A lot of people I've met so far who are nurses say the job is just okay - sometimes the patients are crabby, sometimes they think they should have taken a different path, sometimes they say it's too stressful, bad hours, on their feet all day. There seems to be a lot more complaining than positive comments. And in clinicals half of them seem too busy and annoyed to help a student nurse. Their drinking liters of pop and gossiping. Do they just keep it all in and take it out on nursing students?
I know there are nurses out there who love their job but I've encountered an awfully large percentage who seem unhappy with their job so far and more catty than other careers/jobs I've worked in my past. What's the deal?
Of all the careers out there, with one that requires compassion and patience, you'd think I run into more nurses who want to help out a student nurse. And why have I run into so many nurses who are indifferent towards their job? It makes me nervous.
I am about to start my prereqs on the path to a second bachelors BSN and it amazes me when I read these boards and there are ALOT of questions from prospectives about is nursing good? Do you LOVE it all the time? Is everyone amazing and happy and bubbly all the time? Is nursing the best job in the world? I have worked in many situations, restaurants, child care, communications, universities, etc and I have NEVER found a job where it is amazing all the time or where the ups and downs that you have mentioned are not visible. You will always have nice and rude, helpful and not, competent and incompetent people in ANY job you will ever have. It is just life. People are people. I have met docs, nurses, PAs, dentists who are amazing, nice, helpful and then there are some that arent, depends on the person. Heck, I work in a huge international development/health firm now, all we do is help people and I have met some of the rudest, more ungrateful, obnoxious skirt the rules and work the system people that I have ever met. Those people are everywhere.
I think what you need to focus on is what kind of nurse YOU will be. I would say that I have never met a profession aside from nursing where so many people say that at the end of the day, overall, they love nursing and the rewards of personal fulfillment that it brings. That is what draws me to this profession. To help people. I know that as a student and an RN, I will no doubt encounter difficult people and situations but I know that is part of life and work. I want to help people and if you do too, then you should go for it and you will be a great nurse.
I think it depends on your working conditions and whether you have found your particular niche. If your unit is perpetually understaffed, your compensation is low, your management is poor, or your schedule sucks, etc..., it will be hard to be happy at work even if you enjoy the actual work itself. Also, you may like nursing but feel unsuited for the area in which you are working; some people are not cut out for med-surg or maternity or critical care or whatever. For me, I was not truly happy at work until I got off of night shift. I spent three years in a sleep deprived haze of misery, even though I was where I wanted to be and doing what I wanted to do. Within one week of switching to day shift, I could honestly say that I loved my job. I love my job!
As for the way RNs treat student nurses--it's a mixed bag. I happen to love working around students since it reminds me of how excited I used to be learning new things. Some nurses are just not natural teachers or mentors, however. And if the nurse is already stressed by crappy working conditions (some of which will not be readily apparent to you as a student) he or she may not be very excited about precepting a student, which does add to the workload. Also, just like in the general population, a certain percentage of nurses are just jerks. Don't expect them to be any different just because they work in a so-called "caring profession."
Don't be frightened too much by the posts that appear on this site. People come here to vent, decompress, celebrate, and commiserate in a (mostly) sympathetic space. Nobody is going to start a thread like, "I Had a Pretty Good Day, as Usual." And who would want to read something that dull anyway?
This thread reminds me of my young nephew. At age 6 or 7 he was looking at some pictures of pretty girls in a magazine and asking his Dad which ones he thought were the prettiest. His Dad said that he thought the one girl was the prettiest ... but that the other girl was just "OK."
My nephew looked back at the picture and said, "Dad. Sometimes 'OK' is OK." His Dad agreed with him. Sometimes being "OK" is "good enough."
I doubt you will ever find perfection. One of the secrets to being happy in life is to learn to appreciate how good "OK" really is.
I wanted to teach but, there was rarely an adjustment in staffing to allow me time to DO any teaching. A patient who is circling the drain cannot wait for me to show my student how to properly set up equipment to prepare for intubation. I would feel guilty at the end of the day because I spent most of the time telling my student to watch what I was doing, and not block my path. Nursing is rewarding but mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting! Keep that in mind when working with seasoned nurses. My husband once told me I was a mean nurse. I asked him would he rather have someone 'mean' who knew what they were doing or someone nice who could make him worse or kill him!
You will run into all types of nurse personalities wherever you go, including burn-outs. Don't take it personally. Once you are officially a nurse out there in the trenches you will see things differently.
grasshopper7780
74 Posts
I am about to start my prereqs on the path to a second bachelors BSN and it amazes me when I read these boards and there are ALOT of questions from prospectives about is nursing good? Do you LOVE it all the time? Is everyone amazing and happy and bubbly all the time? Is nursing the best job in the world? I have worked in many situations, restaurants, child care, communications, universities, etc and I have NEVER found a job where it is amazing all the time or where the ups and downs that you have mentioned are not visible. You will always have nice and rude, helpful and not, competent and incompetent people in ANY job you will ever have. It is just life. People are people. I have met docs, nurses, PAs, dentists who are amazing, nice, helpful and then there are some that arent, depends on the person. Heck, I work in a huge international development/health firm now, all we do is help people and I have met some of the rudest, more ungrateful, obnoxious skirt the rules and work the system people that I have ever met. Those people are everywhere.
I think what you need to focus on is what kind of nurse YOU will be. I would say that I have never met a profession aside from nursing where so many people say that at the end of the day, overall, they love nursing and the rewards of personal fulfillment that it brings. That is what draws me to this profession. To help people. I know that as a student and an RN, I will no doubt encounter difficult people and situations but I know that is part of life and work. I want to help people and if you do too, then you should go for it and you will be a great nurse.