Positives of Starting Nursing Career during COVID

[Alexandra26]

Hello Fellow Nurses!

I started my critical care career last year during the hight of COVID. Working in healthcare is a privilege and I am grateful for the opportunity to directly care for patients, particularly during this time. I am for sure a stronger nurse. What are some positives or personal experiences about starting your critical care nursing career during COVID.

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

While I didn't start my career during COVID, I have had some coworkers start out in this time. I think the biggest positive will be that if you can handle a full assignment, critical care or not, during this pandemic- anything in the future will seem easy! When you don't have to spend five minutes donning and doffing PPE every time you go in and out of a room, you will wonder what to do with all your extra time. You've probably become very skilled at batching together your tasks, since it's not possible to just walk in and out of the room. I think that in many cases it's brought coworkers together in stronger teams as we help each other with tasks big and small that take a group effort. It's been a quite a year for sure for the newer nurses coming into the field. While we don't know what the new normal will look like, hopefully we will get there soon. 

[TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN]

I echo the poster above. I've had to take on nursing assignments that in normal times I would have never entertained the idea of accepting under normal circumstances. My co-workers and I have pushed ourselves beyond what we though was possible in terms of "do more with less". The downside from that is that I fear management will exploit that once the pandemic, if the pandemic improves. 

Another plus is that this pandemic is history in the making and one day you'll be able to tell your grandkids how you were on the front lines during a global crisis.

I'm sure there may be other positives. I have to say though, that the price for them just doesn't seem worth it.