How do you feel about being a nurse?

Nurses General Nursing

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Simply, do you enjoy being a nurse? Does it make you happy? Or do you regret it? Do you have any very specific regrets related to being a nurse?

Specializes in ED, med-surg, peri op.

I love being a nurse. Everything about it. The patients, life long learning, career progression, can travel world wide and work. Not one bad thing.... But this is in New Zealand. Everything I've ever heard from America sound awful. No desire to nurse there. Right from the day you guys start nursing you complain and you never stop. Don't know why you all go into nursing if you hate it. In NZ we work 4 shifts a week, 8 hours. We work as a team. We can get on and do our job and really get to know our patients and build positive relationships that is so rewarding. But we also have free healthcare, a hospital isn't a business. Every one is welcome, and is mostly appreciative. We don't have management in our face and patients scoring us. As long as we provide safe nursing care we are free to do our job as we please. We get breaks and finish on time. My pay doesn't even come into it. I would do it even if I got paid minimum wage.

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Specializes in Med Surg, PCU, Travel.

Do I have to drive to work again! Its the 3rd time this week! wait I still got a call out available! I can get 5 days off instead of 4. I love nursing...now I can stay home and read posts about how people feel about nursing...yeah!!!:bag:

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

My turn I guess. :) There have been numerous times in my relatively short

yet varied nursing career, when I wanted to hang it up. Not so long ago,

I even had a real opportunity to walk away... find a different type of job...

and never look back.

Something drew me back. I couldn't completely give it up. I admit, the

money is more than decent... but something inside me just could not

see myself NEVER working as a nurse again.

So here I am, FINALLY in a job that I love!!!! I'm here and I do

not have ANY plans to leave. Love my job. After so many years,

I truly feel like a good and competent nurse and I feel like my

patients like and appreciate me. I feel like the workload is

more than manageable. I like my coworkers... okay. :)

Helps to have a good job, working for a good company.

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In the US nursing is good enough paying compared other available jobs to keep you in it support your family. At same time it's also become a powerless profession. Most states don't have unions or political power to protect nursing so hospital staff as short as possible to decrease labor cost and increase profit.

I wonder if I could move to New Zealand and find me wife to settle down with...Sounds great there! I like outdoors and will have my pilot license soon. Put a good word in for me! Lol.

Best states to work as nurse in USA is California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska due to state laws there that mandate ratios. The rest can be pretty miserable with high work loads and wages kept low comparatively to those other States. Love hearing from nurses outside USA. Thanks.

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I love being a nurse. My only regret is that I wish I Had my act together when I was younger to have gone all the way thru NP - I returned to school in my late 30's, now pushing 50 and feel financially it does me no good to go back to school and accummalate debt that will not be paid off till well after I plan on retiring.

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Nursing is the most thankless, demanding, overworked and underpaid vocation I've ever had. But it's one of the only jobs you can truly make a difference for someone who is having the worst or best day/week/month of their lives.
This is more or less how I feel about nursing. It is very personally rewarding and I am thankful for the lessons I've learned. It has made me a better person. However, the conditions of work are often degrading and make me feel like a servant and secretary. I do regret leaving a salaried/professional career to become a nurse. Currently I'm working in the school system which doesn't feel like nursing at all (which is why I like it). And the long-term plan is to transition back in to something similar as my previous career. That being said, I'm glad there are nurses that love their jobs, because we need them!
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Working for secure healthcare services and It's the best job in the world .

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Specializes in IMCU, Oncology.

I always had a calling to become a nurse but didn't actually pursue it until my late 30's and officially became and RN at 40. Bedside nursing is not my favorite, so I am working to change that and looking for a clinic position. I really feel you are treated as you allow others to treat you most of the time, NOT always! I find I get along well with my co-workers, have a respectful working relationship with physicians, and work great with my patients! However, bedside nursing offers a broken system that I am not willing to continue on with long term. So I am working toward getting my dream job and had my dream job interview today. If I don't get it, I will work at getting a position of this sort until I do get it.

I think you get out of nursing what you put into it. Yes, it is important to get experience but it is up to each person to stay in bad situations or not. I find working with people very rewarding. I am glad I became a nurse and finally pursued my vocation.

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I have always loved being a nurse. I enjoy helping people and I can give them a break for their bad behavior most times because they are sick. Many patients and families are very grateful for the care they receive. My only regret is that I did not get my BSN. I have a Diploma in nursing and a fair amount of hospitals are not hiring diploma nurses anymore. I think we are a valuable part of the nursing team and on the other hand I can understand that hospitals want BSN nurses. So it's my mistake.

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Specializes in ED, med-surg, peri op.
In the US nursing is good enough paying compared other available jobs to keep you in it support your family. At same time it's also become a powerless profession. Most states don't have unions or political power to protect nursing so hospital staff as short as possible to decrease labor cost and increase profit.

I wonder if I could move to New Zealand and find me wife to settle down with...Sounds great there! I like outdoors and will have my pilot license soon. Put a good word in for me! Lol.

Best states to work as nurse in USA is California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska due to state laws there that mandate ratios. The rest can be pretty miserable with high work loads and wages kept low comparatively to those other States. Love hearing from nurses outside USA. Thanks.

I def recommend moving out of the us. NZ, Australia, U.K. Are all very similar for nursing. You are respected and have authority, 8 hour shifts, breaks, 4-5 patients max.

Plus in NZ or Aus you don't have to worry about terrorist attacks or people shoting or any of that horrible stuff that happens in the us. Much safer here. Oh and people don't tip here, that is the craziest system I've ever heard of. Don't get why I should pay someone for doing there job. That's what an employer is for.

No desire to go to America seems like ****** up place and so much drama.

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Specializes in Med surg..

I really love it!! I have been a nurse for a year now and although it can be hard it really is great! I will list a few pro's and con's for me personally!

Pros

Comforting people while they are at their worst and sometimes most hopeless times in their life.

Sitting and talking about elderly patients lives and how they met their spouse or about their children (my fav.)

Listening and only listening to a patient. Sometimes they just need somebody there to listen and vent to.

Good pay and jobs anywhere if you choose to move!

Meeting other people in your field or work which is like we all know " like no other field of work out there."

Making a small difference in a patients day even if it is just sitting on their bed and holding their hand talking for ten minutes.

Being a nurse you understand all body systems and I honestly think its amazing to know SO much about the human body and how it works

Con's

FAMILY MEMBERS. I work nights so I don't have to deal with many!! :)

Having to deal with SOOOO many core measures and FREAKING satisfaction surveys. I swear my unit comes out with some new outlandish policy every week in our newsletter. I CANT HANDLE IT ANY LONGER.

Having so much responsibility- I know this is part of the job but holy moly. I go into every shift hoping I don't get a lawsuit filed ageist me for some outrageous reason.

Being in charge of peoples lives and knowing when "something is wrong"!! MD's make their 10 minute rounds and they are outski! The rest falls on us RN's to monitor and assess and notify which can be scary at times! Thank god I have amazing mentors and charge nurses!!

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I love being a nurse. My only regret is that I wish I Had my act together when I was younger to have gone all the way thru NP - I returned to school in my late 30's, now pushing 50 and feel financially it does me no good to go back to school and accummalate debt that will not be paid off till well after I plan on retiring.

Don't know where you live, but pushing 50 is not old. If you live in a place where NPs are in demand, you can still do it while working (hard but not impossible) and make a nice living. I know people who did just that and were older, now working. Some employers will pay of those loans.

The biggest regrets people have when they retire is that they didn't pursue their dreams.

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