Does nursing really suck that badly?

[Irish_Mist]

I know this discussion has likely been hashed and re-hashed several times. However, I wanted to discuss not only my concerns but my specific situation.

Here is some background information on me:

I recently graduated with a non-nursing bachelors degree. For the past two years, I have had my heart set on entering an ABSN program. But, I wanted to finish my bachelors first as I felt since I was almost done, I could apply for a one year accelerated program and essentially not "waste" my almost completed degree. I am taking A&P2 and Nutrition this semester and Chemistry and Microbiology in the fall with hopes of applying for two ABSN programs in my area.

Here are my concerns:

I read so many negative things on here about nursing. Whether it is someone complaining about their boss, a high patient to nurse ratio, backstabbing co-workers, patients who treat you like a slave, managment that doesn't get it, concerns about losing nursing license, etc etc. I understand that NO job will ever be perfect. I understand that people come here to vent. I am not judging the nurses who complain on here because everyone needs an outlet to release stress.

My fear is that I will get into a career that I hate. My fear is that I will be chewed up and spit out. I am already at a cynical point in life where I see employers in general as crapping all over good employees and rewarding the bad ones. I am at a point where I am so tired of my government internship that I will do ANYTHING to get away from it. I love the idea of helping people. I love science. I've thus far enjoyed the academic pursuit of nursing. Additionally, I consider myself to be a compassionate, loving person. I can take a lot of things in stride but I have my limits. Is entering the nursing field really that scary? Are hospitals really that toxic? Are co-workers really a reincarnation of that evil witch and her possee from junior high?

I could really use some advice from some of you RNs who are already "there" and have been in the trenches.

-Signed-

Someone who wants to help others and wants to be a nurse but is terrified of the future

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

No, it sucks harder. Bedside for 25 years... it got worse every year.

Sorry I did it!

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

If you get grilled, it won't be by me. I am looking for honest, bare bones perceptions of nursing.

[TU RN, DNP, CRNA]

Stick with business. Wait, let me preface with I've only been a nurse for 6 months, working independently off orientation for 3 months. Maybe that invalidates my opinion. I got into nursing for all the wrong reasons, but was determined to make the best of it since I was in denial about how crappy the job is and you really can't do anything else with the degree. Any other area of nursing requires 1-3 years of bedside slaver-- uh-- nursing experience before you're remotely competitive and every older nurse grabs those jobs up anyway.

I ended up in nursing school after enjoying myself in college, underperforming in class, folding on med school, and bringing great dishonor to my grandfathers (humor). This will make you the bane of every old school nurse's existence so never say it to your coworkers! At the time I figured "I'll go in pre-nursing and fill out all the pre-med co-requisites, that way if med school doesn't work out I still have a practical career in the same field to fall back on. I'll use my science, I'll cure disease, I'll learn, and I'll help people. Great!" Well my GPA suffered to below-med-school caliber and I initiated plan B. Nursing is so very different from medicine, and pretty much from every idea anybody has of it until they're actually a working RN. During nursing school I was a CNA and very much looked to the days when "I was a RN and it would be easier." I figured I'd tough it out for the year I needed to be competitive to get hired, then enjoy the soft green grass of being a RN. What the heck was I thinking? Of course it's not easier for nurses. Now I find myself in the position of a RN looking for the soft green grass of some other career in nursing or elsewhere.

It's true that the first year of nursing on the job is tough, but many of the complaints I have as a new grad RN are the same ones reiterated by burnt out experienced nurses. Struggles with understaffing, entitled patients who manipulate healthcare workers, picking up the slack of other departments, fighting for 12 hours (more like 13) to complete every task only to be emailed by management about what I didn't document... This isn't to say I'm bad at my job either. Could I be doing a better job? Yes, we all could. Am I where my managers and clinical educators expect me to be? Yes, I'm a new grad. But overall it's a very tough job and demands a specific type of committed, driven personality to enjoy any career longevity.

Right now I will remain at bedside nursing until I can change to another area and find this "niche" so many people insist is out there for me, but really I have no choice. With student loans now active and 1 year being the baseline level of experience required for other RN jobs, what's a person to do but endure? I have two things on my side: my youth and RN salary. The money doesn't even mean much because on my days off I have no energy or desire to go enjoy it. Almost everybody I talk to at work says to go back to school while I'm still young, and that's what I plan to do on a part-time basis going forward. Wish I had this level of insight into the nursing profession before going into nursing school, I would've run the other way and become an accountant or something - but then again I'm sure they hate their jobs too. Bottom line: adulthood sucks.

[mclennan, BSN, RN]

Yep. It sucks. I had a cushy IT career and previous degree and decided I wanted to help people too. Off to nursing school I went. 7 years later I wish I'd just stayed in IT. This schooling and the work has aged me 20 years, made me hate people and turned me bitter.

And look for the 2014 salary survey thread here on the site. The money is NOT that great.

