Need to hear from happy RNs

SingingNurse2 · Mar 12, 2003

Wow, I love all the positive things! Let's add some more!

RockieSis · May 5, 2003

Love it love it love it. Could not imagne doing anything else.

RockieSis

love4neos · May 6, 2003

Hi Winnie,

I really believe happiness really depends on each individual. I just recently changed fields and am now a Hospice nurse. My whole outlook on my profession changed. Now I know that I was meant to be a nurse. I love my new position. Nursing is now my passion. Nurses that are not happy and feel overworked need to get out of the "comfort zone" and find a different path. You have MANY options as a nurse and there should be no reason to be unhappy with what we worked so hard to become.

fergus51 · May 6, 2003

I like nursing. Some things are terribly hard to deal with and I like to vent about them here, but I can't imagine doing anything else. There are rewards that make the pay and politics tolerable:)

pickledpepperRN · May 6, 2003

I work 12 hours in med/surg, telemetry, or critical care. The patients are my only priority. Come end of report I realize I didn't have a meal break, have to pee, and feet hurt.

BUT, someone was helped by my work. It may be less physical or mental suffering, perhaps I helped save a life for an entire family, maybe I listened and cared when it was needed, sometimes I even get to hear the magic words,

"Thank you nurse."

Nothing could be better as I stagger to my car.

PS: I have been privileged to have worked almost one hundred thousand hours of bedside nursing.

It is a useful life to be proud of. Nurses make wonderful friends too.

LadyNASDAQ · May 18, 2003

I have been a Nurse for 24 1/2 years. A VERY long time. When I started Travel Nursing 2 1/ years ago, I fell in love with this profession all over again!

gingerzoe · May 21, 2003

Dear Winnie and other nurses,

I am so glad to hear other nurses are happy. My mom told me I wanted to be a nurse since I was 5 years old. Well, I went to LPN school at age 18 and worked until I went back to be an RN at age 32 and graduated at age 35. I am presently 43 years old. I can honestly tell you that I have never been bored. There is always something new going on in the medical field. I am just as interested in learning new things at my age now as I was when I was 18. Maybe that is the key to being happy. Always keep reading, studying and learning new things. I have had several jobs in nursing from med surg to telemetry to nursing homes to working in a state mental hospital. Presently I am working with serious juvenile offenders, adolescent boys age 14-21. I love it . Of course, I can honestly say I liked working my other jobs also. Hang in there. I also agree with what someone else said, either you hate nursing or you love it.....not to much in between. Good luck.

Overland1, RN · May 22, 2003

Winnie,

Like any profession/career, Nursing has its good and bad experiences. Much of this depends upon where you choose to work and what you choose to do. Some find Travel Nursing to be just fantastic, while others prefer to work in a facility/office near home. Some prefer the faster-paced areas (ER, ICU, etc.) and some prefer other areas. It is all up to you, and you can changes your mind as you go along, moving from one area or specialty to another. Many long-term nurses have worked just about everything, while others stay in one specialty for decades.

I started as a Float Nurse in a smaller hospital near home, then transferred to the ICU, and then the ER. An opportunity to move on to a larger hospital arose, and I took the new job (looking at enhancing my cardiac skills). The money was a bit better, but the travel increase more than ate up that pay increase. Beside that, I was rarely home; many will tell you that this does not help a relationship/marriage in many cases. While at this "new" job, I learned and also saw some things about the place that led to disillusionment, and I thought of leaving. After about six months of that, I interviewed for an ICU staff position at a slightly smaller hospital (on the recommendation of a friend who worked with me at the first hospital). The interview and orientation processes were excellent, and everything has been great so far (almost three years).

I am in the process of accepting a supervisory position. The administration is pretty cool and the staff (especially the ICU ) is excellent, and the position will involve things that are normally unheard of in a Nursing Supervisor, all very positive, of course.

Your experience in marketing is a definite advantage, as many nurses who enter the profession later in life will attest. While clinical excellence is a major part of the profession, the ability to interact effectively with people is a must. Business experience is always a plus in Nursing, as the care of sick and injured people is definitely a business (not always a bad thing). We all have to work within budget constraints, and many creative methods of successfully doing so have been developed by nurses.

If you are creative and have a passion for helping people, then Nursing may be just the career and profession for you.

Good luck, and keep us posted on how it goes.

Jerry

askater11 · May 24, 2003

I love nursing.

It was a love/hate relationship for 6 years or so. But now I found an employer that's wonderful!!!

I can't imagine doing anything else!!!

teeituptom, BSN, RN · May 24, 2003

Ive done it so long that if I did anything else short of being on the PGA I would go into withdrawal

Overland1, RN · May 24, 2003

Originally posted by askater11
I love nursing.

It was a love/hate relationship for 6 years or so. But now I found an employer that's wonderful!!!

I can't imagine doing anything else!!!

If there is one thing that makes your employer wonderful, what is it? Actually, if you list more than one thing, that is even better.

This is not a trick question; I am sincerely curious and want to know what some of the other hospitals out there are doing to attract and retain staff. It appears you have found a great place to work and most likely the people with whom you work are great as well.