I am a sophomore going into my junior year of high school this year, and I have been wanting to be a RN for a few years. I have read this blog for months, and I've read the good and bad in nursing. My mom has been an RN for over 25 years and advises against me becoming one. She tells me to 'run the other way from nursing and never look back' and laughs. She got her BSN in her early 20s and her first job was in cardiac step down unit, which she worked in for about 5 years, which she actually liked. She moved and happened to get a job in a med-surg Unit and worked there for almost 2 years, which she hated. She would hate going to work and having so many patients and a million things to do all the time and got burnout. I can name a million more reasons why she didn't like it, but I'm sure those of you who work in med-surg understand. She did this all before I was born. Now, she is currently a nurse auditor. She is ok with me being a nurse since it is my life, but she advises me against it. I would like to work in critical or intensive care, preferably in the PICU, but I'd probably also like working in the NICU, an adult ICU, or a cardiac unit. My concern is that it would be hard to get a job in either of the units I desire to work in and I would get stuck working in a med-surg unit and be miserable like my mom was. She is the kind of person that you'd expect to be a nurse because of her personality and compassion, and even she wishes she didn't become a nurse. She has told me that when she used to work in a hospital, she wanted to do labor and delivery, but the positions wanted experience. Sometimes I think that maybe if she was able to do labor and delivery and did it, she would feel different about nursing today. Anyways, what do you guys think about landing a job in ICU or Critical Care as a new grad? Also, what do you guys think about how my mom feels about nursing? Would you do it all over again? I'd also appreciate any of your stories about what unit you work in or have worked in and what was or is like. This is my first post and I have been pondering on these questions for months, so I thought I should reach out to other nurses besides my mom, especially others RNs. I appreciate any of you reading this and I have so much respect for what you guys do :)
I shadowed a nurse once during clinicals and she told me if I was her daughter, she would advice me to give up on nursing and pursue something else completely. In fact she said she is pushing her daughter to pursue pharmacy instead if the healthcare industry is of interest to her. However, she believes that nursing is rewarding if you find a specialty you like and work with good nurses for a good employer. So a lot of factors there to consider. I think your mom is giving you good advice of what to do if you do decide to become a nurse. That is to work in a specialty you will like and advance your education so that you are respected and valued by your potential employer.
There was been a lot of good perspectives so I'm going to be short and sweet.
In HS I KNEW I wanted to be a nurse. I was unprepared for the BSN intensity and burned out and pursued business instead. I regretted it from the day I graduated and am now, 12 years later, juggling adult responsibilities and going back to school. If it is something you are passionate about, the reality is that there is employer/employee issues, work stress, and similar complaints in every other industry. Know it isn't all roses but if it's your passion, go for it!
I had a classmate recently say to me; "wow, you really seem passionate about nursing," and it quite honestly frightened me, for them. I think many choose it because they feel it's a good/safe career and are rudely awakened by the lack of roses post graduation. I also think many women 20-40 years ago chose it because it was then considered one of the best careers "for women" and it was a "smart" career path. You seem to be passionate and level-headed about it. It's not worth the regret. With a BSN you can get a job outside of nursing too, if you ever decided clinical work isn't for you. I regretted not following through with it for 12 years. It's something I wouldn't wish on anyone.
I'm an RN, a Dad, & prayed my girl would not become a nurse. I sent her to a Maritime Academy, she got a degree in Facilities Engineering. She also became an Ensign in the Coast Guard Reserve ...Now a Lt.JG, runs an engine room on a CG reserve cutter.
She has a full time building engineer's job at $90,000 a year. A job for life because she holds an Operating Engineer's union card. A fabulous pension, great career advancement and tons of respect.
Oh, and here is the most important reason why daughter is, & will remain happy ...get ready for it ...There are no H1B workers imported from foreign countries to run buildings. There I said it.
H1B workers are imported to cut your wages, overwork you, & make you submissive. If US Hospitals could not import nurses, every grad would have a job tomorrow, terrorist/RNs working in hospitals would be fired, and nursing unions would disappear. Then, I would say, be a Nurse. But, H1B immigration has killed American nurses.
So, stay far away from Nursing. And any employer that recruits & trains H1B workers. BTW: nurses should vote against every politician that promotes the H1B visa program.
Lets all just ignore this poster's political and ideologically laden post and avoid the long winded saga thread arguing back and forth! (Just in case this post annoyed anyone as it did me!)
