negative comments/reality

Our "patients" may not complain, but their families do ! You have to remember they very stressed, upset and demanding. It is a customer service oriented business.

I'm also planning a career change...little more radical than yours, I'm been a CPA and systems analyst for 20 years...but anyway, I've been reading this board like crazy as it's the best place I've found to listen to nurses talk about their work. What I've seen is that certain areas of nursing have more serious problems than others. For instance, hospital nursing is one that comes to mind. I've seen it described as in a state of crisis. Take a look at the section of this board that lists all the different specialty areas and check them out. You'll see some of them are not as stressed (and stress inducing!) as others. As I'm sure others have told you by now, that's one of nursing's strong suits -- many, many options for wide variety of work environments and tasks.

So aside from all of the negativity, Is it still worth to pursue?

Originally posted by undertaker

So aside from all of the negativity, Is it still worth to pursue?

That's strictly up to you. Many times in the past (and every week), potential nursing students have come here and asked that question. When some reply saying no, I wouldn't do it again, the original person asking the question often starts to rationalize it. i.e. "but every career/occupation has its' problems....."

In other words, many people only want to hear what they want to hear.

I have been a nurse for 12 years, and I say no, it is not worth persuing and If I could start at the beginning, I would do something else involving the biological sciences, but not nursing.

Funny, I looked into mortuary science as a way to get out of nursing. There is a mortuary science program at my local cc, but no jobs in that here.

You will get both yes and no answers to your quesion. Only you can decide if you are willing to chance it.

Best of luck and success to you in whatever you decide.

in responce to your not pursuing nursing from the beginning. what are some other viable options in the biological sciences. P.A school would be desirable,but need to finish bachelors first.

I'm not a Pollyanna by any means...Nursing has been great to me. There are some days better than others, that's life!!!

I work in Addiction Nursing, and so does everyone else if they think about!!! (I'm reading the pain management threads with a chuckle)

I remember a nurse telling me long ago that "Nurses eat their young" if we want to survive we need to nurture our young.

You may want to consider Forensic Nursing with your back ground. It may be worth investigating. Monmouth Univesity in NJ has certification in this field.

Some days are crazy. I have a fellow employee that after a bad day he always says," Tell me Mrs. Lincoln, aside from everything else that happened tonight, how did you enjoy the play?" He also reminds me daily, "you have to be special to work here." (There are days I don't feel that special.)

Humor puts things in perspective.

You can't fake being a nurse, you'll know!!!!

Undertaker, I have been a nurse for 32 1/2 years. I have worked in hospitals, nursing homes, private duty and have been at this psych facility for 22 years, (as a nurse!) I graduated from a diploma school of nursing and went back to get my BS. Being a nurse is my defining character. I don't remember wanting to be anything else. (Except when I was 4 and wanted to be a ballerina and my gramma talked me out of it). Some of my jobs I loved and some I didn't. I never approached it as a 'good' job. In the Dark Ages when I started, I got paid $3.50/hour. I think that the desire to be a nurse must relate to who you are, what you are about. Your experience as an undertaker will be helpful. If you want to be a nurse you can. It is hard work, not glamorous, stressful, demanding, challenging, dirty, dangerous. But it is also uplifting, lifesaving, soul satisfying, spiritual, life changing, and eminately portable. In my years, I have always encouraged students, shown them everything I can, helped them in every way I could. Lord knows I needed all the new nurses I could get to come help me. I have also actively pursued the students who didn't care, who just wanted a job, who cheated on the work they handed in, and made sure they didn't come help me when and if they graduated. Nursing is one of those professions that defy a simple explanation. It is too many things to fit into one defination. We have not worn nursing caps for years because we don't have room for all of the hats we must wear on any one day.

Give it a try. You will have ample opportunities to change your mind during your education. It's not engraved in stone once you get started. If you want a taste, get a job as a nurse aid, QMA, CNA, however they are designated. Investing a little time in that area will let you know if it is what you want. In the meantime, keep your day job.

As in all things you will make your own final decision. I will try to explain a typical day for myself in CCU.

We are on a two to one Pt ratio, if staffing is sufficient if not we are on a 3/1. We have generally very sick Pts that are in various stages of grief/coping/communication they may or may not make their needs known they usually have anywhere from 2-10 family members and average(now I am saying average) level of education would be HS grad.

We have Physicians that come and go as they please without any apparent ryhme or reason as to the schedule they keep, and they may or may not (50/50) have an emergent procedure they need to perform on your Pt when they arrive.

I have to assess both patients and document said assessment in basically two places to be safe. Then I have to,pass any AM meds, doing any dressing changes, site care, trach care, turn q2 (every 2 hours)and clean any incontinance that occurs and tend to various IV drips and Tube feedings and foleys and JP drains etc. On each Pt while assisting my fellow nurses and being assisted by them to turn clean, medicate do FSBS (finger stick blood sugar)etc as part of the team. I also have to deal with pharmacy, PT (physical therapy) dietary and case managers to name a few.

All in all if you have good peoples skills are confident to answer any question concerning any disease, illness, process, procedure and any intervention that you may utilize and are able to manage time wisely with minimum of wasted effort you will probably do fine.

see this thread for more education.

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53365

Shadowing some nurses is a great idea, at least do that before you change careers. Also ask your self what do you expect from nursing as a job, if you want plenty of autonomy and prestige, I certainlly would do something else. If you have the personality of someone who wants to be the quarterback and call the shots, definitely don't go into nursing. In addition, ( and I probably will take heat for saying this) what they don't tell you in nursing school is that to get to the really good jobs in healthcare i.e., plenty of autonomy, respect, good compensation, usually requires at leat a master's degree ( MD,PT,Phram D, NP, CRNA, and physician assistent) these jobs offer much more autonomy and respect than bedside nursing, but you have to pay the price with more education. As the old saying goes there are no short cuts, you can't go to a community college for two years and expect to receive the same treatment as professionals who went to college for least six years. I can't tell you how many nurses I know who think they are smarter than all the doctors they work with. Not that undergrad nursing is not hard, it is as you will find out if you go to nursing school. But I would not go through all of that to be a bedside nurse again, I just find the negatives outweigh the positives. My biggest negatives are: lack of autonomy, compensation and the attitiude that the nurses should have to do aid work, clerical work and act as waiters besides performing nursing duties. Good luck with your decision, nursing is a good profession for the right person and is a noble career, but it is not for everyone.