NursingLink

Lady, there are some people who would be miserable at the circus. There are some so mean and lousy that when they were kids their momma had to tie a pork chop around their neck just to get the family dog to go near them. Some of these people went into nursing. In fact a lot of them did.

That said I will say many more are a true pleasure to work with. But face it - the whole job is caring for sick people. People who are dying. There's bound to be some misery involved and that includes some nurses.

Why are you considering nursing? At your age? Think about all the ugly truths you have come to discover in your years of living. Many of these nurses are young'uns. Their first foray into the real world after their momma and daddy are into a world of sick and dying people who cannot care for themselves and have doctors who can be jerks when that environment wears on them.

But older folks (I am a month shy of being 60 and feel much older) know that things are not always as they appear. The nice lady that moved across the street may be a closet bitch. If she is you simply have as little to do with her as possible. The same goes for this job.

• The hours are long. New nurses work every holiday and they will invent a new one just for you so they can stick you with it.


• There is a clique where you are planning to work. You can't be in it.  And their friend is the charge nurse who will give you the crappiest assignment load every day you work.


• When you make a mistake - even a small one - you will hear about it until your coworkers all go senile, quit or somebody else makes a much bigger one.


• Do a bunch of good things and you will never hear about those at all.

In other words it's like life.

I have done this for over 33 years in hospitals with 30 of those being a RN. I flat don't give a hoot in hell what any of them like. I know it's hard to believe but my coworkers like working with me. I never fail to help others. The patient is my focus and screw the rest of it. The clique even likes me though I'll never be one of them, maybe because I do not join any thing. And I do not want to be part of it. I MIGHT consider joining an outlaw motorcycle club but I never have although I've been one since 1970. Otherwise I find most groups are full of jerks. Including churches. Especially churches full of liars and hypocrites and the false believers Jesus warned us would be there.

I have never had a patient complaint filed against me or involving me. I have never been involved in any malpractice suit or litigation of any type. I have never been fired or disciplined by any health care facility. Never had an action against my license in any state.

I did get into trouble one time for superglueing the "Tribal Programs" sign over the "Men's Restroom" sign at the Indian Health Service hospital I worked at. That was a kind of comment on what they did for the tribe. But that's minor.

I go to work every day to make money. Not to make some patient happy to see me or to make their life better or make their family more at ease. However, by knowing my job and caring about people in general I make all those things happen when I can. And I know when I can't. I don't let that drag me down. I am my patient's advocate at all times. And their family's as well.

I simply leave the bitches that work among us in the break room (where you will frequently find them adding pounds to their lazy derrieres) whining about everything. I do not let them involve me in their misery. I seek out the positive folks who are also not part of the clique and we move along.

Don't let anyone's opinion here keep you from joining a field where you will always find work and a good paycheck. After all, that is what this is all about.

Well said, Tim

Well, I thought I was too old when I started.  I graduated from nursing school when I was 35.  I started college for the first time when I was 32.  Well, Im alive and still kicking  <Im sure some will say too bad, lol>.  My thoughts are if its a passion and a dream for you, do it.  I wont lie........school isn't easy, but its doable.   I love being a nurse.........like any other job, there are good days and bad.  Personally, I would go nuts in the business world, plus I would get fired in the first week.  I go to church with another woman who went to nursing school and she quit working as a nurse in less than 2 years at her nursing job  <she married a rich obnoxious and didnt have to work for the funds>.........I heard her speaking to some teenagers in a group when they were all talking about college and what they wanted to be.  A girl said she wanted to be a L&D nurse and this lady said "WHATEVER YOU DO DONT BECOME A NURSE, YOU'LL BE MISERABLE..........NO CHRISTMAS OFF, NO THANKSGIVING OFF..............YOUR NOT ALLOWED TO CALL IN SICK WITHOUT GETTING CUSSED OUT".   Honestly I was so disappointed in her........we went to high school together.   After she left another girl said..........."geez, dont ask Carrie, she hadn't had to work in a 'gazillion years'....................ask Angie, she didn't quit after her first year out of college.  In a way I was flattered, but in a way think about it........I was like "the last resort", aka  "better than nuttin", lol.  Things like that irritate me...........its not right to put nursing in a bad light for kids about to go to college. 

I went into nursing in my early 50's, I am now a month away from being 62 and I have always loved it. Even on the worst of days.  I enjoy my job, I enjoy helping and taking care of people.

Claire said that there are many specialties you can get into, and she is correct. There iare also jobs as school nurses, parish nurses, company nurses and nurses for the government. Beyond that, there are a lot of jobs that are not patient care jobs that nurses can do. Chart audits, insurance company work,  pharmaceutical sales and nurse recruiting are some of them.  There are many jobs a nurse can do.

My advise to you is if you want to be a nurse go for it.

