Whats to Enjoy about Nursing?

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm a student and have been reading up on some of these forums and many, many nurses would leave their jobs if they didn't need the money. Everyone continually talks about how stressful their jobs are based on scheduling, continuing education, pay scales, nurse/patient ratio...etc. I was wondering..why do nurses even bother with work? Why don't they switch professions into something less demanding and as good of pay? What makes you get up in the morning (or evening or night!) to go to work?

Specializes in pedi, disabilities, school, geri, home.

The fact of the matter really is this, for anyone who really is thinking of becoming a member of one of the most noble professions, if it truly was as bad as all of the complaining you have heard through all the faceless, nameless complaints of this venue there would not be anyone in the profession.

There are many reasons why there is a shortage. Yes, it is true conditions have become worse over the years for nurses with new regulations creating more paper work, more than ever nurses have to cover our a_ _ now, although the pay may sound excellent, many look at what they give up in order to get that pay. There are other professions that pay women just as well, if not better.

Also, there is a shortage of nursing teachers, which has created waiting lists in many of our nursing schools, which has driven potential nursing students into other fields because they do not want to stall there careers 2 to 3.

Years ago, this is hard to believe for all you younger people, there were not many professions available to women outside of nursing and teaching. Today a woman can be almost anything she wants so, of course, there will be a shortage for that reason alone. When a woman can become something else that pays her more, for better hours which are more conducive to family life, well this profession has lost those women to those professions.

Anyway, there still are nurses practicing, new grads right along side us seasoned nurses with longevity.

The point is if it were all that bad there would be no hospitals, nursing homes, or any health care facilities that could function without the services of the many nurses who are practicing and loving it.

So, for all of you who do hear those who are griping, take it with a grain of salt and remember that someday your venting may have a negative impact on someone too. Someone else's opinion of the profession should never have an impact on your noble ideas. We all have bad days when we wonder if we have made a difference to someone.

Until you walk in that person's shoes you will never know what they have dealt with. It is not only MDs who see death, sickness, disability, sadness and disappointment. More often than not it is the nurse who will deal with it more than any MD. So, when you hear someone complaining keep that in mind. They may just need to get it out for the moment. And maybe for a brief period of time they do not want to be a nurse for various reasons. But just maybe they love what they are doing underneath all the layers of frustration they have been dealing with for so long, and all they need is a place to come and bounce there feelings off of to have other nurses help them figure that out. Or maybe they just need a vacation to re-group, take a deep breath and exhale all the negativity away.

Someday when you are a nurse for a length of time you will understand what it is like to feel the frustrations, and the days you just want to run away, but you know you can not because you have other nurses, and CNAs and even families looking to you for strength and leadership. A nurse wears many hats in one day every day. So, go easy on the ones who come here to complain, they just need a break, a place to figure it all out.

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Just a few years ago I said I loved being a nurse. There's been a lot of changes in my job this year and in my life - the loss of my youngest child which I think really changes your perspective and tolerance. It's been 3 years now and I'm finally starting to get that back but for a while it was just a paycheck.

I am sorry for your great loss- I am a mother of 3 teens and pray I never know your pain, but rest assured, if you and your child love the Lord you will be together for all eternity one day. God bless you-

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Specializes in med/surg, ER, SDS.

I can relate and I have only been a nurse for 4 years. I work in a small 25 bed facility where the nurses that have been there forever make it very difficult for the new ones. There are 10 RNs in all. They question all of our judgements when infact we are doing just fine and our evals suck- no constructive critizism, just critizism. I work with one other nurse at night plus an aide and whatever comes to the ER is ours, if we are so inadequate why the hell are we in charge?! Sorry i guess I had to vent.

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Specializes in telemetry, cardiopulmonary stepdown, LTC. Hospice.

Heck, I have days where I don't want to get up for clinical, or something new is scaring the crap out of me...but I have decided that being afraid is not a reason to run. It's a reason to be careful, but just because I am afraid and don't want to get out of bed, put that silly uniform on, and head to clinical doesn't mean it's not important and that I shouldn't do it. I spent years running away from what was challenging or frightening to me. No more.

And I totally understand people just needing to vent. Who doesn't? I have said things to my best friend about the trials and tribulations of being a mom, a wife, or whatever, that if anyone else heard it they would think really badly of me. But as has been said, it was only that sometimes you have to get out the "bad gunky"-to use Stephen King's phrase from his new bookl"Lisey's Story".

