my problem with allnurses...why so pessimistic?

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why is all nurses so negative and inaccurate? I checked this website before I ever went to nursing school and read all kinds of post about how 85% people are rejected from nursing school and it is impossible to get in unless "you know someone." I didn't find this true at all. Seriously, i had a 3.37 GPA overall in college and still managed to get into accelerated nursing school. Also, while in nursing school i read about people who had applied to "over 300 jobs" and had yet to even get an interview. When i applied to nursing school i applied to ten place and got 6 interviews and had my pick of jobs( this was in 2010). I only know a few people in my nursing class who are truly struggling to find work. Now I work in area that has very few young educated people and has many elderly people who need medical care. So we have a good amount of jobs. But i truly believe that the majority of people who post on here were the unlucky ones who are strugling with their career. Just an FYI to all the nursing students out there: study hard, remember common since rules, and don't worry too much about what people say on allnurses.com.

Specializes in Trauma/Tele/Surgery/SICU.

OP my experience with allnurses has been the opposite of yours. Reading allnurses helped me realize that I was going to have to work hard to get accepted to nursing school. My program did turn away people with GPA's of 3.9 and low 90 scores on the entrance exam. If not for the networking I did at allnurses I would not have known I needed to step up my game. It was AN that prepared me for the realities of the job search and again helped me to step up my game. I did not see these posts as negative, but as informative.

I think a persons experiences depends on where they live too. It is difficult to get into school in my area because nursing is one of the few occupations that is actually still hiring. Of course with this economy this has slowed down quite a bit but the prospects of a job for a nurse in my area is still better than a lot of other fields and some of the hospitals still hire new grads.

I have also found it very helpful when I have a crappy day at work to come home and search AN, I get a lot of ideas on how to handle things as well as support from the other members here. It is also really nice to gripe to people who totally understand and most of the time; aside from the tiresome you became a nurse for the wrong reasons, there is no such thing as a drug-seeker your just a horrible human, and all ER nurses are horrible humans posts; do not judge you for feeling the way you do.

AN is also a wonderful resource for education. When I cannot find an explanation for something I post here and usually within minutes have multiple responses from more experienced nurses that help me to understand the whys of the situation.

I view AN as a very positive place: an educational resource, a place to vent, and a place where you are exposed to many differing opinions. It is also a place where you can have (most of the time) civilized debates with others.

I am very happy for your positive experiences with school and work and hope you continue to have them.

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"Someone earlier said that you get what you look for on this website. "

Just as a quick add-on, the same could be said for life, as well....

Someone earlier said that you get what you look for on this website. For example, I have had a very rough month at work as far as patient loads go. One week I had 4 psych patients (if I was cut out for psych I would not be on a surgical floor). The next I had three very non-compliant patients. This week they have all been very heavy assists, barely able to stand-pivot with a three assist. On the verge of burn out, I think I have read the entire nursing humor forum to help me find a little comic relief in the way life goes.

I honestly never spent much time reading posts about job searches, because when I was looking for my job I focused on what the job market in my city was. But you can bet that if I was having a hard time finding a job, I would probably find myself here trying to figure out if it was just me. Sometimes people need a little validation to know that their lack of success isn't a result of a poor resume, or unrealistic expectations.

On a side note, if anyone subscribes to Medscape they had an interesting article about the job situation for new grads...

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Keep in mind that there are people from all over the map on this board. Just like you found that their experiences don't dictate what happens to you - your experience doesn't invalidate theirs. It doesn't necessarily make others "downers" - perhaps they are simply telling it like it is FOR THEM. Were you reading the boards the last few months when acceptance/ rejection letters were going out . . . there are several people that I just knew were going to be accepted to programs that weren't. Things are getting tighter in my "neck of the woods". Oh- and this isn't sour grapes. I was one of the ones that received an acceptance letter.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I first discovered allnurses when I was panicked about suddenly having to support two kids on my own after having been out of the profession for a while.

It came back from a search of "re-entry" or "career refresher". I can't remember exactly what it was. I didn't find out exactly what I was looking for here, but I remembered it existed, and after having returned just to browse around and check things out, remember clearly thinking how much I would have appreciated a place like this where I could air out all my anxieties as a new nurse "I think I might hate this! Oh no! I can't actually say that ! :eek: That would make me a terrible person!" etc

It was hard keeping all of that to myself. I just figured the older nurses were born nurses and if I said anything I imagined the long finger of Maleficent would be pointing to the door and telling me to Be Gone! ! (always had a flair for drama too)

A lot of stuff goes on inside your head turning from a non-nurse to a nurse that isn't written down anywhere. No doubt that it why we so often say "come back when you've done what we do" it isn't meant to be glib - it is simply the truth.

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People that are unhappy are generally louder and more vocal that those that are happy. So it's easy to see why the number of negative posts outnumber those that are positive.

People that are happy are off somewhere being happy, most likely with their family, or people that they enjoy being around. They don't have time, or make time, to waste on the internet (like I do!:p).

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Specializes in Step-down/ICU.

Having a smooth ride through your nursing career does not mean you should discount the struggles of others. They are real.

I don't feel that most of the posts on here are negative. Obviously people people come here for advice when they are having problems, but there are many positive positive posts and a wealth of information. It is what you choose to make of it.

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You were lucky... got into accelerated program... busted my butt working full time and going to.school.. graduated with high honors and still no job and time is ticking.....I wish it was as easy you had it. Congratulations and you were very fortunate.

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The power of choice- pick and choose your thread wisely.

Read the good and the bad and learn what( or who) not to become.

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I also get discouraged. I just told my husband a few days ago that I was to the point of giving up on nursing altogether. The stories about people not finding jobs for 2 years.... Depressing! But not only that- the stories of lateral violence, new nursing being looked down on, ALL nurses being looked down on by other people, hospitals not giving a damn about employees... I can go on and on.

But the fact of the matter is, I have to take a chance. I WANT this! Right now, I have a clear picture in my head of where I want to be. It might not turn out that way, but I at least have to pursue it and find out for myself.

Hold the dream strongly. Don't look away from it.

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Have you watched the news lately? Read the paper? Listened to the radio? It's not just this forum.

That is one thing you should NOT be doing.The news simply magnifies everything and gets you to look away from the goal.

Not advocating a Pollyana at all, but what you focus on you magnify the most. Choose a positive thing, focus on that and magnify that.

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That would be because nursing is not the most happy go-lucky job out there.

Never come home and say.." Dang,that was cool! What a great day!"

Most likely peel off scrubs, remove shoes from swollen feet, cry in the shower.

We are not pesismists , we are realists.:smokin:

Wrong, if you do that all the time, then something is wrong somewhere.You're in a bad place.

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What? I've never been on a forum that is full of happy go lucky threads all of the time. Have you considered the demographic of the people posting to this forum? They are from all over. So what you may think is "inaccurate" may be exactly what a different reader is looking for. Also, if you do a lot of trolling on this site, it's so easy to find a ton of negative posts.:sofahider I typically post to get answers to specific questions. 9 times out of 10 I get clear and objective responses. Some "negative" responses are often honest responses. If you didn't mean to create a big stink with this thread, you should consider your tone. You started out complaining about negativity in a negative tone...:oornt:

I'm done now. :cool:

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