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 Emergency Department.

Yes! I wouldn't change a thing! I have been an ER RN for almost 18 years now and I STILL love what I do!

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Specializes in acute rehab, med surg, LTC, peds, home c.

No, I would have been a veterinarian or a librarian or a doctor. I hate the lack of respect by other disciplines. No matter what degree you have, there are some people who don't know what we have learned or anything about what we do, that will never take us seriously.

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I'm just a nursing Student about to begin my final year, and I still would have considered becoming a nurse. Regardless of the expenses,the HARD work, the clinical instructors, the disrespect; the rewards are sure, when u help a patient become well again, to see families smile or hear them say "thank you", or even to say a prayer for someone who knows that their last day is fast approaching. Nurses are knowledgable, insightful and POWERFUL leaders, managers, advocates, teachers... you name it... and until this is known, there will always be questions like this. There is a saying "Things could've been worse" and trust me, truer words have never been spoken...

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Specializes in SICU.

Nope! I would have (should have) stayed in art college. Been at it for 4 years, and i'm ready to jump ship and not look back!!!

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Specializes in cardiothoracic surgery.
What's with the 'nah I woulda gone into pharm' thing? Are the jobs really similar, or looking for more respect... ?

I have always found the pharmacist role at the hospital kind of interesting. I would like to have the knowledge they have, they can be a great resource for the nurses. I just think it would be a job I would be good at and enjoy. I really like the hospital setting, so if I was a pharmacist I would want to be in the hospital.

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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?

No! of course:-) I have left nursing profession two years ago and now I am working like redactor - Sestra (czech magazine for nurses). Otherwise....I would say that I dont regret...It was great 10 years hospital experience.

Have a nice day

Filip

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I also have worked for many years in the medical field with only minor injuries. You can be hurt at just about any job, even a desk job. What I noticed was that most of the time injuries occured when protocol was not being followed. My one major injury occured because I thought I could move a patient up in bed without help. Not a smart decision on my part and I paid the price. Luckily it was not a permanent injury. The thing with a nursing career is that it should not be "derailed right out of the box" just because of an injury. There are too many areas that a nurse could work in that does not require a lot of physical ability. Things like management, consulting, working for drug companies, doctors offices and public health are not as strenous as floor or home care nursing. Many of these also have much more family friendly hours of work also. Again, attitude and desire to make it work are key!

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I would not be a nurse, if I knew then what I know now. The vision I had in my mind of me working on the floor and caring for patients has turned into a nightmare of fear of litigation if I dont document every single interaction. CPA sounds good about now.

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Specializes in Derm/Wound Care/OP Surgery/LTC.

I worked as a paralegal for 15 years before turning to nursing. I have found so much gratification being a nurse. I love it. The only thing I would have done differently is 1) done it sooner and 2) went for my RN instead of becoming an LPN first. Now, at this point in my life, I am doing a lot of work as a legal nurse as a side job. I do research for attorneys that are doing med malpractice suits. It is combining the two things that I love most in the world...the law and nursing.

My goal by the time I am 50 (I am 43 now) is to become an attorney with a BSN in nursing. However, I don't want to defend docs in med mal suits. I want to defend those who are on the receiving end of poor care by physicians. Maybe be a patient advocate attorney. Not sure yet...but that's the direction I am heading in.

But, if I never get there...I will always love nursing first and foremost. There is no other job like it in the world. I wouldn't change a thing.

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I have been an RN for only a year it is my second career, and I would not have gone into nursing if I had it to do over.

The nurses that have been in bedside nursing for 20 to 30 years do "eat" new nurses, or at least chew them up and spit them out, new directors and managers too!! Did I go back to High School? Like the movie Mean Girls!

There is no autonomy in my unit, everyone is afraid to make a decision, and they have created an atmosphere from the 50's by waiting on the Dr.'s and acting like they know nothing.

I don't want to be like them in 20 years and there is no opportunity to get away from bedside nursing without a lot of experience where I live.

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Specializes in med-surg, teaching, cardiac, priv. duty.
Good morning! May I ask you all a question?

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

NO!!! I have endured nursing. I've been a nurse 18 yrs. I just resigned my nursing job and have NO plans to seek more nursing employment. I need a mid-life career change. It would be nice to do something I like the second half of my life....instead of just enduring!

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
I would not be a nurse, if I knew then what I know now. The vision I had in my mind of me working on the floor and caring for patients has turned into a nightmare of fear of litigation if I dont document every single interaction. CPA sounds good about now.

When I went back to school after a long layoff/period of being content with landscaping........a few people told me I'd be great with accounting. I started to consider it, but the schooling would have been much to expensive. I needed a profession I could get the degree for in just a couple years and be on my way with.

Now, I do realize four years of schooling was not in the cards for me, but I often wonder if nursing really would have been my choice had other options been more realistic for me at the time. I know this, not a day goes by that I dont wonder what things would have been like had the opportunity to go into accounting had been doable. The childishness that the nursing profession presents itself with on many occasions has become a bit of a drag on me. I think though, if I am able to move on into the ICU and get away from M/S, I will be a little happier because ICU nursing seems to match my personality more. Plus, I've been finding myself saying "Hey, I have 8 to 10 pt's here at night on this M/S unit, but I end up doing EVERYTHING still. I am performing primary care nursing for way too many pt's. May as well go to the ICU where my ratio reflects my workload.".

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