What do you like about your job?

Tweety, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2006

I had a few sleepless nights in nursing school.

Critical thinking comes with time and experience, so don't expect that of yourself in school and even that first year.

However, it's a stressful and demanding profession and we have to find some way to deal and cope with the stress. A few sleepless nights and headaches are normal here and there while in school and that first year or so, but eventually we learn to cope.

TazziRN, RN · Oct 31, 2006

The adrenalin rush, the satisfaction of knowing I made a difference.

Don't worry about the critical thinking, that won't come until you've been practicing for a while. As for your legs and back, have you tried different shoes? I had a hard time with leg pain when I was in school and I knew the problem was the shoes. I was limited though, since we had to wear "nursing shoes" and were not allowed to wear white sports shoes, which made all the difference for me my first years out. Since then I've found even better ones, by SAS. They're expensive but worth it.

saudi-nurse · Oct 31, 2006

i am like u i love helping people anway i am stell steudient 2 get tired easily but i like 2 help people alot and specialy in my country it is rare 2 have saudi nurse so the other nurses will not understand the patient like us anyway u will get use 2 it

Sisukas · Oct 31, 2006

Talk with the RNs on your clinical floors about shoes and what measures they take. Remember that you need to sit for some time every hour and put your feet up, and don't forget support hose. They rock. You can also talk with physical therapists about measures to protect your back. I always put the bed up to my height now, for instance...often without thinking about it. It's just a habit. And I haven't had a back injury in 5 years as a CNA, five years as an LVN, and 6 years as an RN.

As for your sleepless nights, everyone has them. That knowledge doesn't make you feel better at 2 AM, I know, but they will decrease. Remember that there's one good thing about nurses eating their young...if you've done anything horrible in clinical, you'll hear about it pretty fast. If you were great during clinical you may not hear about that and that's the bad thing. If you hear nothing, you did well. As the others have said, the critical thinking only comes with time. And, in my experience, with doing a million of those care plans. Eventually it comes together. Don't look at care planning as tasks; look at it as the outline of your day, and apply a mental image of your most memorable patient to the diagnosis that you're working on.

My favorite part of the job? Depends on the day. Sometimes it's making someone feel better, sometimes it's making the student or the extern feel that they were valuable; sometimes it's walking out the door.

Moneypitt · Oct 31, 2006

I am sorry but I don't very much like nursing right now. But what I like about being a nurse is what I have learned about sickness, injury, treatments, medications, and human nature.

I can pretty much handle almost any crisis calmly now. I can hold my temper and speak in a low voice even when I am very angry. I can usually judge a person's character with uncanny accuracy within a few moments of meeting them. And I know who is lying to me. All good skills to have.

knockandhello · Oct 31, 2006

Right now it's my days off

MIA-RN1, RN · Oct 31, 2006

I love the chance to interact and teach my patients. I feel like its an honor to care for them at such a time in their lives.

I have fibromyalgia and now some arthritis and I understand what you mean about pain after standing. I just kept trying shoes until I found good ones and I often take ibuprofen before work. I also try to sleep and eat well when I can.

I did not like clinicals in nursing school, not at all. I was nervous, insomniac and sick to my stomach. That doesn't mean I didn't want to be a nurse, it was just a symptom of the pressure I felt being a student nurse.

My day as a nurse has ups and downs. Sometimes its fine. Everyone is stable and stays that way. Then there are times like last week, where I had patients with hemorrhages for three nights in a row (different patients). Its unpredictable which I like and dislike at the same time. I like not doing the same thing every day, but I do like to at least have a heads-up before the proverbial feces hit the fan.

Nursing is like nothing else and I love it.

Pucca · Oct 31, 2006

Thanks for all the inputs. :)