THE CON of BEING AN RN

litesoutrox in San Bernardino, California said: Im working at home exclusively as an advise/triage RN (no driving,traffic....).

What exactly is an advise/triage RN? I'm just curious to know all areas that a nurse could possibly work.

JB in Jackson, Michigan said: You rarely can leave anything for the next shift because they get nasty about it even though it is a 24 hour institution. Maybe you have to pee. Maybe your mouth is dry. Think you have time to go to the bathroom and get a drink? Not really. You really don't have time to take your break. Getting out on time at the end of your shift is a treat! Want more?

Your entire post was right on! I sat here chuckling b/c all of what you have mentioned has happened to me in one shift, and it sucks. I remember crying or wanting to cry on MANY occasions. There is so much more that goes on, in a shift, I just cannot be bothered to type about it. It's very easy to get snowed under. Sometimes teamwork is seriously lacking. Some people are so freaking lazy, but want you to pull their fat out of the fire when they get busy. It seems as though 12 hours is just getting to not be enough time to get things done. There is not enough time management/multi-tasking in the world to be able to get all of the things done that need to be done. You are the only person that has ever mentioned that hours fly by like seconds, and I agree. You start your shift at 7, and before you know it, it's midnight, and you're barely keeping your head above water, and you still need to chart. Where I live, there is one nurse's aide for 20 patients, so there is not much help in that way. It can be a very stressful job. Very stressful.
Incidental overtime is becoming commonplace. Management stays on us about it. Yet, more and more tasks are being added, more paperwork, and during all of this, there is a person lying in that bed who deserves the best nursing care.

To those of you who are still delusional enough to believe the myth that nurses are angels who run around "helping people": Get help.
If you really want to "help people," then don't become a nurse. Go be a hospital volunteer, or what used to be called a "candy striper." As a volunteer, you will be able to satisfy the altruistic urge to "help", to be there for the patients, to get to know them and tend to their needs without having to be subject to the abuse that is the nursing profession. You will not be torn in a hundred different directions, expected to be everywhere and do everything for everybody else, while not having time to take care for your own needs. You will also be paid what you are worth. Nurses are not. Once the level of responsibility and the stresses of the job are factored in, what we are paid is pathetic.
Don't ever make the mistake of thinking you will be able to be there for the patient if you become a nurse. You simply will not have the time. Or the energy. You will be lucky if you do not end up depressed, abusing substances or worse. Step right this way, bring your idealism and enthusiasm into the job and then watch it get dropped into the vat of acid called the real world of nursing. After only a few years (if you make it that long) you will not recognize yourself, having been drained, used, cynical and wishing you had chosen something, anything else for a profession.
The hospital industry pays a lot of money to paint a beautiful picture of the "caring" nurse in their recruitment ads, all in the name of luring in a new crop of young idealistic do-gooders that they can suck dry and throw away. It's the picture of a nurse who allegedly has an infinite amount of time to spend with their (one) patient, and can "be there" happy and smiling a cheesy smile for the camera all while working for Hospital X, where all the employees are treated with respect and appreciated.

Continued-- Ran out of room.
They usually have a picture of a young, skinny attractive girl bending over a patient bed, fluffing pillows or smiling while offering a pitcher of water or some other nonsense like that. And that patient is usually both young and lithe or is a robust, healthy elderly patient that is nothing like what is really lurking in the hospital. Ever seen a patient with end stage Alzheimer's? I guarantee you they are nothing like what you see in the recruitment ads!
All of this is marketing propaganda, trying to lure people in with false premises and hope and obfuscating the real truth, which is that NURSING IS AN ABUSIVE PROFESSION. Period.
It's great that there are people out there who want to help others. It's what the world needs. Nursing's just not the way to do it.

Is there any type of nursing union? Nurses need a union. Ya'll might need to organize a march at the capitol to let your voices be heard. That is the only way to change things, is to write letters to Congress and march! If need be, you might need to have a nurses strike. I guess it takes boldness and someone to organize something of that nature. I guess most people are too tired from working all day to even consider writing a letter or organizing a march.

RN1973 in Henderson, Nevada said: Sometimes teamwork is seriously lacking. Some people are so freaking lazy, but want you to pull their fat out of the fire when they get busy. It seems as though 12 hours is just getting to not be enough time to get things done.

