Is nursing a sick , petty , vindictive world?

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I used to be a cna and despite all the ******** that came along with it I really enjoyed it. I am about to finish six years of very intense military service and i have deicided to become a nurse. I have been reading every thread i can on this site and nothing yet has disuaded me excpet one thing. that is the paralells nursing has with the military and that seems to be a petty, vinidictive world run by people who never realized their own potential and want you to feel their pain. Is this an accurate view of nursing?

Specializes in medical/surgical, acute care, psych..
I used to be a cna and despite all the ******** that came along with it I really enjoyed it. I am about to finish six years of very intense military service and i have deicided to become a nurse. I have been reading every thread i can on this site and nothing yet has disuaded me excpet one thing. that is the paralells nursing has with the military and that seems to be a petty, vinidictive world run by people who never realized their own potential and want you to feel their pain. Is this an accurate view of nursing?

it is sad....but there are some very vindictive personalities in this field....i fudes, jealousy, and gossip, ind that many nurses do not want to take responsibility for their actions, and quite frankly complain about quite a bit...even trivial things....it draqgs morale down, and i have worked in a hospital setting and long term area....i find that the nurses who were ex-military, do not usually get caught up in this "crap" the touch of helping people is why i became a nurse....many people cannot manage their own stress, and tend to lash out at others,,,with all this being said...i love being a nurse, and performing my job...but the attitude, gossip, and lack of responsability of many nurses is what makes us look unprofessional...

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Every profession has some element of cut-throat in it. You just pray you find the right fit, working with true professionals.

And to answer your question- No, nursing is actually a rewarding field requiring the utmost of patience. I pray for that and more everyday.

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Specializes in Operating Room.
I used to be a cna and despite all the ******** that came along with it I really enjoyed it. I am about to finish six years of very intense military service and i have deicided to become a nurse. I have been reading every thread i can on this site and nothing yet has disuaded me excpet one thing. that is the paralells nursing has with the military and that seems to be a petty, vinidictive world run by people who never realized their own potential and want you to feel their pain. Is this an accurate view of nursing?

Sometimes, yes. But I still have enough optimism left in me to believe that if people stand up to the bullies, change may come. It will be slow, painful change, but it will happen.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I've personally encountered a fair share of people in nursing who could be described as "vindictive" and "petty." These people are sneakier than snakes in the grass.

The nursing profession sometimes attracts a number of people, especially females, with low self esteems. Persons who suffer from low self esteem need validation and ego-boosting in order to feel better about themselves. Thus, some nurses do disrespect each other terribly, stab coworkers in the back, and display passive aggression and quiet resistance to authority.

Some nurses who have self esteem issues achieve some temporary pleasure by behaving disrespectfully toward their coworkers. For some odd reason, their egos get a temporary boost when they insult their colleagues and act colder than ice.

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Yep, and so is every other profession and vocation. I don't know why people go into it thinking it's going to be all daisies and puppies and bliss and joy. It's like every other job. You go to work, it has it's good and bad, and you get a paycheck. There are nice people, and there are crummy people, and you'll have to pay some dues (of course in nursing, it's always referred to as BS like "lateral violence" and "eating our young.") Nursing isn't special, it's just like every other job, it has it's pros and cons.

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I have worked in only 2 different LTC facilities..both that are owned by the same company. The first one, I spent 5 years at...and over time it became like a hell for me. I dreaded going to work every night. I'd go in not knowing if I was going to be mandated to stay over due to people always calling in, not knowing if the morning co-workers were going to yell and throw a fit, not knowing if we were working short. It was tough. I switched to the place Im working now almost a year ago, and theyre polar opposites. Im thankful I left the old place. So my answer is NO...everywhere you go will be different. I hope you'll find somewhere decent.

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Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

I believe that nursing has some sick, petty and vindictive elements at times, but as a whole no I have not found this to be true. I wouldn't still be in nursing if it was like this constantly all the time.

Don't be too put off by what you read on allnurses. I can understand how you have come to the conclusion that nursing must be absolutely awful given the vent threads here. But people are more likely to post threads on the negative, rather than start a positive thread such as 'wow I had a fantastic day!'....and believe me we have good days along with the bad We come here to share experiences, seek advice and vent our frustrations because our partners and non nursing friends don't understand the nursing environment like allnurses do.

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Specializes in geriatrics.

