It just has to be said (vent)...

[Music in My Heart]

Something is just brewing inside of me that needs to come out...

This primarily an emotional response but there's some logic and reason that gird it...

Try as I might, I just can't help myself...

Flat out, I...

umm...

OK, here it is... I...

really like

my job...

and I almost consider it a privilege to work there (though I'm an unabashed capitalist and unionist).

The patients...

Some of my patients truly touch me... and I feel tinges of what the "it's a calling" crowd must be referring.

Some of the patients are trying... but even many of them are an adventure...

And some of the patients are complete jerks... and mostly I just blow them off and pat myself on the back for not letting them win the emotional tug-of-war in which they insist on engaging.

I had a patient on whom a colleague asked me to start an IV... she was being confrontational. I'm always up for a good confrontation so I took the bait. At one point she said, "Your bedside manner sucks." I replied, "Yep, it does... but I'm really, really good at this so you need to decide if you want a 'one-and-done' IV stick by me or repeated pokes by Nancy-NiceNurse." She picked me and we ultimately found a functional way to interact.

My coworkers...

Most of them are kind and decent people who've got my back. It's almost like being in the military again.

A (minute) few of them are catty and, um, doggie, but I actually enjoy engaging them and trying to win them over. Since I refuse to be respect someone's attempt to block me out and push me away... and because I continue to go out of my way to be helpful, we generally end up in pretty decent working relationship.

The docs

Oh yes, the physicians... they can be a pretty pushy, demanding, demeaning group of people..... whom I refuse to treat, or address, any differently than I do anybody else.

However, nearly all of the ED docs, are really great to work with... love to teach... will happily engage if engaged... and recognize how much the patients need the nurses in order for anything to get done.

Medical residents? I find them to be some of the most interesting people I've ever been around and I would hate to work someplace without them. (They also don't get ***** when I call them... and if they do, they're ~just~ residents :-)

Even some of the attending MDs with ferocious reputations among the staff, have their way about them, and I enjoy figuring out how to connect. Sometimes it's by learning a lesson from doggie dominance... wherein I basically expose my throat and give them the option to rip it out... from then on, we usually get on fine... and I take barbs really well and can turn almost everything into a joke.

Management...

Well, I've got my gripes, to be sure... but having been a senior manager with direct reports and budgetary authority... I also recognize that (a) I probably *couldn't* do it any better and (b) that I wouldn't want to even if I could.

I've had a lot of bosses in my life and I can easily say that the food chain where I currently work is populated by a pretty good group of folks, especially by comparison to some that I've work for.

Money...

Could I earn more? Sure. Have I earned more? Well, actually not... though I work an insane amount of OT to get it.

Being an hourly, non-exempt employee under a codified contract (I'm a fan of the California Nurses Association) is a great way to work. I've been salaried/exempt... I've been at-will... I've worked as much as I do now but not been paid for it... and I've recently worked in nursing for $25/hr less than I presently earn with scant benefits... Yes, I earn twice what I earn at my last FT nursing job.

I've got a good thing going... and we're not the highest paid nurses in the region... by any means... but we've got very good bennies and a good work environment.

So, for anybody who's looking for a reason to go into nursing, I can say that, if I could magically change and be a doc or a pilot, I would, but nursing can lead to a very good thing... though it's not a given by any means.

To summarize: I am a nurse, I am happy to be a nurse, and... while it's not cool to admit, I hereby confess that I *like* my job.

[Jaykalkyn, BSN, RN]

That's encouraging, particularly when all you read is mainly people talking about why they don't like their nursing job. I start nursing school next month and I can't wait!

[RNikkiF]

Holy cow! You "lost" $25 per hour??? I don't even MAKE that much per hour!! Wow!!

That's encouraging, particularly when all you read is mainly people talking about why they don't like their nursing job. I start nursing school next month and I can't wait!

That was the intent of my post... to speak a little bit of light into an often very dark conversation.

People come here to 'vent' all the time... I figured I'd do the same but "accentuate the positive."

I'm old enough and experienced enough to have a pretty clear perspective and to know a good thing when I see it.

I won't say you should ignore the doom-n-gloom posts because there's a lot of truth there... I've been there, I know... but neither should you focus upon them because there are good things out there.

Holy cow! You "lost" $25 per hour??? I don't even MAKE that much per hour!! Wow!!

I live in suburban Northern California, and we do pretty well in these parts, thanks to a very strong union.

Our cost of living is also higher than some places but that doesn't always correlate with higher wages as some of my nursing friends from SoCal and NYC have pointed out.

unabashed capitalist and unionist... I must say that I did not think you could be both of those together

Unabashed capitalist in that I want the hospital to make a fortune, and I work my tail off to help it do so...

Unabashed unionist because I want my share...

[RNikkiF]

I've been looking and looking for three years for my "magical" place. In terms of my coworkers and patient population, I feel I have it already... In terms of everything else, it is really bad. I come home physically and emotionally drained. I'm hoping that I'll find mine one day... sooner than later, I hope!

I come home physically and emotionally drained.

I come home physically drained, for sure.

I don't find it emotionally draining at all, precisely because of my coworkers... and working NOCs insulates me, to a degree, from some of what I don't care for about large organizations.

I'm hoping that I'll find mine one day... sooner than later, I hope!

I share this hope for you.

Best...

[feltshapes]

I'm a terrified student about to start first year, and this post makes me feel optimistic. Like others have said, all the negativity on here has really been making me second guess myself. I think that if I have the right attitude I can get where I need to be. I hope I'm lucky enough to work with you when I graduate!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Lose the word "terrified" from your self-descriptive vocabulary. I mean it. Never use it again, and if you feel it coming on, immediately replace it with the word "challenged" or "excited!" Challenges you can rise to and meet, but terror is a paralytic. This is an exciting time! Embrace it!

[OCNRN63, RN]

That's how I felt about my last job. Had illness not sidelined me, I would still be there. I was finally being paid fairly, and was working M-F 08-17 most of the time, with w/e every three months.

Glad you're in a good place.

Lose the word "terrified" from your self-descriptive vocabulary. I mean it. Never use it again, and if you feel it coming on, immediately replace it with the word "challenged" or "excited!" Challenges you can rise to and meet, but terror is a paralytic. This is an exciting time! Embrace it!

Oh, if only as a young man I had learnt the power of my own words to shape my self-perception and its influence on my behavior and performance.

GrnTea is so right on with this... and so many people refuse to see it.

[feltshapes]

Thank you GrnTea and Mr. Music Heart. Your optimism is really encouraging and helps me feel excited and focused on turning anxious inward energy into constructive outward energy.