Hi. I'm a nursing student, doing well in school, graduate in September. I've been working at my degree for almost 4 years; pre-reqs. and waiting to get in..... then transfering to another school. Anyway, I'm still plugging away.
I visit this site often, and it seems like all I read/see is negativity. Nurses who hate their jobs, bad preceptors, toxic work enviornments, mean charge nurses, evil co-workers, ungrateful patients, rude doctors, etc. etc. etc.
Nurses with broken backs, broken spirits, and broken bank accounts. People on skid row.
Any nurses out there who LIKE their jobs? ENJOY their patients or coworkers? Reaping the REWARDS of nursing school in great enviornments where they are utilized in a positive way?
I'm sorry, but all this negativity is really bumming me out!!! :(
Specializes in med-surg 18 months, respiratory 3.5 year.
I have been an RN for 1.5 years, and I love my job, but I hate unit (med-surg)I've been on until now. Some of my first days as a new grad, I literally was breakfast for the day resource nurse:chair: This person, in my own opinion, has some sort of borderline personality disorder. She is a micro-manager, treats the staff with a complete lack of respect, if there is an MD involved in a complaint about a nurse, she always sides with the MD. I have a friend who I graduated with who got a job on my floor and this resource nurse made her life complete he**. My friend eventually left the hospital and is very happy working in a MD's office. I trained on day shift but went to 3-11s, so I only cross paths with this person only for 1/2 hour 3 days a week.
I floated one day to the respiratory floor and really liked the unit, and the attitude was completey different. One nurse who had floated to my unit told me that all the nurses there were
afraid of there own shadows, and I can certainly understand that statement. We are all paranoid, there. After I had done my year on med-surg, I decided to transfer to the respiratory unit, and I pretty much know what I'm getting into, since I have worked many shifts on that floor, in the past year. I usually pick up 8 hr shift/week there. I found out last week that my transfer got approved, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The really sad part about my story are all the new grads on my med-surg unit, who already hate being nurses, because they think that is the norm. I wish I could take them all with me to a safe floor. :icon_hug:
I will lead by example. Before I go to my new floor, I will leave a bunch of transfer applications in the filing cabinet:rolleyes:
Like many other posters have stated, it's just nurses venting. You need to vent, no matter what proffession your in, everyone does.
I was a computer Tech/Network engineer for over 20 years and switching to nursing was the best thing to happen to me....I have truely never been happier with what I do.
I vent here lots, or rather, I discuss the politics of nursing that annoy me alot on this site. I also like to just plain talk politics on this site.
As far as, do I like nursing? 14 yrs ago, I started nursing as my 'back-up' career, figuring within 5-10 yrs I'd find what I "really" wanted to be when I grow up. I kind of fell into my nursing program after the military and it was as good a transition occupation as any.
Funny thing, somewhere along the way, I didn't decide that nursing would be my primary career, it just became my primary career.
I like what I do. I'm happy with what I do.
Would I still be a nurse if I were independently wealthy? Not a chance, I don't like to work, period.
But if I have to work, or rather, SINCE I have to work, I've been blessed with my career. I see myself being a nurse for years to come. God watched out for me on this one. Then again, He normally does.
I do love my job! We come here to get our the frustration of the job. But when I do get frustrated et think about going et doing something else, I just remember that there are frustrating things about every job et that nursing is really what I love. Don't think that we all hate our jobs et are miserable. This is just a sounding board for us!
Specializes in Spinal Rehab (2yr), neuro,currently ICU.
when i startes nursing school its coz i needed somethign to do, pass time before i get a career i want. hated it at first, grew to love it. now am really into it, wouldnt choose a different path. firstly because i knowits an "in demand" career. then also because i know i can go "ward hopping" if i get too familiar with one place
I do have days that are so S***** , when al i do is rant and rave.but hey every job has its moments.
what i wanna do is grow in my career till wherever i can, and enjoyit in the process.
so not every nurse is negative,i think we are negative within reason, especially when the system fails us.
