All of my RN coursework has been finished. Nice 3.76 index. Now I'm waiting for the date for my clincal (i.e. dealing with actual patients) test date. It's a three day ordeal down in Albany. I will probably test sometime in late April/early May.
While I have some studying to do for this, and then for the boards, I'm really pretty much done. I'll be continuing on online probably in an RN to MSN program, but that's a little away.
I aplied for a job at the first place that hired - and fired - me. They were glad to get my resume - they're looking for a nurse who can program and haven't gotten a single applicant with the required skill set. Hand raisey smiley! Even if it doesn't pay well - and it'll probably not - it will be a) Monday - Friday, normal business hours, b) 1.5 miles away so I can walk it and with gas at $3.40 a gallon here I really don't want o commute 65 miles a day even with a 4-cylinder car, and c) I hate being a nurse. I love the patients but nursing is the hardest, most catty thing I've ever done. And I don't want life and death responsibility for less than I made as a word processor.
I'm just kind of musing here, and a little sad and wistful. Nursing is so different from what I had imagined. I feel like a trained chimpanzee who is expected to do the impossible for an incredibly high acuity group of patients without offering any input. I started reading "Nursing against the odds" but put it down because it was too true and depressing.
So I will go on and get an advanced nursing degree solely so that I can advance so far away from the bedside that I'm immune to clinical scapegoating, and because I'm finally close to a degree, with I am guessing over the requirements for a bachelors' already. But I am too old with too much invested to change academic direction again.
That is, of course, this week. 180's are at the discretion of the poster.
Hi! I have been an LVN for over 10 years and I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a nurse. I have worked in so many areas of nursing and if I ever found myself in a place that wasn't for me, I quickly found work somewhere else. I think that you need to just find your place and you will blossom! One of the great things about nursing is that you have SO many opportunities to work in SO many areas, don't let yourself be brought down. If you don't like the type of nursing you are doing, look for something else! It's not nursing that's bad, it sounds like you have been working with some poisonous (sp?) people. Try home health, hospice, management, school nursing, residential treatment, etc if you want more autonomy. Good luck and don't give up! You can make such a difference in people's lives.
To those who suggest that I find another spot and keep changing until I am happy - I'm in a rural area and opportunities are very limited. And gas just went to $3.40 a gallon!
I've never been a savvy political animal, and I always talk too much. It gets me into trouble. And for all of my outer bravado and confidence I get hurt very easily and the troubles I've had as a nurse the past year and a half have almost killed me. It astonishes me that a couple of nurses will sense a loving person and attack like vipers. And it is more upsetting to me to see, time and again, maangement just not wanting grief from the cats. I'm mixing my metaphors. Well, using a lot of them, anyway.
I dunno. I just want, right now, something that lets me use what I've learned in my 54 years and not be run ragged. I want to restore my destroyed credit rating and save enough money to get out of this town. I want some stability.
And I can't say, pointedly, "Excuse me. Please leave. You are not clean, and we are trying to keep this as sterile as possible." I'd get into trouble.
Pffft.
You'll get into trouble for being an advocate for that patient????? Do any of your supervisors have nursing degrees??? I'd think that the supervising management would applaud you for being an advocate.That's a real shame and disservice to the patients when we place the fear of reprisal over the good of the patients. Sounds like management personnel needs to be replaced.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I'm somewhat confused on how you have decided that you hate being a nurse when you haven't actually worked as a nurse yet. You are just finishing school, trust me the real world is soooo much different than school! I can't imagine going through nursing school and not working as a nurse.
I've been an RN for a long time,.I've been at the same hospital for almost 10years,.now I agree that I haven't always been happy with the unit or the people I work with,.but it really is what you make of it. I am currently working with a great group of nurses, techs, doctors, US techs, radiology techs etc. We work our tails off and yes sometimes the pt's are rude, sometimes families are uninformed and nasty,.but sometimes my team saves lives! Somtimes my team calms a frightened child, or comforts a worried grandma. Sometimes we are the first kind words, or gentle touch a lonely old man has experienced in a long time.
My nights aren't always "feel good, wow we made a difference, don't I feel great" experiences, but I would hate to think I gave up those nights just because I had some bad nights! I can honestly say I love my job. Yes, I take care of pts that are mean and nasty and don't understand or appreciate what I'm doing for them. I have to deal with angry parents that treat me like a second class citizen. But there are jerks everywhere,.these same people are just as nasty to the clerk at the bank and the kid that delivers their newspaper. Any job is what you make of it. If you don't like one place move on until you find your niche! I hate to see you give up because of some really bad experiences as a student. Good luck in whatever you decide to do,.but please remember that we don't all hate our jobs,.we don't all feel over worked and under appreciated,.some of us are doing what we've always wanted to do, helping people, even the mean ones.
Susan is a nurse. She is a licensed practical nurse that just about completed an on line LPN to RN program.
lvnsandiego
22 Posts
Hi! I have been an LVN for over 10 years and I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a nurse. I have worked in so many areas of nursing and if I ever found myself in a place that wasn't for me, I quickly found work somewhere else. I think that you need to just find your place and you will blossom! One of the great things about nursing is that you have SO many opportunities to work in SO many areas, don't let yourself be brought down. If you don't like the type of nursing you are doing, look for something else! It's not nursing that's bad, it sounds like you have been working with some poisonous (sp?) people. Try home health, hospice, management, school nursing, residential treatment, etc if you want more autonomy. Good luck and don't give up! You can make such a difference in people's lives.