Cara

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:saint: I could not agree with you more!For every bad day there are so many rewards.And if you're tired of the "politics" and the MD's and no longer want to deal with the families, ther is always nnight shift, which is what I did and never regreted it for a minute.In fact it helped me to remember why I chose nursing. It gave me time to work at a more even pace,to actually sit and talk to some of my patients.Granted, there were many hectic nites,code after code,patient going bad in one room while someone else is in need of tlc....well it all comes with the territory.As with any job, if you can't stand the heat........it's time to leave.I have worked with some of the most compassionate nurses you'll ever find & I have also worked with some of the most bitter,cold-hearted,uncaring ones (some of which I told they should get out) It is truly stressful,absolutely wears on your mind,body & soul, but if at the end of the day/nite you helped just one human being....isn't it worth while? Any comments from anyone?

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Specializes in telemetry, cardiopulmonary stepdown, LTC. Hospice.

I agree with you, code50. Last week I took care of an unresponsive man who had Lewy Body Dementia (combo of Alzheimer's and Parkison's). I took care of his bed bath and linen change (which from the record on the trifolds had not been done for the past three days), got him into his new gown, did the basic assessment (where I heard crackles in his lungs that were so loud they could not be missed, even though everyone had put on his prior assessments that his lung sounds were clear), and then decided that his mouth was in terrible shape, so I did oral care. He was all gunky, but I cleared all that out (yeah, it was gross, you get over it and just do it. Would I want someone leaving ME like that if it was me, and it might be one day). At the end of it all, I took his blood pressure a second time...I always do it at the beginning and at the end of my AM care with unresponsive people. My instructor asked me why I do that when the vitals only need to be taken every 2 hours and I said that it's the only way that person has of telling me I did a good job...their only way of communicating with me. At the beginning of AM care his blood pressure was 136/89 with resp at 22, at the end it was 120/76 with resp at 18. Who doesn't feel better after a good bath and changing into fresh clothes? He looked more comfortable, and I knew I'd made a difference. That's what it's all about. When I'm on the floor, I feel ALIVE...not that I don't any other time, but even when I am doing mundane things on the floor, I really feel a strength in myself that I don't feel at any other time.

Cara

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Cara, you sound like a very special nurse.

:icon_hug:

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Well a year ago when I was just into this thing we call nursing I would have been just horrified at your reply on the subject, however it's now 20 months later and I've been working the telemetry floor my entire career of 20 months now, and I'm already burned out.

I'm an LVN who's in the middle of finishing my BSN and I can honestly say I'm not in it for the nobelity of helping anymore. It's I'm afraid to say about the easiest way to pay the bills and retire comfortably with whatever it takes to be away from home the least. And that my friends is being an R.N. The abuse we take from the patients and even worse their familes coupled with the ever changing regulations and mounting duplicate paperwork that must be completed for each patient each shift, barely makes going into work worth it.

If our employeers would at least stand up for us it would make it more bearable but these days it's all about pleasing the "customer". We can't even call them patients anymore, now they are our customers..Sure our wages go up every year but so does the acuity of the patient, coupled by cost-cuts from the hospitals by doinig away with our ward clerks and CNA's and before you know it you've now got 10 total care patients and not the state mandated 5 per licensed nurse. One could go on for hours about our broken nursing system but lets not because as much as I hate to say it i've become a bit of a nurse Ratchet myself.....Although I still am one of the most liked nurses on the floor because I am kind, compassionate and caring but I also lay down the law and can be a bit of a hard a??, so to say to the family and patients when needed. So far it's worked okay but I know one day it won't and my employer will not be there to back me up or any other licensed nurse for that matter.

I'm sorry do dash your dreams there newbee, but keep the faith sister because you are going to need it. Good luck to you and God Bless girl. :jester:

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Ok thanks for the advice for those who gave it..but i would just like tosay that I'm not here to disuade anyone from becoming a nurse I AM A NURSE that is a big part of who I am and I do Love it..but sometimes as i am sure ia all walks of life it gets a little hard to take people's abuse with a smile...I have the utmost respect for all nurses amd many,many md's some of my best friends are doc's and I also enjoy teaching new grads I'm actually a master preceptor and I didn't get that job by chance I earmed it.....anyway just think my earlier venting was misunderstood by some but..my lord a little sympathy or encouragement would be nice........

