Nurses...Miserable?

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I am finishing up my first undergraduate degree and starting immediately into an accelerated BSN. Most people don't understand why I have decided to make this switch. Until recently, I didn't let it bother me.. because I had done some soul-searching and I have a plan - one that I am quite happy with. Today, however, my friend made a stupid generalization that really angered me. I was talking about the nursing program I'll be starting and she said, "That's so funny, I really can't see you being a nurse. Every nurse I know is miserable." Now I know I will get some fired-up responses because of that line...and that's what I want to hear!! I want to know that my friend was wrong, that she made an uneducated, sweeping generalization. I know a lot of venting goes on in this forum, and after being on here a few months I've read both stress-ed out threads as well as ones describing greatly fulfilling experiences. I just want to be reassured that there are many nurses out there that love their jobs! I also really want to have a good attitude going into this program... any tips on how to approach my first clinicals? Should I be prepared to become thick-skinned? I know I'm going to experience some stressful situations as a student and I don't want to be scared away!

Specializes in Trauma acute surgery, surgical ICU, PACU.

I find nurses get slammed with a lot of generalizations that really don't apply to many of us.

Maybe the person that said that to you just has a limited experience with nurses.

Many of us are happy in our job, but the public doesn't always see that. Busy, stressed, etc - doesn't mean "miserable", but a person who isn't a nurse and doesnt know too many nurses on a personal level may not know that.

I'll never forget the time a patient crabbed at me "You could at least SMILE!" as I was programming his insulin IV pump. When I informed him that I was just concentrating so I wouldn't make a mistake and I also had another patient who was very sick, he realised I wasn't such a crab-apple after all. You gotta realise most people have no clue what goes on inside the mind of a nurse.

I'm not "misreable", and I don't know too many people who are. But I am pretty fed up with things like staffing levels, etc. Still like my job though. It's all in learning how not to let "job stress" make you a miserable person, I guess.

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Specializes in Jack of all trades, and still learning.
Miserable, no. IMHO, any nurse that's miserable should maybe consider changing professions, and FOR SURE get out of bedside nursing.

I do not agree with this statement. I developed clinical depression due to circumstances beyond my control which were attributed to my job. Remember, these are my experiences, and not every other nurse.

BUT...I took time off work. I used my holiday pay, I refused to use workers compensation. I developed panic attacks whenever I went near the place.

I refused to give up. I went back in a graduated way. I love my job, I will never give it up, I have learnt strategies to cope, I am stronger, and I believe that through my experience I can now be more empathetic to other nurses and patients as well.

I know how loss of control of one aspect of your life can affect everything else, therefore I know how important wholistic care really is...

Nursing can be rewarding. My favourite thing is watching someone leave, and it doesn't matter if they are 'healthy', suffering from a chronic disease, or a terminal disease, with control over their life. That I think is the importance of nursing...

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I've been a nurse for about 2 years. I have days when I really do NOT like my job, and when I really consider taking a mental health day.

But, ya know what? Nursing is a second (or maybe third or fourth) career for me. And I have never yet had a job that at some point in time I didn't wake up and think that maybe I didn't want to go to work on a certain particular day.

Not all nurses are miserable. Some jobs expose you to more stress than others. Nursing is not an easy job. We deal with levels of stress and responsibility that most people cannot imagine.

Everything in life is what you make of it. A few years ago, I had a very good friend, and the running joke was that if you handed her a million bucks, she would gripe that it was all in fifties instead of hundreds. Some people can find a way to be negative, no matter all the evidence to the contrary.

I'm not saying that nursing can't be difficult and that everyone doesn't have their days.....

But never give anyone the power to make up your mind for you.

Like any job, it has ups and downs.

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Nursing is not a job that can be done unless you like it. I may be burned out and at times miserable but I'm still here when I could be else where.:smokin:

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Specializes in med-surg 5 years geriatrics 12 years.

