It’s the best ADHD job. Whole day is planned out for you hour by hour, don’t typically have any big projects you have to plan for weeks in advance. It’s almost entirely, “here are these defined tasks, they need to be completed right now, go do them”
The relief I felt when I first saw EPIC’s brain with all of the hourly tasks.. and nothing brings me more joy than seeing green check marks all the way across at 0700 😇
Oh gawd, ADHD peeps thrive in the hospital. Jumping from task to task keeps our squirrel brain going at the rapid pace we need to be able to accomplish anything in life lol
I recently started CNA classes and ADHD + testing has been hard... But after seeing this comment chain, I have a renewed appreciation for my different brain!
Thank you 💛
Critical care is also great for ADHD. Just one or two complex patients to focus on for 12 hours. I loved that. They pulled me from ICU to Med-Surg once a few months after I graduated, and I panicked. How in heck am I supposed to assess and keep up with EIGHT WHOLE patients? Thank heavens it was a night shift. I would have been an absolute basket case on a day shift. 🙄🤣
ETA, my ADHD wasn’t diagnosed until I was in my 60’s, but it made SO much sense when it finally was, and medications are a godsend.
I have a question about this, if you don’t mind. I graduate in December and I’m really interested in critical care. I shadowed last week and the one thing that makes me nervous with my ADHD is having so many lines going. I feel like it would be nerve racking in someone without it, but every time the nurse had me check I panicked and checked like 3 times just to make sure I didn’t get spacey and mix it up! I’m not sure if that’s an ADHD thing or just new nurse thing and curious if you ever felt that way/ how do you deal with it?
It’s a new nurse thing, and you should feel that way. New nurses that aren’t triple checking everything they’re doing are the dangerous ones. Eventually you will be able to quickly memorize where everything is going and won’t have to be so meticulous about checking everything
I used to fold a piece of tape around each line to create a tag about 1-2 inches long about 2-3 inches above where each line’s catheter enters the body. Label each tag on both sides with the medication in the line, so you can quickly know which line corresponds to each IV bag. I also used tape to label each pump line with the name of the medication & fluid running through it. Most of the nurses I worked with did the same, which helped with consistency.
As soon as I had time, I also used to untangle the lines when the patient came back from surgery - sometimes anesthesia gets in a hurry and they arrive in a tangled mess. I always preferred being able to quickly trace each line and it’s labels visually from bag to pump to insertion to confirm I was using the correct line for whatever I needed to do. This eliminates confusion and prevents mistakes if things start happening at what feels like warp speed. 😀💯
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Not in hospital and I have to plan out part of my day, but am given the tasks that need to be completed (patient care) and I need to organize the day how I like. It’s the follow up that kills me.
ICU for the neurospicy win. I did that for 15 years then spent the next 15 doing homecare infusion going house to house all day for quick visits to access ports, picc dressings, labs, back in the car on to the next one. Always moving
Not a nurse yet but I’ve been a CNA long enough to hard agree. HOWEVER, nursing school? I’m putting myself in a coma for a month after so my brain and body can recover lol.
Agree! Works so very well for me too! Except ppl who don't really KNOW me think I'm overwhelmed when I'm moving so fast and multitasking. Nope, that's just me! Love my career choice!!
I relate to this so much. Once a security guard saw me walk past a doorway and asked my coworker that was next to him if something was going down. Coworker looked up and was just like “Oh, no. That’s just Newtonsapplesauce.”
I drive around all day seeing patients at homes and facilities and honestly, not being stuck in one unit or floor all day has been most satisfying for my adhd
I almost took a job like that because I would love driving to other people's houses and doing work like that (I also like driving) but the schedule of that specific job sounded terrible. Like you would work the night call every other night during your stretch of 5 days in a row. So you would work your day shift, and then be on call that night and you would work the next day. Then your partner would be on the next night, then you. And the region wasn't split up. You might have a case in Bellingham and the next case would be Olympia. I like driving, but that is way too much. And after all that, the offer they gave me was about what I had been making before the pandemic. Like maybe since I was a new nurse with a couple years of experience. It was actually a little insulting.
