How much do u like nursing? Scale of 1 to 10

Keepstanding, ASN, RN · May 27, 2007

Seven (7)

ZootRN · May 28, 2007

Since zero (0) is not available on a scale of 1 to 10, I would say one (1).

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · May 28, 2007

As a pre-nursing student, on a wait-list for an ADN program, and applying to more...I'd say for me, the IDEA of nursing is a 10.

I may have a different number after actually working as a nurse. :rotfl:

robin1966doc · May 28, 2007

Since i'm optimist, ill say most days i'd rate nursing at a 9 1/2. After 12 days straight, ill rate it a 9, but i still love what i do.

MikeyJ, RN · May 28, 2007

Since zero (0) is not available on a scale of 1 to 10, I would say one (1).

If you despise nursing that much, perhaps you should get out of the field.

CritterLover, BSN, RN · May 28, 2007

i'll give it a 3/10

i like what i do, i really do.

i like taking care of people.

i really like teaching people about their diagnoses, and how to take better care of themselves.

i like spending time with them to dispell the myths, and to teach them what really is important, and why certain "fads" aren't such a good idea.

i love it when i see that "lightbulb" go off over their heads, and they finally "get" it.

(when working in the er, i once took care of a girl with c/o abd pain. in fact, i think it was this past thanksgiving. she wasn't sick at all, but scared to death that her abd pain was really significant. i don't really remember the details, but she had a hepatic cyst (benign), and i spent a great deal of time talking to her about this. she had a very flat affect, and i didn't think i had gotten anywhere. but anyway, i went to every internet site i could find and printed off additional info i could give her, in addition to our generic "abd pain, no diagnosis" d/c instructions. i really didn't think i had gotten anywhere with her at all. imagine my surprise when read her press gainey survey, where she had circled all "5s" and had said how wonderful "nurse kimberly" was -- can't remember exactly what she said, but she had to write that part in. completley shocked me. almost made me a believer in the press-gainey survey concept. )

i love those kinds of moments, where i think i've made a difference. doesn't have to mean saving a life. decreasing anxiety or educating a patient/family can be just as important.

however, there is so much crap in nursing today. they expect us to do more with less. i wrote this in another thread, but good, quality nursing care, where we address the "person as a whole," can be highlhy inefficient (isn't always, but sure can be).

that is where my job dissatisfaction comes in. trying to do more with less -- but not letting your patients (aka "customers") know that you are trying to do more with less-- well, that is why i'm currently pursuing a masters degree in a very non-nursing field.

even when i'm done with my master's degree (if that ever happens :) ), i'll probably still work an occasional prn shift in the nursing environment, just because there are parts of nursing that i will always love. at least the advanced degree in something else will keep me grounded, and remind me that i don't have to put up with the crap.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · May 28, 2007

I would say a 10.

When I was younger I would have answered 6 or 7 because of working weekends, holidays and nights. Now I work days, 10 hour shifts 3 x week, no weekends, no holidays, no nights, no call and very good pay. I feel blessed to be sure.

CraigB-RN, MSN, RN · May 28, 2007

After almost 30 years, it's still a 9. :)

llg, PhD, RN · May 28, 2007

I'll give it a 7.

After 30 years as a nurse, I have seen a lot of good and bad. At it's best, nursing is terrific and so are many nurses. However, we are asked to do more with less -- pull miracles out of a hat and subjugate our needs to the desires of other disciplines and regulatory agencies. Sometimes, I simply get weary of it all.

CritterLover, BSN, RN · May 28, 2007

if you despise nursing that much, perhaps you should get out of the field.

i have to say that i completely understand where mystic fish is coming from.

as it stands in most hosptials today, we barely have the time to get our basic work done. absolutely no time at all to go the extra mile and do the things that drew many of us to nursing in the first place.

adminsitraiton only cares that we give safe, basic care. and that our press gainey survey results are good. what a contradiciton in ideals.

so, nurses give safe, basic care, when they are lucky. as for the customer satisfaction survey results.............

i wouldn't be a med/surg nurse in the hospital system that i work in, even if they promised to pay my grad-school tution without any repayment plan whatsoever.

just because she is giving nursing, in its current state of affairs, a 1/10, doens't mean she (or he???) needs a new career. maybe she/he just needs a new employer or a different specialty. there are a few good ones left out there.

Wise Woman RN · May 28, 2007

Nursing - a 10... all the politics, public relations, and paperwork - a 0