Why go nursing?

pdxrn · Jul 23, 1999

I've been a nurse for 14 years. I have an ADN and got a BS in health care admin in 1996 because I knew I would not be able to do bedside nursing forever. When I was 21 I tried to get into a RN program but was not picked (there was a waiting list) so I dropped out and got a job. When I was 28 I had a kid and had to find a job that I could support her with since I was a single mother. Since I had alrady thought about nursing and at that time, the pay seemed quite nice, I went back to school. So if you had to have a reason #1 - Enough money to raise my daughter wihtout having to go on welfare or work 2 or 3 jobs. #2 I do like people and enjoy helping those who need help. I do enjoy my patient's.

I have never really cared for my nursing peers with the exception of 3-4 nurses I have a long term friendship with. Most nurses are too competitive and do not stand up for their peers. We are a profession that eats our young and we need to change that but I do not know how that will ever be accomplished. It's like a fungus. It never goes away without many months (or years) of internal as well as external treatment. My big bug-a-boo right now is how the nursing communtiy treats the nurses who have given any number of years to the profession and have been injured, or burnt out and become depressed and anxious and can not do bedside nursing anymore. There are many jobs out there that bedside nurses have experience in yet unless you already have 3-5 years QA/QI/UR/case mgmt/ whatever experience you can't get a job in these areas that would be ideal for a disabled nurse. This is where I see we, as nurses, also fall down. We need to care more about each other. We can't continue to abandon each other because I can tell you this. The "healthcare community" (big busines "managed care") doesn't give a hoot about us and we need to care for ourselves. Sorry, I got on my soapbox. I'll quit now. Feel free to e-mail me if you want to hear anything else. I've got stories to tell.