Is nursing really that bad?

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Hi, I'm currently in high school and have been wanting to become a nurse for quite awhile now. I plan on getting my BSN after I graduate. I keep seeing so many people speak so negatively about nursing, and its making me second guess if I should really do it. I see everyone talk about how they hate their job or how they hate nursing school or just nursing in general. Now I'm afraid that I'm going to hate it.. I wanted to become a nurse because I've always been interested in the medical field, and I had a near-death experience last year and the nurses at that hospital saved my life, and I want to save lives like they have saved mine. But now everyone is so negative about nursing and I just want to know is it really that terrible? How do you know if its really something you want to do? How do you avoid getting burnt out?

Thank you.

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Specializes in Trauma Surgical ICU.

You must remember people come her to vent.. Nursing school is a beast, its stressful, so much information in a short period of time and no one will hold your hand through it. Much of it is learned on your own. It is doable, yep yep.. As for working as a nurse, it is more stressful depending on your where you end up. Some floors, facilities, etc are more stressful than others. Some have outrageous nurse to pt ratios. We as nurses have a huge responsibility and with that comes stress. Stress from the job, management that has no clue what we actually do and make policies that add more work to us and take time away from pts. We are blamed for many things, many of which we have no control over. So much is behind the scene the public rarely knows what we actual do for them. Families and the pts themselves are stressful and some are overbearing. But with all that comes a great job, ever changing environment, learning daily, touching the lives of those that need us the most. This is why I do it and why I love it. Do I have bad days, yep yep and those are the ones you will most likely read on here...I vent and forget :)

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nurses need to vent - and there are more good moments -it's just the difficult moments are awfully threatening to ones career and vocation.

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Specializes in Peds Medical Floor.

I will say to you what I say to anyone looking at being a nurse. Be a PCA or CNA and get your feet wet in nursing. Then you will have a clearer picture of what you would do as a nurse.

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Please say over and over to yourself as you read Allnurses........they are just venting.

When I first became a floor nurse I was so scared and it was hard. But that is just the nature of being a new grad and new to a job (any job).

Now I love nursing so much I often say I would work for free. Yet I can still post a good vent now and then.

It is a wonderful occupation. Stay with it.

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Nursing will be the greatest thing you ever did! It is the most rewarding job I have ever had. In fact, I look at what other people do and wonder what possible satisfaction could they get from doing that. People do come here to vent, no doubt. My suggestion would be to start in a smaller 120-200 bed hospital. They do much the same thing-sepsis, AAA's, stroke, surgery gone bad, pancreatitis, all kinds of heavy stuff but in moderation. Big hospitals expect more and docs come in continuously all 12 hrs of the shift writing pages of orders at 5pm, 6pm. A 500 pr 1000 bed hospital can difinitely be overwhelming. At a smaller hospital you might not see a doctor after 12 noon or 2pm, unless you call them. And you can learn a lot. An 8 or 12 bed ICU can be a great launching platform. I complain a lot. But bottom line is I can't imagine doing anything else. You go for it! You won't be dissappointed. It is a great career and you will hold your head high! k

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People will tell you "do what you love" when it comes to finding an occupation. That is like telling people getting married that they will live "happily ever after".

Replace "do what you love" with : look for a job that will bring you satisfaction, that is meaningful to you and will pay you enough to live the life you want.

Work is going to be work sometimes, it isn't always going to be fun. I'm suspect that even chocolate-tasters, food critics, and proof-readers of trashy novels have their good and bad days too.

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I encourage you to follow your dream. In every job there are bad days. This website allows us to vent our bad things, and some good things too so on the outside it may look like nursing is a big ugly monster. It is NOT.

Nursing school is tough, working as a nurse is difficult emotionally and physically.

It is also the most rewarding thing a person can do.

You discussed your near death experience, and how nurses brought you back from that. Put yourslef in their shoes that day. I am betting they were incredibly challanged in that moment of almost loosing you, they called upon every bit of their strength and knowledge to have a great outcome. The stress was there in the air, as they worked to save you. One of those nurses could have had a daughter or son your age and as they worked on you maybe thoughts of their own child came to mind. Maybe they went home and colapsed on the couch and cried, maybe they hugged their own child harder that night.

When you walked out of that hospital alive and well, think of the exhileration they felt! The joy in their hearts they feel knowing that they helped make this event happen.

I like the suggestion of working as a CNA/ PCT and seeing how that goes. Would hate to see you go so long to school and find out nursing is not for you. For me, the classes and then working as a CNA reinforced my decision to be a RN.

Best of luck in all you do!

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I don't think you will find a career where someone isn't complaining about how horrible it is. You read about nursing horror stories because you want to be a nurse- I am sure you can google horror stories for anything. As far as burn out- yup it definitely happens, and the awesome part of nursing is that with the right drive and education, you can move around a lot. There are an abundance of career paths. Nursing school is hell, but you get through it. When I was in high school I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I took a CNA course. Becoming a nurse was a natural progression after that, and I absolutely love this job, crazy days and all.

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Specializes in Peds Medical Floor.
People will tell you "do what you love" when it comes to finding an occupation. That is like telling people getting married that they will live "happily ever after".

Replace "do what you love" with : look for a job that will bring you satisfaction, that is meaningful to you and will pay you enough to live the life you want.

Work is going to be work sometimes, it isn't always going to be fun. I'm suspect that even chocolate-tasters, food critics, and proof-readers of trashy novels have their good and bad days too.

True. I love to read. I'd love to be paid to read for 8 hours a day or 3 12 hour shifts a week haha. But I think being told what to read, how long to read for, and HAVING to read would suck all the fun out of it.

People do look shocked when they ask and I truthfully answer that I haven't *always* dreamed of being a nurse, sometimes I really HATE my job, and I became an RN after being an LPN so I could earn more (and move out of LTC more easily). Hey it's the truth. Doesn't make me less of a good nurse.

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No it's not as bad as it sounds but it is hard work and a lot of responsibility a lot of people aren't prepared for or expect. It's very rewarding. To avoid burnout I think it's good to switch areas every once in a while and to keep growing.

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