That is the majority of the problem. There are a lot of lazy people that go into the field of nursing, and they come into a rude awakening that they actually have to do some work! When I was in college, I used to work in a retail store part-time and there were some mean viscous females that felt that they didn't have to pitch in to straighten or put up clothes. They were females with very bad attitudes! Those same females were going to apply for nursing school. I thought to my self, "how are they going to be a nurse and they are too lazy to even put up clothes?" On top of all that, they were mean spirited females. I'm sure if they actually passed nursing school and are working in a hospital, I'm sure they have carried the same attitude over into that particular workplace. Having the attitude that "oh someone else will do it," and leaving the workload for the other employees. There has to be a balance where everyone is putting in an effort to get the job done. When someone is lazy, that affects everyone on board!

That is so true. If one person has the attitude of getting by with the least effort the whole team is in trouble. As a nurse if you follow someone who does not accomplish all of their task you have to work extra hard to make up for their lack of committment and pure laziness. That does not include of course someone who does their very best and just cannot complete everything because that too will happen to the best of us. The attitude of someone else will do it can get you in serious trouble as a nurse. If you value your job and income you had better give it your all. I have seen even the best of nurses in law firms trying to defend why something was not done or missed. Good luck to the patients of such nurses.

The best book for NCLEX -RN exam ?

IN RESPONSE TO UNIONS. THEY DID IT IN CALIFORNIA WITH GREAT RESULTS AS FAR AS I CAN TELL. FOR NURSES AND THE PATIENTS, I THINK IT SHOULD BE MOBILIZED. I ALWAYS HEAR THAT MEEKNESS IN TONE EVEN ONLINE WHEN NURSES TALK ABOUT THAT. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE DARN PROBLEM IS.
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY NURSES ARE SO RELUCTANT TO SPEAK UP? IS IT BECAUSE WE HAVE A DYSFUNCTIONAL CARE GIVER OR CONTROL FREAK MENTALITY TO GET INTO THIS???????
HAVEN'T HEARD ANY COMMENT YET ABOUT COUNTING LPN'S IN THE 'NURSING SHORTAGE'

y'all just need to move california where the nurses are well taken care of.

HOW ABOUT LETTING US KNOW HOW 'YA'LL' GOT STARTED IN ORGANIZING A UNION....
A PARTICULAR ORGANIZATION WHO APPROACHED NURSES, OR WAS THERE ANY APPROVAL OR COOPERATION THROUGH YOUR STATE BOARD.
I HEAR LPN'S DON'T MAKE MUCH IN CA. IS THAT TRUE IN YOUR EXPIRIENCE?

I don't have any info on organizing a union because all of the places I've worked or working for now have well established unions. If your place of employment does not have a union, your employer will do their damndest to keep the union out. I don't think LPN or LVNs out here in Cali are paid appropriately for what they do (they do alot for us in the ER). The pay Medtechs (LVNs who are also CA state correction officers) are paid really well. If you can, go and get your RN. I did even working fulltime to support my family...I have no oustanding student loans for Nursing (I do for pre-req course for PA school - big waste of my time). I have tripled my income, have more job opportunities than a PA and I have only been a nurse for 6 years.

J Bach in Jackson, Michigan said: LPN's get the real dirty end of the stick. You are either utilized as a "tech" and short changed both in skills and in money or you are eating the dirt as hard and heavy as nurses do but for WAY less money. The lack of being able to take verbal orders or push drugs isn't worth that much cut in pay. Often times, you are carrying more patients because of those two tiny little tasks that you can't do but caring for the patients is the hardest part of the job. Unless you have someone with the need for multiple verbal orders or multiple IV pushes, that little bit doesn't justify carrying a whole extra patient. Not to mention the RN's that have to cover yours when they are busy. I have never understood giving an LPN an extra patient because each nurse covers one of hers. Bottom line is that everyone gets an extra patient. LPN's working as nurses are nurses. All of a sudden their education is "less" than an RN's but if they have been practicing, they have been practicing as a nurse needed to provide the same skills as nurses and learn the same things along the way. LPN's as techs have been ripped off of their education.

