Growing up, I always wanted to be either a Nurse or a Dental Hygienist. My first job as a teenager was in a dentist office so that is where the interest in dental hygiene started. I have always wanted to have a job where I help people so Nursing has been a close second.
So I grew up, got a career in retail, got married and started to live happily ever after. Shortly after I got married, my hours started getting cut because I had the audacity to start asking for days off here and there, if I requested one day off, I would only get 4 hours for the whole week. So I decided it was time for a career change and pursued my CNA. Fell in love with the field and decided to pursue an RN at my local community college. I quit work to peruse my RN full time and this, along with a lot of unforeseen expenses, generally poorly managing our money, and my inability to tell my husband "no" when he wanted things we couldn't afford because I didn't feel like I had a right to... Or he wouldn't listen to me because I wasn't contributing to the household (huge marital resentment but that is besides the point)... Forced me to stop perusing my career goals.
So I dropped out of Nursing school and started using my CNA for the first time. My first job being in LTC. WORST WORK EXPERIENCE EVER!
Don't get me wrong. I love being a CNA. I love being able to help the residents do things they can't do for themselves. There is nothing about the nature of the job that bothers me.
I hate that staffing is constantly such an issue. I hate that they make someone go home half way through each shift because of labor costs, and census, while they let people work ridiculous amounts of OT at time and a half because they don't know how to schedule coverage. No joke. For example on Christmas Day, afternoon shift, there are 3 CNAs scheduled when there should be a minimum of 7 with 1 person going home halfway through the shift. This isn't an isolated incident. It happens about half the time.
Sterile Technique is nothing like I learned in nursing school.
Nurses do not watch residents take their medications.
Residents rights are a joke.
The field is nothing like I imagined it to be.... The list goes on.
I'm not sure if all nursing homes are terrible places to work at. I have heard that they are all the same.
One thing that attracts me to nursing is the flexibility, and various places a nursing license can take me.
Things that defer me from going into nursing are the high patient load, the long shifts, the shift work, and the fact that I hate working in LTC, but will probably have to start out in LTC or Med-Surge (which I hear also sucks)
So this brings me to the point of the post. I am almost to a point where I can go back to school with or without my husbands help. I could make few more sacrifices and have a career in dental hygiene (the pre reqs were pretty much all the same, but i would have to commute or move 2 hours away to peruse this) but it would be easier and more convenient to peruse the nursing career.
Does it get better? Am I looking at things as CNA when as a nurse things are way better?
*****Does anybody have regrets about choosing nursing over another field?*****
I regret being at the bedside for so long. I should have explored other avenues of nursing a long time ago. I would have enjoyed it much better away from the bedside.
If you notice, most of these responses say the same thing, nursing is an okay career as long as you aren't by the bedside, but that is what nursing is, bedside care. I agree with most other people though, bedside nursing is hard. You work long hours, it is a very physical job, and you can expect to work every other weekend and holiday. There are very few "thank you's" in nursing. I went into nursing because, among other things, I wanted a job with a lot of flexibility, a job where I could go anywhere and get a job. I am currently working on my master's because I couldn't be a bedside nurse anymore. I don't know how easy it is to get a job as a dental hygienist but I know it is getting more and more difficult to get a job as a new grad RN (here in LA it is pretty much impossible). Just things to consider.
Heck yeah, if I could go back in time I would definitely choose a different career in healthcare. I love helping and meeting people, but this job has been way too stressful. If I didn't exercise 3-4 times a week to relieve stress, I think I would've left this job a while ago. Like someone else mentioned, I would never recommend this career to a loved one. I have always given my all to make sure all of my PTs are well taken care of but I feel drained at times. So what is my complaint about nursing? Exactly what your complaint is at your current job. The staffing is horrible and it's not going to change as a RN. I worked as a CNA for 2.5 yrs before becoming a RN and the only difference is that I have way more responsibility and I work harder. Honestly, working as a CNA was a lot easier for me and i worked on a med-surg/onc floor. If i were you, i would think a lot about it before i spent more money going to nursing school if this is how you truly feel. Sorry I don't want to be a downer, but I'm giving you my honest opinion in my situation working as a floor nurse. You may have better luck in another nursing specialty. Good luck with whatever you choose, take care.
Each floor, facility, hospital, co-worker and patient we encounter is different. It sounds like you need to find a job at a different facility with a better, more supportive environment. Good luck with your next chapter...don't ever settle!
I'd agree with the posters that say that the people they know are trying hard to get out of nursing, everyone I know is. If you speak with a nurse who has memories of years gone by when conditions were much better for nurses, they are not as desperate to get out of nursing as they think things will get better. I just spoke to someone on Friday who was stunned at the amount of resumes her office had received - and here is the kicker, she said it's been happening for the past year and they've not put out an ad for RNs. She says it's shocking. She also said that she had her pick of just about any hospital back when she graduated many years ago, and that maybe things will turn around for the jobless nurses out there...
Will those days come back? No. The business of healthcare has changed permanently.
OMG, this post reflects my sentiments towards Nursing the past 2 years.I absolutely HATE being a Nurse, and unfortunately, I've been in LTC. I hate bedside,shift work, working holidays, , and the general vibe, period. I don't even want to work in a hospital, unless I have a desk job.I went through hell to become an RN- (pregnancy, etc) and I will be looking for a non nursing job soon. I am willing to be a secretary, clerk, anything but a nurse. I want to work M_F, no holidays, no vomit, no needles,nursing isn't worth it, especially if you have a family
Sometimes I wish I would have majored in soemthing else. But my attitude in life, is usually one to not dwell on the past either positive or negative. it is done and over with in. I view being a nurse as a job . IT is a thing I do to make money to pay bills and buy things. The more I look at it as JUST A JOB, not a part of me, although it consumes a lot of my life, the less regret I have. Only having to work three 12-13 hour shifts a week does make it a lot more tolerable. as does night shift. Having to work nights, holidays, and weekends is part of it. When all the bs, things I hate about nursing, etc is not worth the money then I guess I should go somewhere else. I feel too old to start over in another field, even though I am in my mid 20s, i also know myself and know that I will not be happier making less money but I do not want to go back to school . Even looking back on easier less stressful jobs, I don't know that I would be happier with less material things or less ability to purchase them.
Not every nursing job is like what you described. many are but not all. even at the bedside there are differences in different facilities even in different units in the same place.
Thanks for all the feedback. I am definitely going to reconsider nursing school carefully for one more semester. While part of me wants to just suck it up and get it over with, I think waiting one more semester to start reapplying to nursing school won't hurt at all.
If I had to do it all over again, I would attend Law School and utilize my knowledge base toward ensuring ALL institutions; for profit and not-for-profit, do not pass students whose grades do not justify advance.
I've been an RN for 6 years and I'm fried. I was able to escape into case management and now sit at a desk in an office calling patients and doctors. It's not awesome, but it feels like a quiet respite from bedside, public health & SNF which is what I did before. In nursing school I worked as a CNA and and EMT. So while my experiences earned me a ticket off the direct-patient-care merry go round, I think it's a shame I've already burned out and been put out to pasture. Keep one thing in mind: I see amazing, really spectacular nursing talent crash and burn early. Some awesome ones stay in it for decades but those are rare creatures. For the most part it's the awful nurses who DON'T burn out, and I'm convinced its because they never give it their all or have any passion. Yet it's they who are rewarded by management for their mediocrity. They go along to get along, and never challenge the norm. So think about that aspect of this profession too. Best of luck. If I could turn back the clock I'd have been a housewife or sommelier.
I graduated LPN school October 4 and was lucky to find a job at a LTC center as a GPN. Took and passed my boards November 15. I often wonder if I made a mistake going to school for my LPN. Before going back to school I was doing office work with skills that were old and outdated. The job is rewarding because you get to help people and make theme comfortable. In the LTC area I am in I have 12 LTC residents and I also have 5 Hospice residents. There is no time to really spend with the residents especially the Hospice individuals. They should be checked on often to make sure they are with us and make sure that they are comfortable as possible. Some of them get Morphine PRN every hour. During the day they have a treatment nurse so a total of 3 nurses. 3-11 shift does not get a treatment nurse so getting treatments done is impossible. It sounds like nursing is the same just about everywhere. I often think about trying another place but I want to get my year in so I can maybe try to get into the one hospital that will take LPNs.
If I had to do it all over again I would attend Law School .......[/quote']
Funny you mention that. I learned real quick that a lot of problems are the result of poor management either at the administrator, DON, or corporate level. It rolls downhill. I actually have seriously considered becoming a health care lawyer. It may be the best way to advocate for my residents.
For example, budget and staffing. DON (or whoever does the scheduling) does not schedule enough coverage even though there are many CNAs at the facility willing to work. So the full timers pick up a few more shifts at time and a half. The budget gets all messed up. As a result they can't order hand sanitizer, briefs, wipes, or garbage bags. The CNAs who just started quit because they think this is a terrible place to work. Employees that have worked there a long time try to find new jobs because the stress load of constantly being understaffed is too much. And the cycle continues....
Not to mention all the safety issues associate with not having enough of the right sized briefs, and not having garbage bags. And having a bunch of CNAs who just started (what is orientation, does anyone actually get orientated anymore?) caring for residents that they don't know how to care for yet. Don't get me wrong, I know we get new admits all the time, but it is easier to learn how to care for one or two more residents at a time than it is to care for a whole run of residents at a time. With high turnovers and short staffing, mortality rates increase, that is a fact.
I think I might be able to be a better patient advocate if I were a lawyer. I would love to nip these problems at the top of the chain.
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DoeRN
941 Posts
I regret being at the bedside for so long. I should have explored other avenues of nursing a long time ago. I would have enjoyed it much better away from the bedside.