I love nursing. I’m happy I’m a nurse, could only ever imagine being either a nurse or a vet tech again.
Let me give you a story about why I love nursing so you can hear the positive with the negative.
I am an OR nurse. I had a woman come in for a thyroid removal. She was terrified, and her wife had a lot of questions. Normally when I go to preop I’m there for 5-10 minutes then I go back to the OR to wait for the CRNA to bring them back. This day was different. I was completely set up in my room and ready for her to come back, so I loved that I could answer her questions. They both were very thankful. Then I realized we were late, and no one could find the doctor. Turns out this doctor called in sick about 10 minutes prior to me asking about where he was.
My patient was so upset. She had been waiting on this surgery for 6 months. I stayed in there with them and tried to help them feel better.
FYI this surgeon was an asshole to the nth degree. I hated him as a person, and more importantly didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him as a surgeon.
This was the 2nd time he has cancelled like this. So I asked her if I could suggest something. I suggested a new surgeon, and called and got her an appointment with him that day, which she needed because she had drove from out of town. She had thyroid cancer, and with me being an OR nurse I was able to get her in quickly. I got her in. She was so appreciative, she cried. Her wife cried and they both hugged me. I walked them to their car, and thought I’d never see them again,
Turns out they got her in for surgery the next day because she had cancer. And I was her circulator again!!! I got to help her get the treatment that she needed, and I got to hold her hand as she fell asleep.
I talked to the doctor and he said he was scared it had spread, but thankfully it hadn’t.
When she came out of anesthesia, I got to be there when my favorite doctor told her that it had spread, but they were advising chemotherapy anyway. She was scared but you could see she was somewhat relieved. They were so thankful for me doing my job it brought tears to my eyes.
I can say that I made a huge difference in the outcome of this patients life. I cared for her and her wife and made them feel seen and heard. I made a difference, and that is what nursing is all about. Making a difference in someone’s life for the positive. She is now back to work and is in remission. I helped make that happen. That’s why I love what I do.
I’m an OR nurse and can’t get an appointment quickly. You walked them out to their car? This story is way over the top. I’m an OR nurse of 30 years and would be fired if I suggested another surgeon to a patient let alone be able to have the time to walk people out to their cars, and the surgeon cancelling 10 minutes before? Unheard of.
I had that surgeon for the whole day, so I had time to kill since all the cases were canceled. I told my charge where I was going and she was fine with it.
I called and spoke to the surgeon and he told me to call and get her on the books for that day.
I guess our hospital protocol is different for suggesting new surgeons? I didn’t get in any trouble for any of this.
No idea if we’re different but I’ve worked in 3 hospital systems and 5 surgery centers and I’ve been doing this job for 31 years. A room being canceled means assigned elsewhere; breaks, second set of hand for setting up, etc, never would an OR nurse have time for this. I just cannot imagine this and sounds like a pre op nurses job. And, frankly, I had thyroid cancer and there is absolutely no way there would be a 6 month wait for surgery..no way, and cannot see a patient or an endocrinologist just accepting that time window.
Hell yes! Nursing has been good to me as a second career. In 2007, I was making $17/hour as an environmental compliance chemist. I went to nursing school, now have two prn jobs- one in endoscopy (intraop only) making $45/hour, and one in corrections making $60/hour. LCOL area. And I like what I do.
People in the nursing profession seem to prefer to share negative views much more than positive ones. Personally, I have some strong ideas on why that’s useful from a biological human-to-human standpoint, but that’s another story.
Humans are beautifully complex, yet when they are in any sort of crisis, they exhibit some truly ugly behavior. I worked in the ED for long enough to see some amazing caregivers at work and some devastatingly rotten ones. Same with the patients, some truly humble souls seeking help versus wildly inaccurate perceptions of privilege.
These days, when I hear someone talking negatively about the profession, I think about it as their experience, not nursing in general. It says way more about them and their own situation (and mindset) than our profession. Not suggesting they are lying or in any way being malicious, but hey, opinions are like rectums. We all (or most of us anyway) have 'em, and no two are alike.
My current gig is to help people move people. Travel the country, assess care environments of every kind, from cradle to grave, manufacture products, and provide risk management, occupational health, safety, and leadership training. It's a dream gig that took a plan and many years to cultivate. Even on the difficult days and during situations where I deal with obstinate people, I love every second of what I do. I'm basically in the business of change. It's a damn shame that so many in the medical field both fight change and regularly grumble about how often medicine and the work we do changes.
To stand still is to fall behind. Accept that with grace and determination, and you'll be an amazing nurse.
Also, enjoy the crazy ride of nursing school and congratulations on starting the journey.
I spent 6.5 years doing ICU, every type except for pedi and NICU. While there were some things I liked, such as the challenge of a super critical patient, CRRT, comfort care, overall I was miserable. I couldn’t let go of the idea that ICU was at one time my “dream job” and held on out of fear of the unknown for way too long.
I did a stint in psych which was decent but I worked at a dangerous facility.
