Nursing from a hygienist perspective....

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i'm a dental hygienist thinking about returning for nursing...i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE dental hygiene....but, not to sound whinny, it is a KILLER on your hand and back and neck...because you are sitting in the SAME position for eight hours straight...i can literally see that my hand joints are bigger on my right hand than my left!!!! therefore, i'm looking into a second career....nursing looks like a lot of work, but, rewarding...what are your experiences with body pain??? after a twelve hour shift, is you body killing???? i'm just trying to compare the two fields...because, if nursing hurts the body like hygiene, i'll keep searching for another career...thanks for any input:)))))

:heartbeat

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Specializes in ICU, OR.

My back, neck, and feet hurt a lot when I worked at the hospital. Not so much now that I do home health.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Capacity/Bed Management.

After a long shift my feet and back hurt but not to the point where I cannot move. It is more of a numb pain... nothing that a hot shower and some rest cannot fix.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Peds/O.R./Legal/cardiology.

Hmmm...think entire body toothache. :lol2:

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Specializes in Med/Surg; Psych; Tele.

This profession, well working 12 hour shifts in the hospital, affects my entire life. I am constantly fatigued because by the time I recover, it's time to go back. And yes, my body does feel rickety and achey and I only just turned 36. That's why I am desperately seeking to cut back my hours. I've noticed that even lopping off 1 day, therefore only working 2 days in a week, makes a HUGE difference!

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

I am still trying to figure out how to deal with the body pains. Keep in mind, though, that as a nurse, you will be dealing with MANY different things that will make you run around in circles. Good luck in your career choices.

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nursing can and will, take a toll on your back.

some days, i hobble around like i'm 90 yo.

but so far, i've always bounced back (POUNDING on wood)

leslie:)

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feet hurt, legs hurt. I wear support hose and they still hurt. The arches of my feet have fallen, I've developed nail fungus from the sweat.

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Specializes in ER, IICU, PCU, PACU, EMS.
if nursing hurts the body like hygiene, i'll keep searching for another career...

Yikes, I'd keep looking then....

After a shift at work I don't need an alarm clock in the morning, my throbbing feet wake me up!

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Specializes in ER, SANE.

I am a dental hygienist just finishing my last prereqs. before starting nursing school. It is amazing to hear the reasons for hygienists that are making career changes in other medical fields because of fatigue. I would think most medical jobs are physically strenuous. When I renewed my license(hygiene) in Dec, I found it interesting that the dental board had directions stating you must renew your RN license BEFORE your RDH license. It must be quite common now for a move to nursing. Did your state board ask that question? Just curious. I am licensed in GA.

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thank you all for your posts...especially you, the hygienist from georgia....i LOVE dental hygiene, but, I'm from Michigan..and, it's almost impossible to find a job...and, when i do...my hand is killing me within two months...i would almost rather have my WHOLE body ache for a while than permanently damage my hand..why are you switching????

thanks for your input:)))

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It's ironic, but I had thought about switching to dental hygiene in the past, not only because my back and feet are always killing me as a nurse, but because I get tired of having to deal with pts entire bodies, all the psych-social crap, their demanding families and the sense of entitlement people seem to have these days.

I don't think that pts expect DHs to feed their family, get them a ride to the appt., fix the TV, find the game show they want, re-heat their meal tray because they talked on their cell phone for so long, their meal is cold, etc.

Plus, you are taking care of 5-10 pts like this simultaneously.

I gave up on the idea of becoming a DH, as the market is saturated here.

I'm sure both careers have big atvantages and disatvantages.

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