why so many negatives about nursing?

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I was reading another thread about someone wanting to leave their job to pursue nursing, and all the comments consisted of negativity about the nursing career. Is nursing really that awful? I'm still in undergrad and thinking about pursuing a second-degree BSN and working as a psychiatric nurse. But from what I see, all the nurses on here seem to hate being a nurse. Nursing seemed like the best choice for me having a psychology degree....but now I'm starting to reconsider with seeing all the negativity. So, why are there so many negatives about nursing?

I love nursing. I love my job. I've been a nurse for 20 years and I have never wanted to do anything else. I work my butt off every shift but I wouldn't have it any other way. I work in the ED and we work as a team, nurses, physicians, techs. As far as lack of respect, I don't allow it. Maybe it's because I've been doing this job for so long, but I do not allow anyone to be disrespectful to me and I'm lucky to have managers and physicians I work with back all of us up. I find it disheartening to read so many negatives about this profession. Yes, I know the reality of nursing is much different then what we were all taught. To all the potential nursing students out there, keep the faith. The work is hard and there will be days when you will wonder why are you doing this, but in twenty years, I can say that those days are fewer than the days that I am glad I am a nurse.[/quote']

Well said! Thanks for your honest thoughts. I start my BSN program in January, so I'm very nervous but extremely excited. I believe I have a true passion for nursing & I'm willing to put in the time and effort through school and am also willing to put up with all the BS a lot of nurses talk about. There's going to be drama and politics everywhere you go. Thanks again for your comment. It was nice to read!

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The economy crash in 2007/2008 EVERY industry was impacted. The Media said there was a "Nursing Shortage" so everyone flocked to Health Care only to find out there are minimum jobs for New Grads. Nursing has its down falls like any other profession. If you talk to a Lawyer they will tell you their stress. If you talk to a Engineer they will tell you their stress. Every profession has the "Horror Stories" about their career. At the same time I know nurses who wouldn't trade their profession for nothing in the world. I am in pre-nursing and I Will Not Let the "Real" comments about nursing get to me. I take everyday at a time. I know there will be stress, I know I may not find a job for years, I know if I get a job I will feel inferior and like a "Deer in Head Lights". Hell there is no guarantee that I will even graduate from nursing school but I am walking on faith not by Sight. Do not let the "Real" comments about nursing Disappoint you let them Motivate you. Everyones Journey is Not the Same.[/quote']

Love love love your comment! Thank you so much for taking the time to post this. I begin my program in jan & I'm the same way: I know it'll be stressful and like you said : every profession has it's drama, drawbacks or horror stories!

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Specializes in ICU.

I'm just going to throw something out there for the hopefuls: I feel like the people with the true passion for nursing and for helping people are the ones who often burn out the fastest in a lot of cases. There are floors where you actually feel like you are helping people: PICU, peds, NICU, L&D, maybe some surgical floors, hospice, oncology, but for the most part if you are working with the average chronically sick adult you don't really feel like you're helping. You do at first, until you see the same people come back for the same reasons over and over again. You're not really helping them. You're helping to stabilize them so they can go home and nearly kill themselves again, and then expect you to be there to re-stabilize them so they can go right on back to their same self-destructive behavior. Renal patients and heart failure patients have been the worst about that for me so far. If you really want to feel like you're making a difference, don't work with adults with chronic illnesses that require lifestyle and/or diet modifications of any sort. You'll find that you'll teach until you're blue in the face and they'll still ignore everything you say and land themselves in the hospital again. It's not very encouraging and you definitely don't feel like anything you do makes a difference for those people.

