that be" are motivated to change things.

So where are the change agents?

-HBS

:confused:

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