Registered Nurses: Do you like your jobs?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am thinking about going to nursing school, and I want to know your opinion. I have sort of lurked these forums for a little while and it seems like a lot of nurses do vent here, however there has to be a reason why you don't quit and keep going back despite the crappy patients, patient ratios, arrogant doctors.. etc.

Has your opinion of people changed at all, do you still have faith in humanity so to speak after dealing with so many types of people?

Do you still maintain your compassion for others?

Do you get depressed at all from the circumstances?

Why do you keep going back?

Thanks a bunch, nursing has been on my mind for a few years now and I feel like this feedback would help me make my decision moving forward.

Thank you.

Becoming a nurse is the best decision I've ever made in my life. But that's just me. It fits my personality and my life goals. It has helped me grow as a more matured individual. Now, like any other profession, office politics makes it less likable. How you deal with all that drama is up to you.

My advice to anyone who is considering nursing is to ask several nurses about their typical day. You will receive various reactions and use that to make a decision. Do not be influence by the paycheck or the yahoo ads you see all the time or the Johnson and Johnson commercials. Because as soon as you clock in for your shift, you are now face the reality of a nurse and you may or may not like it.

Why do you keep going back?

I keep going back because I like the pay. And I keep going back because I'm waiting for my DREAM JOB POSITION.

A lot of nurses don't like their jobs... actually, ask anybody about ANY job and they say they won't like it. It is what it is... a living. All I have time for as a nurse is administering medications, charting, and being a servant. I don't have time to actually be a human and sit down and talk to my patients to show my true compassion. It's sad.

I went into nursing for the broad range of opportunities available to nurses. 15 years later and I am still very glad I did! I have worked in several areas of nursing, some I liked a lot, and some not so much. How great to be in a profession that allows you to move into another field to find your niche. Of course I had to work a few years gaining basic experience, and put in the time to earn my BSN, but it has certainly paid off for me personally. The pay has also been a decent perk, considering I only had to work 3 days a week when I worked in the hospital. Now I do Case Management and have the opportunity to work from home. I was very specific and focused along the way on gaining the knowledge and experience to earn this job.

Has your opinion of people changed at all, do you still have faith in humanity so to speak after dealing with so many types of people? My opinion has not changed much, and I do still have faith in humanity. What I worry about is getting the 'right' people in leadership positions - including government - that have influence on how we are able to care for patients.

Do you still maintain your compassion for others? Yes, maybe more than before because I see how quickly life can change unexpectedly.

Do you get depressed at all from the circumstances? Sometimes, but really, I don't think there is a profession out there that isn't depressing in some way or another. I also think they area of nursing can greatly influence the impact on nurses.

Why do you keep going back? I actually love my job! Sure there are hard days, some longer than others. However, the good absolutely outweighs the bad for me.

Do you still maintain your compassion for others?

95% of the time I do. Working in a rural hospital in a smallish town it is very hard to keep compassion for people that you try to help so much and they could care less.

Do you get depressed at all from the circumstances?

I don't get depressed in regards to the patients. I get depressed and fed up of some of my coworkers and there lack of a work ethic. I am young but have worked since 12 years old during the summer and have goals. I do as much as possible for my patients and it kills me when I see coworkers doing nothing for their patients. Too many work here for the money. Yes its awesome making 35 an hour but thats not why I am here. I could be making 20 an hour and wouldn't change the way I work.

Why do you keep going back?

For my patients. I have been asked this same question by mgmt and I state this..."I am not here for you and your ego. I am here for the patients that are in the bed!"

Specializes in PCCN.
Why do you keep going back?

cause i need the money and don't know how to do anything else.

Somedays you get upset and wonder how much more you can take. Other days , it's not so bad.

It depends on the person as to how much one can take. I'd say I have 4 bad days to one good day. But so do my co-workers. Oh well.

Specializes in PCCN.

One great thing about nursing is the flexibilty in hours. This is great for moms with kids. You can do days or nights, weekends , part time, etc.

A big downside is having to work holidays (working Christmas when you have kids is miserable...)

Unless you work for a tyrant who does the schedule and schedules you for all 3 shifts in the same week. Very hard to find childcare who works all three shifts :(

Specializes in ICU.

I just thought I'd throw in a random opposing view as far as compassion goes: my compassion for people has actually increased. Yes, you heard that right. I worked in a hotel as a night auditor for three and a half years before and during nursing school. It was an expensive hotel, and I dealt with mostly rich people and business travelers, and they are absolutely the most horrible human beings on the face of the planet. I feel like I'm allowed to say that because I grew up in a family that was initially wealthy but lost its wealth when my father lost his job. Rich people are quite often horrible to people that "serve" them, in whatever capacity.