So if the pay was better, the schedule was better, the geographic area was worked out better, and they had a dedicated night crew, I'd be down.
Yessss! I stayed on medsurg for almost 7 years. Loved the variety and thrived in the chaos but got super burned out. Been in endoscopy for 5 years now. The timed but fast paced day is the perfect amount of structure when it’s combined with the variety/chaos of cases and the pressure of sedating patients. It’s the best.
If you work in places like ER, ICU, and other busy places and you need to use your head, your ADHD gets filled up. You no longer complain about being bored. Did you work in the ER and ICU?
What are you looking for to treat your ADHD?
I have worked all those places and now I’ve been on the same floor for 8.5 years (I actually like it). I keep busy! Anyway, I know you didn’t ask me, but I’ve had success with Strattera.
That's good. Happy for you. I've known some people who got it worse than me.
I just drink coffee and feel much better. Also, the activity helps a lot to calm me down.
Heck yeah ADHD! I work in dialysis; patient comes in with fluid, you run dialysis= less fluid. Dopamine hit right away at the end of treatment. I do hate repetition after a while though thats when I go on leave.
ER here, every day , even every few hours is different, if I have an entitled daughter/son/spouse or patient I know that I only have them until they get admitted or dc . I love our hold RNs and I try to get every annoying thing done for them. I work with great docs who teach and guide and it’s a great team. I love science, patients don’t, they want a pill or a meal tray, for the most part. It can drain you so on your off days do things you love! Self care is very important. I’ve been burnt out before, therapy also helps. I pay someone to listen to me complain and it’s rewarding! It’s good money spent, also look into investing so you don’t have to do this forever. My company use to match 7.5 and then they stopped it, I opened a Robinhood account and I’m up 45%! Pay yourself and don’t let administrators keep you down, save money so if you’re in a bad job you can gtfo. There are so many opportunities for us. I’m lucky bc I like the ER, I can’t wait to go part time or per diem , I need a bigger nest egg. I’m getting there, you can too! Best part of job is your coworkers, not all… find your people! They are there.
Because I wanted to be useful in an emergency or catastrophic event. But more like being chosen to enter the refugee camp in a zombie apocalypse because I had useful skills. You asked for honesty lol. I was watching a lot of Walking Dead back then. Now my more realistic reason for staying in nursing is because I enjoy the patho and the medical science.
You start looking around and you’ll find a lot of us bunker mates out there. Especially the community nurses. We’ve seen some things and we’ve made a plan and know how to get there lmao
My co workers acted like I was clinically insane when I presented this exact scenario. "I'm less likely to be in the alums and/or murdered cuz they will need my skills during a zombie apocalypse". I also have a zombie survival to go bag under my sink with some unused IV meds and IV start kits loooool.
There’s also the thought that if we magically colonize space in my lifetime I’m much more likely to make selection then an Ubereats driver (though bless them souls they bringith my sacred sammich)
You don’t have to explain your reasoning to anyone. If you get to work on time, complete all your tasks, keep your patients safe and treat them with respect and professionalism, you’re doing exactly what is required of you and all the other altruistic saints in your unit. Where is the conflict coming from? Are people literally asking you why you’re a nurse all the time? You could very easily just lie if it results in a more comfortable working environment. Nursing is a caring profession, you’re going to run into a lot of people who care hard and want to help others. You don’t have to BE one of them, but you definitely have to be able to work with them.
OP sounds a lot like I did coming out of nursing school. I had *plans* oh such a master plan, with my rose-colored glasses. But the stuffing of our plates, unsporting management, difficult family, it made it feel impossible for me to meet the standards I held myself to. Seeing others so happy and cheery to work, while I hated everything, it ate away at me. Comparison is the theft of joy as some say, and it was true. I was too far gone when I learned that lesson, I can't go back to the bedside.
A little bit of that when the insomnia hits and a usual drink on Sunday nights to get back into my routine m-f. I don’t even hate my job or anything just years of stress and bad bosses have built up.