Don't be bitter at the RNs, your facility dictates how they are utilized. I've worked in ERs were they are used like an ER tech (waste of resource) others utilized them appropriately - they have a pt load they may not get assigned pt's who need an IV med.....I don't see how we could handle the pt load without them. If you think you are being under utilized, go elsewhere or go get your RN. LPNs experience may be = or more than RNs they work with but you can't compare their education.....if they were the same then why even bother going for a higher degree or better yet lets only have LPN or RN don't have both. I was once an LVN and I know were you are coming from but I was never bitter. It motivated me to strive for something better.

Hey, not all California nurses are unionized. I worked for a hospital that definitely went all out to make certain the union did not establish itself there. The hospital made all kinds of promises to the nurses, many of them belived them and VOILA!! no union. As far as opportunities for LVN's, I know one who is now team leader of her area in Home Health. She is very qualified, and the opening came up.
I am paid very well, but to be honest - I agree with many posters here. Nursing is not the wonderful, caring profession that you may think it is, there is a lot of "back biting" and the work load can be very heavy. I am looking forward to retiring as soon as I can. I have been a nurse for 19 years now.

litesoutrox in San Bernardino, California said: Don't be bitter at the RNs, your facility dictates how they are utilized. I've worked in ERs were they are used like an ER tech (waste of resource) others utilized them appropriately - they have a pt load they may not get assigned pt's who need an IV med.....I don't see how we could handle the pt load without them. If you think you are being under utilized, go elsewhere or go get your RN. LPNs experience may be = or more than RNs they work with but you can't compare their education.....if they were the same then why even bother going for a higher degree or better yet lets only have LPN or RN don't have both. I was once an LVN and I know were you are coming from but I was never bitter. It motivated me to strive for something better.

I think J Bach is an RN. I think she was just giving some examples of how LPN's are not utilized properly and get the dirty end of the stick.

[QUOTE who="Ive tripled my income and the opportunites are endless. I have no student loans to pay back, cause it my tuition was incredibly low(just a side note.......Im working at home exclusively as an advise/triage RN (no driving,traffic....). I dont miss any of my kids school or sport functions. As a nurse I was able to travel with a pro motorcycle race team all over the US as part of their medical team (they only recruit RNs.... maybe work as a RN at Disneyland and so on. Good luck!

This is NOT the NORM. This is the rarity. If you are lucky enough to get through the BS and crap and kiss the right butts you can have something interesting to tell like this here. There aren't enough of these opportunities to go around for those that want them and are you feeling lucky? The question is....will you get stuck in the hell of nursing or luck out to tell this story. Again, people will deny to themselves what they read here, go into nursing and learn for themselves - most people will find it a big mistake in their lives. If you want extreme stress, abuse and job dissatisfaction get in line and sign on the dotted line. Also it is rare

it is rare to NOT owe for nursing. These are the stories that are as misleading as the poster child posters and signs telling people to become nurses or join their pitt-hole hospital.

2Sexy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi said: What exactly is an advise/triage RN? I'm just curious to know all areas that a nurse could possibly work.

Learning all the areas does not address the reality. Again....how lucky do you feel. Do you really believe you will be one of those? Do you have what it takes to get through the bumps and grinds and dirt roads to land that wonderful job - that wonderful job that there is NO shortage or takes knowing the right people or something to get. The odds are that you will be stuck in the rutt.

Switching hospitals......LMAO......when you have been through 10 and all 10 of them are the same....what next......try 10 more? MOST to ALL of them SUCK

Well said Sephora. But, there are those that will continue to lie, continue to disagree with us, continue to NOT believe us and how many of them wind up feeling just like us???? We know the truth. Nursing advertisements are the BIGGEST false advertising gimmick there is.....short of penis enlargement!

2Sexy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi said: Is there any type of nursing union? Nurses need a union. Ya'll might need to organize a march at the capitol to let your voices be heard. That is the only way to change things, is to write letters to Congress and march! If need be, you might need to have a nurses strike. I guess it takes boldness and someone to organize something of that nature. I guess most people are too tired from working all day to even consider writing a letter or organizing a march.

