Is Nursing your Passion

[pat8585]

Is Nursing Your Passion?

[wizap]

:nurse:YES...I think that being a nurse is an important part of who I am!!!

:redbeathe:redbeathe:redbeathe:redbeathe:redbeathe

[beth66335, BSN, RN]

Yes, it's always been my passion.

Even when I wasn't a nurse, I would read everything I could get my hands on about health and healing. All the neighbors and family members would come to me for advice.

I've learned a lot as a nurse and I credit my profession for teaching me how to live my life as well as how to take care of others.

Me too. I'm still a student, but I have been a CNA in a hospital and I loved it. Don't get me wrong, there are aspects of the job I didn't LOVE, but I went to work everyday with joy, and I miss it terribly. I especially loved the days when I learned new things, like watching a chest tube go in and getting to hand the Dr. things or the time I held the head of a lady with a sub-arachnoid hemorrhage so the Dr. could insert a central line with Ultrasound...so cool. I think this will be the part of school I like best, learning new things everyday in class or clinical.

[Elvish, BSN, DNP, RN, NP]

I would say yes, with qualifiers. I would much prefer to be able to do it on a volunteer basis, because I want to, without being beholden to "The Man." I would much prefer punching my own clock. But I love what I do. I am happy doing it and would be happy doing it for the next 40 years assuming I don't win the powerball jackpot before then.

I have other passions, not just nursing. But I really can't see myself doing anything else for a living.

[shmoofins]

No, it's not my passion. I don't like it very much at the moment, and I didn't really like it when I was in school but felt pressured by my family to finish. I really need to find my niche, and whether that's in nursing or not, I don't know but I'd really like to find it. Like others have said, though, the money and stability make it very hard to just up and quit especially without really knowing what else I'd like to do.

[DEB52]

for as long as i can remember i wanted to be a nurse. there wasn't any other option in my mind. and yes i have a passion for it. i have a passion for patients getting good care, for patients being treated like people and a passion for being an active part in helping with the solution of the patient's problem and helping to correct it. i have a passion for teaching patient about their dx and care. and finally a passion to teach other how to give good care and how to treat patients with dignity.

[Luelle]

Yes I turned away from it 13 years ago and have come back because it is something I truly want to do.

[silly RN]

yes it is!

i truly can't imagine doing anything else.

it is my heart and soul.:monkeydance:

[KJB_65]

I wanted to say "not any longer". That was the first thing that came to mind but in giving it more thought I'd say it's not my passion but I am passionate about the care I give my patients. Nursing is my profession and my job but I also do take it home with me. Even after 12 years I have not learned how to turn it off. I love/hate it depending on the day that I have but I always give my all to the people I care for.

[NursKris82]

Absolutely!!

[icurn1993]

No, it is not my passion. If I could perform actual nursing, then it probably would be my passion. It's just the mountain of documentation, duplicate paperwork and constant policy additions and changes to conform to JACHO, Magnet aspirations, etc. (as well as constant staff shortages causing mandatory overtime) that takes the joy out of nursing. Days when I have the time and can actually perform all the patient care that the patients need and address their needs are the days when I enjoy being a nurse. Unfortunately, those days are few and far between anymore. It seems that every time I come to work, there is another form, protocol or policy for which I am now supposed to be knowledgeable about. But there is never any additional help. I guess I am just frustrated with the way that healthcare is going. Sicker patients, more patients, more paperwork, no more help.

[sleepyndopey]

Nope. Never was and never will be. I could leave it today and have absolutely no regrets. I have other passions but they don't pay anything. I agree with thecommuter. I enjoy payday. That being said, I consider myself a very competent and caring nurse. My husband is an RN and he feels the same way I do, he could take it or leave it. He works 3 days a week and I work 2 so we have a lot of time on our hands to enjoy our true passions.

[flaerman]

I have been a nurse for going on 22yrs now, all of it hospital based and everything from M/S to ER and now soon to be ICU again. When I started out in school in 1982 and first did patient care it became my passion, I thought that once I got paid for it, then it would even better. That feeling has lasted throughout most of my career. But of late I can't say that remains to be true anymore. I have been a nurse in 4 different states and always as a staff nurse. Right now all nursing is to me is a paycheck because I've done this so long there is nothing else that will pay me what I make. This never comes through to my pt's because I am a professional and my pt's care is number one. I think it is time to go back to school to find something new that I want to do and feel passionate about. When my pt's are truly sick and in pain I do feel for them and try and make a difference for them, but I have seen so much abuse of the system and have had to be nice to so many people who were not worth my time or effort. Maybe ICU will help change this for me. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. flaerman:o