Second Thoughts on Becoming a Nurse

[ThePrudentStudent]

I am here looking for opinions and guidance from those in the field. I will be entering a nursing program in Spring and am having second thoughts. I am an older student (late 40s) and put my desire of entering the nursing field on hold for many years. During the early stages of the pandemic, I felt a call to fulfill this more than any other time in my life. Subsequently, I turned my Covid layoff into an opportunity, went back to school, completed all pre-reqs and was accepted. However, I did not anticipate the amount of vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers and the fact that I live in a state with no vaccine requirements for schools and healthcare workers as well as a leading transmission rate of the Delta variant. ( I am fully vaccinated). This is coupled with fluctuating opinions of many nurses I know personally advising that the industry has changed and they have been treated as expendable and to run hard and fast to something else in the medical field. This has me doubting my decision and questioning if I am unnecessarily putting my family at risk in pursuit of something that, according to others, may not be what I had built it up to be. (I should mention I am being offered a place in a Microbiology bachelor's program so I do have options but it is a long, competitive road to a master's and I need to provide for my family now.) If you had to do it all over again, would you become a nurse? Would you go into another field? Do you think an older individual would have a rougher time at present? I get that this may sound whiney but I have met some tired, angry nurses lately who are ready to chuck it all if they have not done so already. Thanks all. 

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

Would I do it again? Yes, I guess I would. I never have worked acute care, had and still have zero interest in working swing shifts and at least in my area there's not a hospital that doesn't utilize them. Either a day/night or afternoon/night to start out as the day/pm rotations are the most desired and are always snapped up by those nurses with more seniority. 

So I started out in the SNF I had worked in as a CNA and stayed there for 25 years. Now I work in dialysis. For both places the schedule is a definite pro.

The pay while not bad also isn't enough at least not anymore. The job responsibilities keep getting greater while the pay has been stagnant for years.  I have to say it makes me more than a little angry that fast food places and convenience stores are hugely increasing their wages while nurses have been lucky to get a raise at all despite working through the insanity that this COVID pandemic has caused.  Still gets me that a grocery store worker got more hazard pay than I did and I worked taking care of the physical needs of known sick patents every day.

I don't know that I would necessarily deter somebody from entering nursing though. I do know that while for most prospective nurses I would suggest working as a CNA first for a second/third career nurse entering the field as an older nurse I'd skip that. The CNA position especially in LTC is just way too physically demanding for the pay.

Based on everything I hear both on AN and from nurses I personally know that work in the hospital setting I would still avoid acute care like the plague.  There's plenty of nursing jobs available to even new grads outside of acute care. 

[9kidsmomRN]

On 7/24/2021 at 8:47 AM, Pixie.RN said:

 

Three words: health information technology. As our world becomes more automated, this field will thrive. 

 

Please if you consider this, get some bedside experience first!! Few things are worse than an IT person not understanding the work flow yet trying to tell you how to chart what you did! 

[Wuzzie]

1 hour ago, subee said:

And people who are happy with their nursing careers probably don't go the AN to vent.

Well if they’re happy they don’t need to vent.? I disagree with you on this. There seems to be a pretty balanced percentage of opinions here. 

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

We all are expendable.

I vent all the time about how stressful it is to deal with short staffing, demanding patients, etc.   I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone.  I've come close to burnout more than once.

At the end of the day, I'm okay with having chosen nursing.  I like the variety of day and it's never boring.  I like that I usually have four days off a week, have a home, a car, savings, and pre-covid I would travel somewhere in the world outside the US every year and have had some great vacations.

Since covid I've been working some overtime and that's beginning to wear me out, but right now because of our third wave here in Florida, they are paying $500 bonus to work an extra shift and I love having disposable income and being debt free.   

Still, it isn't always about the money and some days it's not worth it.

30 years in I'm glad to say that although it's tough every day, that I didn't waste my life being miserable in my career.   

[Boxer Mama]

I can honestly say if I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t become a nurse.  I graduated in my late 30s (been a nurse for 6 years now), and nobody could have talked me out of it.  I recently went back to the hospital in my “dream” unit, part time, and I’m trying to figure out how to quit with literally just getting off orientation without feeling like a jerk for using up their time and resources.  I spend more time charting than I do actually doing patient care, which is disheartening.  Just hard with more demanding patients now, the emphasis on achieving the perfect patient satisfaction ratings, but with less staff.  Good luck with your decision!   

[Guest1176712]

1 hour ago, Wuzzie said:

Well if they’re happy they don’t need to vent.? I disagree with you on this. There seems to be a pretty balanced percentage of opinions here. 

I didn't even know about AN until after I started working as a nurse. The research back then was all shiny. AN must not have come up in my search results or something. Also, things got worse fast after I graduated. I hired in at 4:1 on CPCU. 2 months later, on my own with my orientation cut short by a month, we're told 5-6:1 as they blamed ACA. This was in 2012. See, situations change pretty quickly. How can I make decisions ahead of time when things change like this. I was also told if I wanted to stay there I would have to take training which would lock me into a contract for 2 years. Other units and floors were going thru same. Wow, no one told me this before starting school. 

[JKL33]

On 7/23/2021 at 1:08 PM, ThePrudentStudent said:

If you had to do it all over again, would you become a nurse? Would you go into another field? Do you think an older individual would have a rougher time at present? 

No. Yes. Not sure.

My life is good and nursing itself has allowed some freedoms, benefits and opportunities I might not have otherwise had. I love interacting with patients and providing nursing care to them and have never wanted to work in any field other than healthcare  (unless I could magically be a musician and/or backup singer in a band ?). I don't regret becoming a nurse, the first/only career I've ever had, but I do regret not making different moves and decisions that would have put me somewhere else in healthcare. I know that may sound like I must then regret nursing, but it's a nuanced feeling hard to describe. The bottom line is that if I had do-overs I would do everything in my power to take a different road.