REALITY: One state has pulled it off in how many years of hearing about the conditions of nursing and the shortage. You think NO ONE has tried? You need to do more searches on this topic. There are tons of web pages, unions, organizations and more talking BS about this and all it is is talk. Everyone knows it exists. My guess is the politicians have stock in hospitals and don't want to see their profits affected by what is RIGHT. Bush has been a total traitor to this country while his profits have grown and his own people have lost their homes and more. What is RIGHT? Screw the itty bitty american that wasn't lucky enought to get out of the pithole. You are better off trying to win the lottery because the wages for nursing aren't worth the stress, damage to your health and mental well-being. It is gross and abusive. Visual.....patient keeps crapping....smells beyond foul and is stomach turning.......time to clean them again.........roll....wipe and pppllllppp......a nice fart and more stool at ya.....every time....every time.......you have no idea the wipes, the linen and stool on your gloves....the SMELL. The majority of the population of patients are SICK....get it? SICK. They are obese, helpless bedbound patients that you get to help. The pour stool out them non-stop and if they don't you have to MAKE IT HAPPEN.....treat constipation. Or....the indigent with no insurance who is addicted to crack....DEMANDING RITZ ROYALTY TREATMENT!

litesoutrox in San Bernardino, California said: y'all just need to move california where the nurses are well taken care of.

Wish it was that easy. Means I would have to move all my loved ones. Besides.....anyone have any idea the cost of living in California? I lived there. I know. Think those nurses wages are going to keep you comfortable? Got a sugar daddy? Again....reality. Know how many agencies are reaping the bucks in to cover the shortage of nurses there? Moving to California doesn't seem to be the answer to their shortage. Might be a REALISTIC reason why. Again....and again.....reality vs non. What happens when they go broke paying all those agency nurses and they can't find the nurses to cover their census? Will be interesting. If it is SO GREAT why are they still desperate for agency???? If I lived in California, I'd be getting me a job. As it stands, I don't even want to do agency to go there. Everyone has their reasons. They still need agency.

litesoutrox in San Bernardino, California said: Don't be bitter at the RNs, your facility dictates how they are utilized. I've worked in ERs were they are used like an ER tech (waste of resource) others utilized them appropriately - they have a pt load they may not get assigned pt's who need an IV med.....I don't see how we could handle the pt load without them. If you think you are being under utilized, go elsewhere or go get your RN. LPNs experience may be = or more than RNs they work with but you can't compare their education.....if they were the same then why even bother going for a higher degree or better yet lets only have LPN or RN don't have both. I was once an LVN and I know were you are coming from but I was never bitter. It motivated me to strive for something better.

I am an RN....sticking up for LPN's. I have worked side by side with LPN's and they can be utilized as RN's. Also, with this shortage, why not turn to them to correct it?

I am an RN sticking up for RN's and blame the picture and not RN's for it. However, there are some mean and nasty RN's that still want to keep LPN's down and phase them out of the picture. YES....again....another reality. Nurses are EVIL and MEAN. Especially to eachother and are the cause for the shortage just as much as the hospital and profiters. Let them suffer. Let them work their butts off for chasing people off. They did it to themselves.

Or.....deny what we are telling you, go into debt and find out for yourself. Maybe you will get lucky and land in Disneyland.....LOL LOL LOL LOL

JB in Jackson, Michigan said: Learning all the areas does not address the reality. Again....how lucky do you feel. Do you really believe you will be one of those? Do you have what it takes to get through the bumps and grinds and dirt roads to land that wonderful job - that wonderful job that there is NO shortage or takes knowing the right people or something to get. The odds are that you will be stuck in the rutt.

Switching hospitals......LMAO......when you have been through 10 and all 10 of them are the same....what next......try 10 more? MOST to ALL of them SUCK

Actually, I just came to this website to find out info about this field, and I have other options besides nursing. Anyway, you have done a great job at painting a graphic picture. LOL I have taken some of your opinions to consideration. I know that you are telling the truth about the profession because very few people that go into nursing for the "money" enjoy it. They end up miserable because their motives were wrong to begin with. They can't ever pay anyone enough for that type of work. So the motive better be right to begin with. The key to finding the right career is if you are willing to strive to be #1 in it. If you don't have the desire to be the best or #1, then you are in the wrong profession and you need to leave it. JB in Michigan, from the degree of dissatisfaction you have about the nursing profession, you should have left the field a long time ago. It will benefit you and the patients. The patients don't need anyone working on them that is totally miserable about their job. They are sick and they don't need any added negativity from someone who hates what they are doing. I don't know your situation, but you might need to change professions or go back to college and get a degree in something else.