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Specializes in Surgical Intensive Care.

I am a baby nurse, so I am excited about the profession and pray that I will leave when I am no more. I have found that nursing is its own reward. You may never hear thank you or be appreciated outwardly, but you have to do it because of the love of others. I am driven by a desire to learn and help others in this world. I am also working on another degree at the moment so that if there comes a day when I no longer love or even like what I do, I can leave the field and have a change of scenery for a while. HIGHLY recommend this! Get another degree in an unrelated field for a break so that you never have to "do it for the money." Think ahead. God bless and best wishes in your schooling. Keep your head up- it's so worth it!

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Specializes in NICU.
Heck, I have days where I don't want to get up for clinical, or something new is scaring the crap out of me...but I have decided that being afraid is not a reason to run. It's a reason to be careful, but just because I am afraid and don't want to get out of bed, put that silly uniform on, and head to clinical doesn't mean it's not important and that I shouldn't do it. I spent years running away from what was challenging or frightening to me. No more.

And I totally understand people just needing to vent. Who doesn't? I have said things to my best friend about the trials and tribulations of being a mom, a wife, or whatever, that if anyone else heard it they would think really badly of me. But as has been said, it was only that sometimes you have to get out the "bad gunky"-to use Stephen King's phrase from his new bookl"Lisey's Story".

Cara

Exactly! I am just like you, I kept avoiding going to school for fear of . . . I don't know what, finding out that I actually couldn't do it, or worse yet - succeeding. It doesn't really matter because now I am here and I am doing it. I am thrilled to death to know I am doing a good job too. I too had a recent success with my clinical last weekend - such a small triumph it seemed, but simply using a soft touch and patience I was able to calm a frantic woman and actually get her to take her meds and eat - first time since she had been admitted 3 days before. Yes, I know this was little and I know many nurses are pressed for time, but if I can feel the exhiliration I felt that day even every once in a while as a nurse, then I will be satisfied. I love nursing, I love every single thing that encompases it and I cannot see my life any other way.

As I've said before, I work in one of those jobs other people think would be perfect and it too has it's problems with management, no pay raises, poor working conditions, etc. There is no "perfect job" out there unless you are an outsider to it. I think that nursing is one of those things you have to go into because you really, truly want it with all your heart and if you do, then you will be fine. Sure you will have bad days (don't we all no matter where we are), but you will also be satisfied and be able to carry on, even through the rough times. I also think this applies to every profession out there.

I hope each and every one of you finds your correct path in life, be it nursing or otherwise. I could not imagine having to go to my current job every day for the rest of my life - to me that would be horribly depressing, but I know others that it is made for and hopefully whomever takes my place when I graduate will love it just as much as I know I will love nursing. I understand some nurses are not meant to nurse, just as I am not meant for my job. I hope those of you that are truly hurting and feel as much depression towards their job as I do now towards mine can find a way out. Heck, my job pays about the same and is not back-breaking, it is mostly pencil-pushing. I think there is something out there for all of us, so there is no sense in being miserable. I also think that if you are in nursing and you hate it with a passion, you should take a break from it because that is not good for yourself or your patients and they deserve the best care possible in their vulnerable states. Give one of us who truly want to do it a chance. Please don't take this as a "slam", I truly do not mean any disrespect, but if I could take the place of a nurse who no longer wants his/hers, I would be greatful for it.

Oh - BTW, I just finished "Lisey's Story" and loved it. Great reference - you certainly have interesting timing to bring it up given that it is what I have been listening to as I drive to class/clinicals. ;)

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I've been a rn for 5 years and I used to love to go work, but lately I can not stand the lack of respect that rn's get from md's and pts/pts families...now don't take this wrong its not all md's or pts but the ones that do disrespect us and flat out treat us like crap have taken a huge toll on me.......I did not bust my butt in nursing school and I do not leave ny family for 12-14hrs a day so I can go to work and be treated like a servant or maid or in the md case an idiot thats less of a person bc i don't have md after my name........my biggest issue is that in the past year I haven't been able to hold it in and I have found myself in several confrontations with docs and families....any advice????????????[/quote

HA! I can relate. It is my impression that there is a whole lot of "no respect" that goes with the territory, and it does take a toll on self-esteem. That said, there are certain areas that are probably less like this than others. I don't know yet, as I am still in nursing school. Sounds like a time for you to explore your occupational options, there's got to be something that will work for you.

Diahni

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