mom24tzus

Cantdoit, you are not alone. I began to regret going into nursing when I realized a hospital is a business, and has to be run as such. That didn't leave a lot of time for me to really interact with my patients the way I wanted to. At times, patient care with minimal staffing has been downright dangerous. As I got older that really began to bother me. While it has been very difficult to drag myself into work at times, and the rewards for all we do are growing less frequent, I can still say there is still nothing else I would rather do. I just had to find another area to do it in! If you really believe you would be better off doing something else, start looking at other options. In this job market, it may be tougher and it certainly won't happen overnight. But life really is too short to stay miserable when you can do something to change it. Sometimes just knowing you have a way out makes things more tolerable. Hang in there! I went into case management after a work injury. I had been at the bedside for 12 yrs, and was just about to leave nursing completely when someone was willing to give me a chance, without a 4 yr degree. Case management is very challenging and rewarding in it's own way. I am going back for my BSN now, it's a matter of keeping myself marketable.

I have been an RN for almost 2 decades. Nothing wrong with letting you know I have been around long enough to know what I'm talking about. I was naive and kind as a CNA. What changed me was working in acute care. Unfortunately, it is a matter of sink or swim when you work in a hospital or busy clinical environments. If you think the nurses are rough, wait until you have to deal with difficult physicians, patients and families. I did critical care for over 10 years. You see people who are at possibly one of the worst times in their life. Do you think they are going to be rational and kind? People see us as their shock absorber. They would never entertain yelling at a physician, but will do it to us in a heartbeat. We catch hell from EVERYONE....including our allied health coworkers who are also supposed to be professionals. It is imperative that you develop a very thick skin if you are going to be a good nurse or survive nursing at all. You have to learn organizational skills. You have to learn to say no. People will suck the life out of you if you let them and burnout will stretch you thinner than you ever imagined. You will have days when most people are nice. You will have rare moments when someone or something touches your heart and makes it all worthwhile. But there will be many more days where you just want to tear your hair out from all the pressure and frustration. There will be times when you look at your paycheck and think.....that's it? For all I have to deal with? It will not take long to figure out whether you are really cut out for this career. Yes I am tough, but I am honest. I will not sugar-coat things to make them easier to swallow. It's nothing like the nursing commercials you see on tv! BTW, I am currently work in a setting where there are just a few RN's. I commend anyone who does their job with pride, even if that means sweeping floors for a living. Most of the FEMALE employees seem to have a problem with us. They are cool to our attempts to socialize or collaborate with them. Yes, we have have nicer cars, homes, more education, are more secure with ourselves. And we worked hard for all of it. Instead of looking to us for inspiration, they envy us. I don't care about the pecking order as long as we get things done. I have noticed I have NONE of these issues with the male employees. I know who I would prefer to work with!