WHY do so many people hate nursing? Sigh.

/username, BSN, RN · Feb 16, 2016

Hahhahahahaha!

And just to make it easier, i'll pop a whip-it or two before I hit the floor. Just like propfol - fast on, fast off, and makes you forget about everything.

Editorial Team / Admin · Feb 16, 2016

It's not that stressful. I can always take a break when my admission arrives or my patient codes. It's just too stressful and untherapeutic for me.

And just to make it easier, i'll pop a whip-it or two before I hit the floor. Just like propfol - fast on, fast off, and makes you forget about everything.

:roflmao: :hhmth::bdyhdclp:

Fiona59 · Feb 16, 2016

I have to disagree. I have friends at other hospitals, some neighboring, and it is not like this. And, seniority has nothing to do with our schedules. Even the most senior doesn't get to pick her schedule, sadly. We were told that self scheduling gives us too much power and they're afraid it will go to our heads. ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½

Sieniority has everything to do with scheduling. Senior staff get first pick when new rotation are created. Seniority is usually the deciding factor when a vacancy with a good shift pattern is posted.

annie.rn · Feb 16, 2016

The problem is, we are no longer allowed the time we need ....to be the nurse we all want to be.
Health care is now a corporate money maker. Nurses are the commodity that make money for big business.
I never hated nursing, I hate that the corporate masters have taken it over.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Been there,done that wins the prize! Why I have grown to dislike nursing exactly.

Donoharmtakenocrap · Feb 16, 2016

It may take awhile before you find your niche in nursing. But that's one of the great things about nursing, you can change jobs without changing careers.

I started out with the same aspirations as you in nursing school - NICU or ED. I swore I'd never do medsurg because of the burnout.

Never say never.

My first job was medsurg and I ended up liking it a lot. I tried medsurg ICU and it was not my cup of tea. I now work in trauma, and I freaking love it. A lot of that is the types of injuries illnesses patients present with, but a bigger part of that is the culture of the unit I'm on. We work together as a team and support each other.

I suggest when when interviewing for jobs that you ask to shadow for four hours to see what the flow is like and what the atmosphere is like. How do the staff interact with each other? With the patients?

You'll find miserable people everywhere. I think people like to complain more than brag about how happy they are. It's like people are afraid to show others they are happy. Or maybe we're all cynical sometimes and need to vent and engage in some hyperbole every once in awhile.

ETA: It is also entirely possible to love your career but hate your job. As others have said, you don't *have* to be passionate about what you do, but it damn sure helps. I'm passionate about my patients and about learning. HCAHPS? Charting? Not so much. But I bust my butt anyway because it's my license and my job, and I should own that.

rninkentucky · Feb 16, 2016

No, trust me, it doesn't. It's supposed to, but it doesn't. Not at my hospital. We all have a set rotation that doesn't get changed. I have more seniority than some people that I work with so I know for a fact that it has nothing to do with it.

We we have talked to the manager because we ALL want self scheduling. Hence, my answer before.

LTC_LPN2 · Feb 16, 2016

Mostly higher patient to nurse ratios, the work load, and how well staffed facilities are. It becomes overwhelming when you have more and more pushed on you because some nurses fall short of doing their jobs. If I have to come in on day shift and unclog a peg tube because 11-7 has slept all night or watched Hours of Netflix....yes that is a problem! Most facilities can't afford to get rid of a nurse because they're already short staffed...so nothing is done about those "bad" nurses and the cycle continues because the bad behavior is rewarded with invincible status. It's all about team work, pulling your own weight, helping out....it makes for a smooth shift. If you hear a bad report on the facility n the turn over of nurses is high...RUN! Those don't lead by example!

fishin mama · Feb 16, 2016

After 22 Years of Nursing, we are so strained to get things done that we don't have time to care for a patient. we simply do what we can, and move on the to the next. leaving the bulk of care to the poor CNA. I could not give the quality of care I felt was necessary . leaving me very frustrated.

sandiegotrish · Feb 16, 2016

Is it bad for people to have a desire to work in one specialty over another? That's called "goals." What am I missing here??

Ruby Vee, BSN · Feb 16, 2016

Is it bad for people to have a desire to work in one specialty over another? That's called "goals." What am I missing here??

