ughhh... Hail all the floor nurses

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As a floor nurse myself (7 months new), I sometimes look at the seasoned nurses (10+) who have only done floor and just wonder how insane are these people...

Yesterday at my CDU, I had a report from ER nurse and he tells me "oh boy, I always tell others that I will NEVER do floor nursing" to which I replied "let it be assured, this is my LAST floor nursing job I will ever have." (chuckle)

While in school, I remember saying to myself that I will not get into OR because I will "lose all the nursing" (belief I do not hold anymore), but now, the only place I WANT to get into is OR or Cath lab. No doubt I will have stressful times there too, but I can't say there are many departments that will burn out a nurse as fast as a medsurg floor. I would love some 8 hr days. I also love working with one patient at a time, not 6, and thankfully they will be knocked out too.

Anyway, I salute all the floor nursing colleagues, and hope your best to go or stay where you please, and find the job that you will finally "love."

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

I am a floor nurse and I can't imagine leaving.I work with some that have done floor nursing 25+ years.

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Specializes in ED.

Even though I'm not a floor nurse now, I worked med/surg for 1.5 years, and I can see what they appeal would be for those who would continue to work it. It isn't a bad job at all and I kinda liked it too. I think I'm trying to say that there are many nurses who love working on the floor.

On the same line, I can't imagine working in the OR.

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Specializes in Gerontology.

I love being a floor nurse. I could never work in ER or OR.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

For a lot of us, interaction with our (conscious) patients is the best part of our job.

My forays into the OR have been limited to operating an IABP but even then, I have had the experience of having to dodge a scalpel hurled by a truculent surgeon. Wasn't actually thrown at anyone, but it was an impressive hissy-fit. No one else even raised an eyebrow at his behavior, so maybe they were so used to it that they had better dodging reflexes than I did.

I have done a stint in Cath Lab... those patients are NOT completely sedated. But my knees and back quickly rebelled at the lead aprons & it became very boring and monotonous in a very short time.

Luckily, nursing provides a lot of different work settings. There's something for everyone. I hope you find your niche soon.

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I laughed pretty hard at Houtx reply, ah I did hear about some mad surgeons, but to fling a live scalpel that could inflict such a damage, I laughed hard! Back to the post, I think sharing ideas is very important, because I already have few colleagues that present the opposite reaction towards floor nursing than mine, and therefore makes me rethink that everyone indeed is different.

I do appreciate the nature of our profession in versatility, that we can actually find our niche because nursing is very broad. I have coworkers who are new, who are seasoned, who have been supervisors, managers, PICC nurses, Dialysis, from every venues of nursing... makes me truly think that everyone is different; although I am not a fan of floor, good to believe that others are!

I used to only want to work in ER because of its chaotic character, exitement, adrenaline, unpredictability, but after working on floors that make you run all the time with tasks, and no downtime, I just want to end up somewhere simple and nice (and no one wants to admit, but we all know there are departments/work settings that are considerably "easier" and more "sit around" than others).

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Specializes in Anesthesia, ICU, PCU.

I'm done with people (non-nursing) saying over and over how they "couldn't do what you (nurses) do day in and day out." I don't know why. I should appreciate that somebody is acknowledging that my job is hard, right? Still it just bugs me...

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Specializes in family practice and school nursing.

I did not like floor nursing. I did love the drs office (primary care) and now like school nursing too.

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I work as a floor nurse on mother baby and Love it!!! I can't imagine myself doing anything else. I've done ICU and ER and it was not my thing!!!! I was either overstressed or completely bored. The beauty about nursing is that there is room for all of us. Hope you get into your desired area!

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Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.
I'm done with people (non-nursing) saying over and over how they "couldn't do what you (nurses) do day in and day out." I don't know why. I should appreciate that somebody is acknowledging that my job is hard right? Still it just bugs me...[/quote']

Lol! I know exactly what you mean. It kind of irks me also. Like they are complimenting you but saying I'm glad I'm not you.

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@prnqday: isn't mother/baby kind of a specialty? or at least that's what I thought that was, in fact I thought anything L&D, OB/GYN related was a specialty... anyways, when I listen to people say that our job is hard, I chuckle inside and think "you have no idea how 'hard' is." It's like a nursing student thinking nursing is hard, and an acutal nurse thinking nursing is hard; shoot, I had not the slightest idea how much work and responsibilities RNs were in charge of when I was a student.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I'm done with people (non-nursing) saying over and over how they "couldn't do what you (nurses) do day in and day out." I don't know why. I should appreciate that somebody is acknowledging that my job is hard, right? Still it just bugs me...

Hey that just happened to me today. When I was emptying a drain..ok not too bad.

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