Most Challenging Aspect in Your Nursing Career?

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Hi all! I love nursing for so many reasons: The contact with people, being able to care for them when they are sick, and the fascinating medicine and clinical aspects that you use everyday. However I want to know, what has been the most challenging/frustrating aspect about your nursing career and would you recommend nursing to others?

I have a very romanticized view of the profession because many nurses have provided care and comfort for me when I spent much of my childhood in hospitals.

Hi Friends! I know you people will agree with me when I say Nursing is a career for people with a strong heart. I love this profession, since you get to be with people and help them when they really need it. Yes, I agree at times dealing with those aggressive relatives and patients is difficult, but just the feeling that there are lot more people feeling better just because of you makes a nurse much more happier and satisfied. Nursing is a profession where we care for people and receive blessings in return.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... Nursing is a career for people with a strong heart...

Agree.

And also strong: mind, will, emotional control, back, legs, arms, hands, fingers, stomach... etc.

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My most challenging aspect so far has been other nurses. Being mean. Not helpful. Rude. Ignorant. Throwing each other under the bus. Talking about you behind your back. Going to management and getting everyone else not to like you. Turning their backs on you. Left one job so far because of coworkers. hope it was just that place because my other place of employment is nothing like that. I mean you have ur lazy nurses, but that doesn't bother me as much as rude, ignorant, backstabbers. Just took a new job where I won't have as much contact with coworkers. I'm ecstatic, to say the least. ?

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That is terrible. Where does this occur? On a PICU? In the inner city or just anywhere? I am asking because my goal is to help kids who are neglected by their parents or caregivers.

I work with adults but based on clinicals it happens in any peds floor even well baby and nicu. My clinicals were in a city but now that I am in a rural area , the same things happen.

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i stay for the money and health insurance. ai hate the unrealistic and ridiculous assignments. pts aith q15 or 30min orders either meds, blood glucose , incision checks, neuro checks or vitals....in a med surg floor. you fan advocate for scu or icu and be ignored.so you are expected to deal and do that and your other needy pts. The laziness from pts and staff is annoying too. the worst which covers almost every issue, is that, you have all the responsibility and accountibility but no authority or autonomy.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

The most challenging aspect of being in this business is finding a niche, IMHO.

I worked as a CNA, LPN, and now an RN, and contrary to what some people say, we have a TON of responsibilities, in which our auto my can go for MILES; learning how to navigate through it all can be challenging as well. Like another poster stated about being "strong willed"-I very loosely paraphrasing here-but you have to have a thick skin, be diplomatic AND be assertive-sometimes aggressively assertive to a fault to focus on "being about the business"...

Oh, and only have the expectation on doing YOUR best...expect ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to occur; it helps with self-preservation; it has certainly helped me stay in this business for 13 years. :yes:

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Specializes in None.

PedsRN- That would by far be the most challenging thing to me. You are awesome and I know I wouldn't be able to see that.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Visitors and their unrealistic expectations that we are somehow in the hospitality industry......

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Co-workers who have bad attitudes and lack the team player mentality.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.

What you described is probably the crappiest part of nursing, Land.

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Specializes in Trauma, Teaching.

In a different direction: I find it challenging to keep up with all the new technology and cardiac (for instance) treatment changes. Seems like every time I turn around, we have a new set of cardiac gtts/anticoag treatments, and not enough introduction to them before they go into effect. Which protocol are we using this time? Sepsis/cardiac/pneumonia/abd/etc/ad infinitum. We had a sentinel event involving a new cardiac drug, because the MD insisted in an emergent situation, but it went wrong from no one really knowing the drug well enough.

And somehow, all the studying to keep up with changes don't translate into the CEUs that are supposed to keep us UTD as nurses. Education dept. doesn't apply for CEU status for the classes.

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Specializes in ICU, CM, Geriatrics, Management.
... We had a sentinel event involving a new cardiac drug, because the MD insisted in an emergent situation, but it went wrong from no one really knowing the drug well enough...

Did the issue pertain to bleeding?

Thanks.

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