redhead80

Wow, lots of comments! I agree with the first 3 of 5 on Why I Hate Nursing! Let's just say there's sometimes a huge language barrier between myself and some of my coworkers, due to heavy accents. But, a lot are indeed good nurses. While I don't despise Nursing, as the interviews go by without any offers and the weeks pass quickly, it is only pulling me further and further away from this profession. What once was a competition with other RN's less than a decade ago for 2-3 job positions, has turned into a fierce environment for being the "chosen one" among who knows how many? Nursing has many positive points, but it is certainly not a glamorous profession to fight over! I did become a nurse because I do love Nursing and I am not in it because being an RN will make me rich! Farthest thing from the truth, but maybe if you put in >84 hour work weeks. I never intended to do Nursing until I retire, but these days I cannot stand to think of myself here in the same spot 5 years from now. Yes, the economy is to blame for many things, but the healthcare industry is crumbling quickly. The money for it is just simply not there!!!! Will it grow on trees magically? It is eventually going belly up-challenge me if you think otherwise! We have some of the best technologies in the world, yet so much money is wasted on "full work-ups" to CYA if you care for the patient and also end of life ICU care. That is not touching the fraud and abuse of gov't funded programs and also the wrangling by insurance companies to slip out from paying certain charges citing "incorrect documentation". While we all are aware of the typical job issues causing difficulty: short staffing, rude/inconsiderate doctors, demanding families, emotional stress and other job headaches, those are things that I have just accepted as the job of Nursing. It has been that way for decades and I don't think it will change in the next 50 years. Maybe things will improve slowly, but at a turtles pace! My issue is being show the door quickly, as I am not the "perfect candidate"! No one is perfect! It bothers me very much that hospitals feel free to impose as many qualifications as they can to find that "one, perfect candidate" and shut the door in the face of so many many qualified people (like yourself and myself)! But, gotta have the best of the best of the best of the absolute best staff! Meanwhile, the rest of the great, overqualified nurses work where they can and try to hang on. Sorry if our only wish isn't to be in charge and to cement Nursing's future! I may be quite jaded, but without healthcare as it is today, I do not see a strong future in Nursing for anyone. Yes, the world needs nurses and always will, but as the money well dries up, who will be taking a pay cut? Us! I am actively trying to get out of this profession. It is a shame too, because I feel like I have wasted my entire university career for a degree in this profession. But, the bills must be paid and I have little choice until I go back to school. I may have to survive on pennies later on, but at least I will find my happiness down the road. That beats all the job hazards, abuse, and stress of this profession!

Yeah, healthcare in this country is a house of cards that will eventually collapse and then what will happen? Medicare pays less and less, the burden of proving we do not cause our patients to have MRSA, pressure ulcers, catheter infections, complications from falls, etc. all adds to the stress.

Nursing sucks. I used to really enjoy working in a hospital when I was younger and a unit clerk. I did see the realities of being a nurse through just observing and then later falling from grace as a nurse. Doctors that were demeaning, heavy assignments, support staff cut to "save money, save money", scrutiny from managers who run over your charting with a fine toothed comb and the backstabbing and gossip that runs rampant in this profession. I love science, I enjoy helping people, I did very well in Nursing School, my first 5+ years of nursing were alright. I have had very moving experiences where I felt what I did made a huge difference and then it was "Oh yeah, this is why I love being a nurse!" I was always taught to put patients first, paperwork second, but that has cost me employment. "If it wasn't documented, it wasn't done"-all well and good in theory but it is so damn hard sometimes to do it all when you're still documenting when you should be going home! Oops-don't leave without doing every last detail, yet you get counseled if you are on double-time, and counseled if working off the clock! Yet I plead for jobs so I can support myself and pay my bills, only to have the door be shut in my face and face time and again. I know the economy is tough and a lot of people face hardship. We are lucky as nurses to have some forms of employment available to us even in dire times. If I could go back in time and tell the college youngster that I once was about what life would be like in 10 years if I chose nursing as it is practiced today in America-I would have made many different choices. The fact that you can work your ass off, but are set up to fail makes me so sour on continuing in this profession. The fact that managers can cause havoc in your life with threatening, write ups over paperwork details makes me regret my life choices and wish to God I could go back and change things. I do not want to be a nurse anymore.

I completely hear what you're saying! This scrutiny on small details by higher ups is just pushing me farther and farther away from nursing. All of my patient care has been fine-it is just all this documentation that has scalded me like a lobster in hot water. "if it wasn't documented, it wasn't done" is true, but when you're trying to finish and have people breathing down your neck to "chart faster, finish faster, hurry the hell up, you're costing the business OT money"-so what do you do?! My belief is always patient care first, paperwork second as I always thought that was the priority??? Guess not, for it is the insurance companies that dictate how care is given, things charted 5 times in different places and "document, document, document"!

Hey! How many of you RN's (seasoned and new grads) are having difficulties finding a job in San Diego? Long gone are the days of when travelers had an easy time finding work. When I was a new grad 7 years ago, I could walk into basically any job and receive an offer. As times change, so did my goals for my career and my employer and I have parted ways. Looking for a new job is like the old tale of Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the hill. Sure, the interviews come often, but this "mountain of candidates" all competing for one or two positions makes it more difficult each day to stay positive and optimistic. Honestly, this competition feels like when they show auditions at the beginning of each season on American Idol. I don't want to come off as sounding too negative, because nursing is a great field with a lot of opportunity! That was why I chose it and why I try to think that I will eventually find a job. In the meantime, I cross my fingers and pray that I will not have my house foreclosed on. If you have found a job or if you have a great job already, you are very lucky!