i was just on another nursing message board, my first time there and the first post i read is this really negative view of nursing ( i attatched it at the bottom in red). warning us students to reconsider. i don't know about all of you student nurses but it really gets my goat because here i am getting excited about going into this profession and i feel a lot of people try to burst your bubble and to tell you the truth all of these negatives about nursing is really bothering me. some people can make you feel as if you're actually stepping into the pits of hell. :angryfire i understand some people are just bitter, maybe the job wasn't for them. whatever the reason, it does scare me....a lot. i have worked as a na in a nursing home. i know that this is some hard sh*it! but dang, is it really that bad? by the way, i really did not like that job because no one would help me, plus i didn't like to cry on a daily basis because i was uneducated and left on my own. i am a much too happy person for that kind of misery. i have been in many unfullfilling careers and one of the reasons i wanted to be a nurse was the teamwork and the professionalism of it. i'm starting to find out there isn't a lot of professionalism involved and a lot of bitter people. is this true? anyone else agitated and scared like me? maybe i'll feel better tomorrow. sigh.
p.s. i've been informed copying and pasting a post is "socially incorrect", so to speak. sorry for that, so here is the link incase needed. :)
You know, I would have to agree with every single statement made by the person in red ink. My coworkers and I talk about all of those issues a great deal. These ARE legitimate problems with the field. As long as you can accept the profession's limitations, you'll be reasonably happy in the field -- but I understand how people get "burned out" & tired of remaining voiceless, powerless and frustrated when all you want is a little respect, a chance to give valuable input & to make positive changes, and the best care for your patients.
Honestly, students have NO IDEA what the field is really like. You won't know the truth from classroom dialogues, textbooks, or observation from a vantage point outside of the RN/LPN role. I thought I knew what it was really like when I was a nursing assistant -- how wrong I was.
A year or so in the field, practicing as an RN/LPN, will really open your eyes. Please hold your judgement of well-meaning advice until you experience the reality of the job for a while yourself. Let's hear your opinion a year after you've worked under your own license, in the field.
I currently am a nursing student working toward my BSN and although I am extremely excited about graduating and begining my career, I am often doubting to what extent I will like and feel fulfilled in my profession. Don't get me wrong, I think that I would love being a nursing and be a damn good one at that. It has taken me 6 years and changing my major 3X before I realized this is what I wanted to do with my life . But it worries me the way people (including nurses) talk about the profession so negatively. By no means do I want the negative things to be sugar coded to give me a false sense of the profession, but...............(sigh). The two things that I hear the most on this site is the lack of respect that nurses are given and the lousy pay. The words you used to describe this profession (limitaitons, powerless, voiceless) are all contradictory to who I am and my personality. What limitations? Even when limitations exist they don't apply to me becuase I put no limitations one myself and what I can accomplish. Am I in for a rude awakening? Life has made me a strong person and I truely believe that their is NOTHING that I can not do. I would hate to start my first job ready and willing to learn and do my best just to be smacked in the face by disappointment.
Money isn't everything but lets be serious it is very important. I'm not looking to become a millionar here but, I am a single mom and would like to one day (sometime very soon) live comfortably. Does the pay ever get better? I know for sure that once I graduate and get about 2 years experience under my belt I am going for my MSN but have not decided what avenue I will persue (NP, nurse midwife, Adminstration etc.). One of the things that drew me to nursing was the thought that there were no limitations and there were options. I always figured if you did not like one area (OB/GYN, peds, med/sur, labor and delivery) you could always move some where else (NICU, ICU, ER, oncology) until you found your niche'. I figured if you didn't like the hospital setting I could always work in a doctors office, schools, clinics and alot of other places.