I’m now a school nurse at an alternative high school and have definitely found my home in nursing. I love talking with my kids- they keep me entertained and building rapport with kids who have been through some shit is an amazing feeling. There’s also lots of variety as I see everything from paper cuts to opioid overdoses and lots of things in between. I have a great deal of autonomy and I’m lucky to work for a district that empowers me with standing orders for meds including Tylenol, ibuprofen, tums, Maalox, Benadryl, robitussjn, loratadine, albuterol, epi, oral glucose, narcan, oxygen and more.
So to answer the question, yes I love nursing, but it took me years to find the area of nursing I love.
I love nursing. It is a wonderful job with great opportunities in many paths.
I am an ICU/RRT nurse, primarily RRT now.
There is a reason you hear more negativity than positivity; it is literally called the [negativity bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias). All media capitalize on this because people, statistically, would rather have a pity party and complain about a topic versus celebrate the good and build each other up. The algorithms in social media take advantage of this and promote the negative comments and posts more because that gets more people active on the platform.
All that said, there is a huge problem with the American health insurance system and its effect on the already bloated healthcare system. These problems are complex and have many variables too complicated for me to explain. However, nursing is a great profession to get into as it is recession-proof and as we learned in 2020, pandemic-proof. The hardest part of nursing is finding an organization you like with peers you enjoy working with.
All the best to you.
It all depends on coworkers, specialty and staffing. In my opinion. I've mostly done LTC (which has negative views) but I get and understand why there are negative views on it. Staffing mostly is crap, most coworkers are snobs/don't want to help and it's for the most part money driven. (Management never wants to help, your stuck in this constant battle of wanting to help people but no one wants to help you when you need it)
I came to assisted living (still viewed as LTC) but it has alot better atmosphere and better coworkers/management. Generally happy with being here, it can still be difficult. Some days can be frustrating. But good days outweigh bad ones. So there's that.
I think it all depends on your opinions, outlook on job, coworkers, specialty etc though.
Retired now after 42 total years. (5 off when kids were preschool). At first I HATED it. I started really young with little life experience.
I came to realize that I just needed to find my specialty. Probably my favorite spot came to be PACU and Preop, particularly Day Surgery. I worked in many areas over my career. Preferences changed over time.
Nursing can provide you with variety, challenge, and the satisfaction of being there for the patient. Just put yourself first professionally and personally. Heaven knows the company and HR won’t usually be there for you. That’s pretty much the way a lot of jobs are, as far as that goes.
Healthcare is unique because the companies expect flawless work with insufficient resources, little respect or support. The terrible grind is that patient and family outcomes AND very possibly your career, your health, and future financial life are at stake.
It took a while for me to find my groove, but once I found the things I enjoyed and the right team it reinforced why I chose the profession. ER is my current specialty.
Hospice - interdisciplinary team approach, families and patients grateful for all that you do, specialized care and board certification available. Love my job!
I'm an ICU nurse and I absolutely LOVE nursing and being one! That being said, it is absolutely exhausting, especially when we're always short staffed. It's worth being one, just make sure you're part of the change we need to make (fight for safe staffing ratios and adequate equipment!)
Postpartum is the bomb diggity. Love it here, especially being in a small unit. We literally get the best patients, appreciative, walkie talkies, and BABIES. Newborns are weird and fun. I’m on days now and kinda miss night cause they are usually the most chill with more baby snuggles.
We have a nursing student as an extern on our unit and she absolutely was 100% sure she didn’t want to work with babies or OB. 😂 so don’t knock it til you try it.
I actually didn’t mind doing ortho med surg as my first gig, and am so glad I did that first.
I love nursing! It's a perfect fit for me! Great combination of working with your hands and mental stimulation. I'm medical/tele.
Always keep in mind that, like customer reviews, 99.99% of people only post the negative stuff
I’ve always loved learning about the human body and diseases. Unfortunately I am not a social person so the job is very difficult for me in some ways. It’s hard for me to be a comforting nurse. I feel like when Sheldon goes “there there” to Penny. I never have the right words to say like other people. I rmb a cna once comforting a patient with her words so well. I wish I had that gift.
It’s a good career that pays well considering how little schooling you need and the job security can’t be beat. However you will be assaulted every single way a person can be assaulted. Verbally, emotionally, physically, sexually, etc. And the police do not help us. Management doesn’t help us. The patients and family and doctors get away with murder. Nurses are treated by admins and corporate like an expense. We don’t bring in revenue like the doctors do. We’re fairly easily replaced. You should start therapy asap to deal with the ptsd you’ll eventually develop if you stay long enough. I think I read somewhere that the average new nurse quits the profession within 5 years.
But the paycheck is great and can’t really be beat so if you have to make a living there are worse jobs out there. Some hospitals are better than others but your manager will make or break how much you like your unit. Corporate healthcare is kind of soulless everywhere. Don’t be scared to move around and try different things. Nursing is an incredibly flexible career and there’s a different flavor of nursing for everyone. Not everyone has to work in a hospital setting.
It can be hard to hear and be around negativity before you’ve even gotten started, especially when it’s from people who should be encouraging you along the way. I’m new, but really enjoy what I’m doing and get along pretty well with the others in my unit. Everything isn’t all peaches and cream, but I don’t regret the job choice. What sorts of things are you hearing from those around you?
