I hate nursing

Nurses General Nursing

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Rod, Male Nurse

101 Posts

Wow. I don't have time to read everyone else's comments but this is just sad. My first impression is you should have left nursing many years ago. I can almost guarantee that you aren't the only person miserable in this situation. Your family is tired of your complaints and I can only imagine how your patients, their family members, and your coworkers perceive your attitude.

You can tell that nursing is "in you" by examining your attitude of it. Halfway through this I almost stopped typing because I am sure I am like the 260th person to say the same thing to you but to put it nicely, your post is neck deep in crap.

Nursing makes you start smoking? I call bull on that...

12 years and probably as many different jobs and you hated every one of them but "nursing is in you"? I call bull on that...

One question I will help you by answering...is your RN worth it or will you still be miserable? The answer is YES, you will still be miserable. You will be a higher paid miserable person. The RN is always worth it over the LPN because in so many cases you are getting paid more to do the exact same thing so yes it is worth it. Is it worth it for you? No, because you have taken up smoking because of nursing (not even close to a good excuse, but ok), you are so stressed that you cant sleep and your stomach hurts before you go to work every time. Basically, to sum up what you said, nursing is going to kill you. You don't sound healthy and nursing clearly isn't leading you down the path of wellness.

Nori.Giselle

72 Posts

Specializes in TICU.

Sounds like you haven't found your niche in nursing. I would do research as to the different types of nursing jobs you can have. I also encourage you shadow some nurses in different specialties even if you think you won't like it. Also be care about what types of jobs you are applying to. Co workers and management can make our break your experience. And lastly, encourage your own-self. Having a negative view is only going to perpetuate your belief of hating nursing. I was a LPN before I became a RN and I used that as motivation to get my RN so that I could have my dream job! LPNs have limited options when it comes to working. At one point I hated my job and cried every morning on the way to work. But I didn't let that bad experience ruin my whole career. I used it as motivation to become a RN. I'm still not currently in my dream job as a RN but I'm well on my way!! And I hope find a job that you love!

BetsySingh

6 Posts

I spent 20 years working as an RN. It seemed like 120. I, too, hated it. Well ... I hated the jobs. I enjoy the work - the actual hands-on performance of nursing - but the jobs are sheer misery. I excelled at it. I got lots of praise and even letters of commendation. I was/am a damned good nurse. But I despised soooo much about it. I hated the abuse - verbal abuse, emotional abuse, sometimes even physical abuse. I hated the "trap" of being expected to keep 100% of the people 100% happy 100% of the time - the patients, their families, their visitors, physicians, PA's, other nurses, ancillary staff, administration - all demanded complete satisfaction, and woe unto the poor nurse who fails to make any of them happy! And that is the tip of the iceberg. I hate the ever intrusive government regulations made by people who do not work in health care. I hate the fact that nurses make so little money (comparatively) despite the huge body of knowledge we must possess and the crushing responsibility we carry - while people like CEO's/CFO's get rich on our labor. I hate (and I mean HATE!!!) this mandatory vaccination garbage - I most certainly did NOT forfeit my right to determine what does and does not go into my body when I passed my boards, thank you. (And the science does NOT support the allegation that influenza vaccination "keeps patients safe" ... )

I could go on and on and on.

It won't get better. If you hate it today, you will hate it tomorrow - and next year, and next decade. You will still hate it even if you go on and get your RN. You may hate it even more! The question is, what to do about it?

You could grit your teeth and continue on. I did that for a long time. But as I tell everyone who asks me about it, if you are smart enough and has what it takes to become a nurse, you can do ANYTHING!!! I often wish that I had thrown in the towel while I was young enough to get through veterinary school. At least you expect animals to bite and scratch ....

If I were you, I would get out. Take stock of what you enjoy doing. If you enjoy the actual work of nursing, consider going to chiropractic school. Massage therapy school might be a good option. There are a lot of medical related fields that will give you the independence of having your own business. But sit down with a paper and pen and start taking notes about what you enjoy. The internet can help you explore options you may have never even thought of and help you figure out how to get there. I know there are career-guidance quizzes available online that can help. You may have to keep the nursing job while you are taking those first steps, but it will be easier to bear showing up for work when you know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I fell into having my own antique shop business almost accidentally. It wasn't the end goal I had in mind, but I really enjoy it a lot and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. I cannot imagine EVER going back to nursing. Well, I guess I can, but it is more like a nightmare. I still maintain my license - I worked way too hard to get it to just let it go. But the "health care" system in this country is just sooo awful on so many levels ... I would rather live in a box under the bridge.

Hope you find your way soon :)

Quickbeam, BSN, RN

1,011 Posts

Specializes in Government.