2Sexy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi said: Actually, I just came to this website to find out info about this field, and I have other options besides nursing. Anyway, you have done a great job at painting a graphic picture. LOL I have taken some of your opinions to consideration. I know that you are telling the truth about the profession because very few people that go into nursing for the "money" enjoy it. They end up miserable because their motives were wrong to begin with. They can't ever pay anyone enough for that type of work. So the motive better be right to begin with. The key to finding the right career is if you are willing to strive to be #1 in it. If you don't have the desire to be the best or #1, then you are in the wrong profession and you need to leave it. JB in Michigan, from the degree of dissatisfaction you have about the nursing profession, you should have left the field a long time ago. It will benefit you and the patients. The patients don't need anyone working on them that is totally miserable about their job. They are sick and they don't need any added negativity from someone who hates what they are doing. I don't know your situation, but you might need to change professions or go back to college and get a degree in something else.

LOL.
Ya think?

2Sexy, my patients would say otherwise. They would tell you that it was my calling. I speak the truth mainly because I have seen how this career has turned after I was warned myself and I have seen many come into it and become very turned off by it. I don't agree with how it is and how SCREWED the patients are because of profiters. When I am at work, I am a perfectionist. I am the nurse that you would want to be taking care of your frail grandmother because when I do something, it is done RIGHT. In comparison to a lot of what I have seen, you would definitely want me taking care of you or someone you care about.

LOL....Candice, so quiet until you find a possible chance to join in against me. I knew you were lurking. I just wonder why you are so offended by me telling the truth about this career. Don't take it so personal. Based on my experience with people, I can already tell the kind of person you are by your first posts:
www.indeed.com/forum/job/Nurse-RN/CON-BEING-RN/t33280
and how PERSONAL you take it that I tell it like it is. I am NOT a recruiter. I am VERY honest. Nothing I said is a lie. Why don't you tell us how beautiful it is to do what I have described? Why have you been lurking? Your antagonism makes me laugh. Sorry, but not everyone is going to go around blowing a puff of smoke up everyone's butts about this career. Too bad you find it such a personal attack to read the truth about nursing. I say you guarantee people that you will refund their tuition to them if they get into nursing and don't feel the way you do. Put your money where your mouth is. You tried to paint yourself as such an accomplisher and such a professional spokesperson for becoming a nurse but then you are so frazzled by my opinion being so different but true LOL.....you lurk around in the backgrounds waiting for your opportunity to antagonize. That doesn't exactly match your first portrayals of yourself but it does match many personalities in nursing

LOL Candice, why do you take it so personal that someone has a different view point than yours on nursing? Why are you so offended.

How about putting your money where you mouth is. Guarantee one person on this board that you will pay them back their tuition if they get into nursing and find it isn't how you described it. The truth is that I haven't told one single lie here. I tell it how it is and people will still go into nursing and many of them will be totally disappointed. Not everyone loves to stretch themselves out to unhealthy levels of stress as your first posts pointed out. I find it very hard to believe that you aren't one of those control freak cows that is in denial of their own prudish personalities at work. One of those that is miserable to work side by side with.....dead serious to dead boring. As offended as you have gotten here by my descriptions differing from yours, I find it hard to believe that you are always upbeat and thinking beautiful, positive, wonderful thoughts all the time. You lurk in the back grounds waiting to come back SNIVELY and it is burning you up that I stood up to you about the truth about nursing. How would you describe what I have? Are you saying it isn't like that at all? Are you saying it is beautiful to have POOP blowing out at you while you are cleaning patients? Be for real. None of these people have the slightest clue until they get on the other side of the door. There are a lot of people that wouldn't dare step foot in this field if they had to deal with some of these things. There is NO sense in seeing them waste their time and money just to become another unhappy nurse or inactive nurse that owes for the career. Tell it like it is. Not in flowery poetry. LOL back at ya.

LOL Candice, this isn't a PERSONAL battle between you and me. Like I said to you before, the question asked for the CONS of nursing. I answered the question and continue to answer the question along with many others. Call me a liar. Go ahead and say that everything I have said is a total lie. Tell them that none of it is true. Tell us again how beautiful nursing is.

