Have nurses always been so negative?

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Question - have nurses always been as negative as they are on these boards? Is nursing in "real life" as negative as these boards are? I'm a student and looking for honest answers, not trying to offend anyone.

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The good nurses sometimes complain a lot, but do their jobs well. They're tired and over worked. It's today's economic situation that has upset the apple cart even more. Administration is horrible and non-responsive to most nurses' plights. Yes, get used to it. It's a difficult time to be a nurse!

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Have nurses always been as negative as they are on these boards? -- Yes/No. I think most would say the environment for nurses at work has worsened in I'd say the last 6 years or so (my own consensus)

Is nursing in "real life" as negative as these boards are? -- Yes, this is real life. You are wise to look at things up front and to not let yourself sugarcoat anything in life. Some nurses don't experience things like what you read on these boards and they will tell you they feel blessed.

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Specializes in floor to ICU.

This is the place where we come to vent. I don't think we are trying to run anybody off. Nursing is a hard job with lots of issues. It is mentally, spiritually and physically demanding. Maybe sometimes our posts seem negative because we are living it and it isn't always like the Johnson & Johnson commercials.

I think real nurses find this place a blessing because we can come together for support, advice or just to unload.

It is what it is, I guess.

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Specializes in Peds, School Nurse, clinical instructor.

I don't think nurses in general are negative, I do think that some of what is posted can be though. This is a great avenue for advice, comments or just a safe way to rant ( which we all need to do sometimes). Do I think there are some aspects of nursing that are negative, sure but for the most part it is a career I love....just like anything else, you have to take the good with the bad. Good luck in school. :nurse:

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Specializes in Acute Care, CM, School Nursing.

I think that in nursing, as with everything else in life, you can be as negative as you choose to be.

But, "real life" nursing is not for the faint of heart. It is such a tough, demanding field, not only physically but mentally as well. Because of this, it is very easy to get burned out, and therefore develop a negative attitude.

Things continue to get harder for nurses. Patients in facilities are much sicker than they used to be. Nurse to patient ratios keep getting worse. Nurses are given more responsibilities and tons more paperwork to complete. On top of all of this, patients and their families are getting very demanding in terms of their expectations. Meaning, they expect their hospital stay to be similar to a hotel stay. And they know that those infamous "surveys" mean the world to the higher-ups. To top it off, management often frowns upon nurses staying late to finish up whatever needs to be done. Yet the oncoming shift frowns upon anything being left for them to do.

In answer to your question, I think that nurses are probably more negative than they used to be. But things have changed drastically, and not for the better. Luckily, we have places like Allnurses to vent our frustrations nowadays. Imagine how much worse things would be otherwise? ;)

Nursing is still an extremely rewarding career, regardless. If it weren't, we'd all be nuts to continue with it... LOL

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Question - have nurses always been as negative as they are on these boards? Is nursing in "real life" as negative as these boards are? I'm a student and looking for honest answers, not trying to offend anyone.

You are going to find that anywhere you go in life and in nursing that there are going to be those people that just seem to hate life and hate their job and nursing altogether. You will always have those co-workers who seem to do nothing but complain about how they don't get paid enough for this job and how they are tired of this person doing that and that person doing this. Just remember, this career is what you make it and the only person that can bring you down is your self. I will tell you up front that you are going to have days where you are most definitely going to question your place in this career and feel like quitting, you are. Just remember that everybody has those days and that things will gradually continue to get better for you in your career if that is what you want and that is what you have your heart set on. And don't believe everything people tell you. Listen to what they tell you and then judge for yourself as best you can. The best judge of someone who is worth listening to is the person who's patients love them and they do their job well and genuinely like helping people and aren't just in it for the paycheck. Good luck and keep your chin up because nursing is a very rewarding career if you keep your heart in it.

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

My co-workers and I frequently vent to each other about management, difficult pts, and life in general. We don't usually talk about each other or gossip maliciously about others. It's just a fact nursing is a stressful job and if you don't find some social outlet for it you will go down in a ball of flames. We may talk negative shop talk with peers but be the most supportive, caring nurse to our pts. Don't let the manner of speak on these boards frighten you away, it's just most nurses way of coping with an overwhelming job.

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Specializes in pediatrics, public health.

As an Internet junkie who has participated in many different online forums, I would make the generalization that most online forums are far more negative about the topic of the forum than what one encounters in "real life". I believe this is because you're more likely to seek out a forum if you're having a problem with something and want help -- why would you post to a dating forum, for example, if you're having no problems getting dates and no problems in your relationships? The dating forum I used to sometimes participate in had quite a few people who had never been on a date, or had very negative attitudes about the opposite sex.

So, I think it's similar here -- people who are totally happy with their nursing jobs and having no issues are less likely to post here (though some do, including me!). I don't think you should take this or any other Internet forum as being completely representative.

Having said that, I wouldn't say you should completely ignore what's posted here either -- people are posting about their real experiences and problems (well, except for the occasional troll -- that's another thing to keep in mind about the Internet -- take anything you read with a grain of salt). I do think you get real information about some people's real jobs, but I do think there's an element of self-selection that creates a bias towards the negative.

Just my $0.02

Edited to add:

On the other hand, in real life there may be a bias towards the positive. If you ask nurses you know about their jobs, and they know you are an aspiring nurse, I believe that some will just not tell you if they're unhappy in their jobs, because they won't want to discourage you, whereas if they love their job, they're more likely to tell you.

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Wow, thanks everybody. These are really good comments. I wish I could kudos some of them twice.

And so you know, I don't mean to say that I think venting and ranting is bad or anything. Considering many of you have spouses/families/friends who don't really "get" what you deal with every day, you need this outlet. Truthfully, your vents are good for us newbies to read to see the reality of things. I don't really even see venting as being negative - I meant more the "attitudes" I see on here, i.e. often bitter, harsh, rude, etc.

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Specializes in drug seekers and the incurably insane..
The good nurses sometimes complain a lot, but do their jobs well. They're tired and over worked. It's today's economic situation that has upset the apple cart even more. Administration is horrible and non-responsive to most nurses' plights. Yes, get used to it. It's a difficult time to be a nurse!

That's exactly what's going on. It's all about money and making so-and-so "look good". Nurses are not considered as any kind of asset....no matter what a particular organization might say. They have to employ us, and (gasp!) pay us. We aren't the Dr.'s whom bring in the patients nor are we the ever-complaining patients who threaten to go to another facility. Administration knows that there aren't a lot of jobs out there for nurses, and they let us know that.

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I have never heard nurses at work complain much at all.

OK, so I work in a good unit, but in general, nobody wants to get a reputation as a whiner and it is bad for morale.

An internet nursing board is a much better place to vent with nurses who really understand.

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