I hate nursing..

josinda421 · Sep 2, 2009

I thought I was the only one who felt this way. So your not alone. I also I'm trying another specialty and see how that works

november17, ASN, RN · Sep 4, 2009

I never really dreaded going to work, but I didn't really get used to it until I had been working for a few months.

marilynmom, LPN, NP · Sep 4, 2009

I worked in the hospital for 2 years and left. Things do not always "get better" or easier. After 2 years I was still dreading going into work, I hated the stress, it just wasn't worth it to me, I was even taking an anti anxiety pill to get through work! I have always been laid back, so maybe it just wasn't a good fit for me.

Now I work in psych and its great. I can honestly say that I do love my job :) I don't dread going in at all, I like most of my coworkers and staff, I like my patients, I do a lot of paperwork (which I personally like....better than running around like a chicken with my head cut off stressed out of my mind), etc. I like to talk and listen and get to really know patients so this is a great place for me (most of our patients stay for about a year).

I probably will never go back into the hospital if I can help it.

Look OUTSIDE the hospital, look at different psych nursing jobs, residential treatment centers (that is what I do--I actually have fun at work), detox centers, etc.

GiGiOm · Oct 4, 2009

I'm glad I'm not alone! I have begun to hate nursing. I was always proud of my nursing degree and the fact that I am in a helping profession. Over the last three years, however, I have gotten a little bitter. It's becoming almost impossible in the hospital setting now. I am sick of the pressure to keep surveys coming. Personally, I think it is rude to shove a survey under a sick person's nose and say, "Hey, fill this out." I don't need a survey to know I'm a good nurse. My patients know I care about them and want a good outcome, and they thank me for my care. I rarely get mentioned on a survey because I don't give them one. Certain nurses I know have to be making their patients fill those things out at gunpoint, because their names always get mentioned. These very same people are the ones that won't rotate IV sites, won't take off orders that have been sitting on the chart all day, AND their patients are filthy when I walk in. So, I guess I'm sick of all the bull we are being subjected to. I hope all of you find your niche. I hope things get better. I am thinking about changing careers altogether. It's just not working for me anymore. It's sad. I'm a good nurse. I'm just so tired of all the fiery hoops I have to jump through to get to what matters - the patient.

surferbettycrocker · Oct 5, 2009

i just have to add my :twocents: and :down: for hospital bedside nursing. i have been in the hospital setting for over 2 years at the bedside and i will echo what many nurses here have already typed: it does not get 'easier'. for me, my tolerance hasn't even budged i just go in get steamed about the same thing shift after shift then go home.

i feel stressed out beyond belief. spinning my wheels. and feeling totally isolated in the work that i do.

i suppose i could change my specialty however: do i really think the floors in my specialty arent experiencing short staff, inane mgmt demands, snippy or all-out-rude coworkers and piles of stress? hate to be negative nelly but i see no solution other than get out of this profession all together.

i agree with the poster who said maybe the best nurses, the ones who actually care about their patients and not just the paycheck-run to burnout earlier.

Imrnlil · Oct 7, 2009

It sounds like you hate oncology. So move to another unit. I too hated oncology and steered clear of it for years. You may just be realizing the real toll that all nursing takes, the emotional drag on your soul. You will probably find your own way to cope or move to another career. There is a lot you can do with a degree in nursing. If you could be specific about what you don't like,such as too much physical work, or to much patient contact then you could scope out units that better agree with you. I started in a total joint unit and found out real quick that ortho is too heavy physically for me. Good luck to you.

