The worst job you had before becoming a Nurse?

Nurses General Nursing

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What was the worst job you had before becoming a Nurse? How has Nursing changed your life?

Specializes in Psychiatric.

100% Commission only! If I sold nothing, I made nothing. I was a hawker first, someone who carries a bunch of cheap junk from business to business trying to sell to the staff. We were the reason businesses had 'No Hawkers' signs, which made us feel even more valued 😞

I then worked for a telco company knocking on homes door to door asking people to swap their telephone companies. If I made a sale, I would get $30 but ONLY if the customer kept the contract for over a month...and this company would only pay us monthly so in my few months of working there, I made 2 sales = $60 and received the money 3 weeks after I made the sale. It sucked! I had to get supplemented by the government however it didn't take me long to find a pay by the hour job!

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Specializes in Psychiatric.
I have more..

I lasted a month or so doing door to door soliciting for a non-profit environmental activism-type group. I got the most donations in the poorer neighborhoods, though they were smaller. Rich folks didn't answer the door half the time.

Cons: my pay was based on how much I got in donations

I didn't really feel strongly about the views I "supported" nor did I jive with my crunchy granola co-workers

I got so freaking bone cold walking door to door for hours; that was the final straw one night. I went up to my boss when he came around in the pick-up van and said "I can't do this anymore." He looked at me like "yeah, I know." I was awful.

Then there was my brief stint as a knife salesman. I made one sale, to my Dad.

Thank God for nursing

I felt your pain! Oh and one of the two phone sales I made was to my mum.

I agree with you about the poorer suburbs. I knew of a woman who pretended to be from a charity and door knocked the nearby lower socioeconomic apartment building to get enough money to buy drugs. They trusted her and she got $25 within minutes

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Specializes in Critical Care.

My favorite jobs have always been retail/sales positions because I actually enjoy being around the public, working as part of a team, and I approached angry customers by trying to see if I could make their day better (because angry customers are practically never angry at you, they're angry about something else entirely). All super fun for me. My enjoyment of retail is part of the reason I decided to go into nursing, because being alone with no human contact (which is what I do at my job now) drives me absolutely crazy.

I'd have to say my least favorite job has been my current job, which involves sitting behind a desk for 8 hours per day with not enough to do, getting a neck-ache and being sedentary just so I can browse Facebook. I hate going home at the end of the day feeling like I did nothing, but my boss just doesn't have enough for me to do, yet she wants me there constantly. Can't wait to leave and start nursing school.

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Specializes in family practice and school nursing.

I worked for A & W rootbeer., a fast food, car hop place. We had to use our own money to make change for our customers (they called it an investment in the company) , we got it back when we quit working there. One day it was extremely busy, I walked into the boss's office and he was sitting there with his feet up on the desk, watching football. I quit on the spot

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Specializes in Ortho, CMSRN.

My last job before nursing was Target, but I had quit that 2 years prior. When my daughter was born, they asked when I would be coming back for my min. wage job with hours all over the place and of course... never enough hours for full time. I tried looking for childcare and then realized that it cost more than I would be making and told them "sorry, I won't be". I figured it was time to go back to school or give up. We could not survive on my husbands income alone. He worked as a mover. He was coming home with pounding headaches and sometimes throwing up when the summers got really hot. I knew I had to find a way to help. I WANTED to go to school for photography, but my mom (a nurse) encouraged me in this direction. She said if you like people, you get over the ooginess of blood, needles and poo. She was right. I'm not sure how my husband made it through those 3 years without a stroke. He was having major blood pressure issues (discovered that while in nursing school) that was causing the symptoms. Right before I graduated, he started a new career that was skill based. It was a major pay cut at first, but he saw the light at the end of the tunnel in my nursing degree. I'm not sure if he would have been able to step out in faith like that if we didn't have 2 incomes. He's actually very VERY good at his new job and now makes way more than I do, and we could survive easily on his income alone, but I LIKE nursing and I LOVE my floor. We have been so blessed! And oh, now his blood pressure doesn't spike anymore now that his job doesn't include high stress/physical activity and relentless heat.

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Specializes in Pharmaceutical Research, Operating Room.

Worst job was during my freshman year of college. I worked in the University call center, calling parents, alumni, etc. to solicit "financial donations" for the school. Only had to work 12 hours a week and could pick the hours, but the abuse I got from the people on the other end of the line was unbelievable. Most memorable was the husband of the lady I'd called, who yelled out in the background of our call "tell that b**ch to get a real job!!!" :lol2:

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The jobs I had before nursing were actually decent.

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I worked in a restaurant for all of a week. I had my two days of orientation/menu test/blah blah blah and three days on the floor. After closing on a Friday night I had to be back to open Saturday morning. I was scheduled 7:00--3:00 and was given one table, which was freuently combined with another server's table for big parties. I had a couple of tables throughout the day, and at 3:30 I asked if I could go. Manager told me it was too busy for me to leave and I could go at business decline. I asked if I could at least get a break and he told me they "don't schedule breaks, so you can buy a meal and grab a bite in the corner between tables." I told him I had to eat and couldn't stay any longer because I had someone watching my son. He asked if I was quitting and to turn in my apron and order pad. I gave him what he asked for and told him that I had someone waiting on me and if I'm told I get off at 3:00 I need to be able to leave, AND I couldn't work over 8 hours without a break. That's the only job I've ever left without a proper 2-week notice. I'm just not cut out for food service!

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I helped a friend on a tree service startup. I was grunt labor and advertising, he was the skilled labor and equipment/insurance. My second day on the job he handed me a set of climbing hooks to attach to my boots and a chainsaw. After the first week I found out he had never finalized the .

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Property manager- 1/2 the tenants you have to track down for the rent, the other half think they are doing you a big favor by being there so feel entitled to complain about every little thing. I think they stopped teaching the social contract in schools so everyone is now entitled to everything with no personal responsibility. You should have the seen looks on people faces when they get evicted- its all a big surprise and my fault they don't pay....

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

Working at a department store in the mall. I'm sure it helped me with the customer service aspect of nursing but at $6.25/hr....it was draining.

I was young (20) and pregnant working there and people would frown and look down on me. Even make rude comments.

Nursing has given me so many options and obviously I get paid more than 6.25.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

My worst pre-nursing job was a summer job as a maid at a highly overrated "nice" hotel in the Berkshires. My coworkers mostly hadn't finished high school, but they were nice enough. The customers were nightmare. Hell hath no fury like a rich person inconvenienced.

One woman yelled at my partner and me for 10 minutes because she couldn't figure out how to use the air conditioner. People who wanted extra shampoo would accuse the maid of not leaving any in the room. One maid missed lunch because a customer demanded she retrieve their toothbrush.

The worst part: no one tipped. I worked when the prestigious college nearby had its alumni weekend. The hotel was full. I made $3.85 in tips all weekend.

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