To those who like their nursing job....

Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2014

I love my job. I work in a small community ER. We have no techs or CNAs, and only one doctor at a time. We enjoy great teamwork and really nice patients who are frequently expressing their appreciation for what we do.

That doesn't mean I don't occasionally have frustrations- that definitely happens. But overall, I love my workplace and I no longer dread going to work. Sometimes going to work is inconvenient, like if it's a really nice sunny day and I have gardening to do, but that's about as bad as it gets.

How did I get this job? When I decided to relocate, I started looking for jobs in the area I wanted to relocate to. I only applied for jobs that I would actually be willing to do for at least one year. I interviewed at 3 different facilities and received job offers at two of them. I chose the one that just felt right. It's a long commute, and combined with the 12 hour days, it makes for a tiring day, but it's totally worth it to have the job satisfaction that I enjoy.

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Apr 7, 2014

Level 1 trauma ER, it's not perfect, but most days are awesome. I see crazy things, get to help take care of the toe pain to the super septic to the post death defying accidents. Everyday challenges me, I learn new things. Everyone has different loves, you have to find what you like.

NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN · Apr 7, 2014

Another emergency nurse. I completely love my job. I've been a little burnt out lately but fortunately have a few days off soon to recover.

rumwynnieRN · Apr 7, 2014

I work MedSurg, and I love my job. I know a lot of people leave nursing school thinking, "I don't want to be a floor nurse." I didn't really know what I wanted after nursing school, and while I was curious about Critical Care, I wasn't totally "pulled" to it. Now that I've worked the floor for a little bit, it's not nearly as boring as it was in nursing school (I have between 4-6 patients unless I'm pulled to the IMU where I get between 2 and 4).

Katie71275 · Apr 7, 2014

I love my job! I work Labor and Delivery. I graduated May 2013 and went straight into it. I love laboring patients and when their new baby is given to them.. It's very special. Not all days are great, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. I also generally have 1-2 patients only, so that's a plus also :)

Dranger · Apr 7, 2014

Depends on my run and the day. I go up and down with a like/hate feel. One thing is for sure...I can't do bedside forever.

allnurses Guide · Apr 7, 2014

I love many things about my job. I love:

The autonomy I work under

The camaraderie between myself and my coworkers.

The interaction with the physicians and other specialties (PT, OT, RT) in caring for our patients together

The feeling I get when a patient asks if I will be back again tomorrow

The feeling I get when an anxious family member feels comfortable opening up to m

The feeling I get when a fellow nurse says to me "If I were sick, I would want you to be my nurse"

The critical thinking aspect and the Aha! moments when pieces start falling into place

The times I advocate for my patient and the doctor actually listens to me and takes my observations under advisement.

The ability to continually improve my practice and advance my knowledge base

The ability to recognize where I was two years ago versus today and how I have grown and improved as a nurse and, frankly, as a human being.

Making sick people laugh

Making tired coworkers laugh

Food. (this is a love/hate thing but for whatever reason there is always plenty of it on the floor!)

Scrubs with lots of pockets and some stretch to the material

The diversity of my workplace

allnurses Guide · Apr 7, 2014

I could keep on editing and adding things. I really do like my job. Is it perfect? No way. Some days are just plain bad days, like any other job. In nursing, bad days tend to come with a high level of stress and sense of being pulled in a lot of directions at once, not to mention heavy emotion. And sometimes a few of those come all in a row. However, for the most part my job is a good one in which I feel as if what I do for a living matters beyond the paycheck, which is the whole reason I got into this in the first place. I am fulfilled by my life's work. Not every day, week, month, second....but the overall rhythm of it is happy and gives me a sense of purpose.

I have noticed the "bad" shifts are cyclical. I always know once I have had one that I will have some good shifts coming up. And, conversely, I also know if things have been pretty good for a while, I am due for a bad one. Knowing that helps me be less shocked by it and less pressured.

whichone'spink, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2014

Now I've found a job that I actually enjoy going to for the most part. It's not perfect, by any means. I work weekends and during the day there is no nurse aide, although someone just got hired supposedly. So that makes it hard to do what I have to do plus make sure my patients get washed up and whatnot. But it's not all bad because a lot of my patients are minimal assist. Also, a lot of my patients don't require turning or repositioning so my back is not as stiff as it used to be. We encourage patients to get out of bed on their own by teaching them the techniques instead of doing it for them. This is important because my floor gets post CABG patients. They need to get their butts out of bed and work towards independence. On occasion, we do get total care max assist patients. A lot of times though, if those patients have been ruled out for anything cardiac, then they can get transferred to a med surg floor, where they have more staff for those hard patients.

I do wish, being a cardiac floor, that we had more autonomy. Although this floor is a step up above med surg hell, it's still a low autonomy floor. I know I won't stay on this floor forever.

idialyze, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2014

I love my chronic dialysis job, I've done dialysis 20 years now, and I can't imagine doing anything else. My clinic is owned by a hospital, rather then one of the 2 big dialysis conglomerates, and this makes it a lot easier to work at.

I love seeing my patients 3 days a week, getting to know them, and make them feel better.

I also love going home and locking the door at night, no call!

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Apr 7, 2014

I love my job. I've actually loved almost all of my jobs in nursing: PACU, ICU, gen surg, case management, clinical specialist, instructor, transport, consultant, disease management, author, editor, expert witness, transplant, staff, management, boss, camp nurse ... .

Reading this thread brings to mind the famous quote that most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.