KELLYJONURSE · Nov 22, 2009

I agree with all of the posts saying nursing is good because you can move around and try to find your niche. The problem is, not everyone finds it. And nurse managers are mean, hateful people that dont like "job hopping". Some will even not hire you if you have a history of changing jobs frequently to try to find where you're best suited. I graduated in 1999 and went straight into ICU. I liked it until 2001. Then I just got tired of the backstabbing, negative attitudes, and getting chewed out by almost everybody. I went to the cath lab. Loved it, but the call was a huge toll on my family life. And after a while, when the newness wore off, I hated it too. So then I did travel nursing for 2 years. Went all over the country. Hated nursing even more because I realized the issues are with the profession, not the location. You can't escape it. Came back to my current facility. Did float pool. Was good in the way that it dets you not get involved in the "politics" of the unit, but bad because you are constantly trying to prove to ppl that you actually do know what you are doing, because they don't know you. And it's a new set every day. So I went to an Open heart recovery unit. Loved the experience, but Cardiothorasic surgeons are the meanest, nastiest ppl on the planet. And after a while, I was burned out there. I now work in surgical ICU and hate it. I am going to school to advance my degree, because I've seen on monster.com and places that you can actually get a job outside of nursing with an advanced nursing degree. Jobs will say "Bachelor's Degree in related field." I have talked to these employers, and it seems that EVERYTHING is related to nursing in their eyes, so they would hire me. So, in summary, I think this job just major sucks. You can move around to make it more tolerable for a while, but in the end, the job is still there- in all it's suckiness.

Jedi of Zen · Nov 25, 2009

I've only been working at my first job for a month, but so far I hate it.

It is EXTREMELY busy. While that in and of itself doesn't bother me, I am concerned that I don't seem to be able to have the time to give good, proper, safe care - the way that I feel like I was always taught in nursing school. Sterile technique, proper assessments, etc...that all just go out the window. And no one seems to care.

I have to agree with the OP: In my situation as well, it's my coworkers that make every moment a living hell. Not all of them do this, but enough of them do that it makes me want to quit every day.

They tell me that I need to "find my own routine". But then when I try to do that, they keep interrupting me, insisting that I do it this way. They spend 10 minutes explaining things that I already know, and by the time they're done lecturing I'm already waaay behind on my other responsibilities. Then they suddenly seem shocked and ****** at me that I somehow am not fast enough. Hmm, wonder why...

I've had other nurses make fun of the way I talk (Apparently I'm not redneck enough for them). They enjoy making terrible food from home and then screaming at me when I decline their offer to try it. During a break one day I happened to mention that my girlfriend is Catholic, and then my charge nurse went into a lengthy, passionate rant about how Catholics are going to hell. He then began drilling me about the Bible, asking what I believe about XYZ. I was tempted to tell him exactly what I believe, but well, I probably wouldn't still have a job if that happened...

amjowens · Nov 25, 2009

I'm an LPN and in second semester RN. I got my first job in Jan, just after graduating from LPN school. It's in assisted living. I took it because of being in school full-time RN, I wanted an "easy" job. I imagined that it'd be a job until I get my RN. Now, after 5 med-surg clinical semesters between my LPN and RN schooling, I honestly feel sorry for the nurses I see when I do my clinicals. A few (counting one hand) seem content, but most appear so unhappy. Before I was a nurse, I'd look at hospitals and think "wow...that's so impressive, where I'm going to be..." Now, I dread my clinicals and LOVE working where I work. I have so much autonomy and ability to be the kind of nurse I always wanted to be. Hospital nursing seems to drain those dreams right from nurses as I'm seeing. The only concern I have is that I want to keep my job in assisted living, but feel obligated to at least get a year med-surg experience when I'm an RN. I just dread that thought, and will do what I can to avoid it if at all possible. It's ironic though, as in my assisted living my assessment skills are constantly being practiced, I have complete autonomy (the physicians we get to know, they come to trust us, know we are the ones seeing the residents...), and am able to practice nursing just the way I was taught in school.