AHHHH! I am sooooo full of ambition....ready to make a profound mark on my profession...... ready to take the world on by make big differences in the smallest of ways. (:) this is what my heart is saying:))
AHHHH! I am sooooo young and nieve. Let the truth be told I have no idea what I am getting myself into. Hope I don't end up being unhappy, broke,and returning to school to get a second degree in something else.( this is what my heart is saying:uhoh3: )
For now I guess I will listen to heart and keep a positive outlook.:chuckle
if you love you job then the negative folks won't bring you down
No, but if you're on the fence they will...the truth is, for me anyway, that working in the hospital sucked ROYALLY for all the reasons that old post mentioned. She isn't lying and she isn't negative (I love the way some nurses perceive anything that doesn't talk about the hearts and flowers aspect of nursing as negative!) I found my way as an RN in the community and in the classroom. I would bag groceries before I would do acute care work again, and if that's negative, then so be it.
I have read through this entire thread, and I even read the linked message before seeing this thread. As a student nurse, I invite all aspects of nursing experiences as I feel it will better prepare me for what is in store.
I have a few questions and or concerns. First, has anyone who says that a nurse who complain or have negative things to say about the profession is "bitter" ever thought of who started that saying. It's the administrators or those nurses who think that nursing should stay as it is and have accepted the disrespect from docs and higher ups as the "norm" who say these things. Please don't follow in their foot steps and continue this barbaric insinuation.
Nurses and future nurses need to band together and start standing up for ourselves. What would you do if you seen a doctor belittling a fellow nurse? What would you do if you were that nurse? For so many years nurses have felt that they have NO CHOICE but to accept this and deal with it...BULL!!!!! You have a voice, use it! This is the perfect time to make the changes that have been long overdue. The shortage of nurses doesnt have to be a nurses disadvantage but an advantage instead. USE IT! You may lose a job or two but believe me, one voice will be heard by hundreds. It's like a virus and if just one person stands up for themselves, others will follow. It has happened all throughout history. ONE person can make a difference if that one person is willing to go the long haul. I know I sound like some optimistic rosey but believe me, I couldnt be further from that. I have used state reps to accomplish some great feats. I have used the local problem solvers (news reporters) to acquire just what I wanted! You can too!
I dare the doctor who disrepects me, I will make his/her life a living hell as long as I have that job. Be slick about it. The first time a doc does that to you, get yourself a tape recorder. The next time you have to deal with that doc, right before he speaks, tell him that all his conversations with you will be recorded and if does not wish to be recorded then he should watch the way he speaks to you. You may lose your job but you just started a trend with other nurses OR you may have made that doctor think about how he treats the nurses in the future. I know its scary, I know that some cant afford to lose their jobs, but you know what, you cant afford to stay working in conditions that eventually will take a toll on your health either. Which is more important to you? Money or your health? All I can say is if you want things to change then we all have to take steps to that change by not allowing them to get away with it anymore.
Stop accepting it as the "norm" and start standing your ground! It's time for a change, it's time for US to make this change!
I agree. When it's bad, it's bad. But when it's good it makes your whole sense of being just humm. There are not many jobs out there that help you grow as a person like nursing does. Except maybe if you are Oprah!
Don't know if it's human nature, but it is definately quite common in our culture.
At water coolers around the country it's commonplace to complain about your boss and work. It's gotten to the point where it's almost politically incorrect the be positive, particuarly when it comes to work. Complaining about work and those you work with is easy and accepted, but is it really our nature?
No, but if you're on the fence they will...the truth is, for me anyway, that working in the hospital sucked ROYALLY for all the reasons that old post mentioned. She isn't lying and she isn't negative (I love the way some nurses perceive anything that doesn't talk about the hearts and flowers aspect of nursing as negative!) I found my way as an RN in the community and in the classroom. I would bag groceries before I would do acute care work again, and if that's negative, then so be it.
I agree, I can't work in overly negative environments either. If it's one or two people then no I won't let them bring me down. I stepped down from doing charge nurse so I can keep to myself and my patients better and avoid other people's negativity and drama.
What exactly would you all consider negative? A nurse refusing to accept an unsafe assignment? A nurse refusing to take on an unsafe amount of patients? A nurse refusing to be disrespected by co-workers, doctors or managment? I dont consider any of these negative. The only way they would be negative is if the nurse in question didnt do anything about it except for complain. To me, negative would be better defined as a nurse who is complaining about her job duties, i.e. changing a bed pan, or helping an elderly woman to the bathroom, bathing a patient and so forth. These are job duties that a nurse should expect to do. But refusing to take on anything that is unsafe or unacceptable working conditions I wouldnt consider negative.