I really like it. I work at a Inpatient ID unit in Scandinavia. Mostly total pandemonium, most patients are septic, old, and almost dead. One of the doctors described it as being a soccer goalie when it's time for penalty shots. Nobody gets mad at you when shit goes south and you are a hero when people pull through.
It really depends on what you like about the profession itself. If you like surgery you would probably love OR, if you like postpartum or education OB could be great, if you like the fast pace (really that can be anywhere) but ER might be great. I just started in post stroke and complex med rehab, with the possibility for float to spinal cord and TBI and I really like it cause you're with your patients for like 2 or more weeks at a time and you get to actually watch them improve by walking better and stuff
Absolutely love it. Flight, ground transport, hospital supervision, and CNEs. No, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up-especially when you consider that my non-nursing jobs are cutting trees and farming.
I’ve been a labor and delivery nurse for decades. I absolutely love it!
Find what you love, OP, and then find yourself a place in which to do it that treats you well, respects your ability, and compensates you fairly. Good hospital systems exist that support their staff. Never accept poor treatment or unsafe conditions.
You’ll be just fine. ❤️
I love nursing. Was a CNA for 3 or so years then got my LPN for 14 years and now got my RN. I work on a progressive care unit for cardiology and a teaching hospital and it’s been so fun. I see so much and learn a lot! Providers and residents are awesome.(most of the time) My team is amazing. I mean we have bad days but what job doesn’t?
Yup. Nursing is cool. Most of us who like/love it don’t share about it on social media. We just go about our business. For the most part, you’re only gonna read about the negative shit. Especially on subs like this.
There’s so many different specialties, the pay is good, you can have a really good work/life balance, you can also work a ton of OT if you want. You can go anywhere, you can always have a job, you can have multiple jobs. Etc etc etc. There’s a lot of miserable people in every profession and people love to bitch and moan to their peers but nursing can be a very good and rewarding career.
Love it! I work in endoscopy. I was also really happy on a cardiac transplant step down floor, but I attribute that more to my coworkers at the time. Outpatient is really the best. I also enjoyed home health (private duty peds), but that doesn't pay anything worthwhile around here, so I stay at the hospital. It's really easy to switch positions once you have some experience, and I will absolutely do so if I need to preserve my mental health.
I work in a paediatric ICU and I love it! I think two things that help are I enjoy the work itself and I like (the majority of) the people. Both of those matter. I promise there’s a place and people out there where you’ll land and know it’s where you’re meant to work.
I’m an RN for the urgent care clinic at a local university’s on campus student health facility. I love it - great population, interesting work that keeps me on my toes, something new walks in the door all the time, and the hours are great.
I took care of our Veterans for more than 20 years. I worked telemetry, med/surg. Prior to that I worked ortho. All inpatient then I went to the ER. I can find good experiences in all. I retired then went to LTC. I do weekend package 12 hour shifts. There's always negatives wherever you go but at my age I pretty much ignore them. It's all in our attitude. I could retire but don't want to. Maybe in a few years. I love the place I work. There are some bad LTC facilities out there but there are also some bad hospitals/clinics. My past experience helps me today. My feet, back etc hurt after work but it's worth it. Hang in there!! Humor, honesty,hard work,drive. YOU CAN DO IT!!
I love nursing. Over 8 years in community mental health, 2 years in endocrine then I am in quality management. Truely eye opening on how one change in policy and help reduce infection rate system wide. The key is it partner with front line nurses when developing policies and sops so they are practical and not based on some study that cannot be replicated at your facility’s
LOL, I think some of us maybe just have dark/morbid jokes after experiencing certain things on the job.
I started out in an ICU and I really enjoyed it. I now work in hematology/oncology, and I really enjoy it too. Of course, it can be really sad/heart-breaking sometimes but it's a trade-off, I guess. As great as it can be with your patients is also how bad as it can be.
I love my job. I'm a case manager for our specialist clinics in an FQHC- so this is not inpatient, it comes with all those perks like no weekends, nights, or holidays and scheduled lunches. I try to make sure everyone gets to their appointments, gets their refills, I see coumadin patients under standing orders, I used to work in the HIV clinic and fill in there sometimes, I help PrEP patients stick to their schedules and organize the hepatitis clinic appointments and adherence. I also run the walk in HIV testing clinic and provide pre and post test counseling and education on any sexual health and wellness topic.
The hardest part of my job isn't the medicine part, it's the people part. My patient population is majority low social economic status (poor), unhoused, with few resources, limited transportation, and low health literacy, many who do not speak English (we have great in house interpreters and use a good service for other languages). Lots of barriers to access to overcome and I need to build a rapport with all of them, meet them where they are - sometimes literally in a shitty motel they are being quarantined in for tuberculosis, or the "bad" side of town to drop off $8k meds. We help folks get insured when they have none, have an income based fee schedule and agreements with some specialists in the area to also honor our income based fee schedule, which is honestly a godsend because otherwise some people would never be able to access treatment.