[Hoosier_RN, MSN]

11 hours ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

What?

My question exactly. Trying to figure out who that response was to

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

8 hours ago, AtomicNurse said:

I didn't even know about AN until after I started working as a nurse. The research back then was all shiny. AN must not have come up in my search results or something. Also, things got worse fast after I graduated. I hired in at 4:1 on CPCU. 2 months later, on my own with my orientation cut short by a month, we're told 5-6:1 as they blamed ACA. This was in 2012. See, situations change pretty quickly. How can I make decisions ahead of time when things change like this. I was also told if I wanted to stay there I would have to take training which would lock me into a contract for 2 years. Other units and floors were going thru same. Wow, no one told me this before starting school. 

I hope you didn't stay there, but were able to find a better job!  It is so true that even if you have a good job it may change, due to a new manager or corp takeover.  Anyone in nursing needs to be willing to be flexible and change jobs or systems if things go bad.  Pensions are almost entirely gone so that makes the decision to job hop even more attractive. 

Also do you handle stress well?  I can say I didn't and it was affecting my health.  Though I've met some nurses, especially ICU nurses that everything rolled off their back and they seemed calm and relaxed, but I think that is more the exception.

[Guest1176712]

I left after the contract was over  but found out there is no greener pasture. All hospitals are different. It really was the best position I worked in and I was told that in relation to the whole hospital. Here's the take away: We shouldn't have to be THAT flexible. How do you tell people before they make the decision to go into nursing if it all changes up anyway. And look, this has happened in so many job sectors. For someone to tell me that I should have known or did my research.... well you know what I would like to show them.... I know many nurses know. Switching up the rules and changing the game and not meeting the needs of nurses ....
OK now to address your "Also, do you handle stress well?" That kind of question is placing blame on the victim. No nurse who knows the stress of nursing or complains here would ever ask that question. I'm thinking you're in management or HR?

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

56 minutes ago, AtomicNurse said:

I left after the contract was over  but found out there is no greener pasture. All hospitals are different. It really was the best position I worked in and I was told that in relation to the whole hospital. Here's the take away: We shouldn't have to be THAT flexible. How do you tell people before they make the decision to go into nursing if it all changes up anyway. And look, this has happened in so many job sectors. For someone to tell me that I should have known or did my research.... well you know what I would like to show them.... I know many nurses know. Switching up the rules and changing the game and not meeting the needs of nurses ....
OK now to address your "Also, do you handle stress well?" That kind of question is placing blame on the victim. No nurse who knows the stress of nursing or complains here would ever ask that question. I'm thinking you're in management or HR?

I was never in management.  I agree it shouldn't be that way.  I reread what I wrote, I meant to ask everyone, but specifically the OP considering nursing school how they handle stress.  I meant it as something to consider for the OP before going into nursing.  I see I miswrote the question. 

The stress was too much for me and I would say for the majority of nurses.  I even witnessed several nurses literally have breakdowns and quit or be fired and I honestly believe it was the workload and environment that caused it.  Ironically the working conditions worsened dramatically since then.  I felt I was heading that way too, so I resigned and started early retirement rather than continue in an unsafe situation.   I felt I was either going to have a complete breakdown or end up with a stroke if I stayed.  That said I met a few nurses that seemed to be able to handle it better than most, that seemed almost immune to the stress.  I apologize for what I wrote.  I wish you the best.  I pray and hope we get national safe patient ratios soon!      

[Guest1176712]

57 minutes ago, brandy1017 said:

I was never in management.  I agree it shouldn't be that way.  I reread what I wrote, I meant to ask everyone, but specifically the OP considering nursing school how they handle stress.  I meant it as something to consider for the OP before going into nursing.  I see I miswrote the question. 

The stress was too much for me and I would say for the majority of nurses.  I even witnessed several nurses literally have breakdowns and quit or be fired and I honestly believe it was the workload and environment that caused it.  Ironically the working conditions worsened dramatically since then.  I felt I was heading that way too, so I resigned and started early retirement rather than continue in an unsafe situation.   I felt I was either going to have a complete breakdown or end up with a stroke if I stayed.  That said I met a few nurses that seemed to be able to handle it better than most, that seemed almost immune to the stress.  I apologize for what I wrote.  I wish you the best.  I pray and hope we get national safe patient ratios soon!      

Now I understand and see the confusion. The way I took it was a little defensive too. The last thing I want to do is be at odds with or hurt the feelings of another nurse. Nurses are so special. I had so many stressful experiences in nursing and I see how morally unjust that is for so many of my colleagues that I can get sensitive and may become a little "atomic" in my writings. ? I'm so used to being tricked by managment and seeing that happen to other nurses. I'm really here on AN to feel I'm not alone and tell others they are not either. Also, to make sure that nurses can see the power in pushing for these ratios and passing the petitions to family and friends because that's who we take care of too. The public needs to know. They can be our best ally.

But aside from that, I see you went through a lot too and I can sense your pain. Again, I'm so sorry that I came off as rude. I was wrong there as I misinterpreted and then projected. I believe there is a spectrum of how nurses handle the stress and workload. Problem is that the bar is set by admin to maximize that load and stress in the name of profit. No nurse is alike. It seems like one has to be in special forces state of mind to enjoy it in many cases. I also know nurses who thrive on it. But if hospitals are gonna run on the economics then they can solve their problems by paying more, hiring more, and improving conditions. I love nursing just not the unsustainable expectations of my job. I hope you are enjoying your retirement. And I hope ratios and conditions make nursing sustainable too. Maybe then all of us can find an enjoyable place in nursing where we get to have fun taking care of people, the reason we got into in the first place. I wish you the best as well. ?