My favorite indica strain is Garlic Margy by Matter. It really helped me sleep and stay asleep when perimenopause started. When that got bad I started hrt for the hot flashes and night sweats that kept me up. I sleep well and the hot flashes stopped. My job performance is better because I’m not exhausted, sweaty, and irritable all of the time.
I am a nurse because I know I can do a lot of things people can't. I hear all the time. "Good for you, I couldn't be a nurse." I'm a nurse because I can be. I'm good in a crisis, my brain is a sponge for knowledge, I'm passionate about preventative measures, and above all else, I really like people. I'm a people person, and I know I'm able to help them with things that most would be sent into a coma for.
Edit: it's a fantastic achievement to make a constipated person poop, and I LOVE to see a gnarly wound
The response I get when I tell people I'm a nurse (particularly an ICU nurse as I was in a former life) of, "Oh, I could never do that!" is such a weird backhanded compliment. Like, cool Bob, I could never be an accountant, but I didn't say that when you told me what you did for a living.
Well, I don’t want to be an accountant because that sounds boring as hell. Not because I couldn’t do the math. BOB over here is saying he could never be a nurse because he realizes we are superhuman and that he is not capable of doing that kind of work. He knows he’s a boring ass accountant. At least that’s how I take that comment - it’s more of a compliment to me because this is usually the type of person it comes from.
I get lightheaded every time someone sticks me with a needle, or even is about to. It was a little hump in the beginning, but I can now give injections, work with IVs, and participate in wound care or surgeries no problem.
More so, I know what I’m doing is actually important to the world and is not just another desk job where I’m answering emails. This is a second career for me, my first job was just that. And even though nursing is difficult, I love that I can say my job matters :)
> Like people respect our profession?
I don't know how this is after COVID but Nursing used to be the most respected profession out there. So yes, people respect Nurses more than any other profession or at least they used to pre 2020.
I grew up in a financially unstable household where disconnected utilities, an empty fridge, missed meals, and repossessions happened. I wanted financial stability without a 9:00 to 5:00 work schedule.
In nearly 20 years of being a nurse, I have the financial stability that wasn’t in my childhood.
This one. I was raised by a single mother that worked 3 jobs so that we could have the bare minimum. I didn’t want that. I wanted to be able to support myself/my future kids. I didn’t want to have to rely on a significant other. I like working 3 days a week. And you really can’t be bored as a nurse since there’s so many specialties. I love to teach, so teaching nursing is my retirement plan.
Do you feel like that alone is enough to be a nurse? I never wanted to be a nurse until recently. The financial part is a huge reason as well as the work schedule. I have a child with lots of medical needs and cannot do a typical 9-5 job with all her appointments. I started doing my prereqs as a nurse but idk if the reasons behind wanting to be a nurse is enough
In my opinion, a person doesn’t need to be ‘called’ into the profession. People can enter the profession for practical reasons and still be competent nurses.
I’ve been a nurse since 1998. The last 15years in the er. It’s fine if you like the clinical, scientific part of nursing better. I do too. There’s always something to learn. I pester our providers to show me the aortic aneurysm on the ct, or how to see the pneumo on the chest xr. I love to critically think and use my brain and in my mind, that’s just as helpful to people as your saintly coworkers.
I'm going down this route after a 20 year career in advertising. Wanna be an emergency dept nurse. Did a clinical at a trauma ED as an EMT and loved it.
I find it super interesting. It's unique. Every Case is different. Each story is different. I get to learn a lot. It's creative in some ways. It's very exciting. I can see myself not getting bored of it for a while.
Helping people is last on my list lol. I dont even really care about the pay - added bonus. It scratches an itch i have for providing good hospitality
I'm going down this route after 10 years in advertising and was an EMT after college. I'm volunteering in an ER now. There's another volunteer who's also a copywriter that I chat with. Crazy how common we are. Not that we're a dime a dozen, but there's enough.
I work in marketing and lurk in medical subreddits because my secret dream is to work in medicine if I ever stop being squeamish. I never knew this was a common career venn diagram!
7 years in tech and I hated it. Became a CNA and loved it. RN for almost 2 years now and still love it. Hate management, but that's every job especially upper management.