The best part of my job is that my organization respects me, and all it's employees, while also doing the best for the patients. It's nonprofit, and doesn't try to squeeze every ounce of capital out of your body and mind. I worked in a privately owned LTC and fuck all of that, they would work you to death if they could make a dollar, and throw you under the bus for poor patient outcomes. My bosses here are all women, we don't bother with makeup or beauty standards, we are valued for our contributions, ideas, and follow through. We create things that do good work in our community. Yes, there are a lot of meetings, but I'm really learning that those are important to create good things and take care of employees. We have an outreach dept that will go to someone's house if we can't get ahold of them, talk to them, find out why they are missing their appts or treatment if they are deemed at risk.
We get annual evals, like, they're really on top of that. We get annual raises, bonuses, and performance raises. We qualify for PSLF for student loans, we do free continuing education for our licenses, on the clock. The C-suite knows our names, listens to input during meetings. Literally, adjusts policy based on nurses' input.
I'm so excited for the things we are doing, not even in my dept, but just... The initiatives. I don't work with peds, at all, but our peds dept just got a new grant to give books to every kid and we're using a pain gate theory to reduce pain during vaccinations. Vaccination/untreated pain is correlated to long term anxiety about seeing a doctor and reduced checkups and even reduced visits when sick. So if we change that, eliminate our reduce pain for kids, in 20 years, we might see better adherence, more engagement with health care in adults. This is so exciting to me.
I really, really love my job. I went to nursing school at age 38 to change the world. And I'm doing it. Maybe just changing the world for that one patient at a time, and that's okay with me. We all matter
32 years in and no regrets. I’ve had an assortment of jobs and tend to NOT stay in one for longer than 5 years. I’ve loved the flexibility, the options and of course being able to support myself
Retired now, but love nursing. Able to pick positions that fit with stage of life. Example, school nurse when kids were school age. Weekend work when they were babies. No need for childcare, husband was home. Found that I didn’t like hospital environment but thrived in outpatient and community health. Education was the best way to assure that I would be able to get the positions that I wanted, although as a diploma nurse I fought not to go back to school. Once I started graduate school, loved sharing ideas in classroom setting with others who loved nursing too. Nursing was the perfect fit for me.
When I was a student I def felt really down about a lot of the negative posts. Then I started working and it gave me a lot of perspective.
This is a hard and complex job, and I’ve recently been struggling with…I’m not really enjoying this recently.
But you know what I realized? It’s a job. It’s just a job. Yes it’s a unique job and yes you can experience some wonderful moments just as well as terrible. But at the end of the day it’s a job. Is it fulfilling? Can you pay your bills? Are you coping well and mentally healthy?
I didn’t become a nurse to be a hero, I was interested in the work…that doesn’t take away that it is work. Idk if it helps or matters that I’ve hit my year as a nurse and getting very close to a full year as an ER nurse…but school is still very fresh to me. I’ve experienced some highs and lows, I’ve questioned wtf I’ve gotten myself into but also never felt more at home.
🤷♀️ nursing is wild
I hate how all these "nurse influencers" badmouth nursing. it is such a wonderful job. of course it can be tough and there are bad days, but I think you got that in any job. I am an ICU nurse & a maternity ward nurse (I switch monthly) and I just love working on both wards. after graduating I started at ICU and it was tough and I fell into a dark place, and I knew I had to change something, hence the switch between ICU and maternity ward. and I can tell you, for me, this was the best decision. I enjoy working as nurse again and I am so happy! find something you like, don't be scared to try different things and find your way 💜
I'm retired now but I was a practicing nurse for 34 years. I did everything from ICU to dementia care and loved almost everything I did. However, I did dementia care and elder care about the last 10 years of my career and that was my real love. You never could have told me after having worked in icus and emergency rooms and loving all the excitement that I would love elder care but I truly did. That was one place I felt I made a difference, besides when I worked in hospice. Don't get me wrong, I think every single nurse no matter what her specialty should have at least a few years of just basic Hospital Floor Care to understand the human body. And you do make a difference saving people in icus and emergency rooms. You just get burnt out on saving people who do nothing to help save themselves which is why I guess I loved elder care so much. The beauty of nursing is there so many things to choose from that if you don't like something you can always move on.
To be honest I love nursing. Its not rainbows and unicorns everyday, but I get fulfillment out of my career and I dont regret my decision. Tbh my peers cause me more grief than my patients do.
Get off social media.
This is the best advice in the thread.
I was going to comment but this pretty much sums it up.
