NBR- Who is a nurse?

LovieBear

NBR - Who is a nurse?

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Just have a question for the nurses. My mom was an L&D nurse for over 25 years. Nursing was such a great career for her... im thinking about the field...

Do you like it?
What kind of nurse are you?

How long have you been a nurse?
Was it hard to get a job?
Are you happy with your career choice?
Is the money decent?/where do you live?

Do the shifts go by fast?
Any advice or input for people considering it?

TIA!

beachylover08

Hi! 

 Do you like it? Most of the time. every job has bad days but for the most part I like what I do! 

What kind of nurse are you? I work in a combined Pediatric in patient and Pediatric ED (I lovvvve the ED.)How long have you been a nurse? about 4 years
Was it hard to get a job? not at all. Its a little harder now as a new grad but if you are open to different types of jobs its still not too bad (I was not open only wanted Peds ED)
Are you happy with your career choice? Yes (see first question) 
Is the money decent?/where do you live? Depending on the type of nursing you do it will affect this. I make a good living. I work 60/40 nights/days so that helps too. Do the shifts go by fast?  Most of the time yes. Every now and again the nights or days refuse to end... 
Any advice or input for people considering it? Yes... Nursing school is not fun. The tests are hard, the care plans are long and the clinicals are not fun (most of the time) Nursing in real life is SO much better then nursing school! 

RNmommyof2

I am.

I really love being a nurse, but I work on a medical floor and it's not at all where I want to be, so while I love nursing, I don't care so much for my job.

I've been a nurse for 2 years now.  I was offered my job before I graduated from nursing school, but that isn't very common.  I'm in the Sacramento, CA area and there is no nursing shortage here, so it's hard for new grads to find jobs.  I intentionally spent my last semester at a hospital where they have a new grad program and made sure the manager knew my name.

We work 3 12-hour shifts at our hospital.  The 3 shifts are not always in a row.  I work nights and prefer all 3 in a row because it disrupts my sleep schedule less, but I don't always get that.  Some shifts go by more quickly than others, it all kind of depends on the patient assignment and what's happening that night.

I was making $41.05 an hour when I was first out of school.  The night shift differential at our hospital is $4.50 an hour and the weekend differential is $1.70 an hour in addition to the night differential.

I love being a nurse and can't really see myself doing anything different at this point.  If its something you're interested in, start taking the prerequisite courses as soon as you can.  It's very hard to get into nursing school here as all the nursing programs are impacted.  If you're not sure it's what you want to do, get a volunteer position in a hospital (this will help you get a job later as well) and watch the nurses to see what all they do. A lot of my patients are surprised that I change sheets and clean them after they're incontinent, but we don't always have enough nursing assistants and my job is to take care of the patient, even if it means I have to clean up poop.

So, bottom line, I love being a nurse but am looking to go to a different area of nursing.  I never wanted to be a med/surg bedside nurse and feel that hospice or something else would be a much better fit for me, but I"m still fairly new and have to do my time.  

Wow!  That's a mouthful!  Let me know if there's anything else I can tell you. Good luck!

tdmd09

Do you like it? I love my job every single day.
What kind of nurse are you? Currently I work in an Emergency Department and Trauma Center. I've also worked on a neurology floorHow long have you been a nurse? 3.5 years
Was it hard to get a job? Not when I graduated. I had several job offers before I graduated, and got a stipend for school through my hospital that paid for my living expenses while I was in school.
Are you happy with your career choice? Most definitely. I like the work, the flexible schedule, and the opportunities.
Is the money decent?/where do you live? Decent is all relative, but I live very comfortably. I live in Ohio, so COL isn't very highDo the shifts go by fast?  Most of the time, yes. I try to keep busy and in the ED there is always something going on.
Any advice or input for people considering it? Do a job shadow or something before you get into nursing to see what it's REALLY like and if you would really enjoy it. I went to school with a few people who changed careers to nursing due to factories closing and thought it was easy money, and then found out it wasn't the right career for them.

greenluckies

I don't know if this counts, but I used to be a Nurse Assistant on a heavy Telemetry floor. I wanted to go on to get my RN license, but I wanted to make sure first it was the profession I wanted to really get into before I did 2 years of school so I chose being a Nurse Assistant first. I was hoping to move over to Pediatrics or Maternity, but my hospital only hired NA's for the ER or Telemetry units. I'm not going to lie, there were some really hard nights (I worked nights) where I was on my feet for the full 12 hours. Most of the other NAs and RNs were really helpful and other ones you didn't ask for anything.