This is an excellent reply. I am in catastrophic case management and have been for almost 20 years. Most of the people I hire have very pragmatic reasons for wanting away from bedside care. As long as they can learn the case mgt skills and do a good job I don't care that they hated bedside care. Myself, I worked night shift for almost decade in hospital work; I liked the patient care but hated punching a time clock and getting mandated to float and do doubles. Now I am salaried and love my job. My BSN was a ticket to job opportunity. I gave up a prior career to pursue it.

There are so many options out there if you dig. That goes double if you are willing to relocate.

LJPace

4 Posts

Brand new to this site. This is the first posting I am reading. WOW! I know what you are saying. I love nursing, but not nursing. Let me clarify. I love the part of nursing that is the caring for a patient, with education and case management. I cannot tolerate the staffing situations and disrespect that is so common today. Would you allow your child in a daycare facility, when picking them up and they told you no one helped open their milk or they had to pee their pants because no one would take them to the bathroom. We have just two hands, and documentation is overwhelming. I can't do patient care with all the other stuff that gets in the way, and it is frustrating and overwhelming. It isn't about pay. It is about being able to provide perfect experience.

I read physician notes, with all of their required documentation. It is not surprising to see system assessment check boxes "WNL" and then to see narrative about a problem. I read home health OASIS, with pages and pages and pages of nothing. And talk about patient centered goals. These are preset within the system for such foolishness as patients wound will heal by 75% by end of cert, patient will have no falls, etc. Really? I didn't know wound healing prediction or fall prevention would be so easy. Yeah, I sound like a bitter nurse also, and I am, but I love nursing.

Question, do you belong to ANA and your local state nursing association? How do it look professionally when nurses try to change things and only 2% of the population commits to the association. Physicians join multiple associations, even if they think it is all BS. Numbers mean something. Join and stand together for a change

didi768

360 Posts

Specializes in VA, Ortho, Med/Surg.

Well said! We want to do good and give great care but we just can't. Can't Trump help this industry somehow? Things have got to change because we need jobs just as much as facilities need nurses. No one can work under horrible conditions and expect to love the job!

Specializes in Critical Care.

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It's not them who don't understand, it's you. You are choosing to be miserable and to slowly kill yourself because of a belief that you must continue to do a job that you hate... not one which you dislike or which isn't fulfilling or any of that... one that you HATE.

Nursing is not in you. You weren't a nurse when you were born, it is something that you chose to do, something that you were trained to do, and something which you are paid to do... it is something that you do, it is not you.

If you really have a servant's heart and derive fulfillment in a role of service then either pick a job that you don't hate which still provides that fulfillment or find another job and do volunteer work at a nursing home or an orphanage or at a homeless shelter or a home for abused women or... something.

Or find a nursing job that is free of the conditions that you hate so much.

You are literally choosing to kill yourself, albeit not quickly, but most assuredly.

Do something desperate to get out of the abusive relationship in which you're living.

It's your life, choose to live it well.

There were a lot of points in this post I agree with.

What struck me in reading the OP post was that much of the complaints were other peoples fault:

People are going to yell at you

You didnt want to be a nurse but your family somehow made you.

You're not a smoker but are somehow smoking.

You moved to Fl (a state that has a lower cost of living & therefore lower income - something that is easily researched online) but seem surprised you make less money.

You announce you hate your job but get annoyed when people tell you to leave it.

You hate nursing but some cant leave because its in you” which makes no sense to me because while you may have the education, because (again) somehow your family made you be a nurse I dont really get that sense of you being driven to be a nurse.

Other people dont make life happen to you & at some point you have to take responsibility for your own decisions & actions. Which also tells me that you have to make your own actions to move forward with what will make you happy. There are jobs & careers that pay outside of nursing.

In spite of the inevitable comments about being a mean nurse (& yeah, I probably am), I'm actually saying this because I've been there. Not in nursing but in the 8 years I spent in various marketing jobs before I became a nurse. 8 years where I hated my jobs, hated struggling for money (especially with one boss who bounced our paychecks while he & his family drove new cars every 6 months), & yes... bored family & friends to tears with how awful my job was & how trapped I was because how else was I going to make a living?

You've spent 12 years in misery. Set a 5 year plan to move in a direction you want to go. Pay down your debt, live simply, research job & education options in a field you want to work in, explore entrepreneurial options in your chosen field. You may not wind up where you set out to go (I sure didn't) but maybe you'll be in a better place anyway.

At what point do you make a conscious decision to be happy? At what point will you take responsibility for who you are & what you do? I know the feeling of hopelessness in going to a job you hate but when do you begin to take charge of your own life?

smartnurse1982

1,775 Posts

Not to be a jerk but I do not understand other people who are telling her she may love her job once she becomes an Rn.

How so?

It might become worse because the Rn is held to a higher standard with more responsibilities.

But more importantly,and nobody has mentioned this:

Move from Florida.

The southern states are toxic to work in as a nurse.

Take my experience. I did the exact same job in a southern state as I did up north.

I hated nursing down there,but moved up north and loved it again.

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