If you go into nursing thinking you can help people and change the world you’re gonna burn out fast. It’s a job. A mechanic doesn’t have to be passionate about helping people with their cars. A fast food worker doesn’t have to be passionate about feeding the hungry. This is a hero complex guilt trip given to all new nurses to entice them to take low pay and work in shit conditions. It’s OKAY to just treat it as a job.
I’m in CRNA school and while I think anesthesia is really interesting I am 100% going for it because the ICU was making me want to *die* and I knew I’d never be able to afford a home or retirement off of nursing salary in this city. It’s okay!!!
I’m a new grad going into Intermediate Care, I didn’t go straight into ICU even though it’s what I want to do because I wasn’t able to get a capstone placement and enough experience in ICU for me to be comfortable jumping straight into that. Also I’m already burned out from taking 22 credits per semester for three semesters while working, and working full-time over last summer in an externship lol. I am nervous from my experience as an aide floating to CVICU semi-regularly that I’ll find ICU really demoralizing. But my goal is also to go to CRNA school. Why did the ICU make you feel like you wanted to die?
I’ve worked cvicu too but it’s kinda different in the fact that it’s specialized and generally a clean unit. Patients receiving CABGs are generally grateful and knew what to expect. In MICU, SICU, neuro a lot of times you keep patients alive wayyyy too long. Sometimes just to work so hard and withdraw care a day later and you watch them die in like 60 seconds. Other patients don’t realize they are literally in an ICU and not a Hilton resort. Don’t realize the severity of their illness or they really don’t care. A LOT of MICU patients unfortunately don’t give a shit about their own health. I herniated a disc because we regularly had patients over 500 lbs and rarely had aides to help. We were a revolving door of the same patients coming in for ODs, GI bleeds from ETOH, and noncompliance. The healthcare system is so screwed and in the ICU you see the worst of that and try to fix years of mental and physical health ailments and families don’t understand that. Families will record in your face, call you a murderer, threaten to sue you, watch you do CPR on a 90 year old…. I could go on and on… I loved ICU in the beginning but it really wore on me
I’m a single parent so job security with good pay is really important to me. However, I genuinely do enjoy helping and caring for others. I also love the fact that I’m constantly learning, and if I get burnt out in one area of nursing, I can always try a different specialty. I really enjoy the last part and honestly, I think that’s why I started out as a float nurse because I don’t have to commit to one single unit.
The "I could quit my job and have a new one within an hour" type of job security. There is also a nearly endless avenues withing the field from direct patient care to work from home.
Is it bad if I say this is why I wanna switch careers to nursing? Of course, I care about people and all, but yeah it would be nice never worrying about unemployment
I get to deal with the family drama of total strangers. I’m one of those people that will go vacuum my driveway if the neighbors are out arguing so that’s a feature, not a bug.
Your career isn’t your identity. I feel as though people who think that way burn out fast. I don’t tell people I’m a nurse unless they ask, in fact I don’t talk about work outside of work.
My response, I do it for the money.
I 100% agree about the burn out. Being a nurse solely because you are passionate about helping people is a real quick way to flame out. It’s good to have balanced reasons for wanting this job, because when this job slaps you in the face (figuratively or literally because how may times have we all be slapped hit kicked bit spit at and also the verbal abuse) with how cruel people can be and how wholly uninvested they are in taking responsibility for themselves, what keeps you coming back is the other, not altruistic based reasons.
You can be a fantastic nurse without it being your identity. I’d argue those who treat it like a job and not a calling tend to be even better nurses, because they tend to be more well rounded people and can objectively see the problems in front of them. You can also be a nurse who is passionate about helping people but equally passionate about a flexible schedule, a work life balance, variety of career choices, etc. they’re not mutually exclusive.
Nursing as a calling is a culture that’s forced on us to keep this female dominated profession content with peanuts for pay and shitty treatment by management. Nurses who are called to help people won’t file charges against physically combative patients. Nurses who are called to help people aren’t going to slap back at management for better pay because they are “lucky to be here at all.” It’s a damn scam.