So if you all wouldnt mind, could you clarify to me what exactly you consider negative behaviour or talk. Thanks so much.
I currently am a nursing student working toward my BSN and although I am extremely excited about graduating and begining my career, I am often doubting to what extent I will like and feel fulfilled in my profession. Don't get me wrong, I think that I would love being a nursing and be a damn good one at that. It has taken me 6 years and changing my major 3X before I realized this is what I wanted to do with my life . But it worries me the way people (including nurses) talk about the profession so negatively. By no means do I want the negative things to be sugar coded to give me a false sense of the profession, but...............(sigh). The two things that I hear the most on this site is the lack of respect that nurses are given and the lousy pay. The words you used to describe this profession (limitaitons, powerless, voiceless) are all contradictory to who I am and my personality. What limitations? Even when limitations exist they don't apply to me becuase I put no limitations one myself and what I can accomplish. Am I in for a rude awakening? Life has made me a strong person and I truely believe that their is NOTHING that I can not do. I would hate to start my first job ready and willing to learn and do my best just to be smacked in the face by disappointment.
Money isn't everything but lets be serious it is very important. I'm not looking to become a millionar here but, I am a single mom and would like to one day (sometime very soon) live comfortably. Does the pay ever get better? I know for sure that once I graduate and get about 2 years experience under my belt I am going for my MSN but have not decided what avenue I will persue (NP, nurse midwife, Adminstration etc.). One of the things that drew me to nursing was the thought that there were no limitations and there were options. I always figured if you did not like one area (OB/GYN, peds, med/sur, labor and delivery) you could always move some where else (NICU, ICU, ER, oncology) until you found your niche'. I figured if you didn't like the hospital setting I could always work in a doctors office, schools, clinics and alot of other places.
AHHHH! I am sooooo full of ambition....ready to make a profound mark on my profession...... ready to take the world on by make big differences in the smallest of ways. (:) this is what my heart is saying:))
AHHHH! I am sooooo young and nieve. Let the truth be told I have no idea what I am getting myself into. Hope I don't end up being unhappy, broke,and returning to school to get a second degree in something else.( this is what my heart is saying:uhoh3: )
the topic about pay has been discussed numerous times on this bb. let me tell you first that i applaud you as a single mom for doing something positive with your life to support you and your child. secondly, nurses are not starving. i know it depends alot on where you live, but here in windy city, illinois i know MANY nurses and not ONE of them are living below the poverty line. why do you think so many people stay nursing? and why are so many people trying to get into nursing? if nursing paid that bad, NO one would do it. maybe a few would, but for those of us that have families and responsibilities nursing has taken care of it. most nurses that have 20+ years can be undercompensated and that's where alot of people feel that nurses salaries are not comparable to other fields.again depends where you live, and who you work for. when i became a RN my salary went up 14$ more an hour than my previous position as a tech. i can't complain right now. maybe in a few years i will join the complaints about pay, but i like being a nurse and for once in my life i can pay my bills without crying every month. good luck to you. :) :)
I currently am a nursing student working toward my BSN and although I am extremely excited about graduating and begining my career, I am often doubting to what extent I will like and feel fulfilled in my profession. Don't get me wrong, I think that I would love being a nursing and be a damn good one at that. It has taken me 6 years and changing my major 3X before I realized this is what I wanted to do with my life . But it worries me the way people (including nurses) talk about the profession so negatively. By no means do I want the negative things to be sugar coded to give me a false sense of the profession, but...............(sigh). The two things that I hear the most on this site is the lack of respect that nurses are given and the lousy pay. The words you used to describe this profession (limitaitons, powerless, voiceless) are all contradictory to who I am and my personality. What limitations? Even when limitations exist they don't apply to me becuase I put no limitations one myself and what I can accomplish. Am I in for a rude awakening? Life has made me a strong person and I truely believe that their is NOTHING that I can not do. I would hate to start my first job ready and willing to learn and do my best just to be smacked in the face by disappointment.