I think that most of us love what we do...it's just there are some things we hate, such as staffing, hard to handle families, management that seems focused solely on $$$, etc. , but I don't think we are miserable, just frustrated. There are too many options to let yourself get caught up in a miserable situation. Maybe your friend has only noticed those who are staying in a job that has beat them down and they don't realize it's time to move on.

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I've been a nurse for about 2 years. I have days when I really do NOT like my job, and when I really consider taking a mental health day.

Sometimes I have to take a mental health year, years even. Unfortunately not everyone has the option.

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I've been a nurse for 12 yrs. Right now I am miserable. It isn't the patients it is the "man" I'm getting shafted by the adm and yeah...its miserable. I'm not giving in to them tho:nono:

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Specializes in LTC, office.

I'll never forget the time a patient crabbed at me "You could at least SMILE!" as I was programming his insulin IV pump. When I informed him that I was just concentrating so I wouldn't make a mistake and I also had another patient who was very sick, he realised I wasn't such a crab-apple after all. You gotta realise most people have no clue what goes on inside the mind of a nurse.

This made me smile because I have had the same thing happen. I think it contributes to the "miserable nurse" theory. We are busy, concentrating on our jobs and forget to smile....heaven forbid!

I am not miserable, but can certainly be brought down by managers and other job issues beyond my control. I love my job, it is the other crap that makes me nuts.

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I think that most of us love what we do...it's just there are some things we hate, such as staffing, hard to handle families, management that seems focused solely on $$$, etc. , but I don't think we are miserable, just frustrated. There are too many options to let yourself get caught up in a miserable situation. Maybe your friend has only noticed those who are staying in a job that has beat them down and they don't realize it's time to move on.

WELL PUT!:up:

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This made me smile because I have had the same thing happen. I think it contributes to the "miserable nurse" theory. We are busy, concentrating on our jobs and forget to smile....heaven forbid!

I am not miserable, but can certainly be brought down by managers and other job issues beyond my control. I love my job, it is the other crap that makes me nuts.

Exactly:up:

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I would recommend you read or at least skim the following:

Faye Satterly's "Where Have All the Nurses Gone?" (short, concise book)

Suzanne Gordon's "Nursing Against the Odds" (also a very good read)

Linda Aiken's 2002 JAMA study on ratios

Then look around the Web for posts from nurses talking about their jobs.

You will see a lot of venting (people don't generally post to tell you how wonderfully their day went); but then you will also approach the career with more of a realistic perspective on why many nurses are discontented with the changing (worsening) health care system.

The system needs changing; but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll be "miserable" in nursing per se - the system itself is changing into a money-driven beast where they assign too many patients per nurse, give them too much charting, etc.

Also - I was in a 1-year accelerated BSN program before dropping out for family reasons, years ago. I then entered a 2-yeear ASN program, where I learned a heck of a lot more than in the 1-year program. BUT, all programs are different - depends on the faculty, and how the curriculum is implemented.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, HH, Tele, Geriatrics, Psych.

I know some nurses that are so miserable in their jobs that they make everyone around them miserable as well. Negativity in nursing is like a disease. If you try to stay positive and look at the positives in nursing, you will be ok. However, if you fall into the negative issues with the others, you are doomed!

For me personally, (nursing for 15 yrs), the positives are:

1. The opportunities available in so many different fields.

2. The opportunity to make BIG BUCKS with OT or travel nursing.

3. Nurses can always find a job.

Now, the negatives:

1. The lack of respect that nurses receive from patients, families, doctors and administration.

2. Long hours that are mentally, emotionally and physically draining.

3. In some parts of the country, nurses still do not make enough money for what they do. I was recently offered a job. When they told me the salary, they threw it out there, and sat smugly, no doubt waiting for me to be enthralled to be offered such a small sum for putting my license on the line. My stepson is a carpet layer with a HS diploma and makes more than what they offered me. Huh???? :banghead:

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