I find it hard to believe you are LOL when you are so TICKED off at this board. LOL LOL LOL LOL Too bad I don't agree that nursing is SO BEAUTIFUL! Too bad I don't encourage people to stress themself beyond a healthy point like YOU did. It's NOT FOR EVERYONE and if what I write is a turnoff to some, I save them from wasting time and money. Ever thought of being a con artist recruiter???

JBach, is your license inactive?

JB in Jackson, Michigan said: LOL Candice, why do you take it so personal that someone has a different view point than yours on nursing? Why are you so offended.

Or is it the other way around? Are you offended by her different point of view? Not everyone is going to agree with you, nor is everyone going to agree with Candice's point of view. Everyone is entitled to view things differently, and I'm sure Candice is not the only nurse in the world you views the profession in a positive light. So you can't try to push your views on Candice because everyone thinks differently. If everyone thought the same, this world would be rather boring.

edit: "who" views the profession in a positive light.

Candice in Lincoln, Nebraska said: JBach, is your license inactive?

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Not at all. As a matter of fact I make $40 an hour. And you?

Can't find your antagonism or sarcasm there. Try being funnier.

2Sexy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi said: edit: "who" views the profession in a positive light.

Looks like that would serve you better as a whole new question since it is on page 4 of the question of the CONS of nursing.

Go for it.

2Sexy, you a nurse??????

2Sexy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi said: Or is it the other way around? Are you offended by her different point of view? Not everyone is going to agree with you, nor is everyone going to agree with Candice's point of view. Everyone is entitled to view things differently, and I'm sure Candice is not the only nurse in the world you views the profession in a positive light. So you can't try to push your views on Candice because everyone thinks differently. If everyone thought the same, this world would be rather boring.

LOL
As I remember the question was asking about the CONS of nursing. I answered it. Can you answer it?

You can play whatever games you would like. Bottom line is what I speak is the truth. And I have seen MANY people come into this field and HATE it. I have met many people that would NEVER consider the field because of just cleaning poop. Some can't stand shots and needles. See....you don't get that on billboards and in recruiting statements. As I have repeated over and over and over and over. There are people that are not sure that they want to deal with smelly wounds or cleaning poop or many other things. There are people who don't like spreading themselves so thin and don't THRIVE on stress. These are the things that would fall under CONS. The question was CONS......THE QUESTION WAS CONS. But there are always people like you and Candice that love to get into message boards and find someone to FIGHT with or any flippin reason under the sun. If the person asking the question wasn't looking for CONS, they were kidding themselves with their question. If anyone interested in that question came here and was offended by the descriptions, they are kidding themselves. As you have noticed, I have not tried to post any of these things on a question related to WHAT I LOVE ABOUT NURSING. You have NO CLUE how many YOUNG girls I have seen get into this field and get totally grossed out of the typical day to day jobs.

I know what I know. I also know that there are a lot of people that will deliberately ignore this information, get into nursing and regret it. I don't live in a dream world. I am beyond the silly days of feeling the need to push myself too far and never see my children or husband to feel like such a hero or brag about it. Life is too short. We teach health practices that our jobs forbid us to do for ourselves. Stress is proven to shorten your life and add weight on your body as well as other things. Nursing is full of intense stress. You are either fighting to not let it stress you out or it is stressing you out. Neither of which is good for your health......working in the health field.

I can play your game til the cows come home. I did NOT listen to the warnings nearly 20 years ago. Warnings from top of the line nurses. EXCELLENT NURSES. I have watched EXCELLENT nurses get burned out and sour. I know what I know. I could powder puff it too but I answered the question at the beginning of this topic......what are the CONS. You have drifted off and Candice came in selling and recruiting. There are other I LOVE NURSING sites that would welcome your BS. But, you just stick around here because you have nothing better to do but search for my responses now and get off on fighting......I don't care if any one agrees with my p.o.v. But, I see a few people have come forward and agreed. I also see that a few have come forward and only spoke of the good in nursing. Maybe a new top of the PROS and CONS would welcome you to OPEN WIDE UP and RUN WITH IT.

As a matter of fact, I could share some pros too. But for this topic, it was the CONS.....sorry. You are a dime a dozen on message boards. MMMMMEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW - SCRATCH!

www.indeed.com/forum/job/Nurse-RN/CON-BEING-RN/t33280

THE CON of BEING AN RN

HISSSSSSS & BITE

JB in Jackson, Michigan said: Looks like that would serve you better as a whole new question since it is on page 4 of the question of the CONS of nursing.

