Would you be a nurse if you knew then, what you know now?

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Good morning! May I ask you all a question?

If you had it to do over again, would you still be a nurse?

Specializes in nearly all.

i would absolutely be a nurse again. i've been doing this for nearly 33 years and have never done the same thing two days in a row. i've had to move (my husband was in the usaf) and never had to worry about finding a job with a decent salary, even in japan. when i was ready for a change, for whatever reason, there was always an option available to me. and every one of them allowed me to do what i love...use my mind and my heart to help others every day. what could be better than that? as for the whole pharm thing everyone is talking about, that just floors me...trying to keep all the generic names straight has always been my least favorite part of nursing! but i guess that's why variety is the spice of life, huh!

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Specializes in OR, public health, dialysis, geriatrics.

Would I still be a nurse? I really enjoy being a nurse, even the bad days; but all jobs have those. Yet, there are so many other careers that interested me back before the plunge into college and getting my BSN. I regret letting my art fall to the side. I regret not pursuing physical or occupational therapies; but have since worked ortho, neurosurgery, and long-term/rehab care.

For me if I look back too much, it stops my forward momentum. I can't change any of it; but I can learn from it and make my choices now with more knowledge.

Nursing has afforded me a decent wage, bearable hours, and a good life for my family. It has been a good 16 years and it will be interesting to see where the next 16 are headed!

It is the rare person who has no regrets.

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Quite honestly, I don't think I would make the decision to become a nurse if I had the chance to go back and do it all over again.

Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I'm a peds nurse, and I get to laugh with the patients and families, and that can be very rewarding. But some days, I swear, if I hear one more word from administration about how they don't like that I am staying late, when THEY are the ones insisting I take more patients than we are supposed to be allowed to take, I'm going to tell them to come up and care for the patient themselves (or... something, I don't know).

The two biggest things I didn't realize coming into this job are 1) it is such a physical job that it is unreasonable to expect to be able to do it for an entire career- yes, some nurses can do this for 30-40-or more years (and I have the utmost respect for them), but many others move to more "desk jobs" just for this reason alone. The vast majority of the nurses I work with who have worked on the floor for 15 or more years have serious physical health problems related to the job. But if you so much as break a toe, or sprain your pinky finger, you may not be able to safely do your job on the floor and will have to go on disability- this is a HUGE financial risk to always be facing. In most other jobs, if you break your ankle, you just come to work in a cast- in this job, you can't work and have to financially suffer. That is really scary for me.

Also, 2) I didn't realize what the impact of a constantly changing schedule would be on my personal life and ability to enjoy it. Because I work different days every week, I can't commit to things that I've been wanting to join for years, and had to quit other things I used to be involved in. Commitments to church activities and leadership, community band, dance classes- all of those are out the window. Now it is all I can do to find a weekend day when I'm not working to get together with family once in a blue moon.

3) There are very few opportunities for promotions and growth as a nurse, whereas these things exist much more in other fields. I believe this breeds some of the resentment between older and newer nurses (why they say "nurses eat their young"), because it is difficult for a nurse with a decade or two of experience to essentially be an equal with a nurse with almost no experience.

I will say, my absolute favorite part of the job is teaching disease management. I may work my way into a nurse educator role, or nursing faculty, or get my FNP and run a clinic, or something of the sort. But if I had to do it all over again, I think I would just choose to be a teacher- they have consistent schedules and summers off (if they want them).

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Yes, Yes, and Yes! I started at the bottom (CNA) at the age of 18 and went back for my RN at age 40. I love working as a nurse. For several years I was a float nurse in a hospital. I worked in nursing homes and now I do Public Health Nursing. I only have my Associate degree. I suppose if I had been younger when I got my RN I might have gone on, but I did not need it for what I wanted to do. Also, (just my opinion) I don't think "most nursing jobs are horrible". I have worked a lot of them. Any job is what you make of it. Attitude is key!

