Men Do you regret your Nursing Career?

neenja · Sep 14, 2007

yeah its the females we hear from mostly since they are the majority. i look fwd to knowing what the males have to say.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Sep 14, 2007

No regrets, here. If it was all fun, all the time, I'd have to stand in line and pay admission, but it can be very satisfying.

I think it's almost inevitable to have moments of regret, or at least doubt, during school and the first year of practice. You'll have to decide for yourself about the whole "nurses eat their young" debate. It hasn't been my experience, but even in a very supportive environment, it's a tough transition. If you don't occassionally feel like giving up, you probably aren't getting the full experience--or maybe you just have lot's of self-confidence. (Then again, I seem to recall that I had lots of self-confidence, before nursing!)

As is probably true of most endeavors, the feeling of accomplishment is proportional to the difficulty of the challenge. I have, on occasion, left the floor wondering what there was in this world that I couldn't do, if I set my mind to it. For me, at least, that outweighs the few times I've left the floor wondering whether I was really adequate for this job.

In between those extremes, there are lots of times when you might not be making life-or-death decisions--many patients will get better as long as nobody kills them--but you've helped someone be more comfortable and possibly recover more quickly, or headed off a problem before it became life-threatening.

Plus, I look damned good in scrubs.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Sep 14, 2007

With all the stress and headaches, my only regret is I didn't get my BSN right out of highschool when my dad was paying for it instead of waiting until I was 30something to go into nursing.

mageean · Sep 14, 2007

As a male nurse with 30 experience working with Dementia sufferers, I can state clearly that I have enjoyed every day of it. I started as a Nursing aid, the trained and have worked at all levels including head of Service. Thorougly enjoyed the Challenges, camaradarie of colleagues and am now looking forward to retirement in 3 weeks (10th Oct)

CraigBSN02 · Sep 15, 2007

Do I regret it? Oh HELLLLLLS NAW!!!!

It's hard, can be frustrating, and trying at times. This is a great profession, with good pay (if you know how to look for the good paying jobs) and good respect from the public. People who look down on me cause I am 'just a nurse'... it's their insecurity and misinformation. That doesn't affect me.

Besides, if being at the bedside ain't yer thing.... get out and do something else. Having a nursing degree (especially a bachelors) opens hundreds of doors. Like technology?? Get a masters in informatics. Wanna shoot for the sky? Get yer MBA and become a CEO of your hospital. Want to be a lone wolf? Certify in flight nursing and call all the shots. Sky is truly the limit for a nursing degree

Doog · Sep 16, 2007

No regrets at all, I am still a newbie, but very content with becoming a nurse!

outlierrn · Sep 16, 2007

10 years in, never looked back. Some days suck, but's that's true of every job I ever had.

K98 · Sep 18, 2007

Second career for me, no regrets at this point. Some days are great, some suck. That's why they call it "work". I enjoy my co-workers, most of the patients and their families, and the happy endings that we bring about with our labors.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Sep 19, 2007

Been a RN for 22 years now....no regrets. I like how nursemike stated, "if you don't occasionally feel like giving up, you probably aren't getting the full experience" and "the feeling of accomplishment is proportional to the difficulty of the challenge". Nursing as a field is what we as men make it or make of it. There are tons of opportunities and options for a man to grow in here. In my opinion, an excellent career choice.