Besides this one, this is a great thread so far and have loved the responses!
Sooooo....I skimmed through your post, as it was a wall of text and made me want to cry, so I'll just say this....
My father, retired military, refused to let me join the military stating all the negatives, etc. Myself? As someone who has been a police office, worked a 9-5 job, volunteered with a fire dept as an EMT/Paramedic, and have worked in an ER (see where I'm going here?). You can tell your child no, as much as you want, but we the dunces always find away to end up in a situation they tried to protect us from.
I can honestly tell you, I would never recommend a job to anyone because, as Dr. Cox says it best, "People aren't chocolates. Do you know what they are mostly? Bastards. Bastard coated bastards with bastard filling. But I don't find them half as annoying as I find naive bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine."
With that said, I've watched people come in with nothing more than a paper cut demanding sutures. I've also seen three month olds pass away, or an individual that was talking and doing just fine one moment...die (no matter how hard you worked to bring them back) 30 mins later. I've held the hand of patients in their worst moment and patients have held my hand (mainly to keep me from strangling) when their family were in their worst moments.
It's a taxing job, it will suck years off your life, but its up to you to decide what you want. It's a job that is not the same from one day to the next, it will challenge you and at times, make you question yourself. At the end of the day, what gets you through it, are those you work with, the friendships you make and the ever lasting bonds you will make with others, long after you leave and find another place to work at.
Medic_Murse, although I obviously haven't experienced events firsthand, I have heard about the grueling and not at all easy reality of nursing from my mother. She has told me stories of a few of her patients, for example, about one who had a motorcycle accident, one whose car flipped upside down, (those 2 actually lived), but she also had one who was supposed to go home the next day, but cardiac arrested and died, and the patient wasn't even that old. I know what I'm signing up for, and I know nursing isn't easy, but to be there for people in their worst times (which my mom actually found rewarding in nursing) makes me feel that nursing will be a rewarding career. Thanks for your response, and I appreciate your time reading my post.
I would like to work in critical or intensive care, preferably in the PICU, but I'd probably also like working in the NICU, an adult ICU, or a cardiac unit. My concern is that it would be hard to get a job in either of the units I desire to work in and I would get stuck working in a med-surg unit and be miserable like my mom was. She is the kind of person that you'd expect to be a nurse because of her personality and compassion, and even she wishes she didn't become a nurse. She has told me that when she used to work in a hospital, she wanted to do labor and delivery, but the positions wanted experience. Sometimes I think that maybe if she was able to do labor and delivery and did it, she would feel different about nursing today. Anyways, what do you guys think about landing a job in ICU or Critical Care as a new grad? Also, what do you guys think about how my mom feels about nursing? Would you do it all over again? I'd also appreciate any of your stories about what unit you work in or have worked in and what was or is like. This is my first post and I have been pondering on these questions for months, so I thought I should reach out to other nurses besides my mom, especially others RNs. I appreciate any of you reading this and I have so much respect for what you guys do :)
I think that if you want to be a nurse, you should go to nursing school and see what happens. Keep an open mind about it! What you want to do now may not be what you want to do by the time you graduate.
I went to nursing school with a huge desire to be an L&D nurse. At the beginning of school, I wanted the easiest patients, I wanted nothing to do with med-surg, and the thought of being in an ICU made me want to hurl. Then, I was sent to the ICU as a student learning experience and I LOVED it. Did my final preceptorship there, got hired, and I can't wait to start my job as an ICU nurse after I pass my NCLEX this summer. It fits perfectly with my personality and I actually look forward to going in and doing the job as opposed to dreading it like I did when I had clinical on med-surg floors. This just goes to show you that you can change your mind about what you think you want to do once you get actual exposure to the nursing profession!
The nice thing about nursing is that if you're miserable somewhere, look around and go to a different job. There are so many specialties and so many different things you can do with your RN!
nursinglove30
76 Posts
I shadowed a nurse once during clinicals and she told me if I was her daughter, she would advice me to give up on nursing and pursue something else completely. In fact she said she is pushing her daughter to pursue pharmacy instead if the healthcare industry is of interest to her. However, she believes that nursing is rewarding if you find a specialty you like and work with good nurses for a good employer. So a lot of factors there to consider. I think your mom is giving you good advice of what to do if you do decide to become a nurse. That is to work in a specialty you will like and advance your education so that you are respected and valued by your potential employer.