What do you think about negative comments from exp nurses about nursing?

Med409 · Sep 5, 2003

This was an interesting topic...and I wondered the same thing. It is discouraging at times...but Nursing is not the only career I hear negative statements about. I am a Medical Assistant and I heard negative comments before I started working in the field. Even though the company I worked for ..payed me practically nothing...I loved my job, the patients and it was family oriented. I am now back in school for Nursing..a serious newbie.

Anyway, I see a lot of jobs in Maryland for Nursing working all kinds of shifts.(besides the 11-7,7-3,3-11 and any other nighters). Like others say..if you put your mind to it..you can definately accomplish your goals.

YOu are always going to get downside/positive...but I see very few people that are discussing the "downfalls" leaving either. Anyway on a good note..good luck to all the soon to be Nurses and do the very best in your career.

April:D

Averykat · Sep 5, 2003

Very interesting topic, espesscially as someone just starting on the road to be an RN.

I've seen a couple of posts with people saying that they miss a lot of their children's activities, but I hardly think that nursing is the only profession where this happens.

I think it's good for people that are thinking of becoming nurses to read about what some consider to be the negative aspects of the job - that way there's not a total shock when you start working. However, I do keep in mind that most people, regardless of profession, are not totally satisfied with their job. Obviously I'm not, nor are the many other people making career changes to become RN's.

As many have said, the grass is always greener...

___

Kate

sanakruz, ADN · Sep 5, 2003

Ladies and gentlemen: it's MANAGED CARE that killing nurses and careers.

Nursing can and will evolve. It's a fundamental need we will all experience in our life times. We are all consumers of health care.

Its the way the care is distributed/delivered that will leave a sour taste in one's mouth.

I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE DENIED CARE because of inability to pay. I have seen people denied care because some claims adjuster wants to look good at the end of the month by saving their corp. money.

This is what sickens me.

I would like to feel more a part of the solution than part of the problem.

TeenyBabyRN · Sep 5, 2003

Originally posted by agent
I definitely want to be able to be there for my kids.. thats why I dropped out of pre-med..

my aunt has been an RN for 30 yrs im sure she has insight..

Agent -

You can be there for your kids as a nurse (and good for you for making this a priority!) It can be done if you make up your mind.

I have no kids, but I am able to have an active life outside of nursing.

Everyone -

There is a lot of flexibility in nursing - more so, acutally, than in any other career field I've looked into when I've thought nursing just wasn't worth it. I'm still a nurse after 7 years, by the way, I still haven't found any greener grass to graze on. I think that this is because, after 7 years as an RN, my expectations are high!

* I want to be able to work when I want - I am nauseated and cranky before 9 or 10 in the morning, so I prefer to work in the middle of the night on 11-7 or 7-7 shifts. How many other professions offer that?

* I am used to living on my current income, ($36/hr). I don't want to take a cut in pay to start over in another field.

* I love being able to explore any area of medicine I want. I have worked in ER, OR, general pediatrics, NICU, newborn nursery, PICU and trauma. I have also worked in many different units as a travel nurse. Some I really liked, some I really didn't. Different areas fit different personalities...almost everyone can find a place that appeals to them. Work environments vary as well. There are office jobs (management, MD office, etc.), adrenaline-junkie jobs (any ICU, trauma, ER, some ORs), "I get bored easily" jobs (travel nurse, agency nurse) and many others. There are, literally, too many different opportunities for RNs to list them all here. (*hint* - they don't stop with the "open positions" listing at the local hospital). Very few professions offer so many options within themselves.

All that said, nursing is not all "Rah, Rah, this is great!" I can vent along with the best of them. Sometimes I come home from work thinking, "WHY oh WHY did I become a nurse?! How could I have done this to myself??" There is a lot of crap, (a lot of it you will find in other professions as well) but there is also a lot of good that cannot be found anywhere else.

Best of luck to all of you students (and students-to-be!)

Paleobug · Sep 6, 2003

Teeny, I agree with you that there is negativety on all professions and jobs. Whenever you have to deal with management and coworkers in any type of job environment, there will always be backstabbing and politics to some degree. As I said before, there are so many opportunities in nursing, if one job environment gets too toxic you can always move on.

kids · Sep 6, 2003

I had never, in 13+ years regretted becoming a nurse.

Now that my body is wrecked I wish I hadn't but there was no way to predict 16 years ago that I was born with a defective spine that would destroy itself by the time I turned 30.

My children have told me several times that they wish I hadn't.

My 13 yo stepson's bio-Mom lives 2000 miles away, is also an RN and chose a career path 180' from mine. He says he wishes she wasn't a nurse.

My Mom got her RN when I was 6. I remember my childhood as before & after. My softball team went state 3 years in a row, the closest she ever came to seeing me play ball was my picture in the newspaper. I wish she hadn't been a nurse.