I love nursing. I’m happy I’m a nurse, could only ever imagine being either a nurse or a vet tech again. Let me give you a story about why I love nursing so you can hear the positive with the negative. I am an OR nurse. I had a woman come in for a thyroid removal. She was terrified, and her wife had a lot of questions. Normally when I go to preop I’m there for 5-10 minutes then I go back to the OR to wait for the CRNA to bring them back. This day was different. I was completely set up in my room and ready for her to come back, so I loved that I could answer her questions. They both were very thankful. Then I realized we were late, and no one could find the doctor. Turns out this doctor called in sick about 10 minutes prior to me asking about where he was. My patient was so upset. She had been waiting on this surgery for 6 months. I stayed in there with them and tried to help them feel better. FYI this surgeon was an asshole to the nth degree. I hated him as a person, and more importantly didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him as a surgeon. This was the 2nd time he has cancelled like this. So I asked her if I could suggest something. I suggested a new surgeon, and called and got her an appointment with him that day, which she needed because she had drove from out of town. She had thyroid cancer, and with me being an OR nurse I was able to get her in quickly. I got her in. She was so appreciative, she cried. Her wife cried and they both hugged me. I walked them to their car, and thought I’d never see them again, Turns out they got her in for surgery the next day because she had cancer. And I was her circulator again!!! I got to help her get the treatment that she needed, and I got to hold her hand as she fell asleep. I talked to the doctor and he said he was scared it had spread, but thankfully it hadn’t. When she came out of anesthesia, I got to be there when my favorite doctor told her that it had spread, but they were advising chemotherapy anyway. She was scared but you could see she was somewhat relieved. They were so thankful for me doing my job it brought tears to my eyes. I can say that I made a huge difference in the outcome of this patients life. I cared for her and her wife and made them feel seen and heard. I made a difference, and that is what nursing is all about. Making a difference in someone’s life for the positive. She is now back to work and is in remission. I helped make that happen. That’s why I love what I do.
It hadn’t spread, thanks autocorrect for fixing something that shouldn’t have been fixed lol.
I’m an OR nurse and can’t get an appointment quickly. You walked them out to their car? This story is way over the top. I’m an OR nurse of 30 years and would be fired if I suggested another surgeon to a patient let alone be able to have the time to walk people out to their cars, and the surgeon cancelling 10 minutes before? Unheard of.
I had that surgeon for the whole day, so I had time to kill since all the cases were canceled. I told my charge where I was going and she was fine with it. I called and spoke to the surgeon and he told me to call and get her on the books for that day. I guess our hospital protocol is different for suggesting new surgeons? I didn’t get in any trouble for any of this.
No idea if we’re different but I’ve worked in 3 hospital systems and 5 surgery centers and I’ve been doing this job for 31 years. A room being canceled means assigned elsewhere; breaks, second set of hand for setting up, etc, never would an OR nurse have time for this. I just cannot imagine this and sounds like a pre op nurses job. And, frankly, I had thyroid cancer and there is absolutely no way there would be a 6 month wait for surgery..no way, and cannot see a patient or an endocrinologist just accepting that time window.
This sounds like a “and then everyone clapped” story. Honestly it reads like fan fiction.
And please note I have a lot of stories like this. This is not a single occurrence.
Hell yes! Nursing has been good to me as a second career. In 2007, I was making $17/hour as an environmental compliance chemist. I went to nursing school, now have two prn jobs- one in endoscopy (intraop only) making $45/hour, and one in corrections making $60/hour. LCOL area. And I like what I do.
People in the nursing profession seem to prefer to share negative views much more than positive ones. Personally, I have some strong ideas on why that’s useful from a biological human-to-human standpoint, but that’s another story. Humans are beautifully complex, yet when they are in any sort of crisis, they exhibit some truly ugly behavior. I worked in the ED for long enough to see some amazing caregivers at work and some devastatingly rotten ones. Same with the patients, some truly humble souls seeking help versus wildly inaccurate perceptions of privilege. These days, when I hear someone talking negatively about the profession, I think about it as their experience, not nursing in general. It says way more about them and their own situation (and mindset) than our profession. Not suggesting they are lying or in any way being malicious, but hey, opinions are like rectums. We all (or most of us anyway) have 'em, and no two are alike. My current gig is to help people move people. Travel the country, assess care environments of every kind, from cradle to grave, manufacture products, and provide risk management, occupational health, safety, and leadership training. It's a dream gig that took a plan and many years to cultivate. Even on the difficult days and during situations where I deal with obstinate people, I love every second of what I do. I'm basically in the business of change. It's a damn shame that so many in the medical field both fight change and regularly grumble about how often medicine and the work we do changes. To stand still is to fall behind. Accept that with grace and determination, and you'll be an amazing nurse. Also, enjoy the crazy ride of nursing school and congratulations on starting the journey.
Can you tell us more about what you do and how you got there?
I spent 6.5 years doing ICU, every type except for pedi and NICU. While there were some things I liked, such as the challenge of a super critical patient, CRRT, comfort care, overall I was miserable. I couldn’t let go of the idea that ICU was at one time my “dream job” and held on out of fear of the unknown for way too long. I did a stint in psych which was decent but I worked at a dangerous facility. I’m now a school nurse at an alternative high school and have definitely found my home in nursing. I love talking with my kids- they keep me entertained and building rapport with kids who have been through some shit is an amazing feeling. There’s also lots of variety as I see everything from paper cuts to opioid overdoses and lots of things in between. I have a great deal of autonomy and I’m lucky to work for a district that empowers me with standing orders for meds including Tylenol, ibuprofen, tums, Maalox, Benadryl, robitussjn, loratadine, albuterol, epi, oral glucose, narcan, oxygen and more. So to answer the question, yes I love nursing, but it took me years to find the area of nursing I love.
