The worst job you had before becoming a Nurse?

lavenderskies, BSN · Mar 25, 2016

Probably the very worst job I had before I became a nurse and I have had some crappy jobs was being a Dog Warden in Oregon. That's fancy talk for dog catcher. The catching wasn't so bad and I got to carry a gun as I was a sworn peace officer, but when we had to kill dogs -sometimes 10 or 15 a day (by lethal injection) it was the pits.
Hppy

:'( that'd be the worst

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2016

Strawberry picking. It sounds happy and fun because... Strawberries! But it is really early, hot, messy, and buggy. And depressing because the migrant workers are MUCH better/faster! I guess that is the difference between making pocket money and supporting a family...

Oh my goodness, I remember having to pick strawberries for my grandma!! Under the sun with those plants making welts on my hands...and I didn't get paid. My mom just decided I needed to help Grandma in the garden.

Farawyn · Mar 25, 2016

Taught the Behavior Modification classes for a large weight loss company. I never was obese, I never lost tons of weight, nor did I use the product. I was supposed to be the "after" and let the customers assume I had lost weight by using the product. (Hey, I was in my 20's!)

I quit after 2 weeks. It was disingenuous.

RNperdiem, RN · Mar 25, 2016

The temp job assignments could be difficult.

I once had a two week assignment running menus through a laminating machine. All day I would do this. An hour can feel like 3.

Another assignment involved photocopying every document in mortage files. I would copy everything, file it away, pick up another thick stack and copy everything and repeat all day for another 2 weeks. I think my brain atrophied a bit after that.

Oddly, I looked back fondly on those old low-skill, low-responsibility jobs during my first year as a nurse.

CNC_1989 · Mar 25, 2016

I'm currently in nursing school but the worse job I've had was cashier (then later promoted to Beauty Adviser) at Walgreens. They worked me like a dog for minimum wage and I had to deal with the junkies cussing me out because the pharmacy denied them their meds. At least in nursing I'll get paid a lot more to deal with those people lol.

luvsltcrn · Mar 25, 2016

The only job I've ever had that I didn't like was at McDonalds when I was in high school. The manager was always trying to get me to go out with him and because I didn't he gave me the worst jobs. I thought he was really old but looking back he was probably 25.

anon456, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2016

Many bad jobs, but all taught valuable lessons-

-- janitor at the college-- had to clean the bathrooms in the classroom buildings.

-- Food service jobs

-- Carwash-- in the summer in a hot area of the country

How has nursing changed my life? Too many ways to list here. I am honored to be a nurse. It's HARD work. It's a humble job, a combination of intellectual decisions, ethical/moral decisions, and a lot of hard physical labor/grungework/bottom-wiping.

malamud69, BSN, RN · Mar 25, 2016

Trailer home plumber...as in crawling underneath to remove the old and disgusting rotted wood under the "bathrooms" utterly disgusting, but bills had to be paid!

Fireflynurse · Mar 25, 2016

Mortgage underwriter

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Mar 25, 2016

Telemarketer. I lasted four hours and went home in tears because of all the mean things people said to me on the phone. I couldn't blame them either, and I knew I shouldn't have taken it personally. But it still hurt, and I didn't go back for my shift the next evening.

CoryReece · Mar 25, 2016

Either a waiter at Cracker Barrel or an AT&T customer service rep.

lavenderskies, BSN · Mar 25, 2016

I have worked since I was about 13. Most of the jobs had a significant con factor but there's always a pro, something to learn and certainly a paycheck.

Salad Bar attendant at a pizzeria--spent all my time with my head under the sneeze guard or in the walk in fridge.

Ice cream scooper.....ok nothing bad about this job.

Courtesy clerk at a supermarket, in the days before they had the powered shopping cart shuttles to help push carts uphill from the parking lot.

Reception and data entry for a small business. (I hate talking on the phone).

Reception for a lawfirm (temp fill in) boring as hell.

Xerox copier for a school.

Janitorial services in a dormatory.

Reception for a school.

Self employed housekeeping (during college).

I'd have to say I hated the reception jobs and the salad bar job the most. The law firm was the worst as far as boring. The salad bar was so tedious, boring, unfufilling...ugh.