Go for it.

2Sexy, you a nurse??????

Nope, I'm not a nurse at the moment and kind of glad that I'm not by the way you describe things. Actually, I'm about to get a real good cushy job where I plan my own schedule, receive a very good salary, laptop, and have LOTS OF FREE TIME! So you can go on and on about the negatives of nursing as much as you want to on this board. If you aren't willing to change professions, you will be STUCK and dissatisfied all the days of your life. So you might as well quit complaining and work with what you have, if you aren't willing to quit. Griping and complaining makes things worse. You have already, on the first page of this thread, have mentioned the CONS of nursing. How much more CONS do you need to address? The only thing you are doing is digging a deeper hole, for yourself, by complaining. You aren't hurting Candice or me by your views about your job, you are hurting yourself. The more you write, the angrier you are becoming about the job you have to get up and go to the next day. I know you were answering the original poster's question about the CONS, but now you are becoming combative. You have already answered the cons of nursing, and now you are just arguing and trying to force your views on people.

By the way, that was an edit because I misspelled a word. It wasn't because I wanted to know the pros of nursing or trying to start a new topic in the "CONS" thread. I guess you misunderstood that.

JB in Jackson, Michigan said: ......

2Sexy, you a nurse??????

JB - I am a nurse, an RN for about 19 years and I make over 40 dollars and hour. I know what you are saying is true, I've seen it for myself and honestly I wish someone had warned me prior to becoming a nurse because I was not prepared for the destructive ways of how nurses treat each other. I would say about one third of my graduating class are no longer nurses. I have bumped into many over the years and many of them say they could not stand the long, grueling hours and poor treatment. The hospitals don't want to pay overtime, but they overload you with patients to the point that you would have to be a superhero to finish on time. The patients are very sick and you are often exposed to many diseases. I can't tell you how many times I have been exposed to active tuberculosis that wasn't diagnosed until several days after the patient had been recieving care. We live in a litigious society, and patients will drag you into their lawsuits and your charting had better be excellent detailing the care delivered. I was dragged into a lawsuit between a patient and the ambulance transport company, I was asked to be a witness. The ambulance company wanted to turn things around and make me responsible for what they did, the case went on and on for over two years. It was extremely stressful, thank god my charting was good and the patient was not naming me as a defendant. My patients really like me and I go above and beyond what's required of me, but the reality is - nursing is a very stressful profession. It is not a job that I want to do much longer, it brings on a lot of anxiety and I would have to say that most nurses that I know are on either antidepressants, antianxiety agents or both. Anyone considering entering this profession needs to think long and hard about it. If you are in it only for the money you are going to be very disappointed.

magnum68 in Hollywood, Florida said: There are plenty of jobs as a RN every where including Hollywood, FL But ask yourself why are there so many RN jobs? I'll tell you why, the nurses are assigned a high patient load and a ton of paperwork. You never finish on time adn you barely get any appreciation, what you get is the blame for everything that goes wrong and you get treated like crapt most of the time. There is no nursing shoratge, as you can see there is always a waiting list to get into nursing school. What there is, is a nationwide shortage of nurses who are willing to put of with the BS that comes with the job. If I were you I would stay with DH. I'm a RN and I didn't like it and I left it.

There are a lot of retired nurses who left the field early because of the stress. Many whom I have talked to stated they would never go back. I bumped into one former nurse working in a department store and telling me she was much happier, even though the wages were not as good. There are many nurses who don't believe there is a nursing shortage.

deborah in Columbia, South Carolina said: i think this sums up the whole thing excellently!!!!! every point true, well established, and reasonable. i regret my choice as an lpn and i understand the rn as in the sense of dilema. we do the same things 99% of the time, but the pay isn't something you can count on to live. you will be one of the working poor. at least for now. there are only so many dollars in the healthcare system pocket, and nurses are not getting the same slice nearly as much as others. at least if i had a 4 year degree, i might be able to find a suitable job. i have a minor health issue, and with that could go out of patient care. too late now. can't do school either.
i think this comment above says it all, and i do not think it selfish to say, for once ,or for at last, let them figure it out.