I know it wasn't the best idea, but I quit after 6 months because I just couldn't handle the 'clique-ness' of the Day shift and management kept piling on more responsibilities and you have so much already on your plate with 6-10 patients. Plus, we wanted to start a family and it's hard to be an NA while pregnant. Would I give Nursing another shot? Of course! Aside from bad days to extremely demanding patients, there were the rewards.  

rchlbug02

LovieBear:

NBR - Who is a nurse?

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Just have a question for the nurses. My mom was an L&D nurse for over 25 years. Nursing was such a great career for her... im thinking about the field...

Do you like it? I love it!
What kind of nurse are you? pediatric neuro-oncology

How long have you been a nurse? a little over 5 years
Was it hard to get a job? nope. I started out in adult cardiac ICU, moved to inpatient pediatric oncology, and then out patient pediatric neuro-onc.
Are you happy with your career choice? absolutely. I really do enjoy going to work.
Is the money decent?/where do you live? yes, I live in Texas

Do the shifts go by fast? Yes, both 12 hour inpatient shifts and 8 hour outpatient shifts.
Any advice or input for people considering it? Find an area you love. There are so many opportunities in nursing to really find your niche. Also, being a nurse is much different than nursing school. Most people that hate nursing school still end up loving actually being a nurse. 

TIA!

blaharn

I'm a RN. I've worked in two very different specialties. I first worked in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) for 3 years in a very large teaching hospital in Boston. I loved it - loved the babies, the families, etc. - but felt myself burning out quickly. I worked full time night shifts (7pm-7am) and weekends, holidays, etc. 

About 6 years ago, I moved to outpatient. I currently work in a cosmetic dermatology practice. It's completely different, but I find the lifestyle to be much easier. We do everything from surgery to lasers to general dermatology in our office. It's very busy. I work 4 days a week, 10 hour shifts. NO weekends, no holidays!

 I honestly love nursing, and there really isn't anything else I'd rather be. My mother is a nurse as well. I think it's a great career. It's tough starting out as a nurse these days, but experienced nurses will always find a job. It also offers flexibility in terms of balancing work and motherhood.

My advice is definitely consider it. If you can work as a nursing assistant to get a better taste of what exactly it takes - do it. I had the opportunity to work in different specialties and environments while I was in school. It really helped me figure out what I liked the best.

 GL! 

RN4Babies81

I have been an RN for 8 years now and have worked in the same place the entire time.  I am a Neonatal ICU nurse and I would never do anything else.  I love the babies, the families and the fact I get to know my patients and their families for a lot longer than most other nursing floors.  There are of course some very bad days, but for the most part it is rewarding.  The shifts do go by pretty quickly for me, most of the time.  I had no trouble getting a job, but I live in Toronto, Canada and that was 8 years ago so I don't know what the job market is like where you live. I did a part of my schooling in the NICU and that is when I fell in love with it and knew that was the only type of nursing job I wanted.  I have a 30-60 minute commute, depending on traffic and I wouldn't even consider moving to a hospital closer because none of them have a level 3 NICU and that is where I am meant to be.  My advice is to really try to get as much variation in the types of floors you get to train on in school and try to find you niche.  Not every RN can handle NICU, and I know for a fact I could never do trauma nursing, or OR nursing.  If you can find a place you love, you will have an amazing career.  Good Luck

nurse1686

I'm an RN in St. Louis, going on almost 2 years since passing "the big test". I work on a Bone Marrow Transplant unit, taking care of adult patients with Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Multiple Myeloma.  I love getting to know my patients and their families, as they stay with us on our unit for at least 4 weeks at time. The down side to working here is seeing your patients come in time after time with relapsed disease and/or needing comfort care due to their imminent death.  It is scary working around chemotherapy and other hazardous drugs daily, but I take all precautions to protect myself and my little one. We have  a very high turnover rate because our nurses get what we call "compassion fatigue" after taking care of extremely sick patients.  There is never a slow day which is why I need to take it easy the  next several months!  Living in the midwest, the pay is not all that great compared to other areas in the country. We make around $21/hr starting out, with $3 additional an hour for night shift and another $3 an hour for weekends. Fortunately we are also able to pick up additional shifts if we choose, which can really boost the paycheck.....if you are willing to put in another crazy day of work! Nursing school is NOT fun nor easy, however the benefits of having a career with endless opportunities make it worth struggling through the long hours of studying, lack of sleep and headaches!  I think the best part about being a nurse is the ability to stay home with your family half of the week. I am really looking forward to working 2-3 days a week and staying home with my baby the rest of the days.....most other jobs don't allow for such flexibility.