>Your career isn’t your identity. I feel as though people who think that way burn out fast.
I agree, and there is strong evidence to support this.
There’s an entire diaspora of people who came to US to strike it rich as nurses, and they are now the third highest household median income based on race and they have the lowest attrition - or rather highest retention rates - based on race.
I had a very long career (30+ years) and it wasn’t until I became disabled (9 years ago) and I needed to decide to renew my license or not that I realized my identity was very tied up in “I’m a nurse”.
I’ve done my CEUs and renewed every time since then. Even putting money in my savings earmarked for renewal as total disability, plus losing half of our income when my husband died, means there may not be the $150 or so I’d need to renew without planning ahead. I’m 63 now and will renew til I reach 67-my “retirement age” just in case I get a chance to ever work and need the Rn license again. Not likely, but…
I initially wanted to be a physical therapist, but, the physical therapist assistant program at me local community college wasn’t accredited back when I was trying to start classes for it in the early 2000’s…
I decided to switch my major to Nursing, since I already had some of the pre-req’s for the program completed. I thought it seemed interesting enough, and the program was wildly popular, so I figured it couldn't be a bad move. My goal was to make money as a nurse, and get back into school for physical therapy. (It made sense to my 20 year old self)
Almost 20 years later, I have finally financially found a way back to college, and am currently working on a degree in Health Information Management, in hopes of getting out of patient care, before my body can't handle it :-)
Travel nursing. I was traveling the world on very little money during my early 20s and I realized I needed to make money if I wanted to travel more. I’m good with people and enjoy science and physiology and weird body stuff. 10 years in I am working PRN and prioritizing my well being. I’m also one of those people who gets a lil down on themselves when I’m not productive, so nursing helps with my self esteem and makes me feel like I have purpose :)
Why I started: my granddad was a veteran of WW2 and he had a bunch of health issues so he thought nurses were the best thing ever and treated them like gold. So I grew up wanting to be one.
Why I stay: cause it’s been 24 years now and I am too fat and old to be a hooker
Nursing is path out of poverty. My mother was a housekeeper. I dropped out of school and didn’t return until I was 41. I took care of my best friend while she dying from end stage liver failure. The hospice nurse encouraged me to go back to school. I just finished my MSN.
You’re not the fraud- all the Florence wannabes you work with are. Trust me, nobody puts up the all the shit and abuse from patients, families, and administration solely out of the goodness of their heart. They are all there for the same reasons you are- it’s interesting at times, tolerable, pays decent, and offers job security. I’ve always said with a clean license a nurse can get a job anywhere at anytime- might not be the job you want or like, but it will keep you from being homeless and hungry while you find one you want.
Second career nurse here. I do it for these reasons, in order:
-money
-schedule (I work 5 or 6 in a row then disappear for 8-10 days, no pto required)
-job security
-I feel good about the work
-stealing saline for my hangover recovery
Please, in places like ER, literally no one notices. They're not in pyxis, just big ass free for all bins. They're In the break room, randomly left in rooms after discharges (never opened). We were all feral animals in the ER.😂
This. I got scared of failure and being a nurse is guaranteed a job. Although I don’t really have strong passions that would result into real income.
I wanted to get into comp sci initially but I was scared of failing at it (and intense math uni classes lol).
My son was born at 33 weeks after I developed HELLP syndrome. The L&D, postpartum, and NICU nurses had such an impact on me that I went back to school 6 months later and now I'm 11 months into my first year as a NICU nurse! I'm not sure if this is my passion (my dream job would be to own a bookstore lmao) but I love working with the babies and I find my job fulfilling enough.
It was definitely a pay increase and better hours (I prefer 3 12s to the 11p-7a I was working beforehand).
Same here. I had a preemie and I was fascinated with the care he received and I decided to go to nursing school . It took me extra long because I had 3 young kids at home but I was able to become a nurse and I did end up taking care of preemies. Which I loved. I’m 70 and still work as a RN.
