Ive been out of nursing school 2 years now and I have bounced between countless jobs. ICU, NICU, med/surg, home health, and different hospitals. Sometimes I feel so strongly that I REALLY dont like nursing, but its so hard to look past the flexible hours, pay, and benefits. Im depressed, anxious, a nervous wreck, now Im having physical pain from the tensions.
My question: Do most nurses REALLY love their job and their patients? Or at least most of the time?
Because I cant honestly say I do.
PS. I have an associates degree, so I feel limited to the bedside.
Of course there are times when the job gets stressful, most especially when your a new grad and are working in high stress units and understaffed situations.. Were you always unsure about nursing, if you truly feel that way maybe some deep thought is warranted, otherwise I completely understand where your coming from, I don't like the area of nursing I currently work in, so am I fully enjoying my nursing career right now.. somewhat.. I'd love to be in MICU, ICU, or even NICU right now
i love nursing. i like nursing. talk about flexibility. where else can i work as an icu nurse then all this: a pacu nurse and be home evenings with my kids. start a pain management clinic in a hospital and learn about where money goes and how we figure out who gets it. to say nothing of drg and cpt codes, who knew those even existed? work as a clinical specialist for a major medical company for 7 years and have all of a masters of management paid for. work in 4 different hospitals in 4 different cities in 4 years. find out i hate ltc (here). get a job doing ins lab work on my own schedule? i love all i have been able to do. i love all of the people i have met, patients, family members, physicians (even grumpy ones), nurses (even sarcastic ones), ancillary staff, sales reps... have i loved every minute no? do i love being a nurse, yes.
Good that you found your niche. I have a dream job myself. Driving with police putting mentally ill in the hospitals. I work out in the community and see 2 or 3 patients a day. LOVE the job. Its all about working SMARTER, not HARDER....I evaluation the clients, then drop them off at the hospitals. The nurses at the hospitals have to deal with them. I give NO medications, NEVER put hands on the clients, (since the police do that)....what better job could you have.
wow, so how is psych nursing. What do you do as an RN. And what does the lpn do. I know it's lower pay than hospital but I bet your satisfied with it along with the lower stress.
For me, the pay was BETTER than hospital nursing.. but this is through a non-profit facility. And I just started this job so I can't tell you the exact job duties yet.
I have a few more avenues to try- so far I don't like nursing. I read the previous posts and have to agree that it is the paperwork and new rules every day that drive my crazy. I love the actual pt care but I hardly get to see my pts because 1. I have too many or 2. I'm too busy doing paperwork to look at them. I'm hoping to like my new psyc job!
Specializes in acute rehab, med surg, LTC, peds, home c.
I am *lucky* to have found the great job that I have in nursing, I know as a new RN (1 yr) there are nurses who would kill for my job.
If it wasn't for this job I would be out of nursing, working at Starbucks. Nursing sucks for the most part. There is no WAY to know what your getting yourself into before you make the commitment either (I worked as a tech and CNA before becoming an RN).
Are you going to keep us in suspense?!! Where do you work that is so great?
Funny that you mention Starbucks. On the bad days I always wish I could work there or at B&N or better yet, I wish I had become a librarian. All that peace and quiet, just hanging out helping people find books, ahh...thats my dream job.
When I was in nursing school 20 years ago and I did my psych rotation, I knew I had found my true calling. I have worked med/surg, ICU, Oncology, but then 15 years ago returned to my passion, psych nursing. I no longer work in locked psych units at the hospital. I hope to never return to the hospital. If psych nursing was not available, I would QUIT nursing altogether. I make better money than I ever did working in a hospital setting. I drive around in a police car, (a cop is my driver and bodyguard) and put the mentally ill in the hospitals. We handle all the jumpers, suicidal clients, barricaded suspects, SWAT calls, and anything that has to do with mental illness. Its is the BEST job I have ever had. Its also fun working around so many police officers. We go to all the different police stations in the division. I see maybe 2 clients a day. Sometimes only 1. I work a 10 hour day and have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Its a DREAM job. RN's need to think outside of the box and realize there is more to nursing than the hospital setting where nurses are treated badly, push too much paperwork, and have an overwhelming amount of work to do. NEW nurses usually need 5 years of psychiatric experience before they can work where I do. So hurry up all you newbies, start working in locked psych units at the hospitals and then you can also have your DREAM job.
Are you going to keep us in suspense?!! Where do you work that is so great?
Funny that you mention Starbucks. On the bad days I always wish I could work there or at B&N or better yet, I wish I had become a librarian. All that peace and quiet, just hanging out helping people find books, ahh...thats my dream job.
I now work in psych and I love it. It's a long term residential program and it doesn't get any better than this to me (well except the nurse who works with the police! How exciting that sounds!).
I work for a hospital but not in the hospital (we have our own building).
I think it really is horrible that so many people feel unhappy with the nursing profession. I am a recent grad, Dec 08, and I've been out of orientation and on my own for about a month. I work on a "cardiac" stepdown. We are lucky to have a cardiac patient. Lots of other stuff but i'm enjoying the extra experience.
