If it's such a horrible job, why not quit?

jmtndl · Dec 31, 2009

The thing is that nursing doesn't have to be horrible! If there were just some support and some management with even a little bit of a brain it could be a pleasent job. The culture today is that a nurse is responsible for everything, is understaffed, has no support... not one single entity in a hospital will do the slightest thing to make nursing a little less stressed because they do not care...

it just doesn't have to be like this. With a 4-5 ratio,days and nights, techs who will take some responsibility for the care they give (and stay off their cellphones) a lab who will come draw blood without a lengthy justification, an xray department who will just do the study ordered without all the "why's" the job could be done with so much less stress. I have had PT say"don't ask me to get the pt up...I have my own job to do"...I have had the pharmacy say "we do not have this drug, and no we will not call the doctor about it". Every time I call RT I get a speil about how they have ICU and 2 treatments in the ER and will be a while. and I've told techs the Mr. XXX need to be turned and had them say "Well turn him then" when I am waiting for a doctor call back to deal with a BP of 210/100.Meanwhile management wants me to sign hourly rounding sheets to be thrown away at the end of the shift and chart the output on both the flow sheet and the graphic sheet. Nursing is not horrible...it is just extremely frustrating because of the total underappreciation we experience from all sectors.It just doesn't have to be like this.

Jules A, MSN · Dec 31, 2009

When I come into contact with nurses. I always ask them about their job and alot of them say they want to quit but cant for the same reasons as the above posters. After reading this reality of being a nurse I am kinda scared now:sofahider. These are real eye openers.

Don't be scared because we aren't all miserable. This is my second career because I was getting bored with my first one. I continued working, went back to school and now really enjoy being a nurse. I could have stayed at my other good paying job that was bearable but I saw the writing on the wall and acted upon it. Personally I think some people are afraid of the effort it takes to change. In most cases, its hard to justify doing something as difficult and draining as nursing without enjoying it, imo.

Virgo_RN, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2009

Nursing is not a horrible job. Aspects of nursing are horrible. You get that with any job. If everyone in the world who was unhappy about the horrible aspects of their job were to quit, we would see an incredibly high unemployment rate.

kimima01 · Dec 31, 2009

I stay because I care for the residents. I may not like my job but I love the care I can provide. Erase management, nasty docs, and rude nurses and I'll be a happy camper !

Oh, and let's not forget the unreasonable expectations of some family members:mad:.

NurseLoveJoy88, ASN, RN · Dec 31, 2009

Oh, and let's not forget the unreasonable expectations of some family members:mad:.

No forgetin here

rn4ever? · Dec 31, 2009

Easier said than done. Maybe because they have to pay their bills?????

Lovely_RN, MSN · Dec 31, 2009

I can't stand my current (and soon to be ex) job 80% of the time but I had to take what I could get. I know that some new grads are lucky enough to get a great job right away but I didn't have that luck. When I graduated from LPN school I had to take what I could get or remain unemployed. It seemed like an obvious choice at the time with a stack of bills and no pay checks coming in. I knew from my 2nd week on that job that I wasn't working in the greatest place but I had to pay the bills and gain experience.

There have been plenty of days when I wanted to throw my keys on the floor, punch the clock, and walk out but I've got a family and that limits my choices. I might be happier working at Forever 21 but I think that when you have a family personal job satisfaction comes after financial responsibilities. It's not like I would be trading between a job paying a million dollars that made me unhappy for one that paid 500K and made me happy. I'm just a regular working/middle class person and earning a nurse's salary vs my past salaries is the difference between struggling and a decent lifestyle.

This is just my opinion but I think the idea that everyone should only work in a job they feel passionate about to be childish. Some of us just have to work. Stable jobs, with decent incomes, and benefits take priority over job satisfaction for some people and i'm one of those people. My personal happiness comes from my life outside of my job. I expect nothing more from work then just that...work. I punch the clock I give it my best for eight hours and then I go home to have some fun and enjoy life with the family. When I get really fed up everyonce and a while I come here and blow off my stress so that I can go fight another day.