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Specializes in critical care.
I'm just going to throw something out there for the hopefuls: I feel like the people with the true passion for nursing and for helping people are the ones who often burn out the fastest in a lot of cases. There are floors where you actually feel like you are helping people: PICU peds, NICU, L&D, maybe some surgical floors, hospice, oncology, but for the most part if you are working with the average chronically sick adult you don't really feel like you're helping. You do at first, until you see the same people come back for the same reasons over and over again. You're not really helping them. You're helping to stabilize them so they can go home and nearly kill themselves again, and then expect you to be there to re-stabilize them so they can go right on back to their same self-destructive behavior. Renal patients and heart failure patients have been the worst about that for me so far. If you really want to feel like you're making a difference, don't work with adults with chronic illnesses that require lifestyle and/or diet modifications of any sort. You'll find that you'll teach until you're blue in the face and they'll still ignore everything you say and land themselves in the hospital again. It's not very encouraging and you definitely don't feel like anything you do makes a difference for those people.[/quote']

This right here is why I have already crossed a lot of specialties off my list. I have a very short list of places I want to go, and I know to an extent that makes me a dreamer, but I am willing to wait. Again, I do live in an area that is favorable for new grad BSNs, so maybe I'll get lucky. I just feel like school has been so hard, and I've neglected my family for so long, that I don't want to go into a job that I'll hate. If I am seeing the same people time and time again that are hurting themselves in the same ways time and time again, I WILL burn out. Its a huge fear of mine.

P.S. This is another thing that the negativity threads have taught me, and I appreciate that more than words can describe!

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Specializes in geriatrics.

I think some of you are overly optimistic, which is understandable because you're learning the theories of nursing and you want to be a nurse. However, many of these threads including this one are not about negativity, nor are we trying to discourage anyone. Students just really have no idea, and the schools are not going to tell you the truth.

I'm a second career nurse and I've witnessed the cycle of nursing before. The current situation is really unlike anything we've ever experienced. After 6 years, you would think health care should be on the upswing again, since the population IS aging.

Do your own research in order to be fully informed. Speak with nurses in your communities. Start looking at hospital websites while you're in school to get a feel for the market.

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Specializes in ED.
I'm just going to throw something out there for the hopefuls: I feel like the people with the true passion for nursing and for helping people are the ones who often burn out the fastest in a lot of cases. There are floors where you actually feel like you are helping people: PICU, peds, NICU, L&D, maybe some surgical floors, hospice, oncology, but for the most part if you are working with the average chronically sick adult you don't really feel like you're helping. You do at first, until you see the same people come back for the same reasons over and over again. You're not really helping them. You're helping to stabilize them so they can go home and nearly kill themselves again, and then expect you to be there to re-stabilize them so they can go right on back to their same self-destructive behavior. Renal patients and heart failure patients have been the worst about that for me so far. If you really want to feel like you're making a difference, don't work with adults with chronic illnesses that require lifestyle and/or diet modifications of any sort. You'll find that you'll teach until you're blue in the face and they'll still ignore everything you say and land themselves in the hospital again. It's not very encouraging and you definitely don't feel like anything you do makes a difference for those people.

I see the same people over and over again also. The ED is the landing pad from many frequent flyers. Is it frustrating? Sometimes. Am I going to teach these people anything? Probably not. So what? There are many others that I will help.

Nurse Jackie once said, "You will meet people on the worst day of their life." This is so true. If you can make someone smile or laugh, ease their pain for only a moment or give them a little bit of comfort, then you have made a difference.

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I'm pre-nursing, so I can't give a first hand account. I will say that I've been with my wife ever since the time she first started nursing school. She's been a RN for close to 30 years now and she still has a passion for Nursing. In fact, she went back to school and is about to complete her BSN with intentions to ultimately earn her NP license. She has told me stories about girls who came out of Nursing school and burnt out within a couple of years and quit Nursing. That can also be said about almost any job, so don't let that deter you. Also, her Hospital orients new grads all the time. However, over the past few years they have began hiring more BSN Grads instead of RNs with an Associate Degree, because of the Status. Baptist School of Nursing still offers tuition forgiveness if a student agrees to work there for two years after graduating. I think some areas of the country offer more opportunities than others in regard to available jobs. Plus, it cycles. My wife's hospital is currently offering recruitment bonuses. They have done this on and off the past 30 years; dependent on their staffing needs. If your passionate about Nursing, don't listen to all the distractors, just do it !