Money isn't everything but lets be serious it is very important. I'm not looking to become a millionar here but, I am a single mom and would like to one day (sometime very soon) live comfortably. Does the pay ever get better? I know for sure that once I graduate and get about 2 years experience under my belt I am going for my MSN but have not decided what avenue I will persue (NP, nurse midwife, Adminstration etc.). One of the things that drew me to nursing was the thought that there were no limitations and there were options. I always figured if you did not like one area (OB/GYN, peds, med/sur, labor and delivery) you could always move some where else (NICU, ICU, ER, oncology) until you found your niche'. I figured if you didn't like the hospital setting I could always work in a doctors office, schools, clinics and alot of other places.
AHHHH! I am sooooo full of ambition....ready to make a profound mark on my profession...... ready to take the world on by make big differences in the smallest of ways. (:) this is what my heart is saying:))
AHHHH! I am sooooo young and nieve. Let the truth be told I have no idea what I am getting myself into. Hope I don't end up being unhappy, broke,and returning to school to get a second degree in something else.( this is what my heart is saying:uhoh3: )
the topic about pay has been discussed numerous times on this bb. let me tell you first that i applaud you as a single mom for doing something positive with your life to support you and your child. secondly, nurses are not starving. i know it depends alot on where you live, but here in windy city, illinois i know MANY nurses and not ONE of them are living below the poverty line. why do you think so many people stay nursing? and why are so many people trying to get into nursing? if nursing paid that bad, NO one would do it. maybe a few would, but for those of us that have families and responsibilities nursing has taken care of it. most nurses that have 20+ years can be undercompensated and that's where alot of people feel that nurses salaries are not comparable to other fields.again depends where you live, and who you work for. when i became a RN my salary went up 14$ more an hour than my previous position as a tech. i can't complain right now. maybe in a few years i will join the complaints about pay, but i like being a nurse and for once in my life i can pay my bills without crying every month. good luck to you. :) :)
]
Thanks for the infor. Was getting a little worried.:uhoh21:
wow, that e-mail was pretty harsh - she better hope she never gets sick!
i have wanted to go into nursing for over 6 years now. when i was 19 i got a job as a responisonist at an it/is consulting company placing computer programmers at large client sites. when i noticed how much money the recruiters and account managers made, i quickly moved my way up and i was loving all the money i was making, but i truely wasn't happy. i have been going to school for the past year and i will be leaving a well paying job to do something that i love and enjoy...which is helping people...i have always had a big heart. to me, money is always nice, but it's not everything.
i have the same problem as you, and people love to put in their $0.2 and it seems like anything that isn't positive. i always try to find the positive in everything. i have friends telling me that they think i can't do it and that i'm going to be cleaning up **** all the time and it really upsets me. i just have to say to them, that it's my decision and i would appreciate any support that they can give me, but that i'd rather not hear their negativity. i have to admit that i'm a little scared that i will spend all this time, money, energy and effort to do this and maybe i won't end up liking being a nurse, but at the end of the day, i think to myself...how could i not like being a nurse, helping people and saving lives?!! i say, ignore any negative comments that people have said, are saying and will say in the future, it's your decision and no matter what anyone else says, your the one ultimately who can make this choice. my drive and determanation is so strong that nobody can stop me when i get started. if your hearts in it...go for it!
i was just on another nursing message board, my first time there and the first post i read is this really negative view of nursing ( i attatched it at the bottom in red). warning us students to reconsider. i don't know about all of you student nurses but it really gets my goat because here i am getting excited about going into this profession and i feel a lot of people try to burst your bubble and to tell you the truth all of these negatives about nursing is really bothering me. some people can make you feel as if you're actually stepping into the pits of hell. :angryfire i understand some people are just bitter, maybe the job wasn't for them. whatever the reason, it does scare me....a lot. i have worked as a na in a nursing home. i know that this is some hard sh*it! but dang, is it really that bad? by the way, i really did not like that job because no one would help me, plus i didn't like to cry on a daily basis because i was uneducated and left on my own. i am a much too happy person for that kind of misery. i have been in many unfullfilling careers and one of the reasons i wanted to be a nurse was the teamwork and the professionalism of it. i'm starting to find out there isn't a lot of professionalism involved and a lot of bitter people. is this true? anyone else agitated and scared like me? maybe i'll feel better tomorrow. sigh.
