Is nursing what you thought it would be?

[Lucidity]

Before you started school, what did you expect the nursing career to be like? Did your idea change once you were in nursing school? When you became an RN, were your expectations met? Were you surprised? Disappointed? Is it harder than you thought? More rewarding that you thought? Less rewarding? Or was it exactly how you imagined it would be?

I was just accepted into nursing school. I've job shadowed nurses before, talked to nurses, and i think its for me. but i am curious on how it worked out for others.

[notjustanurse]

In a word, NO. Nursing is not really what I expected it to be. I didn't expect the level of disrespect from patients, their families, and the administration of every facility I've worked in.

[nursefrances, BSN, RN]

My first 6 months to a year I was in "I Passed boards and I'm a nurse now! :D" La la land. I worked an extra 12 hr shift almost every week. Then, "they" started adding more and more new screens to fill out on the computer and tasks that would take "just a minute extra"; phone surveys that we do, we have to call patients and ask questions, they tried to have us do chart audits and other paper work type stuff. That didn' t go too well. It's been 3 1/2 years now and me and almost all the staff are burned out. We can't keep anything we need to work productively in our med carts anymore, such as saline bags or bottles, or...meds, even though they have individual locked drawers. Now we push these huge bulky carts around because the laptop is attached. I was told alot of these lovely/ nurse friendly (NOT!) changes are due to insurance and federal standards. Now our hospital is over budget so around 4pm everyday we lose our CNAs (they send at least one home) and our secretary so we have to do even more work and absolutely no overtime due to over budget. So hurry..hurry, get everything done because you have to leave on time! Yeah....I love the patient care, help people feel a little better, make them smile rewards. But the politics, management, budget stuff.......blech!

[canesdukegirl, BSN, RN]

In my experience, there is no question that nursing school only provided a very superficial glimpse into what the profession entails. In school, you aren't privy to the politics of each unit you rotate through, the dynamics and the culture of the unit, the budgetary constraints, management's stress over Press Ganey scores and the sheer exhaustion you experience after you have completed your third 12 shift in a row.

However, there is such beauty in our profession. We can choose from a plethora of specialties. There isn't one day that is a carbon copy of another day; each day is different with different challenges and opportunities. You will meet the most amazing people-patients, co-workers, doctors, ancillary staff. You will learn from all of them, and you will teach many of them.

I can't imagine doing anything other than nursing, with all of its warts, frustrations and time constraints. It is never boring. You are always learning, you have the opportunity to experience things you never thought possible, and you will grow.

[Catch22Personified]

Somewhat. I went into nursing school thinking I would be in the hospital then the 2008 crash caused a bunch of retired nurses to come back and take those positions. Greedy pricks shutting down hospitals just to turn the lot into high income housing.

I'm in LTC which I feel like is seriously the trenches of nursing PERIOD, while I feel that Med Surg is the trenches of the hospital setting. The pay is rather poor, the benefits are good but many people don't get to capitalize on it since they leave to find other jobs or leave nursing altogether.

Politics plays a bigger role than getting the job done right. I've seen nurses canned for making minor mistakes but other nurses just getting a free pass because they report other nurses. The culture of fear has become a problem where I work and the shift wars became so bad a staff meeting had to be called about it. And the mentality "the customer is always right" does not fly in the healthcare setting. If the customer or in our case the patient, is always right; then why is the patient even in the hospital? I deal with a lot of patients with obesity issues due to their diet choices. I do believe that the patient's input is important to recovery but seriously if your blood sugar is 550 don't you dare report me to my DON for refusing to give you a bloody cookie.

I really do think though that the graduates after the 2008 crash had it rough. It was a perfect market for employers, desperate young people such as myself trying to get a job. They will give us heavy assignments, low pay, and staffing that is laughable at best. I keep hearing how nursing is cyclical, I'm sure as hell waiting for the next cycle. I'm skeptical however, this time around schools are pumping out nurses faster than FoxConn can pump out iPads and which cause a glut for quite a while. And quite a few nurses I see, I would not let them take care of my family.

I wish I could stop the myth of how nursing is an easy way to get money, it attracts the worst kind of people. Nursing is not easy, its at times a thankless job. I derive so much satisfaction when I hear thank you from a patient/family member, it keeps me going.

I cannot wait to go into the hospital so I can get my acute care experience needed for graduate school.