This is not only an accurate view of nursing, it is an accurate view of life. Nurses are people and you can't stop the pettiness of some people so get over it and just go for your goal doing the best job that you can do. Then you will be able to sleep at night.

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Specializes in trauma, ortho, burns, plastic surgery.

It is and will be in nursing like in any other profesion and in any other country...but.... probably much more in nursing now.

Bad people are everywhere....but are good one also...soooo

From a time ago we run money first and after nursing, but hopefully at one point thinks will be change but take time....

You will like nursing field and after 6 years in the army for this country you deserve it!

Hugs...and yes it is and about to love to be nurse..he, he, he

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it is sad....but there are some very vindictive personalities in this field....i fudes, jealousy, and gossip, ind that many nurses do not want to take responsibility for their actions, and quite frankly complain about quite a bit...even trivial things....it draqgs morale down, and i have worked in a hospital setting and long term area....i find that the nurses who were ex-military, do not usually get caught up in this "crap" the touch of helping people is why i became a nurse....many people cannot manage their own stress, and tend to lash out at others,,,with all this being said...i love being a nurse, and performing my job...but the attitude, gossip, and lack of responsability of many nurses is what makes us look unprofessional...

I've noticed everything you said and I've only been a nurse for 7 months.

I came from a business world and I thought corporate was bad, it's nothing like what I've seen so far in nursing and I'll gladly go back to corporate anyday to not have to deal with all I've seen in nursing so far.

I've been accused of being "weird" and "antisocial" because I don't sit around and tell all my personal business and gossip about others. I've been told I don't socialize enough. The thing is, I'm very observant and I'm watching people to see who I can trust and who I can't. I am cordial, but I don't get chummy with any and everyone. All I want to do is go to work and take care of my pts and be the best nurse I can be and then go home.

Another thing is I'm used to being direct and professional. Dealing with men in the business world, if there was a problem, it was brought to the forefront, talked out or hashed out and that was the end of it. It didnt go any further than that. Well, what I've observed in nursing is that if you try to be "professional" and talk to that person about whatever issue, then expect to have a meeting with the DON, or the CNO if they press the issue hard enough. In corporate, you don't meet with the higher ups to talk about "feelings". If you meet with the higher ups it's because they have enough evidence on you to fire you for whatever reason. Trust me, it's only a matter of time before another meeting with the DON will get you fired, due to emails sent behind your back with issues about your nursing abilities that you wasnt even made aware of.

Then next thing you know, they are having in service meetings about how to avoid conflict and how to approach the person you are having an issue with FIRST before going up the chain. Really? I guess so many people missed that memo.

And don't get me started on the passive aggressiveness.

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I used to be a cna and despite all the ******** that came along with it I really enjoyed it. I am about to finish six years of very intense military service and i have deicided to become a nurse. I have been reading every thread i can on this site and nothing yet has disuaded me excpet one thing. that is the paralells nursing has with the military and that seems to be a petty, vinidictive world run by people who never realized their own potential and want you to feel their pain. Is this an accurate view of nursing?

yes. during my time in nursing school, I realized this quick. Nursing also uses a lot of the propaganda that the military uses(except in the military many people have a IDEA of how bad it will be). It really is a sick profession. I also don't see how its rewarding. Nothing is rewarding about being physically and mentally abused all day. I've never seen so much manipulation,passive agressiveness and half truths.

I remember one new nurse just started on the floor where I was doing clinical at in the past. She was pretty, in shape and just an all around positive person. I started to observe the way they treated her. They were so wrong to her. And as the days went by she started not taking care of herself. They really tried to break her down. I started noticing her talking to me more and we connected. We were like one of the few who wanted to see each other do good and help each other out. But I find those type of relationships are far and few between in nursing. I don't understand why they just couldnt look at her and inspire to be better and feed off her positive energy. NO. they had to break her down. Thats what really gets me about nursing. I knew either she'd have to leave QUICK or she'd end up miserable like the rest of them.

What gets me are the people here saying "its life" and "its like this everywhere". Please stop. No its not.

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What gets me are the people here saying "its life" and "its like this everywhere". Please stop. No its not.

yes it is. Every vocation/profession has these problems. Nursing is not special. Does this make it right? Absolutely not; however, we need to stop pretending this is uinque to our profession. Humanity is pretty messed up and the sooner we can confront our faults on a global scale, the better. Unfortunately, I do not see this occurring in my lifetime.

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