IS the hard truth for most nurses definitely new grads is that poop cleaning and urine collection RN jobs are all that is open?
Pretty much bedside care, running around like a chicken with your head cutoff.
I don't think ICU solves the issue either.
Definitely thinking about different degree, since experience is the only way to open up other nursing positions, but I am not about to work bedside for 10 years. I would rather go back to school.
I have a couple of months of bedside experience so is there anything else I can do besides bedside care? If not I have no choice to move on.
There is no way I can pursue marriage a family by bringing home income this way. Just not going to happen.
OP left.. but at least you don't have relatives who "put down" your career choice. There clearly was nothing stopping you from getting your RN degree. How would you like it if you had your 1 relative say "you don't care about health" "healthcare isn't for you" and just about ANYTHING to stop you from something you have dreams about at night (like I get medical dreams almost each night), ect ect. And all kinds of blocks getting in your way to stop you... that's how it is with me and nursing/healthcare field.
Why don't you do a 360 and do something COMPLETELY different from nursing/medical field? I'd gladly switch places with you, although I don't want to be 10 years older (over 30). If $ is your thing, why not financial field? No bodily fluids or medical issues there. Investment banking is hard for a 30+ yr old to get into, but plenty of analyst jobs (in other financial sectors too) at like 80+ hr weeks... but no fluids involved. Or something even with less pay. I wish I could erase your name on your degree and put my name on it.. haha!
Pfft then you'd be a fat nurse and we all know that's the very worst kind
Well thank heavens I'm not fat, because I'd obviously be less competent! /sarcasm
Still, I wouldn't expect to serve on a support group without the presence of donuts. And coffee. Make 'em Boston Cremes and you've got me for a whole hour!
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Lets keep it real, folks. Nurses are some of the nastiest people on this planet. Always so quick to knock each other down. And always so impressed with themselves hahahahahhaha
Making sweeping generalizations about a group of 3.5 million people is not terribly wise. I'm saying this while keeping it real.
Specializes in Management, Med/Surg, Clinical Trainer.
IS the hard truth for most nurses definitely new grads is that poop cleaning and urine collection RN jobs are all that is open?
Nursing does a LOT more than clean back sides. We are the glue that holds the floors and offices together. Patients rely on us as their source of unbiased information and support.
Pretty much bedside care, running around like a chicken with your head cutoff.
I don't think ICU solves the issue either.
Definitely thinking about different degree, since experience is the only way to open up other nursing positions, but I am not about to work bedside for 10 years. I would rather go back to school.
Correct. Working the floors or the unit is very busy work, Period. However, a lot can be learned about disease processes that will support you when you go back to school, or go into another area of nursing.
I have a couple of months of bedside experience so is there anything else I can do besides bedside care? If not I have no choice to move on.
There is no way I can pursue marriage a family by bringing home income this way. Just not going to happen.
A couple of months is not long enough to even gauge if you will like nursing as a whole. Bedside is very different from other roles, but a vital part of learning.
Specializes in Management, Med/Surg, Clinical Trainer.
You are insulted because this person fears taking on a marriage when they are unhappy with their job? OP has a great head and good heart to not want to take on a long term relationship while in a crisis over a job that makes him/her miserable. Lets keep it real, folks. Nurses are some of the nastiest people on this planet. Always so quick to knock each other down. And always so impressed with themselves hahahahahhaha
A lot of sweeping judgments being made in the paragraph.
OP has a great head and good heart.....you know this how?
Nurses are some of the nastiest people on the planet......Seriously!!......We come out as the most trusted profession. Somehow you saying we are the most nasty but yet we come out as the most trusted does not go together.
Specializes in Cath/EP lab, CCU, Cardiac stepdown.
Those who don't research their own career field before investing time and money deserve to lie in whatever proverbial bed they made. And if one can get through nursing school and still not realize they have to do total care, they're not gonna get it from being a cna either.
Look around this site and look at how many people, when they ask questions about personal care and ADLs as RNs, are told by others that, once they're RNs, they'll have CNAs to do all that stuff, or how many nursing students or new nurses post here to ask, once I'm licensed, I won't have to do that anymore, right? That's the CNA's job, right?
I don't really see how working as a CNA automatically translates into RN practice. On the other hand, my hospital-based diploma school not only didn't require students to be CNAs, but had a policy of notadmitting people who were CNAs or LPNs -- but all of us graduated providing excellent basic nursing care and understanding clearly that that was a basic expectation and responsibility of RN practice.
I know I am echoing previous posts when I say that the nursing profession may not be for you. The butt wiping, turning, lifting and assisting out of bed is part of our jobs. Those have never been my favorite parts of nursing. ANY job comes with aspects that we don't care for. That's just a reality of life.
I've been away from bedside nursing for several years now working in case management which I love. Even though I'm fortunate enough to have daily in person contact with patients, not a day goes by that I don't miss being at the bedside. I've never forgotten the physical exhaustion after a 12hr shift, I've never forgotten the emotional draining that sometimes came w/it (thanks to the Über involved family & all their drama😳) and certainly haven't forgotten the many laughs, many!
My point is this, as stressful as it could be (especially that first year when I was learning how to apply the knowledge and skills from school), I never didn't like being a nurse. This is what I'm getting from other nurses who are on this thread as well.
It's ok if nursing didn't really turn out to be your thing. Only you can make that decision for yourself. If you don't like it, you can take your knowledge and the experiences gained thus far and apply them your next career goal, right?
My point was not to be arrogant or cocky. I was well aware in nursing school that I did not want to be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off and I definitely did not want to be wiping adults' butts. That is why I chose NICU. I get the high tech of adult ICU without the adult body in the bed. Maybe you need to find a different career because you seem to be very bitter about nursing and have no respect for those of us who found our niche in nursing.
Don - I didn't think your response was arrogant at all. I hate that OP took it like that.
I'm an ER nurse - I know there's no way that I could survive taking care of NI patients full time.
Yes, OP, there's a difference between caring for an adult and a a NI baby. They can start deteriorating a LOT faster than an adult and they can't tell u verbally before they start to crash.
I know thing have changed since I graduated from nursing school in the early 90s but back then you were expected to work a basic unit (med-surg) for a certain amount of time before applying for a "cushy" job.
I hope u are able to find a position where the poop factor is a little better.
Anne, RNC
Don1984 - thank u and the other NICU nurses for the job u guys do every day - I could not - u guys rock!!
ShelbyaStar
468 Posts
Pfft then you'd be a fat nurse and we all know that's the very worst kind