If you are considering nursing and have young children you need to consider more than just the material benefits for them. You can safely figure 8-10 years from the time you start your pre-reqs to establish you career.

It takes more than a brand new license to get the shifts & positions you want.

Think about holidays as almost no-one is immune from working them. Sure, a lot of places offer big bonuses and premium shifts to new grads, but I'll bet that fat bonus they are offering it while stepping on the necks of their experience staff.

If your goal is to travel or work agency keep in mind it will take a few years of experience to safely do those jobs.

Yes, you can walk out of one job if it sucks and there will be another one waiting, but remember, every time you do you start over at the end of the line for shifts and holidays.

babs_rn · Sep 10, 2003

Originally posted by kids-r-fun
.
Yes, you can walk out of one job if it sucks and there will be another one waiting, but remember, every time you do you start over at the end of the line for shifts and holidays.

And, unfortunately, that is EXACTLY what you have to do in order to keep your salary moving up at any significant rate...get those recruitiing salaries because once they've got you, they'll hire in new grads making more than the nurses they've had there for 10 - 20 yrs!!

renerian, BSN, RN · Sep 10, 2003

Agent actually you do have to worry about lay offs! I have been laid off 6 times as a nurse. It is not immune to lay offs. I have known lots of nurses who were laid off.

renerian

Gardengal · Sep 11, 2003

Agent,

There are layoffs from paticular jobs, but many jobs in yhe field. This makes nursing a much more stable profession than many. In no field is there true job security, but in nursing there is professional security. Jobs can disappear because of market place changes , but there are always other jobs. I am a believer in professional security.

I work with many nurses with small children and teenagers, adult children and pets. The parents with teenagers typically don't like to work Friday night shift, but those with small children find it a good shift. If you work in an area with self scheduling or schedules balanced with numbers of requests you can be there for your children....better than with many other jobs.

Yes, I get discouraged by nurses comments about the profession, but because it may decrease recruitment which is what we need. I have been a nurse for 22+ years. My husband (51yrs old) used to work warehouse and hospital storeroom, is in nursing school. Our eventual goal is traveling as nurses as we prepare for retirement. How many professions can you do something like that? If I listened to all the negative comments I would not be be pleased about my husband's 2nd career choice. I am pleased.

Gardengal

agent · Sep 11, 2003

Thank you so much from your response.

My aunt has been a nurse for 30+ years.. she says its hard but its also something you wont regret.

mother/babyRN, RN · Sep 11, 2003

As an experienced nurse I have had to bite my tongue in the way I respond to people who think or know they want to be nurses..I tell them it is tough and not something for the faint of heart, but that I respect their drive and desire to do something important...I do, however, ask them what their concept of being a nurse means, and if asked, provide the truths of what actually is vs what is imagined. If you want something badly enough, no one can or should talk you out of it, but my thought is if you can be talked out of something by someone else, it wasn't your true aspiration in the first place. Since the beginning of time people have tried to talk other people out of nursing. We are all still here...

Tilleycs · Sep 11, 2003

I'm a little divided on the negative comments. On one hand, I am VERY glad for a realistic picture of what nursing is and isn't. I definitely want the FACTS about what I'm getting myself into. If someone paints a profession as all roses, I wouldn't believe them anyway. It WOULD be nice to have a career that's a better "fit" for me, and that's why I'm interested in learning about nursing.

If someone came to me asking what it's like in the computer field, I'd try to give them a realistic picture so they can know what to REALLY expect (which is NOT what you hear on the radio commercials for computer classes - "I've got a friend who got her degree and got a job making ninety million dollars a year!" Right. And my grandmother's a werewolf...). It took me years to discover what to expect and what NOT to expect from the computer field.

Sometimes when I read negative comments, it's hard to distinguish what comes ONLY with nursing, what comes with ANY career, and what comes from life (if that makes sense). I think there's some disillusionment that happens at some point in every person's life, regardless of what they've achieved or what career they've chosen. People can also ADD stress to their lives by making bad choices (getting in debt, drugs/alcohol, bad relationship choices, etc.), and your home life affects EVERYTHING. Sometimes it's hard to sort it out in people's posts.

The complaining DOES get a little much sometimes. I've worked with engineers who make $50/60K a year who did nothing but complain about the company they CHOSE to work for. I understand that people need to vent sometimes, but for people to continually grind the same axe against their chosen profession...sometimes you wonder what they really want or what would really make them happy (if anything). Again, it may have as much to do with their outside lives as much as work stuff.

People will always chase the "hot" fields. A few years ago, it was the computer field. My girlfriend is an OR nurse and has been a great resource, but I don't want to be a nurse because she's a nurse. I've thought about it for years, and I'm heading toward it, albeit slowly (I work 40+ hours a week, so I can only take one night course a semester, and I'm getting my prerequisites out of the way right now).