There's nothing wrong with having goals. What is wrong is when new graduates feel themselves to be "too good for" the basics such as Med/Surg, LTC, General Medicine or General Surgery.

What is also wrong is when someone takes a job in one of those specialties, hired by a manager who wants to give new grads a chance. They then get 6 weeks to 6 months of orientation, during which they are costing the unit money and quit a few months after (or in some cases before) finishing orientation. Experts say that orienting a new nurse costs tens of thousands of dollars and that the facility does not begin to recoup that investment until around the two year mark. A new grad who quits or transfers within two years does both herself and her unit a disservice.

The manager who was willing to take a chance on hiring a new grad and training her/him to be the kind of nurse she wanted on her unit becomes disillusioned and less eager to take a chance on the next new grad. Why waste all that money training someone only to have them badmouth the unit and quit when she could hire an experienced nurse at 1.5 times the salary with .5 times the orientation and a greater likelihood that the nurse will stay?

Hiring new grads is bad for the bottom line because they tend to job hop.

It is bad for the new grad to quit 8 months into a job on Med/Surg or some other "unglamorous specialty" because they cheat themselves of the opportunity to become competent at the basics before they move on to a specialty. They have also made an enemy of the manager who hired them expecting them to stay the two years (whether or not that manager actually says something to them at the time, she will be less likely to recommend them for a position in the future, less likely to rehire them, and less likely to take a chance on another new grad.) If they quit a second job within a few months, they have earned themselves the label of "job hopper" and ensured that HR sends their resume to the bottom of the pile upon reading or even into the "circular file." If by chance they get a third job and do the same thing, they'd better know someone or they've trashed their career.

Having goals is great, identifying steps along the way to achieving those goals is great. Tromping on others on your way to achieving the goals is bad.

LAM2010, BSN · Feb 16, 2016

I didn't read the rest of the replies, and you'll see why here in a second, but... Being a nurse is what you make it. I still love my job after 6 years. I went straight into the O.R. out of nursing school (4-year degree) when everyone said I wouldn't be able to or "shouldn't" for whatever reason. I've known plenty of people who got into the ER right out of nursing school (usually did externships while in school, etc.) I never worked nurse externships or as a tech during college or ever before that - I kept my $20/hr call center job part time. If you aspire to go to ICU they'll try to sell you nurse residency programs that you're stuck in for two years, or, you can enter at some other job and work your OWN path to the ICU (for example). ---- The point is, there ARE nurses out there who love their jobs. There are times people will complain about their jobs... And I have definitely heard nurses in the real world that I live in every day complain about nursing. Don't let anyone else's attitude steer you wrong. There are actually a lot of things to hate about being "employed" as a nurse, but I can't think of any other job I'd rather do, I love my career, and I actually like what I do because I maintain a decent attitude and focusing on my patients keeps me positive. When you maintain a good attitude, it's a little contagious - people will want to work with you, help you, have you on their team, etc. and it doesn't matter if you are the "most" skilled or experienced nurse who has everything memorized and has been doing it for 20 years, etc. And being positive in your work day will carry over into your patient care, too. Anyway.... if you love nursing, that's all that matters. You are allowed to love it, and it is possible to love it.

And when you get some experience under your belt, you can get out of a nasty job and find another one. Because your confidence will get you through interviews, your attitude will be more important than you think, etc.

(p.s. I stopped reading this message board on a regular basis a few years ago, LOL... there's a lot of negativity here.... There's a real world out there where people's advice on here doesn't apply, most of the time.)

melissamabd, DNP, RN · Feb 16, 2016

I keep thinking about your introductory phrase... "I want to go into nursing, and I want to love it". If you're not sure you'll love it, why do you want to go into it? Tell us more about what you're saying, because it's intriguing.

What if you find it frighteningly responsible, back-breaking, ethically upsetting every day, infuriating as others merely do the minimum or worse; and scary if you encounter horizontal violence from peers at the staff level and way up through administration? What if the situations leave you thinking and talking about their horror even when you're not at work? What if patients never say thank you, even as you give your all?

Tell us how you see nursing before you get there. As an educator, this is a fascinating topic for me, as I try to advance people from lay persons to professionals.