10 Questions for Nurses

1. What is your profession?

Registered Nurse

2. What type of work setting you are in?

child and adolescent inpatient psychiatric hospital

3. How long have you been practicing this profession?

2+ years

4. What do you like most about your job?

Direct patient care

5. What do you like least about your job?

Management

6. Is there any part of the job setting or environment that you would change if you could?

More engagement from staff

7. What does it take to succeed?

Hard work, positivity, engagement

8. What qualities must a person entering into this profession possess?

Compassion, critical thinking skills, flexibility

9. Do you have any regrets regarding the profession that you choose?

No, however I regret taking on a position in administration

10. What advise would you give a student who is considering entering into this profession?

Expose yourself to as many care environments as you can to get a better idea of which direction you want to go with your career

Thank you so much for answering them! Your answers are clear and straight to point. :)

Hi JBudd, thank you for pointing out that answers from the internet might not be acceptable, but since this website is for nurse gathering and knowledge enrichment, I have faith in the nurses who are participating this conversation.:)

Sincerely,

Ariana

Hi JBudd, thank you for pointing out that answers from the internet might not be acceptable, but since this website is for nurse gathering and knowledge enrichment, I have faith in the nurses who are participating this conversation.

OP, I think JBudd's point was that you have *no way of knowing* if the people answering are, in fact, nurses. This is an anonymous public internet message board; users here are laypeople, nurses, aides, allied health professionals and a sprinkling of internet trolls and impostors.

You're welcome! For all the doubters out there, I'd be willing to send you a screenshot of my licensure if you need proof. Good luck to you in your data collection!

1. What is your profession? Registered Nurse

2. What type of work setting you are in? outpatient ambulatory

3. How long have you been practicing this profession? 19 years, graduating in 1997

4. What do you like most about your job? I love the interaction with patients and coworkers. I am naturally extroverted and love striking up conversations with people. In the setting in which I practice, I see the same patients every week, so I have come to know them well, and they me. They really are like family.

5. What do you like least about your job? Not having nearly enough time to interact MORE with the patients. There is much expected of nurses, that takes them away from the bedside. The endless double and triple charting, all that redudancy. Knocking ourselves out for corporate masters and the government, who have no clue, nor care to, know what we do on a daily basis and the limitations in many resources under which we are forced to "make do" and practice. We are all tired of hearing "do more with less". We've been doing that for years already. GIVE ME the resources and support to do my job effectively.

6. Is there any part of the job setting or environment that you would change if you could? See above.

7. What does it take to succeed? Well you need to go into nursing with your eyes open and not all starry-eyed. Nursing is a caring profession, but we have to have very strong professional boundaries with our patients. Being a martyr will take you on the fast track to burnout and jade you quickly. Nurses ARE NOT "angels on earth sent from Heaven"; talk about set up for failure out the gate! What we ARE, are human beings who have families we love and have to support. Yea, I said it; we work for the paycheck and it's not wrong to say so. Keep work and home very separate or you will have issues. You also have to be willing to advance your education to remain relevant in the nursing profession. This means, going to school for that next degree or attending conferences, obtaining continuing education to stay current. The only constant in nursing, as in many things, is CHANGE.

8. What qualities must a person entering into this profession possess? See above.

9. Do you have any regrets regarding the profession that you choose? This is ambiguous; I don't know how really, to answer this. I guess you can refer to the above for some of the things that bug me about being a nurse.

10. What advise would you give a student who is considering entering into this profession? "Advice" (not advise)? Go into the profession with your eyes open. Be open to learning and respect the older, seasoned nurses(and the younger ones who have experience)----- and learn all you can from them. Don't tell me you are coming into nursing only because you want to be a CRNA or NP making "real money", and have no intention of wiping butts or doing "scut work". I am not gonna waste a lot of energy on a person who acts like the unit I work in is just a stepping stone for higher aspirations. Have some humility; be humble and be willing to learn. Understand, you don't know, what you don't know. It takes solid experience to understand what I even mean by that.

Good luck.

1. What is your profession? Medical Surgical Registered Nurse

2. What type of work setting you are in? Med-Surg

3. How long have you been practicing this profession? 2.5 years

4. What do you like most about your job? I meet some really amazing people, both as patients and co-workers.

5. What do you like least about your job? The rough days where you might get multiple needy drug addicts, psych patients, etc... to the point where you feel like you don't have the proper time to spend on your truly sick patients. Lucky for me, this only happens on average once a month or less.

6. Is there any part of the job setting or environment that you would change if you could? Better central staffing so we didn't have to choose between coming to work sick or letting our team down/leaving them short staffed by staying home to ride out the flu or a particularly nasty cold. Patients don't particularly care to have a nurse who has a cough and is wearing a mask, but what do you do?

7. What does it take to succeed? Lots of tenacity and a love for people.

8. What qualities must a person entering into this profession possess? Tenacity, patience, kindness

9. Do you have any regrets regarding the profession that you choose? Only that I didn't get into nursing sooner

10. What advise would you give a student who is considering entering into this profession? Study hard! It will be worth it!