I don't know if it was worth becoming a nurse

[snow22]

I know this has been a topic probably a hundred times by now but here's my story:

I went to school for three and a half years. The entire time I went I was wondering if it would be worth being a nurse. Students seemed click-ish at best and drunkards at worst. I couldn't handle working and getting my BSN (which I've been told multiple times was not worth it by colleges at my current job) at the same time so I didn't ever become a CNA.

I passed my boards and got a job but that's all it feels like right now is a job.

I'm miserable. I've only worked three months and that's the sum of my nursing "career" right now. I've been written up twice now-and you can only have six write ups and then it's bye-bye newbie, once for a mistake several people made (and didn't get written up for like me). We have a brand new director who is intimidating and continues to change things that I learned at orientation constantly. I feel like my training was invalid. I don't feel valued, and I'm not getting paid what I should be for what I do and I've been told several times that I will never get a raise there. I work nights, and sometimes I'm so exhausted I can't even take the 45 minute drive home. I've had such awful nights for about a month now.

Is it just where I'm working? Or will this be anywhere I go?

(i posted this also in the recovery section of this site whoops)

[NurseGirl525, ASN, RN]

It is a job. It's a profession, a job, like any other profession. People do not understand that.

People wake up one day and decide that they aren't satisfied in their lives. I'm going to make a change, I'm going to become a nurse, and save lives, and make a difference, all while making so much money. It will be fulfilling every day and all of my troubles will go away because I am a nurse!!

They go to school, think I am doing the right thing, pass their boards, get a job, and realize, this isn't what I thought it was. People yell at me, I'm expected to keep up standards, it's not the romantic life I thought it would be. I'm still not fulfilled. Something is missing.

Your job is not your whole identity. It is a small part of who you are. You are a human being first and foremost. You've only been there three months. Give it some more time to get your time management skills under control and fully learn the job. Don't take your job home with you. When you leave, you are done. Tomorrow is another day.

Learn from your mistakes. Don't make them again. I don't think 3 months us enough time to decide that it is not for you.

[123itsjesset]

I think it's the place you work for. The issues you are having are things that can be changed, simply by being in a different position. Before you decide to quit the nursing profession, I think you owe it to yourself to try a job in a completely different environment. Try a different hospital, on a different floor. Heck, a different floor in the same hospital can be a night and day difference. Remember why you became a nurse in the first place. Don't let a less than desirable work situation ruin your outlook on the career. Also, I don't think it would be a bad idea to find out what type of nursing you really love. Is it ER? Is it Med-Surg? Is it long-term care? If you are in an area of nursing that you love, I think it becomes easier to deal with some of the other things.

Keep your head up and just remember one thing...YOU SAVE LIVES!

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Some days you're the bird, flying free. And some days you're the car UNDER the bird, catching all that flying poop!

Only time will tell if becoming a nurse was a good move for you; honestly I think it's way too early in the game to make that call. New nurses are almost always shocked by the reality of the work but that doesn't mean the work is too much or the new nurse wasn't well prepared. It's just a thing that takes time to adjust to: unusual working hours, demands, responsibilities that while you KNEW they were coming.....well, they just don't feel quite real until you're catching all the poop coming your way

Give it time. Find a mentor, if possible, who can help direct your choices and maybe give some advice on the best ways to handle the new ordeal that is your job.

Hang in there!

[Jules A, MSN]

I'm guessing you are young since you weren't able or didn't have to work during school and should add that in my 20s although I worked a lot of hours there was no way I had the maturity to be a nurse with all that it entails. It is probably a combination of your facility, the hours and your young age if in fact you are young. Perhaps consider different specialties that might appeal to you before coming to the conclusion that nursing isn't for you? Trust me I had no calling to be a nurse. I basically figured I'm smart and motivated enough to be competent and was attracted to the short amount of schooling required. However I do believe that nursing is a difficult job on so many levels and I need to love what I'm doing most days at least, lol. I have been blessed to have found my niche or I also would have decided not to continue. Good luck with whatever you decide.