After reading tons of negative posts about the nursing profession, I have really thought twice about going into the field. I am currently a ADN student, and having read post after post of how nurses are taken advantage of, horrible wages concerning nurses, lawsuits, people running for the doors after thier first month, and other various posts. These situations make me REALLLLY question this profession! Can someone give me some positive outlooks to look forward to in the nursing field? It seems like a large portion of nurses are pissed off, due to poor workplace conditions, or on the other hand nurses that have 30+ years experience expecting new grads to already know everything! I think a big thing that really scares me is starting on the floor, and having to work with all of the pissed of cranky RNs that really hate what they do. I realize not everyone or every situation is negative, but after seeing what a lot of you guys post, its just simply a let down.
Look on any website for any profession and you will see that.
I agree. Lots of people come to this website to post frustrations, to vent, and to get support, so it may appear overly negative.
Also, people tend to look at negative posts and generalize it to nursing. There are literally hundreds of posts a day, a handful of which express pure negativity.
But people concentrate on the negative and think we hate nursing.
Sometimes I have a bad day and come here and talk about it. It doesn't mean I hate nursing and am about to leave the profession. Just looking for someone to listen.
Also nurses are appreceated by the patients...it really means a lot to a patient to have someone take a sincere interest in your care and mental well being.
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I am not a nurse...I am a highschool student who wants to be a nurse someday
I have been a nurse for 30 years. I love it as much now as when I started, possibly more so. There is no greater reward than having a job you love. I have shared people's greatest joys and deepest sorrows. My life is so much richer. My daughter initially was going to be a school teacher, and had one semester in at school and hated where she was. Came home and was working in daycare(You want to talk about sucky PAY!?). She decided she wanted to be a nurse. I was THRILLED. I told her to work as an Aide so she knew what she was getting into, and sent her to work on the hardest floor in the hospital(but, also with the BEST group of nurses). She graduated in May, and has passed her boards and is a nurse in PEDS. NOw, we are BOTH happy nurses.
As a whole, we are a cynical bunch. But every once in a while, you get a patient who tells you something really nice, that you helped them get through a difficult situation. You come into the room and the pateint says to her family, "that's the nurse I was telling you about, she is so good, so nice, etc" and you realize it is the best profession. When you meet a patient, and they remember you when they come in again, they request your unit because they remember the good care you gave them. That makes it all worthwhile. I am "old school" with 25 years under my belt. I am no longer giving direct patient care, I paid my dues, and now I have my dream job.
But I know that I am a gr8rn, because I had enough patients who told me that I was. You will have these experiences too, and you will know that you chose the right profession.
Being a patient advocate is a great part of being a nurse, but sometimes, your co-workers are stuck in status-quo mode. The move towards a restraint/seclusion free environment makes sense to me, but many of my co-workers in psych are stuck in old ways of dealing with things and now I feel like the odd person out because I speak up for kids being treated disrespectful and staff who are way too physically forceful.
I can relate to you feeling why become a nurse and be disrespected and under appreicated. When I was in nursing school I was set on beginning my prereqs for med school however, one of my professors asked why I wanted to be a doc instead of a nurse. I told her my reasons and she asked why not help be a part of the change. If you can remember the image of nursing from the 1950's even if you know very little about nursing you will know nursing has come a long way. If every strong leader leaves the profession due to lack of respect the the profession will have no future leaders. My professor has since convinced me to stay in nursing and obtain my PhD and become a nursing leader to help advocate for nurses and show the world what nurses can do. I am passionate about nurses being ian ntelligent autonomous profession, however we need nurses to educate the rest of the world about this. So one reason to stay in nursing or be a nursing career to to take part in the dynamic change that is now taking place in nursing. If you want life easy then I would recommend not becoming a nurse because there are many advances that still need to be made. However, the benefits we reap today are a result of the nurses' struggles of the past. I want carry the legacy, power and influence nurses I know and admire those that have come before me. So that is my reason for staying in nursing.
Nursing is a good profession, but it is not for everyone. Like any other profession, it has its positive and negative points. I, for one, think it is best to know as much about the positives AND the negatives as I can BEFORE making a career decision. I understand that it can be disappointing when the rose-colored glasses are removed, but it does not change the facts --- wouldn't you rather know them NOW as opposed to later?
I have saved myself what I believe would have been much disappointment by researching other careers before leaving nursing to pursue them. The negatives that people told me about them were not negatives that I could just live with - they were deal breakers and I am so glad I was warned about them before I spent years of my life in school for something I really did not want to do.
Tweety, BSN, RN
36,338 Posts
I agree. Lots of people come to this website to post frustrations, to vent, and to get support, so it may appear overly negative.
Also, people tend to look at negative posts and generalize it to nursing. There are literally hundreds of posts a day, a handful of which express pure negativity.
But people concentrate on the negative and think we hate nursing.
Sometimes I have a bad day and come here and talk about it. It doesn't mean I hate nursing and am about to leave the profession. Just looking for someone to listen.