What nursing field do you think is easiest and hardest?

NP Sam · Jan 31, 2012

Easiest: When you clock out no matter what specialty you choose.

Hardest: When you clock back in.

I respect what every nurse does. A couple times I have been told by some nurses I have talked with that all we nurses do in the OR is "fetch things." I am SO glad no one has said that here:nono:

No nursing job is easy. Ignore the commercials.

HIMtoRN2b · Jan 31, 2012

I suppose desk jobs are easy. But every job has it's stresses and difficulties.

Yes, every job does have it's stresses. I work in data analysis in an NICU right now and that is a very stressful job at times. I also hate being at a desk. Physically it is easy but then at the same time being sedentary for 8-10 hours a day causes its own set of problems.

I think for the original question the easiest is what you have a passion for. I'm in the nursing school application process right now but I worked as a clinician in sports medicine in my previous career (before kids) and in a level III NICU now in the health information management side of it. I know I have a passion for learning neuro trauma and all of the science that goes with it, especially neonatal neurotrauma. I could see myself in a NICU for sure but I could also see myself on the neuro unit or maybe L&D. What I cannot imagine is anything outside of a pediatric hospital but once I am doing clinicals I am certain those experiences will open my eyes to new interests. One area I know I could not work in is a burn unit and also psych. I wouldn't mind staying out of ID and wound care either, but burn units are a no-go and so is psych. I know I'll have to suck it up through school and deal with those things, but I could not do it on a long-term basis. The hardest for me would be a pediatric ER for the emotional side of it.

I think you'll be amazed at what interests you once you're actually doing it. I have no doubt my own interests will change along the way. If you had told me a year ago that I'd be spending weekends absorbing every detail of hypoxic ischemic encephalopath and hypothermia therapy, I would have said you had a hypoxic event yourself.

Vinniesguy · Jan 31, 2012

Actually found my psych placement quite hard as I just felt I was banging my head against a brick wall and they always made me work with this awful woman with a personality disorder because no-one else wanted to!CCU I found difficult too but that was probably more because I didn't like it as a specialty - just wasn't for me.Post surgical rehab was a bit of a doddle

Artistyc1 · Jan 31, 2012

I worked Mother Baby for a lot of years, it can be very difficult. Some hospitals get a lot of crack mothers, and addicts to other drugs these days, and they often have enough difficulty taking care of themselves, much less taking care of the baby. Also, some babies can go "bad" very quickly. Cutbacks have increased numbers that will be managed by each nurse. Many mothers are very demanding , as the public knows their rights, ( customer service model , you know!) and since they are not "ill", are often more likely to report care that they see as "substandard" than a very ill patient or their family will. One of the worst patients I remember in my entire career was a very demanding mother that seemed to believe that I was her private nurse, and jokingly referred to me as such to her family. (I had 5 mothers and 4 babies to tend to that shift.) When her requested apple juice came later than to her taste, due to someone else's choking baby being rushed to NICU, she reported her displeasure to my supervisor, who promptly threw me under a bus to placate her. The next day, I did not get in to change her linens soon enough, (her day of discharge!) and was reported again, this time to the director of nursing, and my supervisor had the same reaction as the day before. It is never the patient's problem that you have to prioritize duties. I finally, after 25 years experience in Maternal Newborn nursing, decided it was time to leave the hospital for good, and I will never forget that particular patient's outrageous selfishness. I became a school nurse, and am very happy with it. It is NOT easy, there are many family problems with our children to deal with, but for the most part, though I am working very hard, and the pay is not very good, I am doing well by my kids here. This gives me great satisfaction.

lovelyb26 · Jan 31, 2012

Really Psych nursing, ez! Really???? NOOOOOOOOOOOO....try providing care to a pt who is combative and manages to remove your scrub top, from your body, on the floor...true story...

Oh my. Please explain to me how this happened?

RNsRWe, ASN, RN · Jan 31, 2012

Easiest job in nursing: when you have no patients, no responsibilities, and can read a book for eight hours.....oh, wait, that's my DREAM job! LOL....sorry, this one doesn't exist.

Hardest job in nursing: the one that you don't really want to go to, that keeps you away from doing what you'd really prefer. Anything that makes you keep looking at the clock in a "countdown to clock-out" mode.