marie-francoise · Nov 25, 2009

I'm an LPN and in second semester RN. I got my first job in Jan, just after graduating from LPN school. It's in assisted living. I took it because of being in school full-time RN, I wanted an "easy" job. I imagined that it'd be a job until I get my RN. Now, after 5 med-surg clinical semesters between my LPN and RN schooling, I honestly feel sorry for the nurses I see when I do my clinicals. A few (counting one hand) seem content, but most appear so unhappy. Before I was a nurse, I'd look at hospitals and think "wow...that's so impressive, where I'm going to be..." Now, I dread my clinicals and LOVE working where I work. I have so much autonomy and ability to be the kind of nurse I always wanted to be. Hospital nursing seems to drain those dreams right from nurses as I'm seeing. The only concern I have is that I want to keep my job in assisted living, but feel obligated to at least get a year med-surg experience when I'm an RN. I just dread that thought, and will do what I can to avoid it if at all possible. It's ironic though, as in my assisted living my assessment skills are constantly being practiced, I have complete autonomy (the physicians we get to know, they come to trust us, know we are the ones seeing the residents...), and am able to practice nursing just the way I was taught in school.

Some of the most miserable moments in my life:

1) The day before med-surg clinicals (dreading them)

2) Being at med-surg clinicals (hated them more than I've ever hated doing anything else in my life)

I got through nursing school with high marks; but I hated, hated, hated the hospital.

Too true about what you say about the hospital - from a non-nurse or non-nursing student POV, it seems like a cool place to work. Now, I know better... No wonder we have to import nurses - who will stick around the hospital bedside when they know what it's like? I don't want to know where hospital nursing is headed... I don't think it has bright prospects. I am not too experienced, so maybe some experienced nurses can chime in here; but I was not hopeful about what I saw/experienced.

solneeshka, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2009

The absolute positively worst thing about my job (med-surg) is without a question the other nurses. I had heard what we've all heard about nurses eating their young, didn't believe it would really be that bad, and boy is it ever. I am a fantastic nurse and take great care of my patients under very difficult circumstances, doesn't make any difference. The mean-spiritedness is really shocking. The good nurses on our unit leave the minute their eligible and the crappy-hearts stick around because they're too lazy to look somewhere else. Maybe a fourth of our nurses are fantastic, sweet, CARE about their patients, and work so hard to get things done and help others, and I love those folks to death. But the others make me want to never have to set foot in that place again. I've been there 6 months, am committed for a year, and am already starting to look elsewhere. There is no part of my very stressful night that is as stressful as giving report. The hypocrisy of the way most of these women act during report is truly galling. But not for much longer :-)

EnkeliRN · Dec 4, 2009

wow...what a great advice from many of you...keep it going.... :)

i'm also a new grad and have been working as a float nurse for about 3 months. i have read some threads where some ppl disagree being a float nurse not a good area to start out with. however, it is what it is.... with the economy and many hospitals on hiring freeze, i took it anyway.

i didn't hate nursing at the beginning as much as i hate some of the bs i have to deal with every now and then. the other day i went to work and they sent me up to work on a step down tele/med-surg floor. cn switched one of my pt with another travel rn because she didn't want to care for this pt since she required a lot of work. i was like okay, as if that wasn't enough... i had 4 other total care pts with fall risk, sob, etc... this other pt that i was given had tpn, pca, and two other antibiotics ivbp q4 hrs, and an iv push bp med q6 hrs with a recovery vitals, lab draw in am, etc. on top of all of this, i got two new admits within one hr apart. the second admit suffers from depression and bipolar, which she ended up pulling her iv out. i was like really, if this is nursing i truly hate it :banghead: . to make matter worse most of the rns were sitting down and joking, i could have swear, i even saw one of them with only 4 pts. so, i decided to go to the cn to ask how many pt each of us had, but she was vague about it. however, at the end of the day i know all of these will help me to be a better rn and perhaps one day i'll find my niche in nursing.

my advice to you is get involved with a mentor if you can find someone or find out the place you work has a mentorship program and start writing journals as well. thus far, it has helped me a great deal and i'm also planning to meet with my mentor so that way i can benefit from any advice, etc that he/she can offer me.

i pray things will get better for you soon, but never loose hope :nurse: