Im Having a hard Time Deciding if I want to be a RN.PLEASE HELP I NEED ADVICE!!!

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I researched Nursing for 2 years and I finally took a PCA position at a Big Hospital and at first I loved it, But the woring environment my co-workers are all nasty and negative and seem to be stressed all the time. I have even been told by a Nurse I should consdier something else cause Nursing is not all that. I work with other Nurses that float to our Unit and they HATE our floor. They say it's the worse one in the hospital. I have this jaded view of Nursing now. I dread going to work and I do not like cleaning up patients most are Incontinent of Urine and stool 90% on Isolation. I am not sure if is just this Critical Care Step Down Unit or is all of Nursing consisting of High Stress and Burn out and cleaning up Poop all day. Then hear some Nurses say they LOVE being a Nurse. Like I read it often on All Nurses.

I hope to start pre-reqs for Nursing this fall, But I have seriously reconsidered. I want to make a smart choice. I feel like Nursing is a great career but maybe I was placed in a bad area as a PCA or maybe it's the PCA duties Im confused. Also the pay SHOCKED me. I was told you will start out making $20.99 is this normal? I was told my hospital is the highest paying in our city??? Could someone please help me clear the confusion? What areas of Nursing could I consider that may not be so needy and Sick. Im sick of the smell of Poop and having to deal with MRSA and Encenobacter!!! I love the patients it's just the environment and the negative co-workers it's making me so miserable Im consdiering forgetting about Nursing all together at the end of my shift Im stressed and tired.

I read Articles by RNs and they seem very happy with what they do. I did meet one RN who told me to look into other Nursing options there are peanty. I just don't know how or where to start. Can someone PLEASe give me some encouragement and advice. I feel in my heart Nursing is my calling but everyday as I clock out I say to myself What the hell? is this why Nursing has such a high turn over? Maybe I don't want to be a Bedside Nurse? ARRGGHHH Im getting tense just talking about it! please give me some clear advice and what are my options. My goal was to become a Nurse Practioner thats my dream, or maybe getting a BSN then MHA...Please Help!!!:crying2:

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You said you love the patients, but hate cleaning up poop and dealing with infections. News for you, their infections and poop is all part of them being a patient. If they didn't have these problems or issues they would not have been your patients. Maybe you are right nursing might not be for you.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I think you desparately see a few other areas of nursing before making any big life-changing decisions. It might very well be that you will make a great nurse and find it satisfying -- but that you just happen to have started your career working on a terrible unit.

So ... find a way to spend some time elsewhere and/or talk to people who work in other places. Is there any way you can transfer to another unit in your current hospital? Are there committees or activities you could get involved in that would help you meet people in other units? Perhaps there is an opportunity to be a volunteer on another unit ... even to cross-train to work for pay on another unit. What about volunteering or working at other facilities in your area? I would seek out any such opportunities I could find before making a big decision based on your experiences in one work setting only.

If you can't find such an opportunity before you start school, know that you will have opportunities as a nursing student to see a variety of clinical settings. If you have similar negative reactions to all of those, then you might want to drop out of the nursing program and try another major.

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Specializes in Endoscopy/MICU/SICU.

Jeez, Sana. Kinda harsh, don't you think? Angela, why don't you try a different floor and see if you like it any better. Also, watch the RN's closely, because their jobs are much different than a PCA. Maybe being on a different floor will give you a different perspective....

Good luck, hope things work out.

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Specializes in Case Mgmt, Anesthesia, ICU, ER, Dialysis.

Oh my goodness...honey, listen to me:

It sounds like you work in a hellhole. Every hospital has them. It is not endemic of every job in nursing...far from it. Get your experience, and go to school. Get the tools you'll need to help change it - maybe not on that floor, but somewhere, somehow, within the system.

Does it suck some days? You betcha.

Do I go home in tears sometimes, utterly frustrated? You betcha.

Have I saved countless lives? Yup. Gonna go do it again, tonight.

Have I comforted and educated thousands upon thousands of patients and their families, teaching them how to be well and helping them accept things that aren't going to change? Yup. Gonna go it again, tonight.

Sana: I don't think ANY of us love cleaning up poop and dealing with MRSA and other infectious processes! I know I sure don't, yet I know without a doubt that I am doing what I was meant for in this life.

To dismiss the OP's question in the broader sense based upon a very small section of what the overall scope of care encompasses is not any of us a favor: it discourages her and we don't end up with another potentially valuable member of the profession.

I don't like cleaning up poop, but I love getting them clean, comfortable and smelling nice. I love the results it gets me: lower BP's, fewer arrythmias, less fighting of the vents, SIGNIFICANTLY less agitation in my elderly, and better outcomes all over. Well rested patients = healing patients, and it's part of what we do to help them become well rested.

