New Here, The Good/ Bad /Ugly

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First I would like to say hi to all my brothers and sisters nurses out there. Now to the issue, I Made a Huge mistake becoming a RN. I spent 25 years in the Aviation industry where you were bumped/transfered all over the US to keep a job. After 3 years of Nursing School (very hard) I became a RN thinking I would have a stable job and perhaps find meaning to my last 10 or so years in the work forse. Whew what a mistake. I kept thinking that it surley couldnt be this bad while in school...I must be seeing things through the eyes of a newbe...WRONG. Upon Grad I spent 6 months in the ER (Would NEVER do that again,running at 120% ALL the time and making critical judgements all the time ( from checking the "Docs" bad med orders to having 3 sick peds pt's hit your rooms back to back). Quit. Then I did staff nurse/ supervision with the Dept of Corrections....slower pace but between the dim-wit corrections staff, killers, & child molesters *itching about their care and rights I had to go after 10 months. There is a reason why head hunters are paying $45.00 a hour for nursing staff...NOBODY WANTS TO DO THE WORK. I learned so much in school...and yes Ive had a handfull of exc paitent encounters where the team saves a life, or you realy did a exc job from Dx to dischage...but its rare...Most of the time its 120% work, low pay and stress, hell Im still not up to my pay level that I was making in 2001.

Specializes in Emergency Room.

How sad. I work in a large Level I ER, and absolutely love my job. My bosses are very involved, and we have the best staffing of any ED in my area, or that I know of. I work my tail off, but it is worth it. Did you get enough education in ER when you started? My hospital has a great fellowship program....6 months of classes and precepted floor work. Good luck finding something that satisfies you.

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You say that you did your homework and knew what you were getting into. If that's the case ... and you hate what you got into ... then why did you choose it?

If you knew what you were getting into and you made the choice to become a nurse, then you have no one to blame but yourself.

I have no sympathy for you. You are blaming everyone else for the decision you made (supposedly knowing what you were doing when you made it.)

While the OP may be too broad in his generalizations and rather hasty in judging what nursing is like across the board, it seems harsh to say "you have no one to blame but yourself" and to have "no sympathy" whatsoever for the OP being disillusioned by his experience with nursing.

No one can know for sure what the reality of any work is like before actually doing it no matter how much your research it. And nursing as a profession DOES have many flaws and problems that we shouldn't ignore - such as endemic short-staffing and endemic lack of supportiveness between team members. Not all places have those problems, but it's not just a few that do have such problems. Many nurses, both new and experienced, are frustrated with work conditions.

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Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice.

Gosh, after reading this thread, all I can say is I am soooooooooo blessed. I didn't think I was "nursing material" until I tried it and applied for school. Then along came this offer of a Nursing Assistant. I work on a floor where everyone is wonderful. No sniping, no b*******, no politics, and I know this is hard to believe, but everyone helps everyone out. There's no caste system of you're just a Nursing Assistan, only an LPN, etc. Everyone's attitude is you're a nurse whether you're a student working as a nursing assistant, an LPN or an RN. And this week, I got two of the best compliments I could ever get. One of the RN's (who was a doctor in a foreign country, but can't be one here) thanked me for all of my hard work yesterday, and today the floor nurse told me she appreciated all of my help with a difficult patient today. (And she was the one having a bad day!)

Every day that I go to work, I'm glad I decided to go to nursing school.

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma.

I don't really get how anyone can say they are so disheartened with nursing after a fairly short period of time...my god, there are so many things you can do as a nurse....if you don't like direct pt care, be a drug rep, case manager, telephone triage...if you don't like dealing with multiple pts at one time, go to cath lab, vas lab, GI unit, OR...if you don't want to deal with the very sick (usually), do school nursing, MD office, employee health, work for an insurance co....want 8-5 office job in management, suck it up and work your way up...go back to school for an advanced degree to teach, be an ARNP, CRNA.

So many people complain about hating where they work...unless its actually "being a nurse" that you hate, find another area of nursing to explore or stop being a nurse. I'm very lucky that I found my niche right out of school in the ER, but had I not, I wouldn't let myself stagnate somewhere where I was miserable.

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Howardhughes, after 30+ years in nursing, there is not another profession that puts up with the crap nurses put up with...I personally think the enviroment has gotten worse. The pay for our knowledge skill is in the dark ages and will never get better. There will always be a cap on nurses pay, due to hospital reimbursements.

I don't recommend nursing to anyone. There are far better ways to make a living. I look at people that go into nursing and think "you don't have a clue" of the generalized abuse nurses go through from all angles (administration, physicians, patients, and service support).

If people go into nursing to make a living and provide for their family and future, then they had better get a better plan. Being able to support a family, retire and live a confortable life is SO not a good plan for a person going into nursing.

Best of luck.

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Specializes in OB.

I feel blessed to be a nurse, because I love my job. Each and every day I get to witness a birth, to be present at a wonderous time. To help these families come together safely, help with breast feeding, get PAID to give a baby his first bath. To wonder and be amazed at it all.

