Please be honest!

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Do you do this job for the money or you really, really like to clean vomit, blood, diarrhea and smell the "morning breath" of a sick patient? Please be honest!

Specializes in LTC.

At first, it was for the money. I was a single mom, living paycheck to paycheck, working long hours and my children spent a lot of time in child care. I wanted a job that was better money with better hours. Searching the papers, the only thing I found was nursing or CNA. So I became a CNA and worked the weekends while the kids were with their dad. I was thrilled..fulltime hours in 3 days and didnt have to pay for child care. Plus the extra time I got to spend with my kids. After I remarried, I went back to school for my LPN. I wanted a career that I know will be there no matter how bad the economy was and I wanted a career that will support my children..with or without their father. Now, after 10yrs as a CNA and just barely an LPN, I discovered that I love what I do. Bring on the 12hr or 16hr shifts. I have held the hand of 113yr grandma as she "went home". I held the leg of a 18yr as she gave birth to her new baby girl. I have reassured a son's concerns about his mom's increasing confusion. I have done CPR with good and not so good out comes. I have cleaned up every kind of body fluid. I have been punched, kicked, cussed at.....I have worked nights, holidays, weekends....stayed late and went in early for inservices or staff meetings....all at entry level pay. I treat all 26 of my patients like they are my family...I have cared for my dad when he was ill right up till his death...I cared for my grandparents as well. I love what I do and the money I make is peace in mind to me, so that I know that if something every happened to my husband, God forbid, that I will still be able to support all five of my kids and still be a functioning mother as well. Some people have a passion for this kind of work...some people dont. My motto is that if you wake up to go work and you absolutly HATE going..that you rather eat nails than go to work..then you need to find a new job. How would you feel if you were the patient and you had the nurse that hated his or her job? Do you think they would be your advocate? Give you the best possilble care? I would think not...I am thankful for the passion GOD gave me for this kind of work...:redpinkhe

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Specializes in Cardiac.

If anyone goes into this field for the money they will never last. I do it because I love to help people. I happen to be one of the few lucky people in the world that love my job. If you are worried about all the bodily fluids that you may or may not encounter, you better be thinkking about another field.

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Specializes in ED.
I'm in it for the prestige. :D

Meh.... Its all about the respect for me. :yeah:

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Specializes in LTC, Subacute Rehab.

I'm in it for the free pass out of Purgatory.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

When I was still a student, a psychologist spoke to us about why we were nurses before we started our psych clinicals. The other students made statements about "helping people". I on the other hand, sat silently because what I liked most about nursing wasn't about the pts, it was about me. I like the way I feel about myself when a grateful pt or family look at me as if I hung the moon.

The OP asked for honesty.

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Specializes in MED/SURG STROKE UNIT, LTC SUPER., IMU.

I'm in it because it is one of the only professions that you can wear PJs to work and get away with it. Oh yeah, the respect from doctors and families goes a long ways too. BWAAHAHAHAHA:lol2::lol2:

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When I was still a student, a psychologist spoke to us about why we were nurses before we started our psych clinicals. The other students made statements about "helping people". I on the other hand, sat silently because what I liked most about nursing wasn't about the pts, it was about me. I like the way I feel about myself when a grateful pt or family look at me as if I hung the moon.

The OP asked for honesty.

This is exactly how I feel about it. I love how I feel knowing that I have helped someone.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC/Geriatric.
Do you do this job for the money or you really, really like to clean vomit, blood, diarrhea and smell the "morning breath" of a sick patient? Please be honest!

Um, yeah...I went into nursing because I LOVE smelly bodily fluids. In fact, take away my pay. I'll volunteer. :rolleyes:

I

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Well if you are doing it for the money, realize that nurses’ salary don’t make one filthy rich-----so maybe you should go to Wall Street and work there if you want the $$$$$?

Do I enjoy sniffing vomit, blood, diarrhea, and the morning breath? I guess you have to be sick in the head to enjoy that. But I enjoy making a difference and helping out someone who needs help-----and it just so happened that encountering vomit, blood, diarrhea, and the morning breath are all part of it. And I’m just being honest.

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Specializes in Dialysis, Home health.

Stable career & more money than I was making. Prestige had a little to do with keeping me in school when I wanted to quit for anxiety of having to deal with the vomit, poo..etc....

SO at this junction, 4 years in, I have to say, that nothing has changed much. I do very little clinical work and more admin. I love it. Working out problems but not necessarily having to get dirty. I enjoy helping people from a distance;)

And I am no less a nurse.:nurse:

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I will be honest. No, I don't like doing code browns, morning breath, or giving bed baths. But it all comes with the territory. When I do have to clean up a pt, they never know I don't like it. I do it with a smile on my face and alot of times, I do get a thank you.

No, I don't like dealing with the drunk whose been to the ER 5 times in one week, twice brought in by the police for being passed out on a city street. However, I treat him just the same as I treat the little ole lady who has just been diagnosed with cancer and who is crying her eyes out.

I am a nurse because yes, I enjoy the pay. I enjoy knowing I've made a difference in someone's life. I enjoy working 2 days a week and getting paid for 3. I enjoy having 5 days off in a row. This allows me to spend more time with my teenager. I enjoy the respect I get from the residents, from the pts, and from the family members. So, there you have it. I enjoy being a nurse for alot of reasons, not just for the money.

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