Angela, consider transferring to a new unit. It sounds like you are getting burned out on your current one. That doesn't mean you're a bad person, bad caregiver, or don't have the potential to be a nurse. It just means you need a new change of scenery. Most nurses work in many different areas throughout their career. It's the beauty of a nursing license: You are portable, and YOU HAVE CHOICES!

Start taking your pre-reqs. Even if you decide against nursing, you will have that many more credits towards a degree of some sort - and a degree is just about manadatory for anything, these days. No education is ever wasted.

Good luck, and let us know if we can help in any way. :)

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I'm starting nursing school this Monday (6-29) and I've been doing the back and forth your doing. There plenty of reasons not to be a nurse, and there plenty more reasons to be a nurse. Coworkers are always going to stink, there may never be a good amount to be paid as a nurse. I wish I could make the decision for you, but I can't. I'm happy with the decision I made, I hope you will be too.

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WHATEVER. You obviously have issues. Anyway. I know I will make a good Nurse, I have excellent interaction with patients and always get praise for my kindness and understanding. Maybe you she reconsider Nursing if you think all a Nurse does is clean up poop and infections. You know what, your the first person I have ever heard give that part of the job props! and no there are units that deliver babies and have NOTHING to do with Poop Im just looking for educated and experienced Nurses who can give some real advice. Keep the criticism to yourself. Thanks

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See. Now your a Nurse I want to be like. I love your attitude I don't expect it to be perfect. Even as a PCA I have come close to patients and comfot them when they were just told they were without a doubt gonna die. Infact a patient I took care of passed this week two weeks ago he told me I was the only staff memeber he liked and could talk to. I was the only person on the unit that he told the Doctor said theres no hope for me. Everyone else I worked with belittled this man and treated him like dirt. You are so right I work in a HELL HOLE I have never been around so called adults that behaved this way. I just get caught up in the negeative nonsense and I to easily lose sight. Thank you for your honesty. God bless you NurseKitten. I hope when Im a RN I can offer great advice to discouraged and uncertain ones. Thanks!

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Specializes in Oncology, radiology, ICU.

I think we all have good days and we all have bad days as nurses and I truly believe with any other job as well. I have days where I wonder why the hell did I become a nurse to begin with then I have that sweet little patient that I admit who is weak and confused at the time but as the days progress he becomes stronger and more alert up to the point he and his equally as sweet wife are walking in the hallway together holding hands and they both smile at me as I watch them go by. I think to myself at that point that this is the reason I did it. I suggest you look into transferring to another unit that isn't so toxic and negative and maybe get a different perspective on being in the healthcare profession. Yes we clean up pee, poop, vomit, and everything in between that just comes with the job but it's not all of the job. Don't give up something you want to do because of one bad job experience, follow your heart.

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I too will be starting my pre-nursing this fall. I also have gone back & forth in my head. "I'm too old", "It's 4 years" , "Am I crazy for doing this", "Is this really what I want". However, I know this IS what I want. I've always wanted to work with diabetics. My family is loaded with them & I've watched so many die young, mostly due to refusal to follow DR. advice. Anyway to make a long story short, I'm aiming toward a dialysis company near my home. They've already taken me on a tour. If I get hired they will reimburse me for a big chunk of my tuition. They also go to 2 diabetic camps every summer & they do missions all over the world! I have never been more excited about a company in my life. I can't wait till I'm done with nursing school to get started. It's what I want. I also like the fact that I had been looking into travel nursing & I can do that with this company or on my own with another travel company. It's my choice & I love that.

Dialysis may not be what you are looking for, but I agree with NurseKitten, we will have lots of choices:yeah: I don't know of many jobs that you can make a difference in people's lives & have so many choices of how to do that. Don't give up before you try. Just start researching your choices before making any rash decisions. Nursing may not be for you, but how will you really know if you don't give it a chance? Just a thought. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.;)

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Just remember before you get to make the choices you have to make it through nursing school. Many of the first clinical placements will "weed" out those who aren't in it for thr correct reasons.

Poop, you will find it everywhere in a hospital setting. L&D, Mums poop when they push and you get to clean it up. Babies in the nursery poop, and you clean it up. Dialysis patients can lose bowel control and yes there are aides but still there is poop.

MRSA is all over the hospital and out there in the community as well.

Working in the community is a whole other cans of worms.

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Specializes in Case Mgmt, Anesthesia, ICU, ER, Dialysis.

Mlo - I agree. Dialysis isn't a bad place to start out - it was where I got my start, and really learned the basics of hemodynamics.

You either love it or you hate it, and there is no middle ground. :)

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