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

Nurses General Nursing

Published

How much do you like nursing on a scale of 1 to 10?

And why?

Specializes in Emergency Room.

8.5. if it wasn't for the holidays i would probably rate it 9/10.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

3/10 for many of the same reasons critter lover stated.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

on a good day, i would rate it to be 8-9/10. there are days where i actually do make a difference for a patient. on a bad day...maybe a 3/10...because of all the crap we go through. overall...a 7/10 :)

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.

wonderful post! couldn't have said it better myself.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in everywhere.

Most of the time, I would rate it as a 8-9/10, but when upper management decides these silly things for us to do, then 2-3/10 simply because it takes time away from my patients.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

thank you. you completely understood me.

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.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I am a new grad, and prior I had been a CNA for over three years. One and a half LTC and one a half acute care. I must admit that prior to this nice long vacation that i've taken in between jobs, I would have rated it a 2/10 (burnt out with so much expected of a CNA, and also not being able to do what I had learned in RN school...) But now with a couple days off, I really miss it!! Even as a very masculine male, I enjoy the customer service, the helping people when they are sick or unable. The little things have disappeared for the time being, and I miss the big picture. Can't wait to start my new neuro-medsurg job! I'm sure i'll be semi-burned by six months, but ya know...so many places to go in nursing. I have so many options, and I am def considering each one...i.e., CRNA, NP, starting a home health agency (after saving the appropriate amount of capital and gaining the proportionate amount of experience and knowledge), etc. I pretty much know that I will not be able to handle (mentally and physically) being a med-surg nurse for 30 more years. I am already 29, and my back is giving me many problems. No offense to those nurses who are in m/s...many props to you! But just not for me...I am out to gain experience and learn as much as I can from my elders and/or peers. And...Help a lot of people along the way! So...right now...i'd say 9/10, cuz there aren't so many careers with this many options, who get that warm fuzz-ly feeling almost every day, and who make as much as an RN does with just an associate's degree!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.

Negative Ten....-10...right This Is How Much I Like It.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'll go with 9. Good days and bad days, but overall very happy right now.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Negative Ten....-10...right This Is How Much I Like It.

Watch out, if you despise it that much, you'll be advised on career change

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
thank you. you completely understood me.

and in return, i have to say "thank you" for being so honest in the begining of the thread, before your answer had a choice to be validated. :)

[color=#483d8b]

[color=#483d8b]if more nurses would be honest about this kind of thing, then maybe we could make a difference, before more left the profession.

[color=#483d8b]

[color=#483d8b]as it stands, i chose to resign from my current job (which i was pretty happy with, and very good at) in order to take a weekend-only option that would allow me to finish my master's degree more quickly.

[color=#483d8b]

[color=#483d8b]i didn't do this because i hate nursing and wanted out more quickly; i did it because i hate what nursing has become (bottom-line more important than any other aspect of nursing -- including the human aspect of it all) and i want out before more of this trend becomes more of a reality.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

after 20 yrs most days 8/10 .i have good and bad days like everyone.i can't stand the politics .

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Cardiac Step Down, PICU.

9/10...2 years experience. 1 year of cardiac step-down nightmare and 1 year Pediatric ICU. Hated cardiac step-down...love PICU..I've found my niche..Yeah me:) Still don't like manditory meetings and unit politics but it's so much better than where I came from...I'm grateful for the job I have and am so glad I changed specialties...it worked for me!

Raggedy RN

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment