Need Honest Opinion -- Would You Recommend Nursing?

SoundofMusic · Feb 17, 2009

I feel that if you are perpetrating violence towards healthcare workers in any way, you lose all RIGHTS to healthcare. Sorry. Families should be included. I don't care -- we are not selling the right to abuse other human beings - we are selling healthcare.

Firefly602 · Feb 20, 2009

:redbeathe Thanks in advance to those who are giving us nursing students hope!!

Honestly though, are there any of you who, (even faced with the most horrid situations and unstable lifestyle) come home every day thinking 'you know what I may be working my ar'se off but I made a difference today it was one smile out of the 50 patients I saw but, it was worth every minute?)

Do those who would run for the hills if they got the chance regret their decision on going to nursing school?

Is all the hard work just to get accepted to a nursing program worth all the stress and and commotion once you get a job?

Emma123 · Feb 20, 2009

I've had an alarming amount of working RNs trying to persuade me from becoming a nurse. At first I just brushed it off as a fluke - thinking they were either new, burnt out, etc. But they seem to be from all walks of life. They all say that I'm "too smart" for nursing and that if I can do it, do something else. They say the lack of support, respect, from the public, administration isn't worth any monetary rewards and that it quickly gets old and the understaffed hours are long. They also said that while the pay is nice in the beginning compared to some college majors, the salary cap is reached quite quickly and that if I pursued a MBA ( my other option), the opportunites and potential salary rewards after working a while are higher. If someone came to you and asked your honest opinion, would you recommend a person to go into nursing?

1. I don't understand that, sorry?

2. No way in hell.

Emma

Emma123 · Feb 20, 2009

How discouraging....
Sincerely,
a hopeful future nursing student.

You will only know what has been described above once you are a nurse. There is no way anyone could explain it; it is very personal to nurses. I would not want my own daughter to be a nurse; I've adamantly told her to not even consider this profession.

That being said, working for an agency is nice because you can avoid much of the politics. Provided you have a spouse with steady income for those in between times you don't have an assignment, and for the better insurance benefits. The happiest I was as a nurse was when I could go to work, do a good job, take care of patients, do my charting, and then drive home. WITHOUT all the politics.

NeoPediRN · Feb 20, 2009

Not if the only thing driving you is benefits/monetary gain. Nursing is hard work and a "smart person" does not necessarily equate to a "smart nurse." Do something you love and are passionate about.

showbizrn · Feb 23, 2009

not if the only thing driving you is benefits/monetary gain. nursing is hard work and a "smart person" does not necessarily equate to a "smart nurse." do something you love and are passionate about.

exactly.

nursing is hard work

and only you can decide

if nursing is

where your passsion lies.

as far as those of you

who wish

you could do something else...

that's honest.

but what type of patient care

are your clients receiving

if you don't want

to be there

in the first place?

only a nurse knows?...

i pray i never get to that place.

:twocents:

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · Feb 24, 2009

No I wouldn't recommend nursing. I've done it a many years and based on my experiences, I'd urge prospective students to run to another career. It's the bad attitudes, insensitive (and poor) management, abusive patients, abusive coworkers, long hours, ever-present threat of being mandated for an extra shift due to constant sick calls that form this opinion of mine.

It might be all of this, but like I said in a previous response in this thread, you gotta love the profession to put up with it. Personally, I love the idea that I can take care of my whole family AND have money left over. At the same time, I will never be without a job. (atleast in Houston, where there are so many people coming to live, the influx is causing the hospitals to be overcrowded with patients)

DebRN06 · Feb 24, 2009

No, unfortunately I would not recommend nursing. It makes me sad that I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this profession that I truly believed I would love. Daily I become more disappointed. There are so many things that could be (and I hope will be) done to change my mind.

Honestly though, are there any of you who, (even faced with the most horrid situations and unstable lifestyle) come home every day thinking 'you know what I may be working my ar'se off but I made a difference today it was one smile out of the 50 patients I saw but, it was worth every minute?)

It seems so long ago (only 3 yrs!!) that I honestly thought that I would be able to think this way and it would get me through the stressful times, but it doesn't. And now, I know I was very naive to believe that I would/could. If anything, I go home and think, "I wish i would have had time to.... I wish I could have....That pt really needed....Did I remember to....."

Yes, there are things that nursing has already given me that I will treasure forever. For example, a letter from a family for making their sister's last day a "comfortable" and "dignified" one. I am so honored and humbled to have been a part of her last day and to have helped her family feel the way they do about that difficult day. I could never get that kind of feeling from any other profession. But, I also know I "got lucky" that day because I was not as busy or pulled in every direction as normal and I had an awesome tech (that also received a letter) right by my side!!

The other day I was IN 1 of my pt's room for seven of my 12 hrs!!! I knew he was going to take up my time and, starting 1st thing in the morning I kept track of how long I was in there. This is a new thing I started doing when I have a difficult pt (physicaly or mentally) just out of my own curiosity, and to an extent to have an answer to mgmt when they ask why a stupid hourly rounding sheet may not have been signed at a particular time (because that IS of utmost importance) :uhoh3: How well taken care of were my other 4 pts??? They needed more than they got that day and there is nothing I could have done about it. The other nurses were busy, too. The tech had 13 pts. The charge RN had pts. And thank god after discharging a couple, towards the end of the day, I didn't get an admit.... that would have sent me right over the edge!! I stayed 2 hours late to help the oncomng RN and it took both of us to get "caught up" with this 1 pt. If I went to my mgr she would say I need to work on my "time managemt" which is NOT the case. This pt had that much going on. They (mgmt) just do not care. Acuity, safety... I can go on and on... it just doen't matter. It is all about the :twocents: and that DRIVES ME CRAZY!!! And then, when I bring up these issues, I get an answer of, "what do you want 2 pts... because that IS NOT going to happen." :angryfire:angryfire NO!!!!! I want to go to work, feel safe, feel my pts are safe and know that I am being given the opportunity to do my job and do it well!!!

Got a little long-winded and off track... sorry.

my4helpers · Feb 24, 2009

After reading through this thread I admit it was a little depressing as well, however, after thinking about it this is what I came up with...IMO. I think that if a person really feels that going into nursing is his or her calling then no matter what anyone says about how THEY feel, YOUR feelings should not change and I say this from a personal view! Nursing is not for every one, but that goes with any profession. I could never imagine myself sitting in an office being an Accountant, but others can. At a very young age I always knew I wanted to be nurse. I love caring and helping others and I have always been this way. When I was 12 I volunteered at a LTC facility and played games and read books to the residents. When I was 15 I then volunteered at a hospital. By my junior year in high school I became a CNA and I worked one year at a LTC and a year in the hospital and enjoyed it. When I was a senior in high school my neigher was diagnosed with cancer. I had to go over a few times to help her and even though I was saddened because she was sick, I was glad that I could be their for her and care for her. This fall I will be starting my prereqs and hopefully be into a nursing program by the fall of 2011. My goal is to work in the NICU or my second choice would be PICU. My whole point to this post is if you really feel led to go into nursing then no one could change your mind. After reading through this post I still feel as strong about nursing as I always have been and no one could ever change my mind.:redbeathe

nursemike, ASN, RN · Feb 25, 2009

:redbeathe Thanks in advance to those who are giving us nursing students hope!!
Honestly though, are there any of you who, (even faced with the most horrid situations and unstable lifestyle) come home every day thinking 'you know what I may be working my ar'se off but I made a difference today it was one smile out of the 50 patients I saw but, it was worth every minute?)

Well, I don't see 50 pts. Usually 5-6. Maybe ten, if I split my shift between two assignments. And most mornings I go home feeling glad that shift's over, looking forward to my next days off. Roughly estimating, I'd say about 70% of the time, it's a day at the mill. Clock in, do your work, collect your pay. Almost every shift has some fun parts--I usually enjoy most of the time I spend with my patients, and I like my coworkers. Almost every shift has some minor frustrations--meds late from the pharmacy, IV goes bad. But it's all pretty routine stuff--the good and the bad, and every job I've had has been a lot like that.