Do not stay somewhere that you are hating so terribly it is so not good for you. Or your pts. I imagine that your hatred of your job is fairly oozing out of your pores. Find something that makes you happy. Life is too short

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Good points Queenjean

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Howard,

I understand your point of view. I wish I'd never invested my time and money to become an RN. What a waste! I dread each and every day I have to go into work and I'm one of "those" nurses who won't hesitate to take a mental health day. Through the years it has only gotten worse! I must have tried almost every area of nursing and still I am far from satisfied with my career choice. AS SOON AS I can financially afford to, I'll gladly pursue another field altogether. Until then, I'm stuck in a rut. Nursing is not, and hasn't ever been, rewarding to me. :uhoh21:

I feel you. I call in sick in a heart beat and do not care what administration thinks of it. I can say that nursing has been somewhat rewarding, but unfortunately, nursing is really not patient centered. I have just been a nurse for one year, and am already worrying about burn out, and I am an LPN. I can imagine how stressful it can be for the RNs.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
You say that you did your homework and knew what you were getting into. If that's the case ... and you hate what you got into ... then why did you choose it?

If you knew what you were getting into and you made the choice to become a nurse, then you have no one to blame but yourself.

I have no sympathy for you. You are blaming everyone else for the decision you made (supposedly knowing what you were doing when you made it.)

Not sure if this is the right thing to say, that may be a bit harsh. Each person walks into something with an idea and then when in the muck of it all, can see things from a totally different perspective. I worked as a nursing assistant for many years and then became an LPN. I saw what the nurses went through peripherally, but didn't comprehend until I got into the foxhole, so to speak.

I am happy being an LPN, and there are days where it is very rewarding for me. But, the politics, managers, heavy volume of patients and crappy co-workers drag me down and I have to do more to rejuvenate than I thought I would have to. Clinicals do not show how nursing really is because it is usually a light assignment with an instructor helping you with every move you make. It IS different in the real world, whether you think or experienc positively or not.

One of the reasons why I think this board exists is to air out our frustrations and get some feedback. It is very true that we leave ourselves vulnerable to any sort of comments when we bare ourselves here, but to leave the implication that this person is to blame for this is a bit harsh to me because we do not know what this person witnessed and how they internally process what they experienced for themselves.

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starting out in the e.r. upon graduating is challenging and stressful.

many, many new nurses have a hard time adjusting to their new role in the first year anyways.

i don't know if you thought you were going to start out at $45/hr upon graduating, but that's just not going to happen.

nursing is incredibly hard, stressful work.

some environments are worse than others.

but for many (including myself), we stay because of the rewards, the flexibility and a decent paycheck.

i hope you find your niche.

just be realistic, ask questions when you interview, ask questions on the floor, be a team player, and you should do ok.

best of everything to you.

leslie

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
While the OP may be too broad in his generalizations and rather hasty in judging what nursing is like across the board, it seems harsh to say "you have no one to blame but yourself" and to have "no sympathy" whatsoever for the OP being disillusioned by his experience with nursing.

No one can know for sure what the reality of any work is like before actually doing it no matter how much your research it. And nursing as a profession DOES have many flaws and problems that we shouldn't ignore - such as endemic short-staffing and endemic lack of supportiveness between team members. Not all places have those problems, but it's not just a few that do have such problems. Many nurses, both new and experienced, are frustrated with work conditions.

I really like how you worded this because it is so true. I worked as a nursing assistant, medical assistant, patient care associate and phlebotomist before I became an LPN. I remember interviewing nurses from all levels before having an opportunity to become a nurse andI strategically chose LPN because of things that I witnessed in my experiences in health care. But, now, being in the foxhole, so to speak, it is far different than what I expected and while I still find myself enjoying being a nurse, I am also shocked at the conditions that we actually work under.

Patients being treated as though they are in a meat factory, managed care interfering, crappy co-workers... I had no clue as an aide how crucial all of these factors are to the demise of patient care because I didn't think as globally as I do now.

Realistically, I don't see nursing as a whole improving in the near future, but I know that I can improve in my own thought process and my personal practice. This is what I hold on to. However, I can understand how a person can easily become disillusioned in their own view of nursing.

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Gosh, after reading this thread, all I can say is I am soooooooooo blessed. I didn't think I was "nursing material" until I tried it and applied for school. Then along came this offer of a Nursing Assistant. I work on a floor where everyone is wonderful. No sniping, no b*******, no politics, and I know this is hard to believe, but everyone helps everyone out. There's no caste system of you're just a Nursing Assistan, only an LPN, etc. Everyone's attitude is you're a nurse whether you're a student working as a nursing assistant, an LPN or an RN. And this week, I got two of the best compliments I could ever get. One of the RN's (who was a doctor in a foreign country, but can't be one here) thanked me for all of my hard work yesterday, and today the floor nurse told me she appreciated all of my help with a difficult patient today. (And she was the one having a bad day!)

Every day that I go to work, I'm glad I decided to go to nursing school.

That is soooo important. Teamwork and validating the efforts of all involved. It's nice to feel appreciated by your peers. It's also nice to feel appreciated by management.

Our former CEO used to come in very early to start his day (around 5-6 am); once a month or so, he'd visit every nursing unit, RT, pharmacy, etc., and thank us for our hard work, ask if there were any concerns, and leave us with a huge fruit basket or a few dozen donuts or sticky buns, whatever.

If there were any concerns, he DID investigate the issue, and we were kept in the loop as to what was done to address the problem. Of course, not all issues were settled to our satisfaction, but we at least knew he cared and was doing his best.

He met with all new hires, and knew most everyone by name. He was out there walking the halls, meeting with staff and docs and patients; everyone knew who he was.

He also gave the staff two big parties a year; a huge picnic in the summer, and a big dance in the winter (I'm talking BIG to-do's here). Staff morale was high, people were generally happy. All was good.

Until the buyout, then corporate moved in and canned his ass.

Ah well.

By the way, did I mention that the awesome CEO was a former nurse? ;)

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