Nursing satisfaction almost equal to anal wart researcher.

[Diprivan/Vented]

Worst Science Jobs II: Number 10

By William Speed Weed | November 2004

Disillusioning, high stress, poorly compensated (see more)

In our Internet-based summons for readers to top (bottom?) last year's "Worst Jobs" list, nurses nominated themselves in droves: "Still a no-respect profession. Doctors treat you like slaves." "The pay is substandard for all the training." "Just look at the current shortage." Indeed, the government estimates that we're short 110,000 nurses, and that by 2008 we'll need half a million more.

Numerous studies echo the dissatisfaction of our nurse readers. Nurses are fleeing the profession because of stress, long hours, low pay and lack of advancement opportunities. The cost? A recent University of Pennsylvania study found that surgical patients at hospitals with the worst nurse-staffing levels (ergo the most overworked nurses) have a 31 percent greater chance of dying. If this trend doesn't improve, we might soon find "patient" topping our list.

The Worst Jobs in Science: The Sequel

* Anal-Wart Researcher

* Worm Parasitologist

* Lab-Animal Veterinarian

* Tampon Squeezer

* Landfill Monitor

* K-25 Demolition Worker

* Ecologist at St. John's Harbor

* Iraqi Archaeologist

* Tick Dragger

* Nurse

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,20967,713443,00.html

The saddest part is there's not much you can do about increasing satisfaction in nursing. The pay is relatively decent, but it's more the people that you're working with that's the problem. Nurses just have this rigid, inflexible, "my way or the highway" approach, and they're all very quick to report your slightest mistake to the boss. It's only a matter of time before all of healthcare falls flat on its face because nurses become so dissatisfied with their job that they leave to become waiters or bartenders. You can always make money. You can't always regain your dignity, self-respect, and self-worth, and whether you want to acknowledge it or not, nursing strips away all these things.

[angel337, MSN, RN]

i thought it was entertaining also. i must be one of the few happy nurses :)

[veggiegarden]

Am I the only one finding this article entertaining?

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

Lol...I have to say I'd rather be a nurse than the other jobs listed up there. :)

[angel337, MSN, RN]

i just wanted to add something. to say that being a nurse strips away your self worth and dignity is a little exaggerated don't ya think? i know everyone has had different experiences and i can only draw from my own, but that description seems more appropriate for a stripper or a prostitute. i feel that nurses provide a great service. we all eventually, if we live long enough will need a nurse. so when i read these kind of things it really confuses me. no, i have not been a nurse a million years, but i have been in the healthcare/patient care profession for 8 years and i don't know anyone that feels this bad. maybe they are unhappy with patient care and the responsibilty of what comes with it, but i think we all are bound to feel that way at one time or another. that's why you move on. only in nursing do you have so many other opportunities to do something different. as far as pay is concerned, many nurses admit that the reason they don't leave the bedside or hospital is because the other plush, 9-5 nursing jobs don't pay as much. an article in newsweek confirmed that nurses do quite well financially. we are not rich, but we aren't starving. and last but not least, nurses were voted by the general public as being one of the most admired and trustworthy professions. patients say that they trusted their nurses more than the physician. go figure. if i can find that article i will post it.