Then there's about 20% of the time I leave feeling really good about something. Work went smooth and my patients were especially appreciative, work went rough but I met the challenge, notoriously difficult patient thinks I'm the best nurse in the hospital (they're wrong, but it's still not bad to hear) or a patient trying mightily to have a bad outcome and I realize I played a significant part in heading them off. In short, some shifts can be really good.

And then there's the other 10%, when I seriously consider looking for a new line of work, or maybe a new place to work, or just getting away from bedside nursing. 90% of the time, if I say "I'm beat." at the end of a shift, I mean I'm really tired and ready to go home and recharge. But that 10%, I mean, "I'm beaten." Or at least close to it.

For me, I guess it's worth it, but 10% seems like a pretty high percentage of time to feel defeated. I try to believe that as I grow, that percentage may shrink, and for sure things have improved a lot from the days when I felt overwhelmed and inadequate maybe half the time. And, for sure, a fair portion of my frustrations can be attributed to my own shortcomings. More experienced nurses can start an IV or drop an NG quicker than I can, and are often quicker to recognize a patient taking a turn for the worse. As I get more experienced, I'll continue to get more efficient. But I'm also coming to realize that a lot of the problems aren't with me, that there are troubles with nursing that I didn't cause and I can't fix, and while a few may just be inevitable in the nature of the work, plenty are the result of dubious decisions made by people getting paid a lot more than I do. And with that in mind, I do still sometimes recommend nursing as a career, but I think more carefully about it than I used to. Honestly, I do think there are intelligent, motivated, and caring people who would probably be well advised to stay far away from nursing. But it's a pretty good field, if you can cope with the times it isn't.

Bugaloo · Feb 25, 2009

It is so nice to know so many of you are so depressed about nursing. I would suggest all of you should look into something else than nursing. I like the fact I make $50/hr for something I find interesting an challenging even after all these years. Sure, you all want your MBA or a CEO of something, but you would be in the same boat fighting with all of the other out of work MBAs in these financial days. The problem with a lot of you is location and timing. There are a lot of areas around the country that has an over abundance of nurses and this should be addressed. There are quite a number of states that allow too many foreign nurses in that are taking away jobs of US grads. Let's face it, until this issue is taken care of, all you are going to read about is, "I can't find a job !" Then we can start to weed out those who really don't want to be nurses anymore and can go out and struggle with the rest of corporate America.

Not to be disrespectful, but most of us DO NOT make $50 an hour. Maybe if we did, the things we are put through would be worth it.

Bugaloo · Feb 25, 2009

If you were my friend, and being a nurse was not a life-long dream for you, I probably would not encourage you to go to nursing school.

And this is why:

Healthcare has become a money-driven field. Costs are cut where it matters most~the floor, where the patients are. Patients are more acutely ill, with co-morbidities. They are also more obese (upwards of 500-600 pounds) leading to more staff injuries and more care needed for those patients. Yet the patient=nurse ratio stays the same. It is impossible to take care of eight very ill patients who each require a great deal of care, chart everything required on the computer and do a good job of it. Throw in some Rapid Responses, a Code Blue or a problem family and your shift can go down the tubes quickly. If you are required to be the charge nurse with a team, it is even harder.

Now imagine doing this knowing that NO ONE is backing you up. Not your floor manager, the Chief Nursing Officer and the CEO. Do this knowing that it will not be changing anytime soon, and may get worse. That in order to get everything done, your 12-hour shift will stretch to 14 or even 16 hours, and you will be expected back to do it again in less than 12 hours. And then again in another 12 hours.

Imagine how you will feel: Disheartened? Exhausted? Mentally, emotionally, physically drained? Welcome to floor nursing!