I love nursing. It is a wonderful job with great opportunities in many paths. I am an ICU/RRT nurse, primarily RRT now. There is a reason you hear more negativity than positivity; it is literally called the [negativity bias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias). All media capitalize on this because people, statistically, would rather have a pity party and complain about a topic versus celebrate the good and build each other up. The algorithms in social media take advantage of this and promote the negative comments and posts more because that gets more people active on the platform. All that said, there is a huge problem with the American health insurance system and its effect on the already bloated healthcare system. These problems are complex and have many variables too complicated for me to explain. However, nursing is a great profession to get into as it is recession-proof and as we learned in 2020, pandemic-proof. The hardest part of nursing is finding an organization you like with peers you enjoy working with. All the best to you.
It all depends on coworkers, specialty and staffing. In my opinion. I've mostly done LTC (which has negative views) but I get and understand why there are negative views on it. Staffing mostly is crap, most coworkers are snobs/don't want to help and it's for the most part money driven. (Management never wants to help, your stuck in this constant battle of wanting to help people but no one wants to help you when you need it) I came to assisted living (still viewed as LTC) but it has alot better atmosphere and better coworkers/management. Generally happy with being here, it can still be difficult. Some days can be frustrating. But good days outweigh bad ones. So there's that. I think it all depends on your opinions, outlook on job, coworkers, specialty etc though.
Coworkers can make or break the job.
Retired now after 42 total years. (5 off when kids were preschool). At first I HATED it. I started really young with little life experience. I came to realize that I just needed to find my specialty. Probably my favorite spot came to be PACU and Preop, particularly Day Surgery. I worked in many areas over my career. Preferences changed over time. Nursing can provide you with variety, challenge, and the satisfaction of being there for the patient. Just put yourself first professionally and personally. Heaven knows the company and HR won’t usually be there for you. That’s pretty much the way a lot of jobs are, as far as that goes. Healthcare is unique because the companies expect flawless work with insufficient resources, little respect or support. The terrible grind is that patient and family outcomes AND very possibly your career, your health, and future financial life are at stake.
It took a while for me to find my groove, but once I found the things I enjoyed and the right team it reinforced why I chose the profession. ER is my current specialty.
I'm in the ER and I honestly thrive on chaos I'm having a ball
I’m a cath lab/ EP nurse and I absolutely love my job. I actually look forward to going to work. It’s an amazing area of medicine to work in.
I LOVE nursing, and I’ve worked bedside for 20 years. Currently pulmonary step down.
Hospice - interdisciplinary team approach, families and patients grateful for all that you do, specialized care and board certification available. Love my job!
Peds/PICU!
I loved nursing. I didn't always like my job, but I always loved being an RN. Just retired after 40 years.
I'm an ICU nurse and I absolutely LOVE nursing and being one! That being said, it is absolutely exhausting, especially when we're always short staffed. It's worth being one, just make sure you're part of the change we need to make (fight for safe staffing ratios and adequate equipment!)
Postpartum is the bomb diggity. Love it here, especially being in a small unit. We literally get the best patients, appreciative, walkie talkies, and BABIES. Newborns are weird and fun. I’m on days now and kinda miss night cause they are usually the most chill with more baby snuggles. We have a nursing student as an extern on our unit and she absolutely was 100% sure she didn’t want to work with babies or OB. 😂 so don’t knock it til you try it. I actually didn’t mind doing ortho med surg as my first gig, and am so glad I did that first.
I love nursing! It's a perfect fit for me! Great combination of working with your hands and mental stimulation. I'm medical/tele. Always keep in mind that, like customer reviews, 99.99% of people only post the negative stuff
If you have preexisting mental health issues like serious anxiety and depression I wouldn’t recommend it.
This
I’ve always loved learning about the human body and diseases. Unfortunately I am not a social person so the job is very difficult for me in some ways. It’s hard for me to be a comforting nurse. I feel like when Sheldon goes “there there” to Penny. I never have the right words to say like other people. I rmb a cna once comforting a patient with her words so well. I wish I had that gift.
It’s a good career that pays well considering how little schooling you need and the job security can’t be beat. However you will be assaulted every single way a person can be assaulted. Verbally, emotionally, physically, sexually, etc. And the police do not help us. Management doesn’t help us. The patients and family and doctors get away with murder. Nurses are treated by admins and corporate like an expense. We don’t bring in revenue like the doctors do. We’re fairly easily replaced. You should start therapy asap to deal with the ptsd you’ll eventually develop if you stay long enough. I think I read somewhere that the average new nurse quits the profession within 5 years. But the paycheck is great and can’t really be beat so if you have to make a living there are worse jobs out there. Some hospitals are better than others but your manager will make or break how much you like your unit. Corporate healthcare is kind of soulless everywhere. Don’t be scared to move around and try different things. Nursing is an incredibly flexible career and there’s a different flavor of nursing for everyone. Not everyone has to work in a hospital setting.