So that means that the hardest areas in nursing are med-surg, ER, maternity, psych, tele/cardiac, ICU, ambulatory clinic, management.....etc......etc.....

zorabanks · Feb 1, 2012

Oh, it didn't happen to me but another nurse. I have zero desire to work in that area...I think I would hate it!

zorabanks · Feb 1, 2012

Oh my. Please explain to me how this happened?

Sure, manic ambulatory patient refusing to take her meds, caught up with the nurse she was chasing...LOL...poor nurse.

Despareux · Feb 1, 2012

For me, psych was the hardest. It was soooo mentally draining.

L&D was the easiest. Most of the patients [and their babies] are healthy and just want a safe place to have their babies.

But all areas of nursing have some form of stress.

DixieRedHead, ASN, RN · Feb 1, 2012

Probably not a whole lot of people are going to agree with me. Although the physical work is hardest, the ER is easiest mentally. ;No constant calling a doctor, no begging for orders, no waiting for lab results. Of course there is the dealing with the drug seekers and the mothers who had an MVA, and the baby that is giggling and wants the baby "checked out" (I think this means full body scan, not sure). But that's just the breaks of the game.

If they are jerks and even if they're not, they are gone quickly.

Vinniesguy · Feb 1, 2012

Probably not a whole lot of people are going to agree with me. Although the physical work is hardest, the ER is easiest mentally. ;No constant calling a doctor, no begging for orders, no waiting for lab results. Of course there is the dealing with the drug seekers and the mothers who had an MVA, and the baby that is giggling and wants the baby "checked out" (I think this means full body scan, not sure). But that's just the breaks of the game.
If they are jerks and even if they're not, they are gone quickly.

A friend of mine works in ER because he finds it easy - a lot more autonomy and plenty of security if anyone kicks off. He found oncology/chemo the hardest because you have to accredited for absolutely everything and it takes weeks/months before you can actually get on and be a nurse!

allnurses Guide · Feb 2, 2012

I have a fair amount of experience with geriatrics and it kinda seems like the same thing... The aids are always the ones changing the beds, giving baths, etc. I understand the RNs do it sometimes if need be but not usually. It does make the job considerably easier when you have someone to pass off those type of tasks to.

Actually, those things are not the "hard" things.

If I could do only those things and get paid like a nurse, I'd be happy as a clam.

Unfortunately, they tend to staff us poorly and the techs really have their hands full just trying to maintain safety.

The following list is no exaggeration of our day and any nurse on any unit will share these same bug-a-boos:

*It's the paperwork paper work paperwork!!!!!! (I despise paperwork. Rather clean poop. Serious.)

*It's the phone that never stops ringing... usually pt families wasting your time instead of just visiting.

*It's the stoopid know-it-all therapists/techs/counselors that know nothing about drugs trying to tell you how to medicate a pt ("um... hello... do you know as much about working an ambu bag as you think you do about meds, because what you are telling me to do and what this pt's body can handle does not jibe!!!").

*It's being the middle man between everybody and the punching bag for every wanked off pt, family member, doctor and whoever else decides to let loose.

*It's trying to get the internist to call you back and then having to dig back into the pt's past medical hx all the way back to 19-frigging-72 because the doc is uber-paranoid about getting sued... again.

*It's trying to get the psychiatrist to call you back because he won't order any PRN's for anxiety or agitation and we've exhausted all non-pharm interventions... please call back... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

*It's trying to draw blood on a biter and insert a catheter in a hitter.

*It's taking down the 6'4" 275# Vietnam Vet who is putting up a dang good fight with the staff... oh... and we're short-staffed on male MHC's and PCT's... good luck on that one ladies!

*When you're trying to verify your meds, answer the phone, take orders from the doc and there are your 3 high fall-risk pt's taking turns trying to stand up and walk. It's like playing Wack-a-Mole. You sit one down, the other pops up... chair alarms going off like crazy... the tune of "Yankee Doodle" piercing the unit and haunting your dreams.

*Pt's screaming at the top of their lungs and the manic who won't leave the nurse's station and cannot shut up!!

*Spit and pee and poop. Wash. Rinse. Spit and pee and poop. Wash. Rinse. Spit...

*Pt's eating the styrofoam cups, hiding puke under the bed and dancing on the tables.

I'm serious.

GeroPsych is mightily feared in our hospital...

Phew! I guess I just needed to let off some steam!