I got screamed at for half an hour because of an internet problem that I had no power to fix and did not cause on a regular basis. People would freak out on me and threaten to have my job because there was a wrinkle in their sheets, and I never made a single bed in my time there. Before I went into nursing, I honestly had no compassion for humanity and hated everyone because of my past experiences. In nursing, there are still awful patients and family members - but there are also good, wonderful people who are kind to you and take the time to say thank you for your hard work. There is none of that in customer service. The people that are happy with your performance don't have anything to say to you (what's the point in complimenting someone on swiping a credit card effectively?), so all you get is negativity because the only people who comment on your abilities comment when you screw up or they perceive an imaginary fault. There are true positive experiences in nursing. I really can't say that about customer service, and you are abused just as much in customer service for much lower pay. I made $10/hr in customer service to get yelled at all the time; I start at twice that in nursing and at least get occasional smiles and thank yous mixed in with the negativity. There are worse jobs than nursing that pay much less and take just as much of your time and effort. I'll go with a job with a relatively high starting pay with some respect, thanks. There are horribly catty coworkers other places too; nursing does not have a monopoly on those. You have a very valid reason for asking your questions, but I will say that I believe nursing is definitely one of the better careers out there when you calculate the fact that starting pay is decent and the general public respects you and doesn't see you as something nasty sticking to the bottom of their shoes. It might not be perfect, but it's a lot better than the alternatives out there.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I just thought I'd throw in a random opposing view as far as compassion goes: my compassion for people has actually increased. Yes, you heard that right. I worked in a hotel as a night auditor for three and a half years before and during nursing school. It was an expensive hotel, and I dealt with mostly rich people and business travelers, and they are absolutely the most horrible human beings on the face of the planet. I feel like I'm allowed to say that because I grew up in a family that was initially wealthy but lost its wealth when my father lost his job. Rich people are quite often horrible to people that "serve" them, in whatever capacity.

I got screamed at for half an hour because of an internet problem that I had no power to fix and did not cause on a regular basis. People would freak out on me and threaten to have my job because there was a wrinkle in their sheets, and I never made a single bed in my time there. Before I went into nursing, I honestly had no compassion for humanity and hated everyone because of my past experiences. In nursing, there are still awful patients and family members - but there are also good, wonderful people who are kind to you and take the time to say thank you for your hard work. There is none of that in customer service. The people that are happy with your performance don't have anything to say to you (what's the point in complimenting someone on swiping a credit card effectively?), so all you get is negativity because the only people who comment on your abilities comment when you screw up or they perceive an imaginary fault. There are true positive experiences in nursing. I really can't say that about customer service, and you are abused just as much in customer service for much lower pay. I made $10/hr in customer service to get yelled at all the time; I start at twice that in nursing and at least get occasional smiles and thank yous mixed in with the negativity. There are worse jobs than nursing that pay much less and take just as much of your time and effort. I'll go with a job with a relatively high starting pay with some respect, thanks. There are horribly catty coworkers other places too; nursing does not have a monopoly on those. You have a very valid reason for asking your questions, but I will say that I believe nursing is definitely one of the better careers out there when you calculate the fact that starting pay is decent and the general public respects you and doesn't see you as something nasty sticking to the bottom of their shoes. It might not be perfect, but it's a lot better than the alternatives out there.

^Well SAID!!! ^5 :yes:

Great post, Calivianya.

Just a little bit of background on me -- I just graduated with a B.S. in Business MGT; I worked in sales for a year and I dealt with some rude people too. In fact the reason why I quit was because I felt like inside sales itself even at a B2B level was a very rude and annoying profession. Now I want to get into a fulfilling profession at a young age, while struggling with a little bit of cynicism regarding humanity as a whole myself..

It's reassuring to see someone who came from the business world, worked hard to make that switch, and doesn't have regrets about their decision.

Thanks!

Your thoughts matter more than our thoughts...the question should be, do you, OP, want to be a nurse? That is a lot of money to put out with influential factors being the opinions of nurses you do not know on an online forum. My apologies for the rudeness, no apologies for the frankness.

I agree completely, and thank you for your frankness. However, I have no friends nor family members who I can talk to about this profession - none of them work in healthcare let alone nursing. So it would be a very huge decision as I'm coming out of business school. So while you're 100% right that it's up to me, it's always good to survey the emotional psychology of people who are in certain positions before you dive in..

I was hoping for some more positive responses though! Haha.. but it's always better to have the truth than not. So I appreciate the genuineness of all the posters here at this forum.

:)

I'm also a career changer. I left that career to get into a profession where I felt I was doing meaningful work and NOT working 5 days a week doing it. I knew what specialty I wanted before I even entered nursing school (NICU) and I worked hard to make that goal happen throughout school. I was able to get a NICU position 1 month after graduation.

I love everything about NICU itself. I love the patients. I love swiping out at the end of the day and feeling like I accomplished so much. I love the variety and challenges in NICU. I love teaching/helping families. I love having medical knowledge, I love understanding the human body and all its complexities. I love NOT sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day/5 days a week. I love being able to have 7 days off in a row without taking any vacation time/PTO.

I don't love working holidays and weekends but, hey, I was prepared for that. I don't love the gossip and backstabbing that a lot of other nurses engage in. I don't love standing/running around for a lot of the shift (some days). I don't love the meddling of management. I don't love having to work night shift ugh (again, prepared for that). I don't love family members who try to find wrong in everything you do when you are just trying to do best for their baby. There's other things I don't like, but there are always pro's and con's to every job. Overall, I like my job.

I think nursing was a good choice for me as a second career person wanting a change, and I don't regret going into nursing school. But honestly, if I had the opportunity to go back and completely start my life over, I would probably not choose nursing.

I love what I do and would not dream of changing occupations. There are days you need to vent, scream, whatever but overall, I simply love my job.

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