I agree.

I recently applied for a job as an RN who would be in charge of assessing and managing the care of approximately 120 residents for an assisted care facility. I know from my past experiences that these type of facilities make a tremendous amount of money. You would think that they would have a decent payscale, but you would be wrong. In fact, they offered me less than I made 10 years ago, and told me that as a nurse I shouldn't be in it for the money. I explained to them that I was not in it for the money, but because I would be responsible for so many medically fragile people - it would make sense that the wages would reflect that. I also let them know that it is my understanding that each resident would be paying over $5,000 per month to reside there - so, who's in it for the money? My point is - many employers devalue a nurse and their experience and try to make them feel guilty if they want to be paid appropriately.

2Sexy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi said: Nope, I'm not a nurse at the moment and kind of glad that I'm not by the way you describe things."

Exactly, that's the point- you have now made an informed decision.

"Actually, I'm about to get a real good cushy job where I plan my own schedule, receive a very good salary, laptop, and have LOTS OF FREE TIME!"

Glad to hear it, you will be happy you did not choose nursing or you wouldn't be having it so "cushy" and you would be seeing the "cons" for yourself.

JB in Jackson, Michigan said: Intensive Care is better because you don't have as many patients but don't thing there isn't poop, smells, blood, spit, etc. If these things gross you out, nursing is not for you.

And if any nurse wants to call me a liar about all that I wrote, I would demand that she give you her address and phone number so you can contact her when you find out I was right (or wrong). I know a recruiter would jump all over this and give you her card and office number. They could care less how you feel after they recruit you - you won't be the first they disappointed.

JB,

Hi, what do you think about radiology tech.?

Ok maybe nursing is not the thing for me after reading the posts but what other medical jobs are there that pay decent and aren't extremely stressful? Medical billing, x-ray tech, medical assistant??? Is it hard to get into the administrative jobs like the people who register you?

Thanks RN in Modesto California, you and the other nurses on here have sent out a great warning! Thanks for taking out the time to actually let people know what the nursing profession is really about! Thanks for your honesty.

2Sexy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi said: Thanks RN in Modesto California, you and the other nurses on here have sent out a great warning! Thanks for taking out the time to actually let people know what the nursing profession is really about! Thanks for your honesty.

You're welcome. There is a lot about the nursing profession that people don't know. I hope I've helped people to see things a little more clearly.

2sexy,

Hi, may I ask you exactly what is your occupation?

Thank you

Hi ,
I have a qestion ?
Please , who can tell me : The bast book for NCLEX -RN EXAM ?
Tank You very much

cavitron in Miami, Florida said: 2sexy,

Hi, may I ask you exactly what is your occupation?

Thank you

Send me your email address and I will tell you.

2Sexy in Hattiesburg, Mississippi said: Thanks RN in Modesto California, you and the other nurses on here have sent out a great warning! Thanks for taking out the time to actually let people know what the nursing profession is really about! Thanks for your honesty.

"So you might as well quit complaining and work with what you have, if you aren't willing to quit."....."but now you are becoming combative..."

Actually, the way I see it is as expected.
1) You are not a nurse and have claimed you don't intend to be but you feel the need to come to a board pertaining to nursing...."CONS" ... to be more precise and try to screw with someone for speaking the way it IS. See the post after your two replies to mine....hmmmm, again, I am not the only one that speaks up about it but can go to work and do a GREAT job! My patients and families love me. I had a guy come from FL just to meet me for the care I gave his mother.

2) People like you are a dime a dozen. Not a nurse, nosey about the job and then have the nerve to try to ruffle the feathers of a nurse that is speaking the truth and the way it is.....especially to one that answered a question about the CONS of nursing.

3) Your behavior is why nurses don't speak up and can't get things changed. Because when they DO....people like you come out of the woodwork and try to run them down for speaking up and criticize them for how they feel or for not changing their career. Again, you are a dime a dozen....make that a penny.

So, why do you feel the need to continue to come to this board in reference to the CONS of nursing for people truley interested when you are not a nurse and don't plan on being one? Why be a hypocrit and thank another nurse for repeating what I said when you already made it clear how you felt about what we have to say?

Seems you have no relation to this board. You are not a nurse and you don't plan on being one. For the rest of us that want to address this...