Best Careers 2009: Registered Nurse

DH, CRNA

Nurse Anesthesia is a wonderful profession! I have been administering anesthesia for 30 years and I love my job more today then the day I started. The hours are flexible, the pay is great and the job is interesting. It's a very challenging career and I love what I do!

DH of WV @ Nov 23, 2009 09:01:29 AM

RN's are the best NURSING ever

RN's ( registered nurse ) are the most well paid nurse out in the the nursing field.

Kentrell of LA @ Nov 12, 2009 09:02:16 AM

28 years as an RN

I've never posted to one of these boards before, but felt compelled to after reading such bitter postings. If you've gone into nursing thinking that it's going to be like a tv show, you'll be sorely disappointed. It's not glamorous, you won't always be the hero, and hot romances aren't lurking in every supply closet. However, it can be physically demanding, mentally stimulating, and spiritually fulfilling. I've worked a wide variety of positions during my 28 years as an RN. Yes, burnout can occur, but there is such a wide variety of positions available as a nurse that one can explore those possibilities. If you're burned out and bitter, it's time to seriously look at why you became a nurse in the first place. If it's for the pay check, it's time to get out. Patients put their trust in us, and deserve our best every day. As with every job, nothing is perfect, but I can't think of any other job that I would rather do. Nothing beats the gratitude and thanks from family members and patients whose lives we have the privilege to interact with (and often at a very vulnerable time in their lives.) Nursing can be very demanding, but also extremely rewarding. If you're considering nursing as a profession, go in with your eyes open. Ask other nurses that you know what the good AND bad parts of the job are so that you can make an informed decision. I'd suggest working as a CNA. It can give you a practical application to see if you like the interaction with clients (most jobs are in the nursing homes, but hospitals and home health agencies also employ CNAs.) If you like the medical side, but not necessarily the patient interaction, there are parts of the nursing profession that do remove you from the bedside, but think hard about it. A different medical field may be better suited for you.

rewarding of IA @ Nov 11, 2009 12:29:19 PM

young

i am only in eight grade and even i understand that you must love helping people to be a nurse. people put thier lives in your hands and not caring is not acceptable.

Juliie of PA @ Nov 10, 2009 14:10:28 PM

CNA still in nursing school

I read the new nurse who is frustrated about her job and I guess wants to quit or already did. I would like to offer a bit of hope for her/him in hopes that she can over come and look at the good and not the bad. I would like to give some background on myself so it lets all who are reading as what I have done to come as far as I have. I am a male who retire from the Navy in 2006 and because of the state of the economy I have had trying times like everyone else. I was a firefighter by trade but after I retired I was told I was too old to perform those duties. After a few jobs I hated, I finally landed a work study at a local nursing home. I graduated and got my CNA certification, I will tell you all I never would have thought of myself in this type of work in my life, but I have a wife who said to do, it maybe you will like it. Well As I was going threw my classes, I enjoyed reading and learning about the body and about how to take care of people. What really has made me really want to continue my education as a nurse are the residents at the place I work. When you hear for the first time a resident thanks you and says they love you, it makes all the rough days seem that much better. Now I am a CNA and I know that my job is much more physical than a LPN or RN's, but I will tell you that this is the most rewarding job I have ever had in my life. If I get excited to go to work as a CNA, I wonder what my life will be like as an LPN or RN. Oh by the way I am 43 and I am doing this while going to school to get Nursing degree.

larry of AZ @ Nov 09, 2009 04:55:26 AM

J of MD & Joy of LA

Quite possibly if you had a brain, you would be more fulfilled with your profession as a nurse. It is obvious you cannot write. It has to be quite difficult to impossible for you to deliver safe, competent care. How can you administer medications accurately when you can't spell correctly? It is very true that "book knowlege" isn't all that is required to make the best nurses; but you must have a combination of intelligence, empathy, compassion, skills, etc. I am only discussing this because I have seen nurses who are not too intelligent and I know for a fact that at least one nursing (LPN) instructor not only allows certain nursing students to cheat on tests, but she participates at the computer during the cheating. I am not saying that you are one of these nurses, but patients' lives are in your hands.

J of MD, you are so bitter. Until you can be a competent, caring, and compassionate nurse who can smile and brighten the day of even the sickest patients, satisfaction with your profession as a nurse will not happen.

Sara of OK @ Nov 09, 2009 01:41:20 AM

RN, Medical/Telemetry floor

Just started reading this AFTER two 12 1/2 hour shifts! People--get a grip. Life IS NOT perfect, NO ONE LOVES their job every day, & after reading this...I HOPE that myself or my loved one DOES NOT cross any of the above paths. IF you're not HAPPY--get out. If you don't care, you shouldn't be working, because you are dealing with peoples lives, not just a pay check. Yeah..everyone needs a paycheck. Nursing isn't for the pay, isn't for the glamerous hours, isn't to make friends, and surely isn't for the glamour and fantastic hours....if your in it just for a pay check--trust me--it shows.

Bye the way, don't tell me I'm "awe struck, etc". I have been a nurse for almost 10 years, in several different fields. I also worked full time night shift & supported a young son and dead beat (now EX-Husband) with NO SUPPORT from anyone... I've done the night shifts, worked the crappy hours and still do..If your complaining now-quit-get out. Also, while your complaining about how crappy it is--think about your day/last day at work about how you treated people/acted. Now look back and wonder if YOU WOULD WANT YOU to take care of your loved one and be responsible for them?????

If your "bitching"--find another job and another profession, and while your at it...find the perfect job that no one complains about and the next time your sick....ask yourself one question "who will help/take care of me"? Hopefully someone who actually cares :)

Lifes not perfect, get over it and move on. Life is too short!

Nicole of OH @ Nov 08, 2009 22:37:08 PM

Burnt out after only a year

I just graduated in December 2008 and was excited to finally enter the career of nursing life was supposed to be looking up, now a year later I can honestly say I would never recommend this career choice to anyone. After a horrible 8 month stent on an IMC unit I have learn many horrible truths about nursing. The main one being that nurses truly do eat there young. Techs hate new nurses and try to manipulate you, I often had techs hide vital signs machines on me cause they didn't want to share, I heard nurses go into the nurses station and have out loud screaming fights with each other, and I was over loaded with six pts at a time on a CRITICAL CARE unit. When I took my concerns to my manager she didn't want to hear about the problems on her unit her excuse was the unit is only 2 years old. I thought going to Long Term Care would be better but had to put up with LPN's telling me that I was stealing there job and there hours. I also had to watch helplessly as an LPN tried to sabotage another nurse because she personally hates nurses. I never expected nursing to be a glamorous career but i never expected it to be so horrible either. Oh and jobs there are none if you are a new grad, as soon as someone hear you have less then a year experience the interview is over...bye your not qualified enough even though I have passed the same N-CLEX exam as every other nurse, how are you supposed to gain experience when no one will hire you. Then to add the icing to the cake you hear about how other countries treat there nurses and you get disgusted because nurses are trated well and paid well for there work. When a nurse from canada tells me she can pay $50,000 dollars cash for her car after being a nurse for as long as I have been one; it makes you physically ill. Well I guess I have ranted enough about the awful career nursing is.

J of MD @ Nov 08, 2009 19:35:09 PM