How do you feel about being a nurse?

quazar · Mar 8, 2017

I always dread going to work, but am fine once I get there. Most of the time I have patients that give me a sense of a job well done, and I feel that I am able to give good care and make a difference. I enjoy some aspects of my days. I enjoy being a nurse sometimes.

Still, I can't help but fantasize about a nice office job somewhere, that doesn't involve the stress of bedside nursing, and that has no requirement for working on holidays, nights, or weekends.

I yearn for a "normal" job, but due to my childcare restrictions, I can't have a "normal" job. Being stuck in bedside nursing is not something I want. I wish for change, but cannot have it.

I don't regret becoming a nurse, for the most part. It's so ingrained in my personality that I honestly have no idea what on earth I'd do if I wasn't a nurse.

Emergent, RN · Mar 8, 2017

I do love nursing. It's entertaining. The patients are so real. People are super interesting.

Basically, I've always been a people watcher and nursing is the mother lode.

cocoa_puff · Mar 8, 2017

I do love nursing. It's entertaining. The patients are so real. People are super interesting.
Basically, I've always been a people watcher and nursing is the mother lode.

I'm also a people watcher, but I prefer it from a distance, without being involved and having to deal with all the drama! :lurking:

NotYourMamasRN · Mar 8, 2017

I hate it, so I am getting out of it :-)

BSN16 · Mar 8, 2017

I really love nursing. I like my co-workers. I like the adrenaline i get from taking care of a really critical patient. I enjoy that i see something different every day.

However, i dislike the lack of respect i get from patient's and their family members. Mostly the families, patients are generally very grateful for the care they receive. I hate that people don't acknowledge how much i know. I could tell someone something a million times and they wont believe it until they hear it out of a doctor's mouth, after all we are "just" nurses. Also...my back really hates nursing.

Workitinurfava, BSN, RN · Mar 8, 2017

I just wish I could get my full 30 minute break, be able drink enough water during the shift and go to the bathroom more often.

NurseLife88, ADN, RN · Mar 8, 2017

I regret that it took me so long. But being new here I'm sure there will soon be many more to come! :sarcastic:

BSNbeauty, BSN, RN · Mar 9, 2017

Became a CNA at 16, LPN at 20, ADN at 23, BSN at 26. I'm now 28. Nursing is who I am. Its my ministry. I have no regrets. I've had good days, bad days and horrible days but wouldn't trade it for the World.

LessValuableNinja · Mar 9, 2017

"Nursing is the most thankless, demanding, overworked and underpaid vocation I've ever had."

I don't agree that it's thankless, overworked, or underpaid, though the last depends on your location and I agree that some locations underpay.

I left another career with substantially more pay, more work, and more demand.

I get a whole lot more thanks when I see the look in their eyes because they probably wouldn't be alive or well otherwise. I'm okay with that, and it's why I'm here.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Mar 9, 2017

Yes, I have one regret, and that is being unable to continue nursing. I was basically forced into early retirement at age 55 because I could no longer handle it physically or mentally. I wish I could magically reverse my health conditions so I might return to nursing; the longer I am on disability the more I miss it. I know I'm romanticizing it somewhat with the passing of time, because it was far from idyllic and I hated the bureaucracy, the endless documentation, the ass-kissing. But I enjoyed interacting with patients and being a problem-solver, and I miss making a difference in people's lives.

JerseyTomatoMDCrab, BSN · Mar 9, 2017

I enjoy nursing well enough. They pay in my area is atrocious (not just school nursing, I am talking the region in general) for the amount of work we are expected to do.

I think I would have liked being a nurse more in a different era. Nowadays, we are being asked to do so much with so little. The shift to "customer satisfaction" and patients treating us like waitstaff in a hotel is what gets to me the most, I think.

I am good at being a nurse and I enjoy it. But if I had to start over again, I would do something else. I'm not sure what, but I would.

Leonardo Del Toro, RN · Mar 9, 2017

Nursing is brutal. You are bullied 24/7 by you coworkers, managers, doctors and patients. Nothing that you do is right. You are always in trouble and nothing that you do is good enough. You can do 99 things right and will never be praised for any of it. Is the one thing you didn't do correctly that you'll be called on. There is never one word of appreciation for what you do. Never. You can never spend time with your patients because you need to chart that you spend time with the patients. Sorry but that is the reality of nursing today. Oh, and good luck finding a job. If you can survive all of that and still have a smile in your face you'll become a nurse.