I have been questioning my career decisions practically since i started in Jan 09. I had such a passion and zest for the nursing field when i was in school and wanted nothing other than to help people and make a difference. Boy i was naive. I thought maybe i lost my zest the last few months due to working night shift, definitely not for me. I'm really glad i'm not the only one out there that is questioning the profession. It is alot tougher than nursing school lets on. I think we only get half of the truth as someone said b/c there is such a shortage and that's just not fair. I'm glad to have a job with security however. I know for the most part i'm going to get that paycheck and with student loans piled high i don't get as stressed because i know i'll have money coming in. Plus, i know alot of friends that recently graduating and are still looking for jobs and very envious that my paychecks are so big.
I'm glad that I did nursing because I want to travel and i know at least i can find something somewhere wherever i decide to go to and that is a good feeling. I do love patient interaction but hospital nursing is out of control. Life is too short to be in a career that is too stressful and unsatisfying. I think 10 years from now I will be in a completely different field but i think i will have nursing to thank for leading me to the path that i'm really supposed to be on.
And i do want to give lots of thanks and gratitude to the nurses that have been and will continue to do it for years at a time. These are the people that truly have a place in my heart b/c i know I'm not that selfless to devote my entire life to this profession. I think its just too much on a person and wears you down quicker than should. At first, i really had a hard time leaving work at work but i had to force myself to stop stressing when i came home. Otherwise i think i would be too burnt out. I used to think people that said they were burnt out after a year were crazy. I thought how could that be possible but as everyone learns, things are VERY different once you're on the other side of nursing and no longer in school.
I know i'm new but i always take time for myself at least for 10 minutes and i never just let my bathroom needs go. I think thats why so many people walk all over nurses. Because we let them. I hate leaving things for the next shift but I deserve at least 10 minutes of the 30 i'm entitled to be able to eat, use the restroom, or just take a walk and get some fresh air. If you give an inch they will always take a mile. As a new nurse i'm usually excited to leave work with my charting completed and my patients still breathing. I say unless you have a patient in distress always find time to take for yourself. I know its hard b/c i think by the nature of the profession, the people who come into nursing, and the way the world works now everything is so fast paced and we have this strong desire to complete every task we possibly can.
Become your own advocate. I know we all forget about our own needs alot but i know if i'm not feeling well I sure do not feel like taking care of someone else. If we don't start speaking up and sticking together we will never be able to change the profession to even a slightest degree of what it should be.
A little all over the place just venting on the different topics. It feels good to get stuff out:) Thanks for listening!
Specializes in acute rehab, med surg, LTC, peds, home c.
I think the thing that leaves us in a constant state of frustration is that we work so hard and it is impossible to get everything done. Like hamsters on a wheel, we keep going and going but we never get done. I could literally never sit down once in 8 hours and still not be done. I choose to do my charting and go home at some point. Dont get me wrong, I do the important stuff, but to me, if letting 3-11 do all the dressings means I get to leave at a decent hour, then that is what I will do. Today was a great day at work, yet I still left a hr and 15min after my shift ended due to charting. (I was the 1st one out the door) Still there were things I left for the next shift that I could not get done. I think it is the impossibility of it all that leaves us frustrated. We are perfectionists yet we have to settle for pretty good instead of perfect.
Specializes in Burn, CCU, CTICU, Trauma, SICU, MICU.
I do not love nursing. BUT - what else can I do where I can make the money and work 3 days a week? I'm actively looking for other careers, but - meh. My dislike of nursing does not make me a bad nurse. I care about my patients and I am good at what I do, but I am not passionate about it and I do not enjoy the work. Its certainly not a career for everyone and I envy the nurses who say nursing is their dream job and they love it.
I only say PSYCH is my dream job. If I had to work in any other field of nursing, I would QUIT. I also can not find anything else that will pay me over 100 grand. After 20 years, I am stuck. Try psych nursing, you will LOVE it. Especially if you can find a psych job OUTSIDE of the hospital setting.
I think the thing that leaves us in a constant state of frustration is that we work so hard and it is impossible to get everything done. Like hamsters on a wheel, we keep going and going but we never get done. I could literally never sit down once in 8 hours and still not be done. I choose to do my charting and go home at some point. Dont get me wrong, I do the important stuff, but to me, if letting 3-11 do all the dressings means I get to leave at a decent hour, then that is what I will do. Today was a great day at work, yet I still left a hr and 15min after my shift ended due to charting. (I was the 1st one out the door) Still there were things I left for the next shift that I could not get done. I think it is the impossibility of it all that leaves us frustrated. We are perfectionists yet we have to settle for pretty good instead of perfect.
This is exactly how I felt when I left work this morning: Hamster that had been spinning her wheels all night and still left orders not noted, plus a to-do list for day shift. I felt like a loser. "We are perfectionists yet we have to settle for pretty good instead of perfect" Sums it up perfectly.
gt4everpn, BSN, RN
724 Posts
Of course there are times when the job gets stressful, most especially when your a new grad and are working in high stress units and understaffed situations.. Were you always unsure about nursing, if you truly feel that way maybe some deep thought is warranted, otherwise I completely understand where your coming from, I don't like the area of nursing I currently work in, so am I fully enjoying my nursing career right now.. somewhat.. I'd love to be in MICU, ICU, or even NICU right now