What is your opinion on nursing as a career option?

I am thinking of changing my major to go into the nursing field and I would like to know what your opinions. What field of nursing should somebody go into? What is the best approach to go into that field? What should someone expect? What do you like and dislike about your nursing job? If someone is new on the job, what advice would you give to that person?

I have been a qualified RN for two years and initially I loved the job. I built up great rapport with my patients, enjoyed caring for their needs, liked the challenge of developing new skills and gaining knowledge and felt that I was making a worthwhile contribution to healthcare. I found the course stimulating and learnt so much, and it was good to put my knowlege into practice. There was nothing more satisfying than seeing someone come into hospital really sick, helping them through surgery and recovery, rehabilitating them and seeing them go home in one piece. It is a true priviledge to be able to help someone on that journey and assist them physically, mentally, spiritually and socially. However, as I spent more time in the job I realised that there was a lot of politics going on behind the scenes and that nursing simply isnt caring for patients. There is a lot of red tape and bureacracy, internal conflicts and tension. You may consider that this occurs in every job, however when you have peoples lives in your hands you need to be able to concentrate on them, not on the things going on behind the scenes. Hospitals are suffering from underfunding, corners are having to be cut, supplies can get short, equipment can be hard to come by, and if you can get machinery it usually doesnt work properly. Staffing can be dire and wards are running at dangerous levels, meaning you often have to do the work of two people. The drive to shorten hospital waiting lists creates more stress and work for the nursing staff and the push is on to discharge people, even if you dont consider them ready to go. The 'no blame' culture in nursing doesnt exist, you cannot make mistakes and there is no room for error. All documentation has to be exact and comprehensive and you have to watch your back constantly and cover yourself from a legal point. Hours are long and breaks are short and you spend a long time on your feet and you feel physically and emotionally exhausted at the end of the day. You have to deal with abuse from patients, family and co-workers. You have to deal with grief, tragedy and death and move on quickly with little in the way of support from the organisation. And you have to develop a spare pair of hands or else you will not be able to cope.

If I was to start again I would choose mental health nursing, more one to one nursing and less clinical care, more emotional and psychiatric. More of dealing with the inner soul than the outer body.

I apologise if I sound so negative but I feel very disappointed that I have spent 4 years of my life loving my student years, only to come to the realisation after 2 years of the real thing that it was not what I thought it was going to be. I suppose as a student you tend to look at nursing through rose tinted spectacles and you think you can change the world! Unfortunately, this is not the case and you should only enter nursing if you have broad shoulders, can take pressure every day without let up and are willing to walk around exhausted and with bags under your eyes! Good luck with your decision.

Plenty of money to be made(USA). Sign on bonuses(some 10k or more). Anything medical is good.


night shift x-ray tech

you become a nurse....... wear a deep cut top.... & then make ppl happy with your service

What type of nurse you become will be a choice you make .Being taught a bit of every aspect of nursing you will find some interests that you, like more than other types. Its a very gratifying job though leads to burn out fast depending on how much you give to it. Like with any other job people will be your hardest concur.You will find emotional leeches to perfect patients .Not all nurses would agree with what, I say because they work in stress free environments like a doctors office verses a ER room or the mental ward. The great part about it is the gratification of helping others.

The best advice to give for people who want to be a nurse is go to school and don't stop until you are at least an RN. Anything less than that you will be miserable. The Best approach I think is see if your local hospital offers the course to become a nurse, most do because they are in demand. Nursing is a hard job people get bunt out quick, it all depends on how much you love taking care of people. Nursing is not for everyone. If someone is new I would say the first month is the hardest hold on and it will get better. After the 1st month you really start to feel the rewards of the job, cause trust me we make good money,but it still isn't enough for what we go through sometimes. Good Luck and go for it!!