So the thread "if you could do it over again, would you?" has really got me thinking, i went and researched some other medical forums, and pretty much NOBODY in healthcare recommends it to students/younger people, this includes :
nursing
optometry
MD/DO
Dentists
Pharmacy
why does everyone not like their jobs? i understand that nobody really likes their jobs, but almost every doctor, nurse, etc. told me if they could do it over again, they wouldnt, why is this? I have worked in business, retail, sales, and those fields suck and are unpredictable and i couldnt see myself doing that forever, but i always thought healthcare was different, you have a guranteed job, good pay, good benefits, good knowledge, room for advancement, helping others, so whats up with this?
maybe the er is great but ask anyone what they think of med/surg and the nurses being "verbal" will tell you how "unhappy" they are with that particular area of the nursing field.................
again, generalities like "anyone" is the wrong word to use. i worked er many years before going into home health and i loved it, but i know medsurg nurses who love their jobs just as much as i loved the er. you cannot lump all of us into the same category as yourself or people you know, because if all of us think the same way about something.....anything......it would make for an awfully boring world.
Yes, I hate some aspects of my job. But at the end of everyday, I feel like I have made a difference. I have wanted to be a nurse as long as I can remember. I love being a nurse and I really wouldnt do anything else!
"NOBODY" is the wrong word to use. There have been many posts on this and similar subjects here, and there are quite a few of us who would recommend nursing. I love my job. My daughter is following in my footsteps and I am proud of her.
You know, I do love what I do. I do not like all the politics involved though. Everything is about money and how much the facility can save. How much money can be saved in the floors"Budget". God forbid someone work over because it has been crazy the whole shift and you have to put your patients first and finish up loose ends after you give report. There was a point when they were complaining about staff not taking lunch breaks. It is awful hard to do that some nights with a heavy patient load. I don't mind skipping lunch if I have too, but I don't want to be hassled because I want to be paid for it. I really hate that staffing grid. It doesn't reflect patient acuity. Their so called nurse/patient ratio. In actuality, if the nurse had a lighter load and a good CNA to assist, the patients would recieve better care. Don't get me wrong, please. I chose to be a nurse for a reason. The money is more than I have ever made, but it is not spectacular or anything. I like to take care of my patients. I am a people person and I like to interact with family members (to a certain degree). I can be stressed when I have a couple confused patients wanting to wander, tube feedings, line draws, meds, charting, dressing changes, and other drama. We all know the kind of things that go on in a 12 hour shift in a hospital. I can deal with that. I don't like when these people sit in their offices and makes rules about things and they have no idea what it is like to deal with some of the issues on the floor. I don't like to feel so overwhelmed. It would take a long time to write everything.
Sadly, people are much more likely to complain when they post their feelings. When things are going well, it doesn't provoke an urge to rant. After 45 years I still love nursing. I can't imagine doing anything else. There are so many varieties to choose from. If you don't like one type of nursing there are always dozens of other to try.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
While I enjoy nursing, it would be fair to say that there are some things I dislike about this career pathway. I have copied and pasted a few of these points from one of my previous posts to save time. Without further ado, here are some things I dislike about my job...
1. The lack of respect from doctors, patients, family members, coworkers, managers, and society
2. The general consensus that nurses are warm bodies who simply fill shifts
3. The low self-esteems and passive aggression of some nurses, including my coworkers
4. The increase in lateral workplace harassment (read: bullying)
5. The public's very outdated perception of the nursing profession
6. The female domination of the nursing profession
7. The desire for hospital administrators to maximize profit margins, without regard to nursing staff or patient safety
8. The expectation that nurses can "do it all" while working understaffed, and lacking supplies
9. The expectation that the nurse is also the customer service rep, bellhop, concierge, waitress, clerk, messenger, courier, pillow fluffer, and receptionist
10. The almighty sense of entitlement displayed by rude family members
11. The reality that nursing is becoming even more litigious as time passes
I think we are all very idealistic when starting our careers. When the light goes on that all is not roses and wine, it is hard to revamp. Most of us do. We go on to find our nitche and succeed.
No profession is perfect,not one. Well maybe stay at home MOM/DAD is one,,,,lol
Life and work is what u make of it. Complaining,constant anger and bitterness,make for a very unhappy person and work enviorment. Believe me, there are many like that in the work world.(all professions) One has to really like what they do, find their little piece of the pie and go forward.
thanks for this post. constant complaining doesn't fix it. you make it what it is and if its too much for you too handle, move to plan B. i am happy with my decision to me a nurse (ER). nursing is not for everyone. i know people in other professions that have similar complaints. as long as you are on someone else's clock, no job will ever be perfect. and we need to all remember that we take care of people. someones mother, brother, aunt, child etc.. so if you hate what you do, get away quickly before a patient suffers.
