Is nursing really all that bad?

Roberta88 · Aug 27, 2008

Wow. Well, I'm just a pre-nursing student. But this kind of thing has been posted before and most people responded that while some bad things do happen, they are few and far between. If seems like whoever posted this got really burned or something. I think it would also really depend on where you work.

NewYorkGirl · Aug 27, 2008

Some people love nursing.

Personally, I recently graduated with my RN/BSN and started working in a hospital and I absolutely hated it. I just had an interview this morning to work as a nurse in a doctor's office, and hopefully I'll get that b/c I can't take all the stress and the smell of poop! :no:

TopazLover, BSN, RN · Aug 27, 2008

typoWell, yes and no. Yes, in some areas of the country you will see this. Some hospitals do use nurses in a slave type job. There are others that don't allow physicians to react poorly to nurses.

My read on current conditions in larger cities, where I am not located, indicates that many nurses face horrible working conditions. In some areas of the country there are lots of nurses so apparently the facility thinks that there will be a new crop of nurses each year to continue to do the job in the ways you have described. Other areas of the country face a real shortage of nurses. There they are valued and the facility tries to retain the nurses they have.

In these facilities the shortage makes the work of nursing harder because of the use of non-nurses in roles that were held by nurses for good reason. Med aides are passing meds but may lack skills or current knowledge of the patient that make that task safe. Some CNAs are less than polite when directed, by the nurse to do a task. Regardless of who does the task, the nurse is ultimately responsible for the patient.

I am glad you are looking critically about becoming a nurse. We need nurses and we need nurses who will become the nurse leaders to change the system. Activist nurses must become vocal about the failures of the current health care system.

This site has many nurses who use it to vent. I am glad they do that. I, for one, would not know what is happening in other areas of the country and the world without it. That does not mean they are angry or disgruntled about nursing, only the conditions under which they work.

Nursing can be the most wonderful profession. I love it, even after all these years. New nurses need to begin their learning after they graduate. That means they need to recognize their limitations. They are not ready to go to specialty areas. They do not possess the skills to deal with doctors, patients, families, and other staff all at the same time as they are trying to care for their patients.

Nursing is a humbling profession. We see people at the worst times in their lives. We can't change that. We are healing hands but have to recognize we must change others' perceptions of these skills.

Yes, nursing is that bad. Nursing is also wonderful and I hold my head high and proud when I proclaim my profession.

:nurse:

princesasabia · Aug 27, 2008

Thanks aknottedyarn for your insight! Well what you said doesnt discourage me from nursing it makes me want to be a nurse even more. You sound like you are a wonderful nurse! So how did you find out what speciality you wanted to do and how many years of experience do you reccomend someone have before they go into a specialty? Also what are some specalities that have the highest demand for nurses? Sorry for all the question. Im just trying to find out as much as possible about nursing until I start my classes for my ADN next year in January.

Iam46yearsold · Aug 27, 2008

Personally,I have found nursing to be a wonderful career choice. It is adaptive to my lifestyle, my likes and dislikes, my activities. The money is good. The benefits are good. The security is good. That is a lot better than the very large majority of my friends can lay claim too.

So I will answer, Nursing isn't bad at all.

TopazLover, BSN, RN · Aug 27, 2008

Princesasabia wrote:

So how did you find out what speciality you wanted to do and how many years of experience do you reccomend someone have before they go into a specialty? Also what are some specalities that have the highest demand for nurses? Sorry for all the question. Im just trying to find out as much as possible about nursing until I start my classes for my ADN next year in January.

This looks like the beginning of an interesting thread. How about posing the questions for all to see?

pm me for specifics of my specialties. I hate to limit it to one. The short answer of specialties for me is education. I don't know which spec. are in highest demand for you or if you can/would like to move. The world is huge and the opportunities are even greater if you have the ability and want to move. Many times your situation will dictate your choices.

Best of luck:typing

kathyhinsh · Aug 27, 2008

but it's just so rewarding

I do agency work as a support worker on the acute stroke ward & I absolutely love it

sure, there ARE times when you get treated badly, & wonder why you stay, but the good far outweighs the bad, in my experience anyway

allnurses Guide · Aug 27, 2008

Nursing encapsulates a huge amount of variety. And no, it is not all that bad.

It really depends on you - how much negativity and unprofessionalism will you put up with? In any job, if the boss takes advantage of you, that is your fault for putting up with it and staying. If a doctor or co-worker is rude to you, do not stand for it. Stand up for yourself and your patients.

I started work in a rural hospital and we learned to do everything. Starting out in med/surg, then OB, the ER. I was also a nursing supervisor part-time which meant I was also the ER nurse. I have to say my initial thought was I wanted to do OB but after 8 years I'm glad to be out of that - too scary when a baby went bad.

There is so much variety in this field and in the way you go about getting into different areas. This should be a good thread to find out how others did it.

I would never discourage you. I wish you the best!!

steph

RhodyGirl, RN · Aug 27, 2008

I wish you the best of luck in nursing school. :)

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Aug 28, 2008

i'm in a small rural hospital, and we see it all -- non compliant diabetics who end up needing their foot/leg removed, CVA, MI, a lot of cancer and a lot of substance abuse and untreated psych. How you're treated depends on the pt and the pt's family.

Last night I was at work all of 10 minutes, taking report, and this family member comes up to the nurse's station and starts screaming that we're trying to kill his grandmother because the airconditioning's on. I explained that a) it was 90 degrees outside, and b) the pt asked had to have asked for someone to turn the air on (pt was a bilateral AKA) and bedfast. He yelled that grandma isn't capable of making that decision. I asked him to go back to the room and I'd come in after I finished getting report on her and my other 6 patients. When I reached down for my papers, he grabbed my shoulder and spun me around, yelling, "don't turn your back on me, b****." There happened to be a cop on the floor for another pt, and he had the guy up against the wall in like 5 seconds. The cop asked me what I wanted done, and I said I wanted him out of the hospital and for him to stay out. Don't know what the cop did, but the guy didn't come back.

I wasn't hurt, just startled (rapidly followed by being PO'd). But that's the way it is. You get good and bad, because sooner or later, everyone goes to the hospital.

4everpeace · Aug 28, 2008

Just responding to the original post. At times, this is a very accurate picture of what nursing is. There is a lot of truth to what he/she has said. You really have to WANT to be a nurse, there are some very positive things and yes, negatives, but I believe that is in every job. Many industries are trying to do more with less, it's no different. Nursing is highly stressful, but also extremely rewarding.