I started an ADN nursing program over a year ago and graduate in May. I have the highest average in class, and I really seem to be doing well. However; I hate everything nursing, I really only started the program because I was bored, and now I feel to far invested to quite. I have to keep telling myself that this is a great job, but in reallity this job holds a lot of responsibility, "crappy responsibility." In addition I feel tremendous pressure from my family, my husband, and my husbands family to finish and work. It's not like I don't already have a BSN from another university, and my husband makes an excellent salary, I don't have to work. I keep hoping that all the pretentious people in class with their over enthusiastic "I love nursing" attitude will be non-existent in the workplace. This is me just venting, but if you have any productive advice or have felt this way I would love a response. However; if you are just wanting to tell me how terrible I am, please keep it to yourself.
Just because someone else's reasons and ambitions towards getting into school were different than yours does not mean they have any less of a right to be there than you do.
Yes it does. A person who has a desire to do good and become everything that a nurse "should" stand for deserves to get in over someone who picked it up because they were "bored." Screw that!
In my case, in the process I found what my life was missing... and finally a way to make a difference in the lives of others.... It has been right for me, and i have worked very hard at it.
This is what separates you from the OP. You found what you were looking for, and you are genuinely happy with what you do, which is awesome! The OP, however, is almost done with nursing and STILL can't seem to like it? There's something seriously wrong with that.
OP, I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for in life. In the mean time, watch how you treat your patients and coworkers. People can usually pick up negative vibes from a person who hates their job, and that can have a seriously negative impact on you and your career.
This is an excellent forum for people to be honest with their feelings. There are so many avenues you can take with that nursing degree!!! The previous posts were written thoughtfully and you should really consider them. I'm not a nurse yet, but just retired from elementary school teaching, which I loved and hated all at the same time. I considered what I was wholeheartedly interested in (nurturing and healing) and decided to go into nursing. Think about what makes you tick...make a list of the pros and cons. If you're still not sure, enjoy a little life experience and try again later. I'm almost 40 and just now I know what I want to be when I grow up. Good luck to you and stay positive! You're clearly a hard worker.
Specializes in hosp, clinic, dialysis, longterm, hh,hos.
I do not feel for any reason I know it all but I have been doing this 15+yrs and it is kinda like a relationship, if your heart isnt in it and you really dont like it, it will always be a struggle. Perhaps finish and keep license status updated but you dont have to go right to work, maybe travel nursing for short stints would be interesting to you. One on One care with pedi home health has been one of the more rewarding aspects of nursing. I have done it all it seems and I worked in Dialysis for a while and I felt like odd ball just because I couldnt get all exicited about it like the other nurses, I JUST HATED IT!!! Hope you find the spot that is fulfilling to your spirit, :paw:
LOL, after reading more of the previous posts, I discovered that the most useful advice was from us "older" posters. Ah, life experience...it's what keeps us from being obnoxiously snide and quick to judge. Good luck again and I hope you find peace.
A number of clues leave me with the impression that there may be more to this thread than a "hatred of nursing." For starters, the OP's username "prettylittlenurse2be" seems to suggest a certain sense of not having found an authentic identity in nursing... or anything else She sounds like she has still not found what has any deep meaning to or for herself... or if she has, she has yet to have it sincerely affirmed by others that she wants to trust... and grow with. She also sounds like she's feeling hemmed in by expectations from others... and does NOT appreciate it. Since the academic rigors of nursing don't seem to be that challenging to her I, too, would agree with so many of the others, and encourage her to go ahead and finish out her studies... but then see if she could find a competent counselor that she could trust and develop a meaningful rapport with to examinie some of the other issues that are clearly not yet being addressed before she embarks on any other grand endeavors that may only be designed to please others.
so i decided to take nursing because you didn't need senior calculus from high school to get in. I thought it was ok and a great way to work while I take something "better" later.
I have come to love nursing and the impact that we have on peoples lives everyday. I go into work with a smile (i guess i am one of those over enthusiastic ppl) everyday. While there are some "crappy" part to the job I find many forget the worst part. I hate having to clean up patients that are incontinent like everyone else- but can you imagine how it feels to that patient having to be washed and in such a vunerable position by a stranger? I just feel that as annoying and inconvienent it is to us that it must be a million times worse for them. So when i'm cleaning Mr. A up for the sixth time on nights because he's C diff. positive I keep telling myself that.
