What to you like about being a nurse?

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 22, 2011

Oh, to be new again...wait until you have been working a while. It is far too easy to get burned out in nursing. The responsibilities are endless. The paycheck is good and the few good things you can remember from patient care...are priceless. :)

I don't doubt that it won't be rough, but if I get to a point where I can't find one positive thing about my job, than I will leave it. I have had many co-nurses and that have worked for 10+ years and still love their job, had nothing but a positive experience with them and you could tell they truly enjoyed what they did. Not every aspect, but majority of it. I have been fortunate to have great Clinical Instructors that were the same way. My last one has been a nurse for 20+ years and is now a NP in the hospital. She praises those of us students that had the same ideas and attitude I said in my previous post saying that she wishes more nurses would take back on this attitude, that she has been doing this a long time and she still loves nursing for the same reasons. That if you start to feel burnt out it's time to take a vacation.

I have been through a lot of things in my life and I always try to find the silver lining and I tend to not hold on to things, so I am hopeful that I will be able to carry this into my career. I have had the mentality of "making a difference in someones life" long before I considered going into nursing.

BUT I have been on AN since my pre req days and I graduate in May, so I know I will still be here in a few years when I have been working a while. I will come back and update if I am still enjoying MOST of what I do

mama_d, BSN, RN · Mar 23, 2011

I love helping people get better...or, when it's no longer possible, helping them through the end of life process.

I love the connection you get with some of the patients. We just had someone who was re-admitted, who I had cared for several times, from getting his cancer diagnosis through chemo issues to dialysis. I had no idea he was re-admitted; he heard my voice from down the hall and came out to find me and tell me that he and his wife still remember and appreciate all the conversations we'd had about cancer and dealing with it. That's the kind of thing that keeps me going back. It was especially nice b/c I was in the middle of dealing with a witch of a family member for another pt.

My nightshift co-workers are, generally speaking, the best. I'm so lucky to work with the group that I do. We know how to work as a team, have fun, handle whatever crisis may arise. (OK, there's a couple who are lazy and whiny, but I try hard to focus on the 90% who rock.) There are several of us who have worked together for 5+ years, and when we have to respond to a situation it's as close to seamless as you can get.

I love the responsibility and the recognition that I get. The fact that others who I work with trust my opinion and come to me for help or advice, and that preceptors send the new nurses my way with questions makes me warm and fuzzy inside. I love to teach and share what knowledge I've gained over the years.

I love the constant learning, and stretching what you know. There are always new things going on in the field, new research being done, etc. Heck, when I first started nursing, Troponins and BNPs weren't even in my lab manual from school...now they're two of the most common diagnostic labs we run on my floor.

Mostly, though, I love it that even with as bad as it gets some shifts, I enjoy my job enough to go in for the next shift with a smile on my face.