How come people portray nursing so negatively on here?

SAHMStudent · Oct 20, 2010

I think you may end up being one of the disillusioned

-Job security
-Well compensated (to me at least; I have never made over $8.50 an hour)
-Flexibility
-The fact that your job actually makes a difference.

To me, this is backwards. Job security is not as "secure" as you think it is, and if you read many of the posts on here, people are fearful of losing their job for honest, simple mistakes, lack of resources or as a result of lateral violence. If you look in the blogs, over the summer a seasoned RN wrote about the experience of job-hunting in middle age. Also check out the hundreds of posts from frustrated new grads who can't find a job.As for compensation, I agree with you there, having a similar background of pay scale. But, those that are well compensated are also well-educated (CEUs and higher degrees aren't free) and well-experienced. Flexibility depends on how flexible YOU are; want to have days off, don't mind working holidays when the rest of your friends and family enjoy their federal 9-5er holidays off? For people that aren't used to Christmas just being Wednesday, it can get old pretty quickly. As for your job making a difference, that is my personal #1. And I don't need to save a life, make a miracle diagnosis that 12 MDs missed, etc. I just need to know that someone in a bad place had a little less of a bad time because I helped them. I have 4 aunts who all counseled against my going into nursing. They were from the era of lots of poop, less resources, less respect and little pay. I can SMELL the hospital when I take an exam, I can feel the lighting and hear the sounds when I study. I changed my life to pursue this career, and I'd do it for less than the $24.25! (Aunt J would die) starting hourly rate in my area; but I deserve to get paid.

Here's my caveat- I am a student and graduate this December. So my attitude might change after I've been working for a while. If I can get a job............

nursing6207 · Oct 20, 2010

This site is a good resource for nurses and also a place for nurses to vent. When I have had a bad day at work I love to look back at post to know that I am not the only one. It's hard to talk about it to ppl who are not nurses bc most of the time they don't understand just how stressful your job is. If it wasn't for this site, I don't know that I would have ever made it as a new grad. It felt so good to come to this site and see I wasn't the only one. I almost quit my first year out of nursing school. I have now been at the same job for 2 1/2 years and have adjusted fine. In my 2 1/2 year as a nurse I have learned that nurses work very hard in a very stressful environment. Sometimes no matter how hard you work at the end of the day there is a pt, NA, Dr, family, or someone upset with you. A lot of pts who deserve the TLC from nurses don't get it bc of the pts who take up all of your time for non sense. I honestly feel nurses are over worked and underpaid. The real world of nursing is a lot different from nursing school. Yes the demand for nurses is high, but a lot of times as a new grad unless u go through a new grad program, it is hard to find a job without exp. Also, from one specialty to another, without exp it can be a lot more difficult than one would think to get hired. I recently told my husband "nursing is not as rewarding as people think it is." With fewer pts, decreased workload, more help, etc. I could possibly give a lot more of my pts the TLC that I would love to give and that I know they deserve. As a new grad I hated it when ppl questioned why I wanted to be a nurse or tried to talk me out of it. I wish I knew then what I know now. Good luck.

Brauer · Oct 20, 2010

Well, can I say I'm not here to complain, but instead, praise this career and the rewards it offers over the alternative. I've been an RN for just shy of 5 years now while working on a very busy Pediatric med-surg floor, but previously worked for years doing the typical 5 day, 40+ hours/week desk job which I can say felt pointless and unsatisfying at the end of each day. Now full-time for me is three days a week, which affords me time to enjoy life outside of work instead of trying to cram it in over the weekend, a decent salary, job security, and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others which has availed the type of gratification that no previous job had provided. Sure, I have the occasional shift where I want to strangle a clueless resident or crazed family member, or am so slammed that I can't wait for the shift to end; but then, I have 3-4 days off to enjoy my real life while most everyone else is slaving away behind a desk. To me, it's all a matter of perspective and working in an area of nursing that sustains you. If you're burnt out where you're at, try another facet of nursing, or a different hospital. That's another great thing about our profession, the lateral opportunities that exist.

Ok, feel free to stone me for having it so good. :)

Ayvah, RN · Oct 20, 2010

Nursing is a job and people love to complain about their jobs. nursing is hard im often tired i do not live the "swt life". However, I enjoy what I do, as soon as I get really upset with my job it seems like i have a husband call the unit to thank me or a letter from a family member to let me know how much they appreciated everything i did for their mother. it is what you make it people seem to get such an experiance from a mission trip or giving their time at the nursing home or church but as soon as you get paid for it people start complaining. Nurses that complain all the time most likely would complain about any job that they had. ive done yard work, taught tennis and golf, been a waiter, bar tended and its the same everywhere. heck my dads a successful surgeon and complains about his job. stick to it and have a good attitude and yes you can make a difference. its more so the lifestyle that i think they are upset with. they work, go out and drink, sleep around, dont get married, get a couple STDs along the way, maybe take some diet pills which trash their hormones because they dont have the self restraint to not eat Mackers (Micky Ds) and or get some sort of physical fitness in the day. Id be upset with my life/job also.

Have you even gotten off orientation yet to be able to know what it is like to be an actual RN on your own? According to your information you just recently graduated and started your job.

For me there is simply no comparison between any of the other jobs I've held, and hospital nursing - where you are in charge of someone's life and don't always have the staff and resources to properly do your job. You can bet I'll make a bigger stink over not having any christmas trees on the unit(this happened) versus running out of paper in my old job, for example. You'd do well to educate yourself on how nurse patient ratio directly affects death rates in the hospital, and maybe then you will see how you need to help advocate for your fellow nurses instead of trash them.

silentRN · Oct 20, 2010

Nursing is just a job that we all punch in and punch out of, just like all other laborers out there. The greatest thing about nursing is only having to work 3 nights a week, and having 4 days off. And when you get sick of that, you can always use your PTO and take a breather. :) It's not as bad as it sounds. just remember, you're just an orderly there to carry out orders. Clock in, take care of business, then clock out; and leave work at work.

wyogypsy, RN · Oct 20, 2010

I work long-term care and absolutely love my residents. Some of the families are great, others are one big pain in the ass - and I don't mean with legitimate complaints either, but they want one on one care which is not possible. They don't realize and don't care that Grandpa tried to get up 15 times by himself so far this shift setting of his safety alarms which irritated the other residents to the point that one of them hit another one and now there are all the reports to fill out. That Grandpa wouldn't eat this morning and we offered him many substitutes until finally he ate a banana and drank some milk, and he wasn't about to take the meds he so desperately needs. That he whipped out his member and peed all over his bed and clothing and we just got him changed and back in his chair, turned to take his dirty clothes to the laundry and he stood up and started walking (though he refused to walk with therapy 10 minutes earlier). We got him back in his chair and took him into the day room where he promptly grabbed another resident's Ensure and spilled it all over himself, including soaking his shoes, so we changed him again. So here you come, complaining that he doesn't have his handkerchief in his pocket or his shoes on and we don't take good enough care of him. Do you think he gives a rat's ass if he has a handkerchief or not? I am sorry, but he doesn't even remember what to do with a handkerchief. We try to make sure it is in his pocket because it makes you feel better, but give us a break some days! We have spent more time today with your loved one than with all of the other residents combined, you just weren't here to see it!

Scrubby · Oct 20, 2010

And your assertion that these nurses are all trampy, slovenly Big Mac toting couch potatoes who drown their sorrows in Bacardi is just plain offensive (not to mention absurd!) I'm sure I needn't defend that statement, as others will follow suit.

I wouldn't pay much attention to that particular post given that they have only got 1 year of nursing experience.

Rabid Response · Oct 20, 2010

I think the thing about nursing compared to other jobs is that, if you are not a nurse, you just won't understand our issues. I can't come home and vent about work to my family because a) they get grossed out by half of what I tell them and b) they cannot understand the stressors particular to my job.