It sounds to me like you may be a little bored. So, do something about it- find an area you like and strive to learn. I have an undergraduate degree and a critical care nursing specialty certificate. I also listen and learn on teaching rounds everyday. I go to grand rounds when I get a chance and I attend any conferences that my schedule may permit.
Nursing is not for everyone and it does take a special person to do it. I just urge you to really think if it is what you want to do or what others are projecting onto you. If those are the reasons you are completing your nursing program then that is wrong. The patients will be the ones to suffer. There are also many areas of nursing- work in an area where you won't have to deal with any bodily fluids, i recommend reasearch or perhaps in a doctors office but please remove that bittered attitude from your practice as both you and the patients will suffer. Sorry if this seems harsh, I just feel that it is necessary for me to be an advocate for any future patients of yours.
I would definitely get the license. You never know when you'll need it (divorce, hubby's death). Why did you even continue in the program this far, if you don't like it? It's not your friends/relatives' life, it's yours. I wouldn't want to work with you at a hospital!
I didnt read all the threads, but it sounds like you're having a bit of existential anxiety. If you dig deeply enough, you begin to ask questions about what you really want to do with your life, if you really want to do this, whether you're as you said, "passionate" about something (like nursing, a different career, or anything you spend a lot of your life doing). Ultimately, its a craving for meaning in life. These are important questions. I don't have the answers - Im just another person on the same journey. But they are good questions - questions i believe that need to be asked in order to live a fullfilling life.
Ps. One thing I've learned is that although I know a lot of people gain meaning on their work/career, I find that this is a shaky foundation. People identify so very much with "what they do" that I find myself disturbed by it quite frankly. I find it troubling that in our society today, when I meet someone new, the first things they ask me is "what I do" - in essence, how I make money to pay my bills and feed myself - in order to get to know me. Recently, I just say something to the effect of "well, right now Im spending time with my friends and talking to you" which usually throws some people off. I guess what I'm saying is that I imagine that there is something wrong in how so many people ground themselves in their occupation that other parts of your life that give truer meaning - friends, family, love, art, the human experience - is somehow lost and diminished.
You should run the other way. I've been a nurse for 10 years and still love what I do. Others have recommended you finish so you have your license. What for? So you have a job you hate to fall back on. I have worked with nurses who do not like what they do and it shows. It's not fair to the patients, doctors and co-workers. Nursing is a career and if you know you don't like it, why put yourself through it, but more importantly why subject innocence patients to a nurse who is apathetic and doesn't like what they do. I highly encourage you not to waste your, the instructors, your fellow students and the patients time any further. Cut your losses now.
i think you shouldnt waste all that time on your education to just quit, finish your course and register. nursing is such a broad spectrum, so many fields you can enter they may not involve the aspects you 'hate' about nursing. nursing really is a career you have to love. you are working with humans who in some cases are at their worst and they really need someone who is empathetic and who can give their all to the job. patients can sense who is in to the job and whose not. good luck with your future
She sounds like she has still not found what has any deep meaning to or for herself... or if she has, she has yet to have it sincerely affirmed by others that she wants to trust... and grow with. She also sounds like she's feeling hemmed in by expectations from others... and does NOT appreciate it. Since the academic rigors of nursing don't seem to be that challenging to her I, too, would agree with so many of the others, and encourage her to go ahead and finish out her studies... but then see if she could find a competent counselor that she could trust and develop a meaningful rapport with to examinie some of the other issues that are clearly not yet being addressed before she embarks on any other grand endeavors that may only be designed to please others.
9livesRN, BSN, RN
1,570 Posts
I will never invest 2 in things that i hate:
1- my personal time, family time, study time
2- money you probably spent quite a chunk
I am really sorry that you wasted so much money, and so much time, and thought into something you hate... just to find out that you hate it!
next time around on whatever you will do, try it first, research, think about it!
you might make up the money that you have spent, but will never make up the time back!
so... think waaaaay more then twice next time!