p.s. i've been informed copying and pasting a post is "socially incorrect", so to speak. sorry for that, so here is the link incase needed. :)
I work in assisted living, and our maintenance man often has a much more positive attitude than many of the CNA's. At breakfast time he whistles and pours the residents' coffee and chats them up whild getting their breakfast orders. He loves his work, and the residents love him. :roll
On a different note: Are nurses really REQUIRED to do overtime, or can they turn it down? As a nursing assistant, I used to turn off my phone and answering machine because I didn't have the guts to say NO when asked to take an extra shift. Now I keep them on and if the boss calls me, I'll say "Yes" if I feel up to it and "No" if I don't, or if I have a prior commitment. At times I've had to be VERY firm about it.
maybe that person has never been happy with her work as a nurse, maybe she's not fit to be one. what a pity, having spent 7 years of her life in a career that she doesn't really love.but that doesn't give her the right to discourage anyone to go into nursing, what can she get from that anyway?
being a nurse is in fact is not an easy job. i'm just a 4th year nursing student and this is my second course. my first choice is nursing but my father did not allow me because we cannot afford the tuition fee during those times.now im pursuing it ! why? its because i can still feel the calling,for me nursing is not just a profession or a way to earn money, its a commitment and dedication. i feel good whenever i was able to help my patients. it feels so good. i really want to be a nurse. i hope god will help me be a good nurse!:)
this is what my heart is saying:uhoh3: )
CNMtobe2012
88 Posts
I currently am a nursing student working toward my BSN and although I am extremely excited about graduating and begining my career, I am often doubting to what extent I will like and feel fulfilled in my profession. Don't get me wrong, I think that I would love being a nursing and be a damn good one at that. It has taken me 6 years and changing my major 3X before I realized this is what I wanted to do with my life . But it worries me the way people (including nurses) talk about the profession so negatively. By no means do I want the negative things to be sugar coded to give me a false sense of the profession, but...............(sigh). The two things that I hear the most on this site is the lack of respect that nurses are given and the lousy pay. The words you used to describe this profession (limitaitons, powerless, voiceless) are all contradictory to who I am and my personality. What limitations? Even when limitations exist they don't apply to me becuase I put no limitations one myself and what I can accomplish. Am I in for a rude awakening? Life has made me a strong person and I truely believe that their is NOTHING that I can not do. I would hate to start my first job ready and willing to learn and do my best just to be smacked in the face by disappointment.
Money isn't everything but lets be serious it is very important. I'm not looking to become a millionar here but, I am a single mom and would like to one day (sometime very soon) live comfortably. Does the pay ever get better? I know for sure that once I graduate and get about 2 years experience under my belt I am going for my MSN but have not decided what avenue I will persue (NP, nurse midwife, Adminstration etc.). One of the things that drew me to nursing was the thought that there were no limitations and there were options. I always figured if you did not like one area (OB/GYN, peds, med/sur, labor and delivery) you could always move some where else (NICU, ICU, ER, oncology) until you found your niche'. I figured if you didn't like the hospital setting I could always work in a doctors office, schools, clinics and alot of other places.
AHHHH! I am sooooo full of ambition....ready to make a profound mark on my profession...... ready to take the world on by make big differences in the smallest of ways. (:) this is what my heart is saying:))
AHHHH! I am sooooo young and nieve. Let the truth be told I have no idea what I am getting myself into. Hope I don't end up being unhappy, broke,and returning to school to get a second degree in something else.(
this is what my heart is saying:uhoh3: )
For now I guess I will listen to heart and keep a positive outlook.:chuckle