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Specializes in PCCN.

someone hit the nail on the head about the frequent flyers. They will suck the life out of you. Like it was said, they come in to be stabilized, and no amount of teaching is going to change them . After all, we aren't allowed to be blunt with them. They get to go back to their ways , then get rewarded by coming in, getting a tune up, demanding everything under the sun, etc.

One can only take that for so long.Also with the hcaps thing, you will also be disciplined for not teaching them, for them returning sooner than 30 days, bad scores because you told them that they shouldn't eat that KFC that was brought in, and no we can't have unlimited drinks either. They are angry at you that they are on a fluid restriction.

Don't forget too it is YOUR FAULT if an elderly confused person falls and gets hurt. Or gets a UTI, or gets a Bedsore etc.Try preventing these things when you are working short- or even if you arent working short.

No one likes to be the scapegoat.

If a new grad can stay away from med/surg nursing or ltc, then it might be worth it. Otherwise, yep, you'll be a post toastie.

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You've heard a lot of the negative, let me tell you some positive.... Like I said in my above post, my wife is approaching 30 years as a RN. Sure, she's been frustrated at her job, haven't we all? I've been at my current job 26 years and earn considerably more than my wife. The fact I'm in pre-nursing should tell you something. That aside, my wife routinely comes home with flowers, chocolates, than you cards, thank you notes, etc... Heck, I've jokingly accused her of having a boyfriend at work. Most of these things come directly from the patient or their families. Every now and again, she even gets gifts from Doctors. So while her job is not anything like showing up on the set of Grey's Anatomy or House.... it is still rewarding. The way her and her friends cut up at work, I often tell her it must be like an episode of Scrubs on her floor :-)

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I will be the first to admit I know nothing about first hand experience in nursing. I have three relatives who have been nurses for 20+ years who have told me how much they love their jobs and that I will love it when I told them I chose to pursue a career in the field myself.

That being said, I think with nursing students like myself who are "idealistic" maybe we do expect it to be more Florence Nightingale-ish, like every day will be a life-altering experience. But there are also those who believe that what they see on TV is reality and in many cases, I think they are the most disappointed.

I have had many people who consider themselves to be "experts" in the medical field try to give me tons of advice, like a distant relative who works in coding and billing telling me to get a doctorate in nursing... And I have come to the conclusion that a lot of people have absolutely no clue what goes into nursing.

Personally I don't expect my career in nursing to be wonderful every day. At this point, with the economy being what it is, I know I'll be lucky to even land a job within a year of graduating. But everyone I know and everyone I have ever met has had a laundry list of complaints about their job no matter what it is.

Perhaps for some people hearing that the field is a nightmare will make them consider pursuing something else and be helpful to them, to the rest of us, I think its suffice to say its not perfect all the time and it is a very stressful job with a high burn out rate for a reason.

I'm remaining optimistic and heeding the advice provided here and I hope every day that I will be able to love my job - the good and bad - when I am finally a nurse, because I really can't see myself pursuing anything else.

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Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

I bet if you put up a board on police jobs there would be negative comments. Same with teacher...same with steel worker..same with farmer....the internet tends to pull in people who want to tell everyone what to do. Read them if you choose, but make your own decision.

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Specializes in PCCN.

That is true windsurfer 8 - I was watching some youtube videos about flight and airport/security in Australia. Not sure what itt was called, but it appears to have been maybe a TV series? Anyhow, these people had it tough- so hard to not react when people are behaving bad.I sure wouldnt want their job either. But the difference between their job and ours is that we hold a license- we can be sued, etc.Thats why nursing is so difficult.Also, those security guards/ whatever they are , arent stuck with these people for hours on end like we are....

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