Is nursing the hardest job you've ever had?

[linda2097]

It sure is for me, and I was in the military before nursing school!

[BigBee48]

I think I know where you're going with Nursing being the hardest job ever. It can be emotionally draining, physical ( I should know, I've had neck, low back surgery, now have 4 herniated discs, thorarcic area-numerous other back problems, from lifting, twisting & genes). Anyway, it can be hard if you work where the older eat their young nurses. And it can also be the most rewarding all at the same time.

[lovehospital]

physically .....no

mentally and emotionally.....absolutely the hardest!

try cleaning houses and you just mind change your mind...no respect,hard physical labor,being at the bottom of the chain....there are people who would in a heartbeat switch with you,but to understand one have to go through this,and emotionally it is the most draining job because you have no perspectives,at least in nursing you have to keep up with a current knowledge

[BigBee48]

re: is nursing the hardest job you've ever had?

originally posted by gomerpyle

physically .....no

mentally and emotionally.....absolutely the hardest!

try cleaning houses and you just mind change your mind...no respect,hard physical labor,being at the bottom of the chain....there are people who would in a heartbeat switch with you,but to understand one have to go through this,and emotionally it is the most draining job because you have no perspectives,at least in nursing you have to keep up with a current knowledge

been there done that, i agree, at least you don't have to have some poor soul take their last breath in your arms, while waiting for family to arrive

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Working at Pizza Hut for five years while I was doing pre-reqs and through nursing school was the hardest job. It kept me motivated to succeed. Nursing is pretty rough though too, but at least I get paid a little more for it.

[twistedpupchaser]

Try cleaning houses and you just mind change your mind...no respect,hard physical labor,being at the bottom of the chain....There are people who would in a heartbeat switch with you,but to understand one have to go through this,and emotionally it is the most draining job because you have no perspectives,at least in nursing you have to keep up with a current knowledge

I worked as a commercial cleaner, exposed to chemicals, lifting and carrying equipment up and down stairs, working shift work (because the workers in the offices, industrial site, commercial enterprise didn't want to be bothered moving out of the way or be subjected to the chemicals.) and then silly me, I became the operational superviser for the region, so I had all of the above on top of doing quotes, "special cleans" and the worst part of all human resources. Try firing someone with a family after working 18 hours straight and knowing you have to find someone to do their shift...or do it yourself. And it paid less than nursing.

[DaretoDreamRN]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

No, not by far. Being a camp counselor was. 6 days a week, on 24 hrs a day. Off for 1 day, rinse and repeat x8 weeks. 8 seven year-olds in my hands. They got homesick. They got for-real sick. They needed help with everything. They cried. They needed help cutting their food. They needed help with their hair. They woke you up with their nightmares, or god-forbid, if they wet the bed. Up at 6:30 am for staff meeting, and go, go, go til 11pm. 7 years old is just too young for sleep away camp, in my opinion. The days were long and exhausting. It was physically demanding, mentally demanding, spiritually demanding, and emotionally demanding. If you think peer to peer dynamics among nurses can be dramatic, you haven't seen nothing til you've seen 50 college age women living together all summer.

But I loved it, for the most part. And it was rewarding.

[jjjoy, LPN]

For me, yes. Compared to all other jobs I've experienced, floor nursing was the hardest for me. Teaching junior high students is a close second. I didn't last long in either. I seriously felt like my sanity was hanging in the balance!

I thank my lucky stars that I had options to find other work! I also thank my lucky stars that I haven't had to experience such horrible work situations that the typical overloaded staff nursing job looks like enviable!

I imagine there are some floor nursing jobs (and some junior high teaching jobs) that I'd do just fine in, but they'd have to be *very* supportive environments with *very* reasonable staffing and workloads.

So, finally, I thank my lucky stars that there ARE people who seem to thrive in nursing, even in the often less than ideal circumstances! We need you! I admire your strength!

[ladybugdivarn]

ABSOLUTELY.....but also the most rewarding!!!

[jjjoy, LPN]

No, not by far. Being a camp counselor was.

Just to illustrate the difference in tolerances and preferences between different people, I felt being a camp counselor was zillion times easier than nursing. I'm not saying it was easy. Or that it's objectively easier. But that, to me, it was easier than nursing. To me, it was do-able. I made it through the summer with friends and good memories, never once seriously considering quitting and leaving.

I felt like vomiting most days heading into my floor nursing job to work and cried in my car on the way home most days. I felt like my work was never good enough for my patients (there was always something more that could've been done!) or for my colleagues (they only seemed to notice what I did wrong!) I was tempted to quit most every day. Not because it was such hard work - that I don't mind - but because I didn't feel that I could do it well enough, even when I gave it my all.

[LilyBlue]

Most frustrating job, yes.

Not the hardest, at least not the hardest physically.

[Magsulfate, BSN, RN]

It sure is for me, and I was in the military before nursing school!

No, I was a prison guard at a maximum security men's unit... for the state of Texas.