Why did you if you hate it ?

[johnny depp23]

I keep reading over and over how everybody (not really everybody) hates their job as a nurse and are soooo miserable. My question to you guys is why did you decide to become a nurse in the first place ? Also, what is it that you really hate in nursing?

[HappydayRn]

I hate rude people and working nights and weekends. I love the actual work. I adore my fabulous coworkers and my company treats me well. However I really hate those shifts so I'm moving to a nine to five position no weekends, I cannot wait. I think what you're seeing is just people venting about aspects of their job they dislike not about nursing as a whole. The best thing is that there are so many things you can do as a nurse.

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

I hate the version of nursing going on in hospitals and other facilities right now, not nursing. 10:1 pt. rations and we are somehow expected to make these people feel like they are the number one priority. Not gonna happen. I resent that out of one side of the mouth admin./management will talk about cutbacks and how "this is what we have to work with it, too bad if anyone doesn't like it" and at the same time, out of the other side of the mouth recants with "We are comitted to complete, holistic, compassionate care and strive for a good experience with all patients." OK. Left side of the mouth please might right side of mouth.

This is exactly what we are currently experiencing. Top brass refusing to appoint more staff even though doctors' and patients' complaints are going through the roof. Delaying tactics when motivated for new, essential equipment.

It's a new facility, less than a year old. Design flies in the face of common sense and best practice. Corners cut at every opportunity, and although it looks very pretty it is totally inefficient in planning and layout. Yet the advertising blurb waffles on about "quality patient care."

Our old facility was purchased by this group some years ago, and instead of upgrading the old building they decided to build their own. Fortunately the former owners believed in buying quality equipment, so we at least had some obsolete pulse oximeters for use in the Nursery. They work on a "knit one slip one" kind of basis so at least the staff can get an approximation of a reading. But the damn things are almost 20 years old, and not repairable due to parts availability!

I love my work.

I love my colleagues.

I love my patients.

Hell, I even love my unit manager, the nursing services manager, the doctors, pretty well all the people I share that building with.

But I hate top brass-the ones who make all the decisions.

[Ambi Dextrose]

Its because we didn't know then...that is the answer.

I really would like to pursue my masters in nursing so I wouldn't be stuck doing bedside nursing forever and break my back. From reading other posts, a higher degree means = not getting your hands dirty, go home in time to spend with love ones, happy stomach & bladder (be able to take lunch and breaks), work 8 hours a day only + weekend off, power to delegate, get respected in the healthcare community.

I forgot I still don't have a job because nobody wants to hire me since I dont have at least 1 year of experience. Duh....

[anonymurse]

I love it. It's a great job. It's not a cush job, but then, coming off nearly 3 decades in the military (not as a nurse), it's fairly cush for me.

I mean, the biggest complaints are about cost-cutting ("doing more with less" is so much a part of the military it fades entirely into the background) and about a lack of personal fulfillment.

Hey, I get to see my kids every day. You think that's not personally fulfilling, try the alternative.

And the younger nurses who think it's unfair that there are consequences for several incidences of calling out or simply not showing up whenever there's a great party to go to?

I'm not saying the military isn't a great job too, but just try missing a formation, or worse, a troop movement even once.

The pay? I knew enough new troops on food stamps. Don't know any fellow RNs in that fix.

Decision-making autonomy in matters of life and death? In nursing, there's as much as the individual can stand, and it depends only on how close they look and how much they care.

I could go on for a page or two, but even "Johnny Depp," whether he flips burgers or chews the ends off his pencils in class, should get the picture.

[spiruleena]

I think it has a lot to do with not only the work environment/people/management but also the system itself in which you work. I live in New Zealand and our health system though not perfect sounds far fairer than what the other people in this thread have expressed. Namely due to the fact that we are government funded where as the American system is namely private. I hope to God that New Zealand never, ever, ever goes private it is the death of nursing and the principles it values. I care for on average 3-5 patients a day working in a cardiothoracic and vascular unit. Some patients are very unwell and the workload is adjusted accordingly with my colleagues and we are all supportive of this system because we know what goes around comes around. Don't get me wrong we have issues with management but because our of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act and Disability Commissioner's Act the hospital is very liable for outcomes. Not only that because it's free a lot of patients and their families are very grateful and gracious to the nurses for the care we give. Incident forms are our best tool in New Zealand to make our voices heard. I have days where nursing is tough, but the very first thing that was said to me on my very first day of nursing "If you don't like your job move on, we don't want you if you don't want to be here". I understand people have life commitments but when you realise how much of your life you spend working you might as well be doing something you enjoy. Bureaucracy will forever exist, fight it or accept it. Those are your choices. Or just come live in New Zealand. We'd love to have you :)