Nursing is a big mess these days. It's brutal and nasty and sad. I strongly suggest you find another way to help people. You seem really intelligent and sharp, which means you will have a tough time fitting in health care. Sorry but true.

[Butterfly41]

I have been a nurse 11 yrs and in the medical field 21 yrs and I know that it may sound Pollyanna but even on my worst nights ( for example 7 codes in one shift and short staffed) I still love my job. We all have our horror stories and bad days where we think *** was I thinking when I decided to become a nurse but there are also those occasions and patients that remind you of why you wanted to be a nurse and why we deal with the bad stuff. I try to hold on to the good memories and on the really bad days I look at my whole career and ask myself do I still love it? I've never answered no. I will write this disclaimer this is my dream job I've wanted to be a nurse since I was 5 yrs old and I have a true strong passion for what I do. I love helping others, teaching, and learning the why's and how's of people and our body's. I also enjoy the fact that their is so much variety and you are constantly challenged. I get bored easy lol. Oh and yes that example really happened to me recently. All I can say is that my unit and nurses showed the perfect example of what teamwork can accomplish and we lost no patients all lived. :-)

Butterfly41 using allnurses.com

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

Yay! Someone with a positive answer! I appreciate all of the honest feedback even if some of it is gloom and doom. Thank you for sharing, Butterfly41.

[TU RN, DNP, CRNA]

You say you want bare bones perceptions of nursing and advice from people who have already been in nursing, but I can even see you're focusing on the positive comments and selectively believing what you want. You've already made up your mind, you don't care about all the negatives (which I assure you are there). I was the same way. I refused to accept the countless testimonials to pursue something other than nursing, but I carried on. And now I'm reaping the results of my stubbornness. I guess I'll see you when you get here, but don't say you weren't told so!

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

That isn't it at all, TU RN. All I said was that it was refreshing to see something happy. I don't see how my one response to butterfly implies that I am only focusing on the positive or believing what I want. I never once discounted you or anyone else's experience or posts. I appreciate the information. And truthfully, I am still not sure how I feel about nursing.

[mclennan, BSN, RN]

And, when I tried to reply to your PM it says your account is set up not to accept PMs.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Yay! Someone with a positive answer! I appreciate all of the honest feedback even if some of it is gloom and doom. Thank you for sharing, Butterfly41.

Wow....I agree with all of the above posters.

Here is the deal....nursing is hard. Very hard. Nursing is not for the faint of heart. You will have all the responsibility and be blamed for everything yet have very little control over anything. You are the end all be all but low man on the totem pole. The pay while it "looks good" on paper does NOT match with what you put in on the job....IF you can find a job when you complete school. There is NO NURSING SHORTAGE!!!

You will work weekends and holidays. You WILL work nights. You probably will NOT find the job of your dreams when you graduate for the market is saturated right now with all of the college grads that graduated college and couldn't get a job so they went into nursing because "there is a shortage" and all those that got laid off in the work force who couldn't get another job and used unemployment to re-educate them into the nursing profession because there is (NOT) a nursing shortage.

Patient will shout at you and be rude. You will be verbally abused and at times you may be physically assaulted...and you will be expected to smile.

Nursing has a few rare moments of satisfaction surrounded by a rude demanding public and demeaning administrators/CEO's who make a minimal of 263% more than you with better benefits. You will be expected to do everything with very little.

I have been a nurse for 35 years and I have LOVED being a nurse with a few rare exceptions when nursing and mankind have disappointed me. But I am from the old breed....we expected to do everything and expect nothing. I graduated nursing and made BARELY $2.00 over minimum wage after 1 year on the job and yes I had a college degree. So the thought of making money when I graduated wasn't the priority...or even on the radar.

Nursing is rewarding if you let it be rewarding. There are opportunities once you get your feet wet. You will get paid a decent wage IF you find a job but you WILL earn every dime.

Nursing isn't for the faint of heart....I am in the camp that you have to WANT to be a nurse or you will be miserable. I have a favourtie poem by Melodie Chenevert

Being A Nurse Means…

You will never be bored.

You will always be frustrated.

You will be surrounded by challenges,

So much to do and so little time.

You will carry immense responsibility And limited authority.

You will step into people’s lives

And you will make a difference

Some will bless you,

Some will curse you.

You will see people at their worst

And at their best.

You will never cease to be amazed

At people’s capacity for Love, courage, and endurance.

You will experience resounding triumphs

And devastating failures.

You will cry a lot,

You will laugh a lot,

You will know what it is to be human,

And to be humane.

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

I'll fix my private message bug so you can respond, if you still want to.

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

Thanks for your feedback, Esme. In fact, I was hoping you would respond. I like reading your posts.

Did it come off so wrong that I told Butterfly I was grateful to read something positive? I did not say that to discount what the other posters wrote. I respect their experience and their input. It was all honest feedback even if it wasn't what I truly hoped to hear.