Is it true nurses dont like their job?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Hello!

Today was the first day of semester and a few days ago I decided to switch my major from Business to Nursing. I wouldnt say science is my best subject but I think Biology is interesting even though I dont do so well (I got a C in general bio :\). Today I tried adding a Human Anatomy class and I saw my friend. She asked what I was doing in the class. I told her my reason and the first thing she said was "You wanna be a nurse? Nurses at my work (she works at a hospital for almost a year..but shes not a nurse. jus works in Guest relations) hate their job. They get ******* by the doctors and patients. I have not met a single nurse that has a happy face. The hospital is willing to pay my education for nursing but I refuse because nurses seem to hate their jobs alot!"

Btw, I sat through Anatomy lecture and I was so bored out of my mind I was about to fall asleep. Does it mean nursing isn't right for me? I know Im gonna have to remember alot the anatomy terms...

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There are parts of the nursing education that are boring but that doesn't mean it's not for you. And if that person sees nothing but unhappy nurses, it's the facility's fault, not nursing's. There are plenty of nurses who love their jobs, and you will find many of them here.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

I don't hate my job.....most of the time. Like any job, it has its ups and downs. But one thing I will say for it, nursing is the most challenging thing I have ever done. If you like a challenge, you just might like nursing.

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

There are people who intensely dislike their jobs, and these folks exist in every profession. It is not unique to nursing. I have met many engineers, dieticians, social workers, police officers, prison guards, physicians, accountants, and others from all walks of life who absolutely hated their jobs and livelihoods.

Some nurses deeply love their jobs, while others truly hate what they do for a living. I can also say with assurance that many of us are in-between the love/hate thing.

Many of the career-changers have the most problems, based on my personal observations. These people were once respected in their previous careers, but become dismayed and disillusioned with the disrespectful manner in which they are sometimes treated as bedside nurses.

In a nutshell, not all nurses dislike their jobs. I like nursing, but hate the paperwork, customer service requests, and dealing with unrealistic managers. I also despise the profit-motivated environment that encourages short-staffing and unsafe working conditions.

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Specializes in Addictions, Corrections, QA/Education.

It has its ups and downs but I do really like nursing. There is always something that happens in between the bad times that make it so worthwhile!!

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why did you decide to switch to nursing? just curious...

as stated above, some nurses hate and some like, as in any profession. i would def shadow a nurse if you haven't already. i wish i had.

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Specializes in Geriatric, Medical/Surgical.

I hate my job somedays, but I really do like what I'm doing. I enjoy caring for people. I enjoy the challenge of a difficult patient. I find many medical diagnoses incredibly interesting, and I really enjoy poking people with needles, sticking tubes in them, changing dressings, etc.

I don't like the politics of nursing sometimes. That we are understaffed, because of "not enough money in the budget". That I need to protect a license every day that I go to work, and they haven't made that easy for me.

And I slept through anatomy a lot. :) I found the material interesting, but when it's at 8am, with someone talking at you, and you are forced to listen to it right then, no matter what, it is much less exciting. :)

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Specializes in subacute/ltc.

I may moan, groan, p*ss and complain.....

HOWEVER

I love being a LPN.

Tres

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Specializes in NICU.

Well I'm sure it's true that some nurses don't like their jobs. It's a tough job. But I love being a nurse.

I love my little patients. I love the parents (most of the time). I love working 3 12s a week and having more days off than on. I love my co-workers and the hospital I work for.

If I truly didn't like my job, I would find something else. Life is way too short to be doing something you absolutely despise.

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.

Some instructors/professors can make orgasms seem boring. The shortage of instructors keeps those of that ilk employed. If you want to see anatomy and physiology at its exciting best, tune into "House",

which has amazing videos of blood vessel and organ function and dysfunction. Echocardiograms are an excellent way to visualize heart function/pathology, too. If those don't get you enthused, you might want to go back to the business school, which would immediately put me to sleep.

Give it a year, and since you're young, it won't be wasted time, just money. Talk to classmates and Nurses who have a different "take" on Nursing, and ask what thrills them about it (but not at the end of their shift at work). Being an "adrenalin junkie" helped me get through the stuff that didn't turn me on, like Chemistry. In the end, the teacher is key to one's success.

Being a contrary kid, and somewhat self destructive when I was very young, if I didn't think a teacher was good, I'd never read the assignments, fail the tests, etc. That sure showed them! Yeah......So in today's terms, I was an underachiever and barely got into Nursing school after flunking grade 12 and repeating it. Then the Director of Education at my Nursing School told me I was bright and could learn (after my shenanigans brought me to her office to memorize assigned chapters I hadn't read - spoonfeeding?).

Then my successes began and soared to the point when I scored higher than anyone else in Canada and the USA at the Board exams, in 1960. Now I wonder what would have happened if that starched apparition with the pointed (like a witch's) Nurses' cap hadn't recognized and told me what my smokescreen prevented me and others from seeing.

My reason for wanting to be a Nurse, from age 11 years on, was to be a "stewardess" (flight attendant), as Nursing was the requirement for that job in 1950. However I saw the opportunities Nursing entails and the variety of work it offers, so I never became a flight attendant, although I would have liked to work on emergency flights with critical newborns, since OB has been a specialty I've pursued for 33 years, as well as Infection Control, QA/QI, Home Health, and Clinical Instruction, Administration, Public Health, School Nursing, champion of cutting edge projects like stem cell preservation from umbilical cord blood, and more........

My 47 year career has been my joy and mission in life! Money can't pay for the satisfaction I've had, and the comfort given patients through my care and teaching it to others.

So if you can shut your eyes and visualize yourself as a caring Nurse who can surmount challenges of life, illness, and death, charge on!

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It sounds like you've got some information searching and self exploration to do! Find out what nurses do... how does that sound to you? What kind of work do you enjoy and want? You may not know this yet if you haven't worked much before or haven't found a good fit for yourself yet. If that's the case, choose something that sounds interesting that is related a potential future career goal and get involved. Perhaps volunteer at at hospital or take a nursing assistant course. Meet some nurses and ask them questions. Ask friends and family if they can introduce to any nurses. Call a local hospital and ask if you shadow and/or interview a nurse. If you want to be a nurse, you'll find way through the coursework, so don't base your choice solely on how appealing or challenging the coursework is. Meanwhile, you'll find out more about your preferences and strengths and weaknesees from whatever courses you take meanwhile, regardless of whether or not you eventually become a nurse. Enjoy the journey, even though the destination may not yet be determined!

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Does it mean nursing isn't right for me?

Nursing gets a bad rap. The real questions are much more basic and apply in varying emphasis in all job situations. I think most folks have considered how much money they need, whether they have the requisite abilities to succeed, and so on, but I want to focus on chaos as a hugely overlooked factor in considering a specific job ("nursing" is not a specific job; being an elementary school nurse in an affluent suburb is, or being a rural home care nurse).

What's my chaos index? Do I crave it or hate it? Rate the following categories individually: (1) chaos in work situations ("the fog of war," or having to operate under conditions of uncertainty), (2) chaos in work scheduling, (3) chaos caused by multiple high-pressure personal interactions in general, (4) chaos caused by close-up-and-personal exchanges under stress, (5) organizational chaos caused by having more than one boss at a time, (6) conflicts between different simultaneous sets of rules and different simultaneous realities (yours, the pt's, the charge's, lab values, symptoms, throw in a couple of doctors), (7) spinoff chaos all this causes in your family life and mental health.

There is probably some job in any field that will suit anyone very well but only if carefully chosen, especially according to chaos craving or tolerance.

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