My friends will gripe occasionally about their jobs but then tell me that they spend the first hour of their work day drinking coffee and surfing the internet.

Nurses are venting here because they really can't vent anywhere else and be understood.

So cut us a little slack? Post here after you are working as a nurse (or to vent that you can't find a job as a new grad) and tell us how you are enjoying your big paycheck and your flexible (haha) schedule.

Nursing is a great job, but everyone needs to let off steam once in a while to people who will EMPATHIZE. When nurses vent here, YOU are not their intended audience.

grasshopper7780 · Oct 20, 2010

Brauer - as a prospective nursing student, I really liked the honesty of your post. I have been reading this site for a while and I see threads of negativity and positivity and I think that is just life. Reading some of these posts, I can see how someone would question going into nursing but your post reminded me why I want this. I have had health related desk jobs for 5 years, 9-5 and I have never felt an fulfillment what so ever. I hate doing health from a computer and want the one-on-one satisfaction that nursing provides. I am sure that I will complain about it sometimes like I have with every other job (waiter, bartender, nanny, PR, tour guide) but I am hoping that the satisfaction will make it worth it.

I think people come here to vent, get support and thats okay but it important to read other posts too, where people share great stories about nursing. People want to feel like they have someone to lean on, this board provides that I think.

pieinsky · Oct 20, 2010

I have to say that my nursing job is the most challenging and difficult job I have ever had. And I've been around the block, in the over-50 crowd. I went to nursing school at age 45, always had that itch to be a nurse. I was "pie in the sky" (hence my name), was going to save the world, make a difference, blah blah. And I wasn't just a young thing when I embarked on this journey, mind you!

I hated my first job (the same one I'm in today!). I'd be nervous as hell going to work each day. I almost quit too. But something happened: I found my own ways to deal with the floor, the art of adaptation. PistolChick said: "The truth is, when you set for yourself a very high standard of care and have a good work ethic, finding that you're never able to meet your own standards is very very depressing to say the least. " That is SO true. But you get your own style of nursing and adapt to the situation. I know, easier said than done, and it has taken me over 4 years to feel more confident in my abilities. And I love my job now, at least most days.

That being said, the hospitals and the powers that be make it very difficult for us. Work us short, make us play RN AND aid for patients, require us to attend so many hours of education (which of course I don't mind, but . . .) . . . I have rarely ever taken my full lunch hour in the four years on the floor I work on. In fact, I would have me a nice little bonus if I would have clocked that I had no lunch all those times. The families can be very draining as well. You are literally running your ass off most days, keeping all the balls in the air.

So how do you adapt? Take care of yourself, on and off the job. Don't get to work late, it throws you off. Drink plenty of water and have healthy snacks at work cuz baby, forget the lunch hours most days. Develop efficient practices. Have a talk with those family members, i.e., you have 5 siblings of a patient calling in to check in on their brother. You say, all right. I need one volunteer who will be the go-to on information and talk only to that family member. Tell them you are trying to spend more time with that patient, but being called to the phone every 10 minutes is thwarting that effort. When things get really crazy, call on your charge nurse to help you, or in impossible situations, say "I just can't do this all."

To sum up, I do love my days off and live for them and thus look at this job as any other: clock in, take orders, institute orders, do your thang as a nurse, hopefully make someone smile and appreciate health care some days, then clock out. Period. As far as holidays, I've been divorced for years, and my family has had Christmas a week early, a week late, the next day or whatever. You adapt.

So I'm being frank when I say nursing is a hard profession and things can be really bad out there some days. But sometimes, you just have to take yourself personally out of the situation, adapt, do the best you can, and then be satisfied with your effort.

Amen......

AgentBeast, BSN, RN · Oct 20, 2010

People are stupid and think that because they "vented" to random strangers on the internet whatever problem they were "venting" about will magically disappear.

soxfan80 · Oct 20, 2010

Not to mention the backstabbing and cruelty from management, co-workers, doctors, patients, family... etc..

This is something that I don't get. Why are many nurses so cruel to others?!!?