Specializes in midwifery, gen surgical, community.
I have been a qualifed nurse for 22 years and I love nursing, but I hate the working conditions. I love the satisfaction of making someone comfortable, painfree and well again.
I hate having 16 patients to 1 RN, constantly moving patients around to free up surgical beds. Never getting a lunch break but that is what our working lives are like now. At least in the NHS we get 8 weeks paid annual leave a year. I do not think I could cope with the small annual leave allowance the nurses in the USA get.
I just take one shift at a time now. Maybe I am getting too old for nursing now with my diabetes and arthritis.
But I love nursing and would miss my patients. When you know you have done a good job you know you have made a difference. How many jobs can we say that about?
Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.
I totally love being a nurse. I have vented here before, too.
I recently changed jobs, and it has really helped to remind me of why I love nursing again. I have suffered from burnout a few times along the way in my 10 year career, but a job change helped every time.
Currently, I am working on a great unit, with a very intelligent and supportive, tight-knit group. I found that I just fit right in with them. Plus, I am learning new and exciting things. I love seeing the patients progress quickly on this high-accuity ICU, and how they interact with the staff. The docs are respectful to the staff on this unit as well. I really feel like I am part of a team here, which is so important.
Will I continue to vent every now and then? I'm sure I will...lol. No job is perfect, but I have never once regretted becoming a nurse. It has given me so much, and has allowed me to grow as a person in a way that I don't think any other career choice would have.
Whe you have a patient that is truly sick and in need of your nursing care and is even remotely appreciative for their care, it rejuvenates your commitment to stay in nursing.
That being said, many weeks may go by when you are treated like crap by patients, families, and grouchy managers and made to feel like a subhuman servant.
Eventually, though, another opportunity arises to connect with a patient and make you feel validated again.
Specializes in ER/Nuero/PHN/LTC/Skilled/Alzheimer's.
I can say for myself that I am a content nurse. I like my coworkers, I work on a challenging spinal floor, there are great pt education oppurtunities, my manager doesn't hang over our shoulders like a hawk, and my pay isn't that bad.
That being said there are days of pure hell where I can't wait for the clock to hit 1908 so I can LEAVE! There are a lot of problems in the healthcare field in general but I think nursing is where they are most apparent. We are stuck right in the middle between the patients, the doctors, the case managers and social workers, and the administration. I'm sure there are other people in the mix as well. I want to help people in whatever way I can, but I have to be realistic enough to know I can't do everything.
That being said, I do the best I can do with what I have to work with and hope for the best. Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn't.
Just realize that every job is going to stink at some point and try not to take things so seriously. Keep a sense of humor about the day. And remember the day has to end at some point!
dmarie, please don't be disheartened by the seemingly neverending stream of negativity that is posted here. It is not as it appears. I would say that the majority of nurses chose this profession because they have a love for it, and want to help. And I dare say that most of us really enjoy our jobs. One of the things that i found, when i was fresh outta school, is that most people don't want to hear about what we do everyday. My husband, for example, didn't want to hear that my night at work envolved holding in my arms the hysterical mother of an 18 year old boy who was pronounced brain dead after being involved in an MVA with a drunk driver while going to the store to get a gallon of milk for his mother. I can't say that I blame him. There are very few people who truly understand what we really do, or want to hear about it. Even while you are in school, you are finding the circle of people who you can really vent to about what your work day was like. Mostly, those are co-workers, or in your case, classmates. But for those of us on whom the work day has had a true emotional impact, sometimes talking about it at work isn't enough. And we want to know that we are not alone in the experience. Or, that someone is simply paying attention and listening to us. There are times, when the only way to move past a truly disturbing situation is to lay it down to a group of strangers, who understand what you are going through, and know that they understand it. That, amoung other things, is what i like to think places like this are for. Keep working hard, and know that helping people to navigate the worst times in their lives in the easiest way possible can be very rewarding! Good luck to you!
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EricJRN, MSN, RN
1 Article; 6,683 Posts
Happy nurse here!