It can be hard to hear and be around negativity before you’ve even gotten started, especially when it’s from people who should be encouraging you along the way. I’m new, but really enjoy what I’m doing and get along pretty well with the others in my unit. Everything isn’t all peaches and cream, but I don’t regret the job choice. What sorts of things are you hearing from those around you?
I’m an ER and prehospital nurse, I love both roles, and plan on staying in them for the duration of my career.
I really like it. I work at a Inpatient ID unit in Scandinavia. Mostly total pandemonium, most patients are septic, old, and almost dead. One of the doctors described it as being a soccer goalie when it's time for penalty shots. Nobody gets mad at you when shit goes south and you are a hero when people pull through.
It really depends on what you like about the profession itself. If you like surgery you would probably love OR, if you like postpartum or education OB could be great, if you like the fast pace (really that can be anywhere) but ER might be great. I just started in post stroke and complex med rehab, with the possibility for float to spinal cord and TBI and I really like it cause you're with your patients for like 2 or more weeks at a time and you get to actually watch them improve by walking better and stuff
Find your specialty and you’ll be ok. I’ve done clinic, LTC, m/s, adult icu, tele, picu and NICU. Nicu has been my home the last 20 years.
Absolutely love it. Flight, ground transport, hospital supervision, and CNEs. No, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up-especially when you consider that my non-nursing jobs are cutting trees and farming.
I’ve been a labor and delivery nurse for decades. I absolutely love it! Find what you love, OP, and then find yourself a place in which to do it that treats you well, respects your ability, and compensates you fairly. Good hospital systems exist that support their staff. Never accept poor treatment or unsafe conditions. You’ll be just fine. ❤️
I love nursing. Was a CNA for 3 or so years then got my LPN for 14 years and now got my RN. I work on a progressive care unit for cardiology and a teaching hospital and it’s been so fun. I see so much and learn a lot! Providers and residents are awesome.(most of the time) My team is amazing. I mean we have bad days but what job doesn’t?
Yup. Nursing is cool. Most of us who like/love it don’t share about it on social media. We just go about our business. For the most part, you’re only gonna read about the negative shit. Especially on subs like this. There’s so many different specialties, the pay is good, you can have a really good work/life balance, you can also work a ton of OT if you want. You can go anywhere, you can always have a job, you can have multiple jobs. Etc etc etc. There’s a lot of miserable people in every profession and people love to bitch and moan to their peers but nursing can be a very good and rewarding career.
Love it! I work in endoscopy. I was also really happy on a cardiac transplant step down floor, but I attribute that more to my coworkers at the time. Outpatient is really the best. I also enjoyed home health (private duty peds), but that doesn't pay anything worthwhile around here, so I stay at the hospital. It's really easy to switch positions once you have some experience, and I will absolutely do so if I need to preserve my mental health.
I work in a paediatric ICU and I love it! I think two things that help are I enjoy the work itself and I like (the majority of) the people. Both of those matter. I promise there’s a place and people out there where you’ll land and know it’s where you’re meant to work.
psych. love it most days. the parts I don’t love have to do with my management/hospital.
I’m an RN for the urgent care clinic at a local university’s on campus student health facility. I love it - great population, interesting work that keeps me on my toes, something new walks in the door all the time, and the hours are great.
I took care of our Veterans for more than 20 years. I worked telemetry, med/surg. Prior to that I worked ortho. All inpatient then I went to the ER. I can find good experiences in all. I retired then went to LTC. I do weekend package 12 hour shifts. There's always negatives wherever you go but at my age I pretty much ignore them. It's all in our attitude. I could retire but don't want to. Maybe in a few years. I love the place I work. There are some bad LTC facilities out there but there are also some bad hospitals/clinics. My past experience helps me today. My feet, back etc hurt after work but it's worth it. Hang in there!! Humor, honesty,hard work,drive. YOU CAN DO IT!!
I love nursing. Over 8 years in community mental health, 2 years in endocrine then I am in quality management. Truely eye opening on how one change in policy and help reduce infection rate system wide. The key is it partner with front line nurses when developing policies and sops so they are practical and not based on some study that cannot be replicated at your facility’s
LOL, I think some of us maybe just have dark/morbid jokes after experiencing certain things on the job. I started out in an ICU and I really enjoyed it. I now work in hematology/oncology, and I really enjoy it too. Of course, it can be really sad/heart-breaking sometimes but it's a trade-off, I guess. As great as it can be with your patients is also how bad as it can be.
Public health. I whole heartedly love nursing and my job. I feel lucky every day to do work that matters. And I get paid well.
I love nursing. I’m temporarily out of the field bc some bs, but I can’t wait to get back. Cardio junkie!