[Nurse ABC]

Not at all what I thought. I never realized beforehand the way nurses were treated by doctors, patients, and other nurses and just expected to take it. I also never realized how many patients they would expect you to take care of all by yourself (constantly short-staffed) leaving you absolutely no time for breaks or even lunches. If they would fix those two problems nursing would be ten times better!

[whichone'spink, BSN, RN]

I had my eyes wide open on day one of clinicals. I saw how short staffed the floor was. Often there were no CNAs so all the nurses had to get vitals, linen changes, bed baths and the like. Not a problem when us students were on the floor doing the scut work. I also got acquainted with Studer Group BS like "Is there anything else you need, I have the time". The charge nurse during huddle would remind the nurses to go by that lousy script. I saw and took care of patients who were very, very sick. I saw and understood that some patients would not always be grateful for the care they receive.

I often thought to myself, what the hell am I getting into? Is it all worth it? On the whole, I would say it's worth it. Nursing could be better than it is, but it's still worth it. I am going to do my best to not fall into the pit of sub-standard nursing care, despite being undercut by a system that only cares about profits. Do I have a choice? I've worked hard for my degree.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

I became a nurse because I wanted to TAKE CARE OF SICK PEOPLE!!

I have a heart of frickin' gold. I simply cannot stand to see anything suffer.

Thought I would be "soothing the fevered brow".

Had NO clue that administration, lawyers, and accountants ..

would stand in my way.

[RNperdiem, RN]

The level of responsibility nurses carry was a suprise.

I thought of nurses as "helpers" with the doctors always there to direct and make decisions.

Nurses make lots of critical decisions every day. It is easy to second guess your decisions and stay awake wondering if you did the right thing.

The tasks are the easy part sometimes.

[msgirl68]

Yes, it's what I expected in some ways and a lot of what really shows the darker, and ungrateful side

of human nature. Bedside care has ruined my health in many ways, I don't like the skipped meals and

holding my bladder for infinite amounts of time.

I'm proud of the people I have helped but would choose a different path if I was 18 again.

I'm always looking into career alternatives even a complete career change!

[danarooo, BSN, RN]

Nope. Before nursing school I imagined myself working in a hospital happily managing about 4 patients on a Med/Surg floor somewhere making decent money. During nursing school I was brought to a little of the reality that nurses have a lot of responsibility and did more than I understood previously. After nursing school (14 mo's later) I can't get a job anywhere. I am sitting home all day with an active license ready to go, doing hours and hours of job hunting and research each day and getting nothing. I come to all nurses and see posts from others like me, then I see posts from already working nurses trying to decide which of 3 job offers they should take.

I have tried to do everything I can think of with no results. Nursing is nothing like I thought, becuase like so many others out there I fell hook line and sinker for that "nurses are needed everywhere" and "as a nurse you'll always have a job" crap that everyone believes. I am now 20K in debt with no job, no money and no luck. I try everyday to avoid becoming angry and bitter because I know that if that type of emotion sets in I'll end up walking away for good but it is getting harder and harder. So no, nursing is nothing like I thought it would unfortunately.

[fisherpe]

Wow, I am glad that I have read this thread in order to get another perception of what nursing entails. I am not a nurse. However, I want to enter into the field because I want to continue helping folks. I come from a social work background and I can tell you that I have my good and not so good days as a social worker! When I graduated from my MSW program, I was unemployed for six months before I found a job and when I finally earned a position, I experienced high burnout and low...very low pay! Many family and friends have encouraged me to go into nursing in order to have better options and career advancement! I have been told that the medical field is the way to go nowadays and that MSW's are a dime a dozen! Should I continue in my quest to become an RN? I want to use my skills from social work to understand and serve patients who really need someone to care for their needs as a competent RN. I hope I'm not asking too much or sounding unrealistic? I just want to make the right decision before entering a field where I am more in debt and unsatisfied!

[Hygiene Queen]

Yes.

When I first became a CNA, I thought I might want to be a nurse.

After a short while, I saw what nurses did and changed my mind.

I was a CNA for 16 years before I went back to school to become a nurse.

I knew it was going to be rough and I wasn't disappointed.

I have fun multi-tasking and actually enjoy the chaos, but I still feel like I want to die everytime I'm stuck behind the desk doing paperwork.

Also, I miss being able to say, "I'll tell the nurse!"...