Why do some nurses "hate their jobs"?

Nurses General Nursing

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The question being asked is:

Why do nurses say that they hate their job?

Let's reflect :)

I've been a R.N. for three years and I always end up meeting nurses who aren't happy with their role as a R.N. both younger and older.

  • Not everyone aspires to purse a degree in nursing, "when they grow up" and are looking for a way to make quick money.

  • How do bedside nurses with 20 years plus experience do what they do? Is it because they are content with how things are?

  • I feel as though some nurses are emotionally, mentally and physically built to be a nurse. Do you think so?

  • If nurses were paid significantly more, would pay increase lead to improved nurse satisfaction?

I want to hear your comments, thoughts, ideas :cool:

I met an anesthesiologist who summed it up well:

"You cannot do these types of jobs because you're a compassionate person. That can't be the reason. Because there will come a day when you won't feel compassionate, even if it's just for a day. And then you have to decide to be a professional."

I LOVE this!

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I hear you about grad school and am in no way trying to discourage you from pursuing that avenue. I don't know what kind of nursing you want to do post grad, but I'll give the example of our nurse practitioners we work with in sub-acute rehab and nursing homes. They are stressed beyond belief. Constantly being on call for the MD, always being the one woken up, numerous times, in the middle of the night, interrupted during family time...They signed up for this lifestyle, so I don't necessarily feel sorry for them, but I do respect the heck out of them for the tremendous responsibility they take on. Trust me....I'm hear the stress in their voice, I see the stress on their faces. I'm close enough to some where they feel comfortable enough talking about it. Intense stress. Intense responsibility.

For your own sake, please don't downplay the stress of post grad nursing careers.

I'm not considering grad school because I think the role of an NP or educator will be easy. I think I'll have more job satisfaction.

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I LOVE this!

I loved this guy. So much wisdom and even more humility. He was my favorite.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I'm not considering grad school because I think the role of an NP or educator will be easy. I think I'll have more job satisfaction.

Based on what, exactly? Why do you think you'll have more. Job satisfaction? And will it be worth the debt you incur in graduate school?

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Based on what, exactly? Why do you think you'll have more. Job satisfaction? And will it be worth the debt you incur in graduate school?

Based on my limited conversations with CRNAs and nurse educators.The reason I said, in my first post, that I was merely *considering* grad school, is because I don't have everything figured out. I don't even have a clue what my nursing niche could be yet. But from what I have gathered of the job descriptions, several advanced career positions sound appealing to me. That's really it. I never intended to make it seem like those roles were by any means easy, and I'm sorry if I made that impression. Poor wording on my part.

ETA: As far as debt goes, I'm not planning on even considering grad school until I've paid off my current student loans, have a decent emergency fund saved up, and have a few years of experience in acute care. By that time, I'll be more prepared to handle the cost of more schooling. I've also made a connection with a facility that reimburses for part of the cost of grad school (which was surprising to me--I was not aware that employers ever helped with grad school tuition). So I feel that I do have my financial ducks in a row and I do feel that it would be worth the cost.

But, as I've said, I'm not 100% settled on going to grad school. I may find my niche in bedside nursing, in which case I'll be more than happy to save the money I would have spent on grad school.

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Error

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Based on my limited conversations with CRNAs and nurse educators.The reason I said, in my first post, that I was merely *considering* grad school, is because I don't have everything figured out. I don't even have a clue what my nursing niche could be yet. But from what I have gathered of the job descriptions, several advanced career positions sound appealing to me. That's really it. I never intended to make it seem like those roles were by any means easy, and I'm sorry if I made that impression. Poor wording on my part.

ETA: As far as debt goes, I'm not planning on even considering grad school until I've paid off my current student loans, have a decent emergency fund saved up, and have a few years of experience in acute care. By that time, I'll be more prepared to handle the cost of more schooling. I've also made a connection with a facility that reimburses for part of the cost of grad school (which was surprising to me--I was not aware that employers ever helped with grad school tuition). So I feel that I do have my financial ducks in a row and I do feel that it would be worth the cost.

But, as I've said, I'm not 100% settled on going to grad school. I may find my niche in bedside nursing, in which case I'll be more than happy to save the money I would have spent on grad school.

Sounds like you have your ducks in a row.

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OP, there are some nurses who love being nurses. Yes, there are people who really love taking care of patients and who are comfortable in the health care environment, with all that entails. I have heard some nurses say they would even "work for free." A number of nurses after retiring can't really bear to leave the profession and return to work.

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I enjoy my current job because I am far removed from the bedside and direct patient care.

I detested the bedside due to the increasingly abusive families who want to displace their anger onto nursing staff. They wouldn't be able to get away with their antics in any other industry, but nursing excuses it because "these people are stressed."

Wow I love my bedside job now but I'm totally starting to feel this way regarding families as well. Shamefully I usually wait until visiting hours are over then start my work, after rounding and ensuring my patient is safe of course. Sometimes I can't be bothered with the repeated 10,000 questions every shift about things I have no control over or basic info they should've already been up to speed on.

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I would argue that you can love being a nurse but be totally fed up and burnt out because of the environment in which they (govt., regulatory, insurance, management, etc.) have created nursing.

Essentially, if you actually care about your patient's health and outcome, you really have to start questioning the insane world healthcare exists with the ridiculous ratios and regulations.

If you care to advocate, you'll burn out because you have no power to change the system.

Caring is what is so demoralizing when the system only cares about money, and you care about people getting the best care. It leads to burnout and apathy.

I think people who can care in the current system and not get burnt out are great at cognitive dissonance.

Additionally, nursing isn't like other fields. If you miss something in food service, like hold the onions and ketchup, no one dies. If you miss something being a lawyer, no one dies or is maimed. Even in the military and police forces, the number of times you are making life/death decisions is very low, not even a daily occurrence in most cases, vs working in the acute care setting it is literally every minute of every day. That leads to burnout.

I have seen people die because things were missed by providers/staff, delays existed in the system, people didn't get the care they deserved. Again, the best nurses are those who practice cognitive dissonance and reason that a certain number of people are going to die because of preventable things like; things will be missed, people will be delayed, you'll be ignored or threatened or lashed out at when you advocate, or don't think too deeply about what happens at work; certainly don't take things to heart.

I am not wired that way and cannot separate what happens at work from the rest of my life. AKA, I take my work home and think about it. Unfortunately, thinking about work in nursing is draining and stressful leading to a higher rate of anxiety and stress than other fields. I would like to leave nursing and healthcare, but finding an exit strategy is hard.

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