While I enjoy nursing, it would be fair to say that there are some things I dislike about this career pathway. I have copied and pasted a few of these points from one of my previous posts to save time. Without further ado, here are some things I dislike about my job...
1. The lack of respect from doctors, patients, family members, coworkers, managers, and society
2. The general consensus that nurses are warm bodies who simply fill shifts
3. The low self-esteems and passive aggression of some nurses, including my coworkers
4. The increase in lateral workplace harassment (read: bullying)
5. The public's very outdated perception of the nursing profession
6. The female domination of the nursing profession
7. The desire for hospital administrators to maximize profit margins, without regard to nursing staff or patient safety
8. The expectation that nurses can "do it all" while working understaffed, and lacking supplies
9. The expectation that the nurse is also the customer service rep, bellhop, concierge, waitress, clerk, messenger, courier, pillow fluffer, and receptionist
10. The almighty sense of entitlement displayed by rude family members
11. The reality that nursing is becoming even more litigious as time passes
I highly agree with all the points you make in this post. Although I do not work at the bedside any more, I remember the demanding, rude and simply unappreciative admin, patients, families and even co-workers. I believe we need more resources and support from management to help us deal with these increased pressures. Unfortunately, it probably will never happen for most nurses at the bedside.
Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.
So the thread "if you could do it over again, would you?" has really got me thinking, i went and researched some other medical forums, and pretty much NOBODY in healthcare recommends it to students/younger people, this includes :
nursing
optometry
MD/DO
Dentists
Pharmacy
why does everyone not like their jobs? i understand that nobody really likes their jobs, but almost every doctor, nurse, etc. told me if they could do it over again, they wouldnt, why is this? I have worked in business, retail, sales, and those fields suck and are unpredictable and i couldnt see myself doing that forever, but i always thought healthcare was different, you have a guranteed job, good pay, good benefits, good knowledge, room for advancement, helping others, so whats up with this?
Not everyone hates it. I've been doing this since 1976. I've seen a lot of changes,and despite what people think, there really hasn't beent hat much change in the corperate mentality over the years. It's a hard proffesion, but then again any service oriented proffesion is hard.
There are things about my job that I don't like, I don't think anyone likes wiping butts. BUt all in all, I get satisfaction out my job and I DO advise people to go into this as a proffesion, but I try to be honest about the hard parts of the job.
I think one of the problems in all those fields is that people have false preconceptions about what the job is when they go into it. I know I did. I grew up on Dixi MacCall on Emergency and Audry from General Hosptial as teh only nurse rolemodels that I saw on TV. I didn't understand what the job realy was.
quote=AU-RN;2503394]haha, a true reply to this would be 2 pages long. Just read and browse through the hundreds of threads and responses on this website and you will see why Nursing is so frustrating and the numbers of nurses are dwindling.
If I had to sum it up....the fact that patients and patients families expect us to treat them as if they are in hotel and demand the right to "customer service" and that the management backs them up. Thats the number one thing I hate about being a nurse especially since nurses are But....you can always find a job and you make decent money if you do it the right way....so for those reasons I would mention it to people trying to figure out a career but in general nursing isnt the fairy-tale Florence Nightengale crap you thought of before you started working the real world. :lol2: How very true!!
Its not about actually helping people b/c half of the patients could care less about you and if you dont kiss their ass then they report you to the managers who "take care of it"...instead of growing a backbone and telling the "clients" that we are NOT the Hilton Hotel and that we are not Burger King and you cant "have it your way!"...haha
Anyway, I would like to hear more about these other professions and how MDs, pharmacists, etc. would not recommend others to join their professions.
I know I have heard one really verbal neurologist where I work really poormouth and complain about how they "hardly make anything (money)" nowadays because of insurance companies.
I don't like to feel so overwhelmed. It would take a long time to write everything.
:lol2: How very true!!.thumb.gif.bd59648159cce1b1d54711ce1ae578c4.gif){kind=avatar}
TazziRN, RN
6,487 Posts
again, generalities like "anyone" is the wrong word to use. i worked er many years before going into home health and i loved it, but i know medsurg nurses who love their jobs just as much as i loved the er. you cannot lump all of us into the same category as yourself or people you know, because if all of us think the same way about something.....anything......it would make for an awfully boring world.