scrubbee

Wow, thanks everybody. These are really good comments. I wish I could kudos some of them twice. And so you know, I don't mean to say that I think venting and ranting is bad or anything. Considering many of you have spouses/families/friends who don't really "get" what you deal with every day, you need this outlet. Truthfully, your vents are good for us newbies to read to see the reality of things. I don't really even see venting as being negative - I meant more the "attitudes" I see on here, i.e. often bitter, harsh, rude, etc.

Question - have nurses always been as negative as they are on these boards? Is nursing in "real life" as negative as these boards are? I'm a student and looking for honest answers, not trying to offend anyone.

Pay in any professional generally has nothing to do with the work at all, but rather with how valuable the employee is to the company in terms of profits.

One more thing...don't let the "you're sexist" sentiment get to you. Believing that the man should be the breadwinner is neither right nor wrong - it's simply what you believe and are wired/conditioned to expect. I am the same way. Others may not be, so being in a relationship where the woman is the breadwinner would be fine with them. The point is not whether it's okay with anyone else but whether it's okay with you - so keep in mind who you are and don't live life the way someone else would just because society says it's how you should live. There are lots of ways to make "things" work - but we each will thrive under conditions suited to our own individual personalities. Truly that goes for everything in life - there are very few true moral right/wrong issues; the majority are mere preferences and we should not confuse those if we want to be happy in life.

You can't make a person use their potential or see things the way you see them. You just can't. It won't happen. I had to learn that the hard way, and I doubt there's any way I would have learned it otherwise. I was too much of an idealist and a dreamer when I was 19 :). Now I'm a realist, and I understand that people don't change. They can, sure, but you're not going to make it happen. I am committed now to being with someone I really match well with, and whatever faults they have, I believe I just have to be okay with those. There are some faults in others that we can put up with as individuals and it doesn't matter much to us - but there are other faults that some people have, or maybe not even faults, but just character traits, that if we live with long enough will come to dominate us and steal our joy and what makes us "us." For me, diligence and work ethic are a huge deal - even if a guy doesn't make a ton of money, I will respect him, admire him and be immensely attracted to him if I see him truly dedicated to working hard to provide. So, no one here can make your decision for you, but I will say just remember that YOU come first. You must honestly assess your personality and what you want in life, without any other person in mind. You are the one living your life and you deserve to be able to make it what you want it. Oh, and believe me, there are PLENTY of fish in the sea! There is a quote I heard once about fish in fact...something like, God, please help me to catch a fish so big that when I tell the story of it I don't even have to lie. That's what I want in my future husband - a fish so big and great that I don't have to make excuses for or lie about - he stands on his own and speaks for himself and I can just stand by and admire. :)

OK. Good to know. Thanks for the info guys.

classicdame...that is interesting and good info...so getting ACLS certified would be something to put off until later it sounds like.

Has anyone used emergencycourses.com for BLS or ACLS certification? Would you recommend it? Do you feel like you learned the skills well enough online as opposed to in-person? Could you recommend any other places offering these certifications online? Would it be a good idea or not worth it for a new nursing student to get ACLS certified?

OK - another question. Do you guys have any "special" considerations as far as your relationships with your SOs? I want to be able to give my all to my kids and my spouse as well - working nights, do you still have a good relationship with your SO? I know some of you mentioned your SOs - do you feel like you are able to give them the attention they need and want? Do they ever complain that they wish things were different?

Great info guys, thank you. I'm going to do some more research into informatics and HIM. Can anybody explain generally what the difference(s) are between those two fields? Or is informatics more a specialty of HIM? What would be better to pursue if I was more interested in the technical side of things rather than management? Also, if you work in one of these fields, is it possible to continue your clinical nursing practice somehow?

I am currently a nursing student working in IT. I'm just curious, are there any specialties out there that nurses with IT backgrounds are particularly suited for, or where they could use both skillsets? I want to do bedside nursing but want to further my education into possibly NP or something that would blend IT with nursing, but I don't know if anything like that exists.

Do any of you find working nights BETTER for family life? I have always been a night owl, and I have always LOVED having days off during the week to do the things that I really need to get done - grocery shopping, errands, making phone calls, etc. It's so much more relaxing for me to run errands when the rest of the world is working or at school, and I feel like I come alive and am truly the most "myself" at night when other people are sleeping. I know there are others out there like me, so my question is, do you think it is easier or would be easier or harder to maintain a good family life while working nights, say 3 12s at night? I mean I've always thought it would be harder to be away at night, but really, what is your family doing from 7 to 7 at night - mostly sleeping right? Do any of you make nights work with your families? Do your families dislike you working those hours? Do you have any trouble getting enough sleep during the week?