When considering a nursing career..

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I really wish for everyone's sake that those entering the nursing field gave careful and informed consideration of the actual job, today's and approaching 2017 with 5 star, high acuities and current staffing job.

So many choose nurisng for the pay, job security, scheduling, flexibility, relatively easy entry level degree/s and numerous options (for those with the right experience and who were able to edge out the competition). Oh, and wanting to help people.

I have yet, in two years here, read about anyone saying they want to be a nurse encompassing the realities to run all shift passing meds, meet patient/family endless requests, document up the wazoo, mandated overtime, deal with difficult personalities, deal with a progress sicker and younger demographic, work short staffed, high ratios, are expected to do more with less, pushed to exhaustion.. Or prolong the lives of the frail and elderly. Or drive all day and spend 1/2 the day on making calls and documentation. Or that it is understood that the employer will not be able to teach everything, and neither will school.

That's the job. The rest are benefits you can reap if you can perform the actual job.

I get that those that have been in nursing for decades are facing a very different industry than they entered but for the rest, Caveat Emptor.

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Every career has pros/cons. It makes no sense to choose a career and focus on the bad. But I get that you're just venting... gosh, there sure are a lot of "I hate nursing threads" lately. I need to stop reading them--they're draining after a while. :-/

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I hate everything except sleeping and eating. I suppose when I'm dead, I will hate that too. C'est la vie.

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Every career has pros/cons. It makes no sense to choose a career and focus on the bad. But I get that you're just venting... gosh, there sure are a lot of "I hate nursing threads" lately. I need to stop reading them--they're draining after a while. :-/

Well, not really a vent as much of an observation that many seem to miss. I think taking a hard look at the bad might reduce the shock factor.

I think of other stressful jobs, do we want have their entry level staff to go into those roles only focusing on the positive?

Military comes to mind. Should they focus on the bad before the benefits?

Considering how much financial and time investment is required and the injuries/burnout associated with some (many?) nurses, I don't think the comparison is much of a stretch.

On the flip side, a work force comprised of people who want an adrenalin rush under pressure and a huge learning curve with a desire to do quality work might be exactly who nursing should be attracting.

I honestly think that this topic needs to be brought to the forefront with the immediate and future nursing interests in mind. But it seems threads with people lamenting their regrets bring more interest.

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I don't think people "miss" the warnings, they probably downplay them. Mature experienced nurses don't run around the unit like chickens with their heads cut off, so for people looking in, they think it's a breeze. I mean look at all those ads on TV or a new story about the job market, with the inspiring nursing stories. You're never going to see that nurse that says "um, you might want to reconsider this." Then you have the ones who go in to be the CRNA and absolutely hate bedside nursing but as a rite of passage must do so and make everybody know they hate doing so along the way.

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When we list reasons we want to be nurses, none of those are the reasons. That doesn't mean we're not aware that the career is stressful, families are pains in the butts and sometimes everything is sucky. It doesn't mean that we're eager to wipe butts, spend hours charting or watching someone die slowly. It just means we think the good outweighs the bad. Maybe it won't - but maybe it will.

If (or perhaps when) the value of helping people, the money, the education, the flexibility no longer outweighs the bad, then it'll be time for me to step away and consider other options.

Trust me. Most of us students hear the bad - almost nothing but the bad. It's absolutely on the forefront almost anywhere you go on the internet. It's all either "this is my calling" (which is bs, IMO) to "don't do it, you'll hate your life forever". I just want to be somewhere in the middle.

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When we list reasons we want to be nurses, none of those are the reasons. That doesn't mean we're not aware that the career is stressful, families are pains in the butts and sometimes everything is sucky. It doesn't mean that we're eager to wipe butts, spend hours charting or watching someone die slowly. It just means we think the good outweighs the bad. Maybe it won't - but maybe it will.

If (or perhaps when) the value of helping people, the money, the education, the flexibility no longer outweighs the bad, then it'll be time for me to step away and consider other options.

Trust me. Most of us students hear the bad - almost nothing but the bad. It's absolutely on the forefront almost anywhere you go on the internet. It's all either "this is my calling" (which is bs, IMO) to "don't do it, you'll hate your life forever". I just want to be somewhere in the middle.

I think if you realized and accepted that about 1/2 of your day or more will be spent doing things you don't want to do and you can survive until you thrive then that is a success.

Or if you're the type to adapt to the unexpected difficulties (or denied ones) then that is a success as well.

But I also believe that there is a lot of disillusionment and shell shock, but perhaps I am wrong about that.

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Specializes in Ambulatory Care, Rheumatology.
Libby1987 Thank you for sharing. I really wish more options were presented early on. It would be nice if more Nursing Schools encouraged being a CNA. My time as a CNA shaped my choice not to start on a Traditional floor as a RN. I only learned about the various Career paths during my ASN-BSN program. I would love to hear about the options you are considering.
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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

There is a 'thing' in Organizational/Industry Psychology called realistic job preview. It has a profound effect upon job satisfaction, retention, etc. Basically, the research has shown that people who really know what they're getting into are much more satisfied with their job than people who don't have one. Even if the job is cra**y. Yeah, I know - duh.

People who didn't have a realistic job preview (or maybe just didn't believe it) end up feeling very resentful... like they were conned into something. This is obviously not a happy situation, so they will move on to something else if possible. If they can't move on because it would involve a reduction in salary, benefits, etc... their unhappiness increases because now they feel that they are being held hostage by very unfair circumstances.

Extrapolating this - people who are provided with accurate information (and believe it is true) are much better prepared for the ups and downs. They realize that it is not due to personal factors (e.g., failure). They are prepared to adapt and deal with difficulties as they encounter them.

So - Kudos to OP for trying to get the word out. I hope nurse wanna-be's are paying attention.

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Maybe those are the realities of your job.

In my job I work at my own pace, in my own office, get to set policy that literally changes healthcare throughout the world, and get to travel to interesting places and meet with interesting people. I get a month of vacation, great retirement, and great benefits such as subsidized child care.

My wife works from home at her own pace, gets to leave to pick up the kids, and gets to have a dramatic impact upon the care of her patients.

What is being described are particular aspects of a specific kind of job and not of nursing. If you don't like your job then find another.

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Maybe those are the realities of your job.

In my job I work at my own pace, in my own office, get to set policy that literally changes healthcare throughout the world, and get to travel to interesting places and meet with interesting people. I get a month of vacation, great retirement, and great benefits such as subsidized child care.

My wife works from home at her own pace, gets to leave to pick up the kids, and gets to have a dramatic impact upon the care of her patients.

What is being described are particular aspects of a specific kind of job and not of nursing. If you don't like your job then find another.

I love my work, there is no issue there. What I described is described very frequently on this board.

I would say that the jobs you describe as you and your wife as having are much less common than the inpatient conditions I was referring to.

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Specializes in GENERAL.

"On the flip side, a work force comprised of people who want an *adrenalin rush under pressure and a huge learning curve with a desire to do quality work might be exactly who nursing should be attracting."

*Back in the day these people were referred to as Sh*t magnets.

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