Don't. Seriously. Don't do it. You are probably a nice person. Maybe you have kids and find nurturing a natural way of life. Maybe you were impressed by a nurse who took care of a family member. Maybe since you were five, you dreamed of becoming nurse Barbie. It doesn't matter because the best way to hate nursing is to become a nurse. Preserve that natural instinct to be nice and don't become a nurse.
I started out as a CNA. I liked what the nurses were doing and decided it was the career for me. I had one B and all A's and had my choice of which nursing program I wanted to enroll in.
Then the professors were rude, overbearing, burnt out, and, I truly believe, hated us all in a way. The girls were confused and started cannabalizing each other. The guys, from day one, were completely demasculinated.
You will hate the medical profession. People will sh-- on you, literally and figuratively. You will stress out over hurting someone, since killing someone is a real risk. You will do long, hard hours, and you will be underpaid. Everyone will dump on you because you are at the bottom of the food chain. Google nurse-bullying and seriously consider if you want this to be a part of your daily life.
Probably the mods won't like this post. I don't blame you, but thiss is the truth. I wish someone had told me the truth, and I would have instead become a radiology technician, dental hygienist, or any other comparable profession that pays well without the risks.
Forget the ADN programs. Reputable hospitals have their choice of nurse applicants in this economy, and they don't want two-year nurses. In fact, many new nurses have to wait six months to a year to find their first job. Remember juicy sign on bonuses? Bid them farewell. I have not heard of a sign on bonus in years.
This is the truth, and nursing is a mean, mean profession. I survived and floated, and now I am stuck. I lost a part of my heart and a piece of my soul along the way.
I went to nursing school because I got burnt out in dental which I see the OP mentions being a "hygienist as being a comparable profession without the risks". Not for me! After seven years of dental assisting with a bit of office managing thrown in at the end, I was literally fried and overcooked with the dental profession and private practice as a whole.
For one thing, no one likes the dental office and everyone makes sure you know. There was even a point where one of my co-workers tried to commit suicide during office hours by running into traffic (while the doctor chased after her!) due to the overwhelming level of stress patients and the office were giving her. It's hard to love your job when you are the number 2 phobia behind public speaking.
Then you have your wacky doctors that run the whole show because it is their practice but have no idea how to run a business. They went to dental school which last I checked has no courses in business management! Plus, they really do have hang ups about not being considered a "real" doctor and only being a dentist. Throw in trophy wives who expect a certain doctor's lifestyle and guess what you'll never get while you work at that office? A raise.
Plus, there are patients who are too ignorant to figure out what their insurance covers but are willing to physically maim you because you want the 2 grand for the root canal and crown that they agreed to with the doctor without knowing what their insurance covers! Oh and don't forget the drug seekers too who think can pull a fast one you because it's a dental office.
Throw in the fact that you never can call out unless it's "coming out both ends" because the doctor is so cheap he'll only hire a skeleton crew. Finally, you go home after working a 12 hour shift just to be awoken in the middle of the night because Mrs. So-And-So's tooth blew up and now she is undying agony that we need to do an ER procedure at the office RIGHT NOW even though you are going to see that same office for another 12 hours very shortly again (oh & you will have to remind, beg, and plead with the doctor to pay you for your midnight time which will still be the same subpar rate you always make)!
So each to their own! I'll take nursing any day over working in the red-headed stepchild of healthcare that is otherwise known as "dentistry". It's all about what you can put up with.
im sorry you feel that way about nursing, truth is it isnt for everyone. thats why it is so many different fields in healthcare, i love nursing i cant see myself doing anything else, considering i never did anything else even as a teen i worked in a nursing home as a dietary aide and switched to a stna/cna. truth is any career u choose will have its ups and downs, i never heard anyone say they completely love their job and they are stress free and its the best job in the world and they wouldnt want to do anything else... lol i mean seriously. but if it isnt for u then maybe you should try a different career, maybe a different job, even, sometimes it can be the type of job, or the place u are working at as a nurse too, i wish u nothing but the best of luck and i hope the feeling u have will subside. try finding a different job in the field before u quit it all together. best wishes!!!!!
