tell me the worst things about nursing

[Jen in Van.]

No really, give it to me. I wanna hear it. You see I think I have a different idea about what i can do with my BSnN. (only just applied to uni.) You see I think I can become an educator (I am a Registered Nutritional consutant currently) and work in schools and with families/children/new moms/ adolescents etc. I don't want to be just giving injections or meds all day I don't want to work in ER or OR or acute care and I don't want to work in a hospital. Please tell me about your daily jobs, what exactly do you do?... Am I crazy to think nursing is the answer for me with all these 'don't's already set out??

So go ahead tell me the truth about nursing- if I opt out of hospital work what is left for me? Do the grueling 14 hr. shifts only happen in hospitals? Is it hard to get a job with a pediatricans office? or in schools?

Thanks guys- I so appreciate your words of wisdom.

Yours in health,

Jen ?? ???

[ageless]

The worst thing about nursing is mandatory overtime...just finished a 17 hour shift!

[fergus51]

Definitely Renarian. BC is a tad different from NY I imagine. Here we are all unionized and no nurse can be made to work mandatory OT. In order to force nurses to work OT, we would have to have the government change the labour codes and this would apply to all workers.

We tend to break public health into 2. Public health generally involves child care clinics (immunizations), school health, mental health and maternity care (postpartum visits and such), travel clinics, STD clinics. Because they are generally scheduled clinics, most are on weekdays, and no holidays (except for maternity and psych). Basicaly it's health promotion among the well. What you do sounds like what we call community health (sick people who need care in homes, palliative care, wound care, etc.). It does involve tons of home visits and includes weekends and holidays, but still no mandatory OT and 35 hours a week full time.

[tues]

The worst thing about Nursing is the people who teach, but lack bedside experience. Experience is the best teacher. Work in several different areas before you decide what you want to do. If anyone had told me I would spend 30 years in an O.R. I would have looked at them like they had lost their minds. O.R. nursing if you end up in a good O.R. is always challenging. You can work for 5 days in a row and never see the same thing twice. Technology is changing so much, that you are always learning, and are not usually bored. Most hospitals require a post grad course, some will provide on the job training, but I would recommend the course as the better way to learn. I have done floor nursing, ICU, Psych, gerentology and O.R., and It is in the O.R. that I have stayed