Pros and cons of a career in nursing

SmilingBluEyes · Oct 6, 2005

HI Kay and welcome! I moved your thread to the General Nursing Discussion where you will likely get a larger readership and response to your question. Glad you found us. Be sure to check out the forums here and I do look forward to hearing more from you soon.

beth4 · Oct 8, 2005

Hi I am a nurse in the uk, the best parts of nursing are too many to mention, its a hard emotionally draining but wonderful profession, from happily walking a patient out of the door in better health than when they came in, helping a patient with mental health issues find the appropriate help or sometimes just holding a patients hand so they dont die alone, this all sounds very corny I know but that is how it is sometimes its also a pain in backside when you have people who are in better health than you are just playng the system to avoid court appearances or who are just plain attention seekers, but to anyone thinking of a career in nursing i say go for it i cannot imagine that there are many careers out there so diverse, good luck.

Beth.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Oct 8, 2005

pros:

1) flexible hours

2) you get to spend nights, weekends and holidays with all of your friends -- at work!

3) lots of different career paths -- there's something for everyone!

4) you never have difficulty finding a job.

5) you can pick up and move across the country on a moment's notice, knowing there will be a job waiting for you when you get where you're going.

6) you get to meet some really nice folks.

7) you get great stories to gross out all your non-nursing pals!

cons:

1) nights, weekends and holidays are likely to be a requirement of the job.

2) you meet some real idiots! sometimes you have to get really close and touch them, too.

3) wiping a$$es isn't for everyone.

4) look how you're portrayed on er!

ruby :rotfl:

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Oct 8, 2005

Pros:

1. Demand for nurses not dependent on a stable economy.

2. Lots of specialties for different personalities. You can change your job description completely, but still work as a nurse. Most other professions, you can only change jobs, but you would be doing the same thing.

3. More schedule flexibility than most other careers.

4. You can continue your education to enter advanced practice, if you desire.

Cons:

1. Nurses may be trusted, but they are not really respected (particularly in the view of management).

2. Ditto the nights/weekends/holidays thing if you work in an acute care setting.

3. Working conditions can be pretty poor.

4. Nobody cares about retaining nurses - the focus is on recruitment, which really sux once you have some experience behind you.

5. The "customer service" emphasis in healthcare is totally out of control - it makes the already complicated job of the nurse much more difficult than it has to be.

6. Nurses tend to be their own worst enemies. There is no cohesiveness in the profession. For the most part, nurses DO NOT have one another's back.

MarySunshine · Oct 8, 2005

I think nursing can be very interesting...you always learn something new! If you get tired of one type of nursing, you can always try another.

A con...I am a new nurse and I am very overwhelmed by the high level of responsibility of another human being's life. This is huge and I currently consider it a con. Maybe someday I will think it is a privilege, but I'm too busy freaking out about it now.