[Flying ICU RN]

This phenomenon can be attributed to the obsequiously submissive nature of the profession. The reality of which in combination with the fact that the Nurse, is the lightning rod for everyone's frustrations, can be hard to take. Subsequently, a thick skin is required which is contrary to the purported philosophy of caring.

As a male in the profession, I am admittedly subjected to this just a tad bit less than the women. Behaviors on the part of patients, families, and to a lesser degree, co-workers, have been noted to be sometimes significantly different between genders. Perhaps my stature as a 50 yo, six foot tall middle aged married male, is enough to keep some, not all, mis-behaviors a bit in check.

I was a mechanic at a major airline prior to coming to health care. As such, I have had the opportunity to closely observe two distinctly different female dominated professions however, both sharing this obsequiously submissive characteristic. Imagine for a moment hundreds of "walkie-talkie" patients stuffed into a cylinder, all with call bells!

It's been my conclusion, that a subservient function in any capacity, is hard for the modern professional woman to stomach. The higher the degree of education, the harder this becomes. Of course, this varies on an individual basis.

In my case, having achieved job security, with a comfortable dual nurse income (my wife is also an RN) has made my personal life so distinctly different from my professional one, that I can take whatever nonsense may come my way with a smile on my face.

[General E. Speaking, RN, RN]

:grn: Didn't a similarly themed thread just get closed because of this topic?

[happy2learn]

I still love nursing, after all these years.

Nothing has changed ...it's a real privilege to have our role ...to be so instrumental in peoples lives.

However, I now dislike the job. I dislike:

- increasingly impossible workload

- increasingly disrespectful public

- having to work weekends and nights just to earn a decent wage

- managers without real professional skill ...only clinical competence

- significant minority of RN coworkers who lack real professional aptitude. Along with

ignorance factor which is illustrated by adults who have jealousy issues and related silly behaviour, lack of social skills and poor professional image.

Note to sloppy coworkers ... please come to work with clean hair ... remember to iron your uniform ....and please ...your visible underwear is just trashy (or bogan, as we say down here)

It's just sad that this has to be mentioned. The visible underwear, ugh. I'll never understand it.

[healthstar, BSN, RN]

It's just sad that this has to be mentioned. The visible underwear, ugh. I'll never understand it.

I know right. I have seen nurses come to work with dirty uniforms, not ironed, hair looks messy---come on now,you are a nurse , you should know how important it is to keep yourself clean. I feel miserable when I am not clean lol.

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

I know right. I have seen nurses come to work with dirty uniforms, not ironed, hair looks messy---come on now,you are a nurse , you should know how important it is to keep yourself clean. I feel miserable when I am not clean lol.

We had one (thank goodness-only one!) like that; appointed as ICU Unit Manager no less!

This lady (we'll call her Madame Fifi) believed the only uniform for her was the mini dress; she also believed that the best panties were no panties. And she had an irresistible urge to display the maximum amount of cleavage-if it wasn't cut low enough, she made sure she bent low enough to show everything except the nipples.

I could have tolerated Madame Fifi's wardrobe malfunctions had she run a good unit, but, sadly for Madame Fifi, this was not the case. After a complaints monsoon, the Nursing Services Manager politely stepped in and took the reins, and equally politely informed Madame Fifi that she would have to adhere to the dress code, which did not include attire suitable for various professions, but not nursing.

None of us were surprised when Madame Fifi tossed her toys out of her playpen and hit the road...or do I mean street? (ugh Christine that's Nasty!)

[cecilsgirl]

( quick poem--)

Begone Glory Days...

"Where has all the Glory gone"?

When I felt capable,

New and Srong.

Paperwork,short handed, and no thanks

Glory is burried a mile high

"Where did that nurse go"?

I ask this with a sigh.......................

[cecilsgirl]

I meant strong!!!