Hopefully my next job will be a better one but if it's not then it's likely I will have to keep that one too until something better comes along. I'm also not going to put down other nurses who have years and years on the job and hate it. I don't know what their perosnal struggles are. There are many reasons financial and otherwise that sometimes force a person to stay in a bad sitiuation. Yes, there are some people who are just too lazy/comfortable/incompetent to move on from a job they hate but how can we assume that about them unless we know them and what they are thinking?

sunnycalifRN · Jan 1, 2010

It's just so easy to say "If you don't like your job, why don't you just quit?", isn't it? It's just sooooooooo easy. Who can just quit? And honestly, that statement is irritating as heck. It's not that the job is horrible, just certain aspects of it.

I didn't mean to sound flippant with the title of the thread . . . but, for some posters on this site, they describe their jobs as 100% miserable, dehumanizing, disgusting and horrible. If I were in that position, I'd find another area of nursing to work in, or find another line of work.

I know that I can't be the only one . . . but, nursing is my 5th occupation (not job) . . . and I think I've finally found an occupation that I will retire from.

suanna · Jan 1, 2010

I've been a staff nurse for 25 years- it gets a little tougher every year. I can't quit- I'm too old to start over somewhere else or to "retrain" into another profession. I hate my job more each day. Less and less job satisfaction, more and more political infighting with quality care ending up on the short end of every debate. Just 4-6 years till I can retire. As much as I hate it- what else would I do to support my wife and family for the next 5 years that offers me wages close to top scale staff RN. If I could I would be a busboy at Bob Evans. It's a dream job; but, like StNeoster pointed out, that sleeping inside is so much more appealing! For any of our "student" readers: consider long and hard if Nursing is what you want to do for the rest of your life BEFORE you get locked into Nursing wages and job security and cannot find a way out. Before you graduate is the time to pick a new direction, not 5 years (or 25) years later with a family and a mortgage.

rngolfer53 · Jan 1, 2010

Another currently active thread is asking why nursing is such a horrible job and there are many responses detailing posters opinions. My question is: if it's THAT horrible, why not quit? And, I know that everyone will say, "it's the economy, stupid!!", but, really, if you feel that your job is horrible . . . why stay?

Short answer: because not eating is even more horrible than the lousy job.

In the short run, most people can't just quit their job. Not without another lined up.

It's tough to change careers in the short/medium term, unless you have resources to allow a couple years schooling, etc. without your former income.

It's somewhat easier in a strong economy, and obviously tougher in a weak one.

sunnycalifRN · Jan 1, 2010

Short answer: because not eating is even more horrible than the lousy job.
In the short run, most people can't just quit their job. Not without another lined up.
It's tough to change careers in the short/medium term, unless you have resources to allow a couple years schooling, etc. without your former income.
It's somewhat easier in a strong economy, and obviously tougher in a weak one.

Of course, I realize this. But, having survived many lay-offs, I know that if the job vanishes, you make do somehow. I guess I'm just wondering why so many folks who are so miserable don't plan to escape from their misery when it's next possible. I just don't buy the "it's impossible to leave" argument. So you may take a pay cut to make a change; when you're laid off (and there ARE lay-offs in nursing, too), it's a 100% cut.

rph3664 · Jan 1, 2010

Another currently active thread is asking why nursing is such a horrible job and there are many responses detailing posters opinions. My question is: if it's THAT horrible, why not quit? And, I know that everyone will say, "it's the economy, stupid!!", but, really, if you feel that your job is horrible . . . why stay?

It doesn't matter what kind of job people have, you are always going to have people who are miserable and don't really want to do anything about it.

I've said that more than once: "So, why do you work here? Why don't you look for another job?" It usually shuts people up really fast.

There's a woman I work with, who does not have to work at all let alone the horrendous hours she keeps, and I, and pretty much everyone else who works there, has been tempted to ask her, "Why do you work here?" but we probably wouldn't want to know the answer. This is a woman whose 11-year-old son cuts himself and her 8-year-old daughter binges and purges, and they have done this for several years that I know of and she talks about it like it's no big deal, so there's obviously more there than just the job. In addition, I have never heard her say that she, her husband, or either of her children has ever had any friends.