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Absolutely!!! I love nursing. I've always tried to be positive about my job and when I began to "burn out", I would transfer to a different dept in the hospital. This kept my career challening and interesting. I wouldn't want to do anything else!!!

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.

I would still be an RN yes. But, I would not have ventured in the the M/S side of things. Sure, having done it makes me a better nurse, but..........eh, I'd be happy just being a very good ICU nurse who can't go anywhere near M/S units.

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Specializes in Clinical, Hospice, Home Care, and HH.
What a downer of a thread (for the most part)...I came here for inspiration as a first semester student and should not have read that! With all due respect, I'm wondering why you all congregate on this site if you dislike the field so much? Wouldn't you want to talk about something else?

When you enter nursing school, of course you know it's going to be hard. If it wasn't then everyone would be doing it. When you are doing your clinicals, you see all the nurses on the floor doing their job and you have so much respect for them and you too want to help someone in that same way and can't wait to have RN behind your name. Well when that day came for me and I actually started working as an RN that invisible red tape that I didn't see before suddenly becomes visible. All I wanted to do and still do is to be a good nurse and make a difference in someone's life. That's hard too do when you start practicing and you have more paperwork than you have ever seen in your life and you have to be careful of lawsuits. It's hard to be there for your patient when you have to focus on paperwork!! Also, I come to this site to find comfort I guess you can say. Nursing is a hard job! When you come home at the end of the day and you feel like you are the only one going nuts, it's nice to be able to get online and know that there are others to help comfort you and tto let you know that you are not alone!

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I have been a nurse for 35 years and I am grateful for my career because it has supported me (and a few others) and given me the life I've had. Would I do it again knowing what I know now. I think I would choose a career that didn't interfere with my home life as much or one that rewarded me better for the disruption. Although I haven't had a serious injury, knock on wood, I have seen nurse's career's derailed right out of the box by injury, so I would choose a less physically hazardous career. And I would try to choose a career where my work was valued and appreciated and where I had more control over my working environment and conditions.

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NO and I havent even started my first nursing job yet.I'm tired of a total lack of consideration for new grads,lack of interest as well as lack of desire to invest in new grads and feeling of desperation,dissapointment and a huge decline in motivation to succeed in nursing career.I know that our country is in very bad shape right now but I beyond frustration that hospitals are not willing to invest in new grads also I'm not looking forward to working in a high stress envinronment,struggling as a new grad,always watching my back and never be rewarded for my services~!

Ps.I have several friends that want to do nursing.A year ago I would definitely support it but now I dont even offer any advice (just keep my mouth shut) because I know what the market is like and and I'm beggining to see what the world of nursing really entitles and frankly I'm not looking forward to it.

Couldn't have said it better.

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Specializes in ccu, med surg, ltc, home health.

I, like others, wish I had went for my BSN instead of getting my ADN. I think though I should have went for a teaching or other nerdy degree. I went for nursing to take care of my family better without thinking that I should either go for a longer degree or something else. Not to discourage anyone from nursing, it is one of the most respected professions out there and it is a wonderful one.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Tele, DOU.
I thought I wasd the only one who wanted to do this!! My husband wants to be a Park Ranger (retired pistol instructor) and I would stay a school nurse. We were looking in Montana!!!:yeah::chuckle:loveya:

don't mind my family . . . . :coollook: but ummmm, we may attempt to travel with you on that one. We love love love Montana :D. Surely they need nurses in the park . . . right? right? :D

HOORAY for all park rangers. Seriously.

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I have been a nurse for 32 years and have loved every minute. I said loved every minute of nursing not always the crap that goes with it. But the light at the end of the tunnel was always those wonderful patients that you take care of, the terrific community members that you teach, and the coworkers that watch your back.

Would I change anything? Yep, I would have gotten my masters and NP when I was young instead of waiting until I had a family. It is really hard to go to school and leave that little one. But the end result is well worth it. You do it not for the glory or the status but just because it makes you feel good.

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