Maybe it's not that you hate nursing, or that you hated nursing school--maybe you had some really bad luck with the school you attended and where you happened to find a job. Some of my instructors were awful--most were excellent. I was once on a unit that was filled with angry, bitter, mean-spirited employees--but at most jobs I had truly wonderful colleagues, some of whom became close friends. There are so many opportunities and possibilities in nursing, maybe you could find your happy niche somewhere before you give up on your career. A change might fulfill your dreams, after all.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but CNAs aren't actually nurses. I had a woman in one of my classes warn me about becoming a CNA. She told us that if we want to become a nurse, skip the CNA part at all costs because you will get burnt out and dread your work. Hopefully it's not that way for most people. I've heard so many people say they love being an RN. Thanks for the warning ad preparation.
Maybe I'm mistaken, but CNAs aren't actually nurses..... She told us that if we want to become a nurse, skip the CNA part at all costs because you will get burnt out and dread your work.
Of course CNAs aren't nurses. The OP said she "started out as a CNA" and then went on to nursing school.....where she "survived".
Many nurses do start out as CNAs, and many nursing schools now require prospective students to get this certification first (value of which is debatable). I would have to disagree with the advice you've received in that if you're going to get burnt out on the CNA work you'll do as a nurse, you'll do that whether or not you've BEEN a CNA....it's just a matter of how long it takes. Better, I'd say, to find out as a CNA you don't want to be a nurse before heading off starry-eyed to nursing school and realizing you weren't cut out for it.
To the OP: I'm sorry you feel this way and that you've had some bad experiences in nursing school and I hope everything works out for you. With that being said, I start a BSN program in the Fall and I fully intend to finish despite all of the adversity I may and probably will encounter. I've worked in the ER as a tech for the past 2.5 years not to mention having volunteered for 2.5 years before that so I know what I'm getting myself into. I would have quit a long time ago had I thought it wasn't for me and one of the reasons why I chose this field was the opportunity for advancement if I got tired of one thing. If I wanted to do anything else with my life, I'd be pursuing it right now.
Ironically enough, I am a manager in an emergency department. I consider myself to be successful in this position because:
1. I respect the employees.
2. I stick up for employees.
You will find that this is a rare thing in nursing world. If an RN can't do a shift and no one can relieve them, I take the shift. If someone takes issue with the RN, I consider it part of my job to mediate on the part of the RN, LVN, CNA or whomever. I am very, very kind and patient to students.
Take home message: The mark of a good nursing school is when instructors will take it upon themselves to help you succeed in some way. If it is a bad school, you will taste nothing but bile. I could go into detail, but I suggest reading posts by people who complain about maltreatment in school (and work, but this is a pre-rn thread).
I don't know why there have to be so many hostile environments in nursing. In school, I read articles on nurse bullying, and one of the theories is that nurses tend to be powerless in the medical system. This breeds unhappiness, dissatisfaction, burn out, and "lateral violence," which is a fancy term for bullying and nurses eating their young.
I think my way of managing has been successful in the year and a half I have been in this position, as evidenced by:
A. No nurses have quit. In fact, some who left before I took post have asked for their job back. Before, there was a high turnover.
B. State reviews have come up with either minor or no deficiencies. Before, that was NOT the case. This gives me street cred with people who are above me.
C. People tell me, jokingly, "I love you." But I don't take this too seriously because people love you when they get what they want.
I get when people say "Go find another career," but of course, it isn't that easy. I invested time and money into nursing school. I would love to go back in time and tell my twenty year old self to do anything else, but I can't.
People who read these threads have an advantage over other students because you have a heads up. Sure, the school where you have been might have 100% of the students pass on the NCLEX. But do they fail 50% after a year? The nursing profession has changed exponentially over the past 50 years. Nursing schools have not, to your detriment. This hostility carries on into the work world. It is not cozy. It is not easy. Seriously think about going into this profession before you do.
i'm sorry to hear you feel this way. however, not everyone thinks or feels the way you do. you are entitled to your opinion, fairly so. my dear lady, you are jaded. not everyone is meant to be a nurse. i don't believe that everyone should be one. consider yourself lucky then and your patients, that you are not one. patients deserve a nurse who wants to care for them, and one that takes pride in their profession, amongst other things as well. as much as i feel your words are poisonous, they are your truth and reality. not mine. i hope you find your happiness, in whatever that might be.
good luck to you and don't let the door hit you on the way out. :)
nurseprnRN, BSN, RN
1 Article; 5,116 Posts
"i hope you can get out of the profession you hate quickly. "
for your own mental health and the welfare of anyone you are attempting to "care" for, i think this is excellent advice.
good thing that not everyone feels this way, huh?