Is Nursing Dangerous?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hi all,

This is my first posting on here. I just had a question about working as a nurse. Is it basically guaranteed that working as a nurse will result in becoming injured through time?

I love the sound of nursing but I'm afraid of getting life-long injuries from prolonged periods of standing to do your work, lifting patients, from doing shift work (health risks to disrupting the regular sleep-cycle) or from exposure to fumes/liquids/hazardous substances/radiation/illnesses.

I understand that patients can become violent so I guess that is unavoidable unless you learn restraining techniques or are strong which I’m not. I just don’t want to start and then become unable to even work after the first 5 years of starting. Would you say it’s how you look after yourself? Do you know nurses who aren’t injured from doing nursing for a long time? Thank you! I appreciate your answers.

Specializes in Med/Surg.

I guess nursing could have its risks but any job can, really....

I've been a delivery truck driver for 9 years almost, and I've had almost every stupid accident you can think of...slipping, falling, having stuff fall on me, been bitten by dogs a few times, smashed my finger with a faulty pull down door, sliced my shin open on the metal step on the back of the truck...

Start orientation at my first RN job next month. Time to move on...

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1 Votes

Thanks everyone!

How do you cope with long hours on your feet and with doing shift work?

Do you find that it physically wears you down over the years or is it something that isn’t as bad as what it seems?

Specializes in Telemetry/Stepdown, Government Nursing.
On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 9:20 PM, Bones17 said:

Thanks everyone!

How do you cope with long hours on your feet and with doing shift work?

Do you find that it physically wears you down over the years or is it something that isn’t as bad as what it seems?

On ‎7‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 9:20 PM, Bones17 said:

I have worked hard to keep myself in shape. When I started having aches and pains in my feet and back, I started doing yoga. It has helped tremendously. I try to eat healthy and get plenty of rest. I wear compression socks and try to buy a new pair of shoes every 6-8 months or so. The best thing nurses can do for themselves is focus on nursing themselves when they are not at work.

1 Votes
On 8/14/2019 at 1:15 AM, bestallaround said:

I started having aches and pains in my feet and back

Was that from working as a nurse?

Specializes in Telemetry/Stepdown, Government Nursing.
On 8/19/2019 at 9:22 PM, Bones17 said:

Was that from working as a nurse?

I would say so, working 40+ hours a week.

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