What field of nursing would you NEVER consider working?

Dixen81 · Nov 23, 2003

Originally posted by LINUS
Med/Surg... I absolutely hate it! I'm a new grad, and I've only been doing it for five months, but that's five months of pure hell. I can't stand it. I've taken up smoking just for the mere fact that nothing else would calm my nerves before I go to work. I never wanted to work there in the first place, but the teachers at my school said it was the best place to start. Well, I started there, and it's making me rethink the whole nursing profession... I just took a job in mother/baby and will be starting in December. I hope I like it better!!

Good luck in your new job, LINUS! Being happy in what you do is so important to your well-being. Take care! :kiss

SmilingBluEyes · Nov 23, 2003

never say never is my motto.

i never know when i may NEED to work a given place to keep food on the table.

Love-A-Nurse · Nov 23, 2003

although there are other areas of nursing, psych would be at the top of the list i would not care to work in.

amycar11 · Nov 23, 2003

eversince i was a child, i never wanted to be in ANY medical course...

but, here i am... already in my last year of Nursing School...

i joined an extemporaneous speaking contest in my school and my question was: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE AND GREATEST REWARD OF A NURSE IN TODAY'S AGE AND ERA... i blew it BIGTIME...!! :eek: :eek: :eek: i answered "my own personal challenge and greatest reward" i was "selfish" and i did not take the answer in general...

it just showed that unconsciously, i still don't want to be in nursing... although i find extreme pleasure in caring for patients to some degree and knowing that i made them comfortable and i did something good...

( i like having my duty in PSYCH,OR-DR,MICU)

my heart is still crying out... i'm not for nursing...

i want to bail out... but i love my parents and i don't want to disappoint them... i know that they just want what's best for me...

i've been having ambivalent feelings since then... it's just terrible...

Emperess · Nov 23, 2003

I couldn't do peds (babies, maybe; teens, no prob) but not those toddler/early school-age kids, ever since this experience in nursing school....

Clinicals, county hospital, peds ED - spanish-speaking only 7 yo girl brought in by mom, grandma w/ c/o blood in urine. Need to do a straight cath for specimen, right? U/S speaks spanish and explains procedure, rationale (at least, we hope?), then leaves room. The RN and I speak limited spanish, so we know enough to give instructions, and "Esta bien" - hardly comfort and caring explanations, soft words to the poor girl.

So the RN needs me and one other to help hold the girls legs apart so she can do the cath. The one other available was a med student, cool. The med student happened to be a rather tall, muscular (this guy was just huge overall) black man. Pretty imposing especially considering his role of holding apart a small (nude) girls legs who doesn't know the language, doesn't know what we're doing or why, her mother/grandmother are sitting in the room doing nothing to stop it, and is screaming and crying inconsolably.

All I can figure is she is old enough to know that that area is supposed to be private and there is something very wrong with this picture, and plenty old enough to form permanent memories, but not old enough to understand why this is necessary, etc.

I was close to tears myself and was horrified at my imaginations of the psychological trauma to this little girl. I swore off ever having to do with anything remotely invasive with this age group - I can't take it emotionally.

I'll stay in adult ICU, thank you - at least they know (mostly) that I am not there to hurt them.

Pamelita · Nov 23, 2003

Hmmm... I think I will never do NICU, or PICU, little babies sick are so sad... plus parents 24/7..to much...

OR, I hate standing up and the whole gowning.

I think I will try ER, OB and even pych.

So far I have only done med/surge respiratory and I love it. Tracheostomies and vents rule!!

Tweety, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2003

Originally posted by SmilingBluEyes
never say never is my motto.

i never know when i may NEED to work a given place to keep food on the table.

Exactly. Never say never is my motto as well.

However, it is very unlikely that I would work pediatrics or ob. Don't like that mother-baby stuff.

Love grown ups and love med-surg. Although I might lean towards critical care (which not a decade ago I swore I would never do.)

jacolaur · Nov 23, 2003

Post #71

quote:

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Originally posted by Erin RN

Respiratory!! When I was in school I was cleaning a trach of a guy with lung CA a big chunk flew out and hit me the chest...that was it...

Erin

OMG.... Erin, the same thing happened to me...I worked first shift at a neuro step down unit. I was starting my shift out by suctioning the trache of a poor man who was a quad.......he coughed.. big mucus plug flew into my hair and everywhere....I calmly looked and thought, Airway open (obviously),Breathing (check), color,(probably better than mine)....put everthing down and ran to the bathroom to try not to upchuck...I don't know why, I could clean up doodie, barf, and bloody dressings...but mucus....oh man that would kill me.....that was 20 years ago and it still haunts me to write about it.... :imbar

lmd32 · Nov 23, 2003

my heart is still crying out... i'm not for nursing...

i want to bail out... but i love my parents and i don't want to disappoint them... i know that they just want what's best for me...

oh, amy, i'm so sorry. it's awful to put a lot of time and effort into a field, only to realize it's not for you. all i can say is that nursing is an incredibly diverse profession and there is probably an area you will love even if you haven't found it in school. don't worry about being "selfish", we all are and would be crazy if we weren't. think about what you said in that presentation and look around and see if there's an area of nursing that fits your wants and needs. best of luck to you.

Kizomo · Nov 23, 2003

I will never, EVER, go back to the ER. I spent my last 3 months of training at a large, inner city hospital, in the ER. I didn't really like it too much, then, on my last night there, we had the first rains of the season, and multiple MVAs. At one point during the night, we had 4 young men (under age 35) arresting at the same time, and only 2 defibrillators (this was over 20yrs ago, when defibs were quite new). We lost 3 of those 4. Then, to top off the night, as we were leaving, the police accompany an ambulance carrying another body... that of their co-worker they had just said good bye to at the start of their shift... he was in an accident on his way home from work. Nope... I will never go back to ER as a nurse, and hopefully not as a pt either. Tracy!

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Nov 23, 2003

:eek: Wow, Kizomo. No wonder you don't want to work in the ER! An experience like that could scare the socks off of anyone, let alone a student.

Mt least favorite area is Onchology. It's too depressing. Too many people die too often from that ugly body eating disease. :nono:

However, my favorite area is Mother/Baby. That's usually a happy place, and I love to handle those little munchkins.

LuvbabiesRN · Nov 23, 2003

I think think of lots of areas i will (hopefully ) never do..

MED/Surg.. 6 patients??? no way.. plus i hate ortho stuff..

Ltc...give me acutely ill pts.. hate ltc

OR... i personally like to see my patients awake... at some point during the shift... plus i hate the cold twighlight zoneness of it too and i defintely cant stand up and stand still for 8 hrs... although u see some cool stuff... esp heart surgeries.

PSYCH... no way.. i need tubes drains and IVs.. dont like all the PTSD stuff

Dialysis (sp?)...boring...

Management..... paperwork?? no thanks... pt care is what makes nursing interesting..

Im not much for respiratory either.. and trachs scare me to death .. i cringe every time i have a trach pt...