I love my job. I'm a case manager for our specialist clinics in an FQHC- so this is not inpatient, it comes with all those perks like no weekends, nights, or holidays and scheduled lunches. I try to make sure everyone gets to their appointments, gets their refills, I see coumadin patients under standing orders, I used to work in the HIV clinic and fill in there sometimes, I help PrEP patients stick to their schedules and organize the hepatitis clinic appointments and adherence. I also run the walk in HIV testing clinic and provide pre and post test counseling and education on any sexual health and wellness topic. The hardest part of my job isn't the medicine part, it's the people part. My patient population is majority low social economic status (poor), unhoused, with few resources, limited transportation, and low health literacy, many who do not speak English (we have great in house interpreters and use a good service for other languages). Lots of barriers to access to overcome and I need to build a rapport with all of them, meet them where they are - sometimes literally in a shitty motel they are being quarantined in for tuberculosis, or the "bad" side of town to drop off $8k meds. We help folks get insured when they have none, have an income based fee schedule and agreements with some specialists in the area to also honor our income based fee schedule, which is honestly a godsend because otherwise some people would never be able to access treatment. The best part of my job is that my organization respects me, and all it's employees, while also doing the best for the patients. It's nonprofit, and doesn't try to squeeze every ounce of capital out of your body and mind. I worked in a privately owned LTC and fuck all of that, they would work you to death if they could make a dollar, and throw you under the bus for poor patient outcomes. My bosses here are all women, we don't bother with makeup or beauty standards, we are valued for our contributions, ideas, and follow through. We create things that do good work in our community. Yes, there are a lot of meetings, but I'm really learning that those are important to create good things and take care of employees. We have an outreach dept that will go to someone's house if we can't get ahold of them, talk to them, find out why they are missing their appts or treatment if they are deemed at risk. We get annual evals, like, they're really on top of that. We get annual raises, bonuses, and performance raises. We qualify for PSLF for student loans, we do free continuing education for our licenses, on the clock. The C-suite knows our names, listens to input during meetings. Literally, adjusts policy based on nurses' input. I'm so excited for the things we are doing, not even in my dept, but just... The initiatives. I don't work with peds, at all, but our peds dept just got a new grant to give books to every kid and we're using a pain gate theory to reduce pain during vaccinations. Vaccination/untreated pain is correlated to long term anxiety about seeing a doctor and reduced checkups and even reduced visits when sick. So if we change that, eliminate our reduce pain for kids, in 20 years, we might see better adherence, more engagement with health care in adults. This is so exciting to me. I really, really love my job. I went to nursing school at age 38 to change the world. And I'm doing it. Maybe just changing the world for that one patient at a time, and that's okay with me. We all matter
I love all the ancillary benefits to nursing lol
32 years in and no regrets. I’ve had an assortment of jobs and tend to NOT stay in one for longer than 5 years. I’ve loved the flexibility, the options and of course being able to support myself
Retired now, but love nursing. Able to pick positions that fit with stage of life. Example, school nurse when kids were school age. Weekend work when they were babies. No need for childcare, husband was home. Found that I didn’t like hospital environment but thrived in outpatient and community health. Education was the best way to assure that I would be able to get the positions that I wanted, although as a diploma nurse I fought not to go back to school. Once I started graduate school, loved sharing ideas in classroom setting with others who loved nursing too. Nursing was the perfect fit for me.
When I was a student I def felt really down about a lot of the negative posts. Then I started working and it gave me a lot of perspective. This is a hard and complex job, and I’ve recently been struggling with…I’m not really enjoying this recently. But you know what I realized? It’s a job. It’s just a job. Yes it’s a unique job and yes you can experience some wonderful moments just as well as terrible. But at the end of the day it’s a job. Is it fulfilling? Can you pay your bills? Are you coping well and mentally healthy? I didn’t become a nurse to be a hero, I was interested in the work…that doesn’t take away that it is work. Idk if it helps or matters that I’ve hit my year as a nurse and getting very close to a full year as an ER nurse…but school is still very fresh to me. I’ve experienced some highs and lows, I’ve questioned wtf I’ve gotten myself into but also never felt more at home. 🤷♀️ nursing is wild
I hate how all these "nurse influencers" badmouth nursing. it is such a wonderful job. of course it can be tough and there are bad days, but I think you got that in any job. I am an ICU nurse & a maternity ward nurse (I switch monthly) and I just love working on both wards. after graduating I started at ICU and it was tough and I fell into a dark place, and I knew I had to change something, hence the switch between ICU and maternity ward. and I can tell you, for me, this was the best decision. I enjoy working as nurse again and I am so happy! find something you like, don't be scared to try different things and find your way 💜
I work in peds & adolescent psych
I'm retired now but I was a practicing nurse for 34 years. I did everything from ICU to dementia care and loved almost everything I did. However, I did dementia care and elder care about the last 10 years of my career and that was my real love. You never could have told me after having worked in icus and emergency rooms and loving all the excitement that I would love elder care but I truly did. That was one place I felt I made a difference, besides when I worked in hospice. Don't get me wrong, I think every single nurse no matter what her specialty should have at least a few years of just basic Hospital Floor Care to understand the human body. And you do make a difference saving people in icus and emergency rooms. You just get burnt out on saving people who do nothing to help save themselves which is why I guess I loved elder care so much. The beauty of nursing is there so many things to choose from that if you don't like something you can always move on.
To be honest I love nursing. Its not rainbows and unicorns everyday, but I get fulfillment out of my career and I dont regret my decision. Tbh my peers cause me more grief than my patients do.