Nursing school vs. Nursing

[heavenly14313]

I am a 2nd semester nursing student and I have some questions for nurses....

On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate the stress level of nursing school, then the level of working as a nurse? Please include how long you have been out of school, what area you work in as a nurse, and if you had/have any strong outside influences that affect your rating (kids, health problems, whatever).

Just curious

[UCLA Nursing_08]

Good call on the non-nursing degree. Anything non-science / healthcare related is like a walk in the park in comparison!!!

My business degree (emphasis on management information systems, aka, computers in business: 2/10 (if that!)

I originally returned to school for pre-med and made the mistake of taking chem, bio, AND physics (with labs!) all in one semester: 7/10

First semester of nursing school: 10+/10 -- I've never had so much self-doubt in my life! For the first few weeks, I was convinced I couldn't hack it -- even though I'm a life-long (and very diligent) student! I was convinced I wouldn't pass my skills test to move on to clinicals and wouldn't pass my physical assessment tests (all of which I Aced).

Remaining semesters: 5-8/10 (depending on the time of the semester). Adjusting to the first few weeks was always the hardest because we had this nice two week break in between, then BAM, you're plunged back in to learning a CAREER (versus a business degree with which you can do just about anything).

Nursing while precepting: 5-9/10. I didn't have a good preceptor. She would do pick up all my slack and not tell me that she did it until report, so I never knew how to do certain things - or even that they had to be done! On my last 2 weeks of precepting, where I was on my own, but she was on the other side of the hall with her patients, I just bombed. I had all the stuff I had to follow up on and either (a) didn't know that I had to or (b) didn't know how to. I didn't realize these items were critical, so - since I got behind - I just let them slide. BIG NO-NO! Got reamed by the night charge - while I was still precepting!!!

I'm fully on my own now. There are still MANY things I just DO NOT KNOW! But I know how to find out now which is the big difference. If someone gets irritated at me asking so many questions, I tell them to talk to OUR manager because she's the one who POINT BLANK told me to ASK QUESTIONS if I don't know how / why / when to do something.

So, now... I'd say my normal stress is 4-7/10. For example, Sunday was easy peasy. Monday was busy as all heck! Lots of little stuff too. I started getting stressed out, but then stopped and realized it would all get done. I suffer from anxiety on a regular basis and work just worsens that. So I take my meds, calm down a bit, then move on...

My time management skills have improved tremendously! I get my charting done on time now (earlier in the day), where I previously wouldn't get it done until near the end of the shift. That's a HUGE help because then I only have a few things left to chart at the end of the shift or after report. So then I can take on all that little, annoying stuff...

So, I guess my thoughts are that nursing school was WAY harder than actually being a nurse - but it all depends on how you look at it, where you work, and how you deal with stress...

Hello ranaazah,

Well said. I also want to add that it seems like "nurses do eat their young." It bothers me that nursing students go through a rigorous program, hoping to graduate, pass the NCLEX, and receive support from older nurses. In lieu, we have "nurses who eat their young nurses" and for some young nurses, they end up feeling discouraged and not wanting to return to the profession.

The nursing shortage in this nation is severe. Nurses who've been in the profession for a very long time need to understand this and foster encouragement for young nurses. I'm sorry to say but if "nurses who eat their young nurses" primarily due to young nurses nowadays receiving advanced education, then it's time for the older nurses to put this envy behind them and focus on how they can learn/help younger nurses.

[mbb21]

This is such a good question because I'm about to start my first sem. of nursing school...I've always wondered the same thing!

[cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN]

then it's time for the older nurses to put this envy behind them and focus on how they can learn/help younger nurses.

Lol, 'nurses eating their young' has nothing to do with envy.

I see lots of new nurses who come in with such attitude. If you enter the profession with the attitude of "these older nurses are envious of my education" then be prepared for a rough time.

Now that I'm no longer new, but not "older" either, I have a unique perspective on this phenomenon.

New nurses are bunch of exposed, raw nerves. When something is pointed out that they did wrong, they sometimes take it the wrong way. They are so upset over things that they did not know, or did wrong, or how somebody said something to them, etc, etc.

When I was a new nurse, I for sure thought that there was a nurse who loved to hate me. And she did! Just for the fun of it too. So I know it exists.

But, it's not totally one sided, that's for sure.

Fact is, you just have to survive the first year of nursing, and then it all gets better after that.

But saying that the nursing shortage is severe (it's not, BTW) or that "older nurses HAVE TO treat us better, etc, etc is silly. And to equate the nursing shortage with how nurses treat each other is not true either.

After nurses grow in nursing in their skills AND confidence, they will learn that the true reason for the perceived 'nursing shortage' is not because of nurses eating their young. It has to do with the whole daily grind between management, families, charting, being expected to stand up for something and then not being supported, working every holiday, staying late, fighting with Drs for what's right for your pt, malpractice worries, charting (and did I mention all the charting?) etc, etc.

How the other nurses treat me is Looooow, low, low on the list of my problems as a bedside nurse.

[rbs105, ADN, MSN, RN]

I have to say, you are very fortunate if you feel that it all gets better after the first year. I agree that you become more comfortable and that makes things easier to accomplish and manage, but it does not "all get better after that". Like I say, maybe you are the lucky one....Yes, some may come in with attitude, but the job itself will quickly humble them. I also see it as a defense mechanism for some as they are just plain scared to death and don't know how to react!!!!

How others THINK of me is on the low list of my problems, but in a profession where, as you say, one of your challenges is trying to stand up for what is right and you get very little support, your fellow nurses are part of that support and how I am TREATED by my co-workers while I am at work can be very significant!!!

I personally had a preceptor who told me it was her goal to make all her new orientees cry-and she was dead serious! WHY?? What is the point of that and what do you accomplish? Is that really the best way to teach someone or support someone? You are right-there is a lot of opposition you are facing-malpractice, docs, charting, families, etc. Why add your co-workers to the list? I can't speak for anyone, but that is the impression that I got from ucla's previous post about nurses eating their young.

I went into nursing feeling excited about being able to help someone-not to have my co-worker intentionally try to throw me under the bus! I have grown my thick skin now, and I have learned how to work defensively, but I think you will see there is a common theme on this issue. Co-workers and preceptors definitely contribute to that post nursing school stress level. Now that I precept and orient, I try to be mindful of that. ANYTHING to help lower their stress level....that is what I would have liked!!!!!

rbs105