This is honest and from the heart.  Yes, I'm a young one and just begining.  I have not actually practiced nursing so I can't give an educated response.  I am very much aware of that but this is what I WANT to do.  It makes me happy to help. (in short)  I realize there will be bad days and good days.  Get into nursing for the right reasons!  Don't do it just for a paycheck or you will be "miserable". 

I love working as an RN! I had to quit in January due to a health problem of my own, after a few weeks, I felt so depressed asnd I couldn't figure out why. Then I realised it was because I had been addicted to the challenge of the constantly varying events at work, the hard work and mental challenge of keeping track of all my patients' needs, procedures, the routine things, the employer imposed tasks, the mixed addition of relatives, friends, doctors, coworkers, prioritizing, just plain trying to keep up some shifts. But mostly what I miss is helping someone about every 10 minutes for a 12 hour shift! I had withdrawel from helping! I worked on a very busy ortho-trauma unit with medical overflow mixed in. My patients ranged from small bowel obstruction to vehicle accident victems to old ladies having total hip replacements.

Those nurses who hate the job and only stick it out for the paycheck are easy to spot at work, they are the ones who make a patient wait for 2 hours for pain medicine because it isn't conveniant to go get it. Or leave a confused patient without basic care because they can't complain, etc...
It is a good idea to check out different nursing jobs. They can be extremely varied. Think about your interests, general strengths, personality... nursing is very rewarding to me when I am comforting, relieving pain and fears, teaching self care skills ( I have worked as a homecare RN and loved all of the assessing, problem solving and teaching involved. I loved dealing one on one with the patient and family. I loved the feeling of confidence in my skills to be able to do things on my own and use good judgement on when to call the "office" for help or advice, when to call the doctor, when to call 911...

If you want to be a nurse, it doesn't matter if someone else is unhappy with the career, it is what you can do that matters. I hope you will become a skilled, caring nurse who finds the nursing niche that you can blossom in! :)

geekRN: I went to www.truenursing.com and it seems to be a bash session on patients and nursing. It is a very derogatory website for nursing. Do you have some issues with your career?

Here is what geekRN posted in another discussion:

"Nursing will not add anything to your perfect family life. It will only take away time, energy, and sanity. Why do you want to go into such a stressful career?"

Her blog, for which every one of her posts is an advertisement, is very negative. You think things get bitter at NL??? At least most of us see positive things about our careers!

I went through a phase where I was sure that I hated nursing.  I was ready to quit and hang up the towel.  After changing jobs, I found that I did like nursing, I just didn't like the hospital that I worked for when I started.  I actually found satisfaction and enjoyment in my new job, doing the same stuff that I had done at the other job.  

 I made a mistake choosing nursing. I don't like working with women or having them for bosses. Not all are bad, and I'm going to catch hell..but they are too emotional and it gets on my nerves. I'm tired of the gossip, the cliques, the rumors, and bullshit corporate rules that make no sense. I thought nursing would offer more opportunity but the job market is so tight. The sunshine, lollipops, and opportunity isn't what I imagined it to be, when I read all these articles about nursing. I've decided that my demeanor, while it is patient friendly, it isn't healthcare organization friendly. I don't fit in the job and I suppose its time to make a career change. It's too bad too considering all the time and money I put in but for those considering nursing...you really need to ask yourself if your willing to deal with the stress and constant drama. There is a reason why 1/3 of nurses walk away for good. Do some serious soul searching before you go into the field. Don't make the mistake I did.

I don't like working with women or having them for bosses. Not all are bad, and I'm going to catch hell..but they are too emotional and it gets on my nerves. I'm tired of the gossip, the cliques, the rumors,

EXACTAMUNDO...Look into nurse anesthesia...it is majority male and lacks many of the attributes of a female dominated career field.. I think a perusal of the threads on this forum will support the position you hold.

Well Said, Cpt Eric

I've worked in those enviroments that your talking about, but I LOVE the job that I'm at now.  We have none of that.  We have a highly professional group, we text one another from 6am till midnight.  I think it's how your organization is set up.  This is all med surg, and granted most of us, are older nurses and left our hormones behind.  It's funny, one of the biggest gossips we have now is a male RN, he ran around the other day, scaring the schit out of the newer nurses telling them that they were all going to get GB if they got the H1N1 shot.  He actually told one girl, that he'd visit her in the ICU, after she 'went against him' and got the shot. 

MY actual last few texts from co-workers.

c u then.

Found out about orders they had dates mixed up.    referring to military orders for a co-worker who is a LT in the Army

How goes it?

How is your Mom?

Do u remember Dr S?  OMG he died.

Aww its hard being new lots 4 me 2 learn in 5 day weeks, sux. (from a co-worker that transferred to another unit)

Miss u.

When at work again?

How is Dad?

 Now who's gossiping?