If you had to do it over again would you?

Tally4970 · Jan 18, 2012

For Pitt2philly: what would you get your Masters in? What was your previous education/career in?

netglow, ASN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

Actually I think that those nurses who were able to achieve a lot when the economy and nursing was good will respond a resounding yes. Heck there was a time when continuing edu was all but paid for and many were able to both work and get higher education and come up all roses just continually fighting off all the job offers. Hospitals started to "look" like they were supportive of our profession and nurses began to gain some power in the world. You actually had the ability to work as a nurse, continue your education into the rafters, have a life, and not starve! Wish I had kicked myself in the butt just a few years earlier and gone back to school then. Instead I graduated right at the start of the total freeze-out for nurse hiring, and the decline of so much of what nursing had begun to grow into.

alxndria.mrqtt · Jan 18, 2012

This thread is scaring me as well! According to many of you, nursing is not what I thought it was! : /

tokmom, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

Well, in the perfect world, I would own a yarn shop and drink tea while selling beautiful wools.

In the real world, yes I would do this all over again. However, I would have gone straight to my BSN, because I would have had somebody to help me understand student aide.

With that being said, I'm very happy where I am and I'm proud to be a nurse.

donsterRN, ASN, BSN · Jan 18, 2012

Absolutely. I love nursing. Except on the days that I hate it. But I've never been sorry I became a nurse.

Mandi3020 · Jan 18, 2012

I wouldn't. I've been a nurse 30 years, and although the profession has been good in terms of flexability and job security, I feel nurses are grossly underpaid for the responsibilities we have. I just was talking with DH the other evening (he's a nurse too) and commented to him that I've been a nurse for so long that I really don't know what my other interests are. Maybe I'm having a mid-life crisis, but I'd love to do something else---I just don't know what it would be.

sapphire18 · Jan 18, 2012

I am 37 years old and working on my nursing prereq's. I am hoping to actually start the BSN program in the fall. This is a complete career change for me (I currently only have an AAS degree). I picked nursing for several reasons; helping people, having a field that has a lot of possibilities, job security, interesting/learning something new, using my mind, having a skill, marketable, feeling of bettering someone life, etc... After being on this site, now I am doubting some of those reasons. So my question is if you had to do it all over again would you still pick nursing? Why, why not? What would you pick if answer was no...

Yes, I would. While the job market, hospital administration and politics of it sucks, I can't imagine doing anything else. It is so fulfilling, and there are so many different specialties and work environments to choose from. Good luck! :)

aboucherrn · Jan 18, 2012

I really don't know what I would be doing if I wasn't a nurse, but I can't say I love it anymore after 13 years. It's a great profession for all the things you mentioned, but to have to rely on it for the financial wellness of your family... it gets harder and harder over the years. I absolutely love helping and caring for people, but as an RN today, you just don't have time. You spend most of your time fixing problems you have no control over and trying to document because Joint Commission is going to make an appearance sometimes in the next two weeks. I rarely have time to get to know my patients, and it is very frustrating.

"The Dream" is that my husband will sell a screenplay and pay off most of our debt, then I can work part time as a nurse in a field that may not pay as well, but doesn't take such a toll on my physical and mental health. Everything people have said on this thread about failing health is true. I am 34, have chronic anxiety and GI problems, and I feel (and sometmes act) like I am 60.

Go into nursing because you honestly love it, not because you need a steady paycheck (that's the advice I give all my friends considering nursing because they keep getting laid off from sales/temp jobs). Don't be afraid of the advice on this site, use it to make your own experience better.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

PMFB-RN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

I would for sure. Nursing has been very good to me. I went to college for two semesters, 9 months, to obtain my associates degree and RN license (after challengig the LPN NCLEX based on army medic training and experience). I have worked in several ICUs, burn, surgical, medical, trama, ER, critical care transport. Currently work as full time rapid response nurse for a large medical center and have about as much autonomy as a hospital nurse can. I am paid well over $100K/year, have my prefere shift and schedual, good benifits, lots of vacation time. I get to help people when they need it the most and eally make a difference in patients lives. For the most part I work with a great bunch of people (some exceptions of course) and usually have fun at work. I actually look forward to going to work a lot of the time and never dread it. I get to spend a lot of time teaching nursing students and new grads and very much enjoy waching them grow and become more confident and competent as nurses.

I wonder if a new grad today would have the same oppertunities I had. When I graduated I was offered every job I applied for and accepted exactly what I wanted and got great critical care training and $5K bonus to boot. I don't think that is happening much today.

Pretty good for a career that cost me $2600 and took two semesters to obtain.

Flo., BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2012

No. I went into nursing so excited to help people and make a difference in the world. Well reality hit and its sucks. The first year was full of sleepless nights worrying did I make a mistake or miss something that will end up killing a patient. I feel like I went into nursing a normal person and it has given me uncontrollable stress and anxiety.

After a year it got better. I lost my tunnel vision and some of the anxiety. That is when I started to see just how badly we were being treated by management. Chronic under staffing, lack of lift equipment, benefits that left a lot to be desired and micromanagement. I never have time to get to know my patients. I'm now thinking about leaving nursing completely.

kcmylorn · Jan 18, 2012

NO!!!

CathyRN06 · Jan 18, 2012

What a hard question to answer, at least without qualifiers.

Given the circumstances I was in at the time I went to school, I would definitely do it again. I had always wanted to be an ER nurse but was married right out of high school and it wasn't in the cards at that time.

While my children were growing up, I tried numerous times to go back to school but I found that working and taking care of small children in addition to education was just too difficult.

I finally graduated from one of the last diploma programs just before I turned 40. I had reached that goal! Unfortunately, my husband died a week after I had my first job.

I'm sure my opinion of nursing was biased because of that. Sometimes I still grieve.

I worked for many years doing ER, ICU, critical care float then traveled for three years. I had my CEN, ACLS, Trauma and PALS certifications and was proud of my accomplishments but I made career mistakes along the way that affected my happiness in retrospect.

In 2006 I was burned out, dissatisfied and miserable or so I thought!

I went from working in a busy ER to being flat on my back within a month. I spent a year in bed, another in a wheelchair and am now, almost six years later, readying myself to go back to work. As burned out as I was, it was such a part of my self-esteem that the depression was unbelievable. I didn't consider going back to nursing for quite some time. Physically I am doing better now and am preparing to go back but not into critical care.

If I had to do it all over again? I would probably go into physical therapy if I were young and without children, but I had a family to take care of and nursing was the way for me to do that - and as I said before, I had always wanted to be a nurse.

The mistakes I made? Like others on this board, I job hopped. I always thought it was better at another facility but it wasn't. Sometimes it was worse.

My attitude became bad quickly after graduating. I wasn't prepared for the reality of nursing and I'm not sure how a school could prepare you! I think something is wrong with nursing education but I certainly have no answers.

Another mistake I made was not taking care of myself well enough.

Even given all the above, I am eager to get back into nursing at this stage in my life. I feel excited at the possibility and am looking forward to it. Do I have mixed feelings about the profession of nursing? You betcha.