Is it worth it??

[marty6001]

Is nursing worth it to you? I've been everything from an ICU to CTICU nurse, an ER and ICU nurse practitioner, clinical faculty and paramedic... Recently I've begun wondering if the toll on my mind, spirit, and body have been worth it these past 10 years... I'm afraid to really look at whether it was or not as there are days I don't think it is worth it. Has it been worth it to you, and why?

[SunshineBaby]

I'm the first to admit, I don't love nursing. I never had a calling to be a nurse but instead, chose nursing because I was a single mom at the time and thought it was a stable job, with decent money, and good health insurance. I did little other research into what was involved in nursing. That was my mistake.

Yes, there are other jobs that suck but I will tell you I've done a variety of jobs and I've never had the stress and disrespect that I get in nursing. Hell, I was a Hard Rock waitress for years and I loved it. I was treated better as well. If I ever had a table get out of line (and sometimes people do with alcohol involved), my manager was right there to back me up and would not hesitate to ask someone to leave. If patients get out of line, they blame us and then make the person "service recovery." On my unit, we put in a social services consult on a mom who kept giving conflicting information as to what prescription medications she was taking during pregnancy and baby was withdrawing. This woman said she was highly offended that we involved social services and she went to the NM, who automatically made her "service recovery." We were then forced to bend over backwards for this woman when we had done nothing wrong!

I'm over it and can't wait to get out but like the previous poster pointed out, I have extenuating circumstances that won't allow me to do it at this point and time.

I will tell you that I loved being a school nurse but unfortunately, they did away with those positions and gave them to UAP I plan on moving in the future and if I can get back into school nursing, I will. If not, I will be leaving nursing behind.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

I'm the first to admit, I don't love nursing. I never had a calling to be a nurse but instead, chose nursing because I was a single mom at the time and thought it was a stable job, with decent money, and good health insurance. I did little other research into what was involved in nursing. That was my mistake. Yes, there are other jobs that suck but I will tell you I've done a variety of jobs and I've never had the stress and disrespect that I get in nursing. Hell, I was a Hard Rock waitress for years and I loved it. I was treated better as well. If I ever had a table get out of line (and sometimes people do with alcohol involved), my manager was right there to back me up and would not hesitate to ask someone to leave. If patients get out of line, they blame us and then make the person "service recovery." On my unit, we put in a social services consult on a mom who kept giving conflicting information as to what prescription medications she was taking during pregnancy and baby was withdrawing. This woman said she was highly offended that we involved social services and she went to the NM, who automatically made her "service recovery." We were then forced to bend over backwards for this woman when we had done nothing wrong!

I'm over it and can't wait to get out but like the previous poster pointed out, I have extenuating circumstances that won't allow me to do it at this point and time.

I will tell you that I loved being a school nurse but unfortunately, they did away with those positions and gave them to UAP I plan on moving in the future and if I can get back into school nursing, I will. If not, I will be leaving nursing behind.

Sorry you are stuck in a job that you hate SunshineBaby.

I too worked in hospitality for years and in the main, was treated better than in nursing, & I enjoyed my pleasant client base. I have recently been accused of 'tampering' (their words not mine) with a very abusive and psychotic patient's PICC line, and I am distraught. I have had no say so far as to what is going on, & will probably be leaving this profession anyway.

I am the only wage earner, I have no hubby or anyone else to turn to. I so wish I hadn't moved and used up my precious savings for nursing. I WAS going to put a down payment on a house or new car, but decided to pay upfront for my study - that was a huge mistake as I could have paid through our Ozzie tax system, though I got a discount paying up front.

I advise anyone who is young that you look at another career besides nursing. Unless someone is paying for your study, you are REALLY passionate about nursing and you have really taken into account the disruption to your life of shiftwork, tolerating abusive patients & sometimes abusive managers/other nurses, plus the fact that permanent jobs are extremely difficult to secure, & you get taxed heavily after a good pay, I would advise anyone strongly not to take on this profession.

And I did do a lot of research into nursing and had no illusions about it - I was prepared to do the hard graft (my friends are nurses/midwives so I got first hand accounts).

[JulieCVICURN, BSN, RN]

How do you suggest they make $40/hour?

There are plenty of jobs besides nursing that pay $40 an hour,and in many states nursing doesn't pay $40 an hour. I've been a nurse in the Chicago area for 3 years and my base (without differentials, etc) is $26 an hour. I made more than that as a bartender. But...I don't hate what I do and I'm not so depressed about what I do that I'm on psych meds just to cope. There's nothing wrong with needing and using psych meds if you need them, but if the only reason you need them is to cope with your job, I'd be looking for something that's not killing me a little every time I go to work.