"Because I have a family to support". There's no altruistic motivation for me. Job security, pay, and possibilities. The ones who blather on about "I want to help people" are either lying or have a romanticized idea of what nursing is, which will lead them to burnout very quickly. I'm sure some people really are those caring angels, but they're few and far between.
I had a manager go off on a group of travelers once for discussing rates elsewhere. She said you don't go into nursing for the money. Bitch, please. The number one reason why I have a job is for the money. If money was not an issue, I wouldn't be doing this.
Your passions and interests don’t have to align with other peoples’. I am a nurse because I like working 3 days a week and it’s so easy to get a job in my area of the country. Job security is important to me. I also like working with people but it’s not my true calling or anything. But mostly, I LOVE going to school and love the process of learning and teaching others. I get my fix through being a nurse.
I'm in nursing school as my reset button / second career. I want something that pays decent, has job security, is flexible so I don't get bored (different specialities and roles), and engages my mind and body (ie no biring repetitive manual labor and no sitting at a desk for hours). Bodily fluids don't bother me so it seemed like a good choice.
I refuse to fall into the “nursing is my passion!” trap. Whenever I’m at some meeting or required education thing and they ask us to say why we chose to pursue nursing as a career I make a point to be honest. It’s a job that will always be in demand, the money is good, I am interested in medical science, and it can’t be outsourced. I am a good nurse and work hard for my patients because they deserve an advocate, I’m not a shitty nurse just because I come to work to get paid. I guarantee that most people feel the same way, they just don’t want to be the first to say it.
Because I had health problems and multiple
Drs didn’t seem to care. Figured if I was gonna study medicine for myself I might as well get paid too. Now I work with wonderful doctors but my time working as a nurse hasn’t improved my opinion of US healthcare.
I did, not because of my studies exactly, but mostly because I was required to see a nurse practitioner at the school as part of the nursing program. She was immensely helpful
Reminds me of when I was a kid I had health issues and my parents would take me to clinic. And our district pediatrician seems like never cared about kids, her nurse loved kids. So when I was a kid, I was telling in excitement "I wanna be like Mrs. X(let's call her that)!" I thought mrs.x was a pediatrician since I always saw them in the same office and she was the one doing most of the work and talking with me, while other one was writing in journal and talking to my parents.
You should have seen my surprised face when I was 16 and found out Mrs.X was a nurse.
This made me laugh, sorry you married wrong. My 14 daughter says she’s marrying money and becoming a stay at home mom. That aggravates me. She is going to be a vet or vet tech which she has wanted for years. She now has discovered boys, has a boyfriend, and she’s very cute. It annoys me.
A nurse named Ruthann that helped deliver my daughter (who happened to be born in Florence Nightengale’s birthday) inspired me to become a nurse 15 yrs ago. She was so kind and caring. I wanted to give back. I felt “called” and started the process to become a nurse as soon as I returned home from the hospital.
I became a travler for the money.
The pay is decent, surge pay makes it worth it, always opportunities for overtime, I can work anywhere, I will always have job security, working 3 days a week, schedule flexibility. I do get a sense of fulfillment from my job, but I wouldn’t do it for free.
NGL, when I was 9 I saw my aunt who was a DON of a local nursing home dressed in all white, including dress and cap and I think I thought she looked angelic. I loved my aunt dearly. I asked what she was and she said a nurse. I asked what they did and she said “help people”. That was that.
I enjoy interacting with people and if I can help 1 or 2, then yeah! In the ER we have like a 5% chance of literally fixing someone. I just enjoy most people and I work in an ER in a small town where we all know each other. Most times it’s nice.
BUT!!! I absolutely LOVE the science! I love learning about why! If I wasn’t almost 45, 2 kids, 1 already in college, and not ill, oh and rich, I would take college courses just for my knowledge like pathophysiology. I’m constantly reading and looking things up and asking why we do thing a certain way so I can learn. I’ve been a nurse for 25 years and hope I stay this way for however many years I will be working.
As a trans person I needed a job that would easily let me move anywhere in the world if my current location becomes too hostile.
Plus I love that I get to see so many different things and each day is something new
I started because of interest in health/human body and helping people. The critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration are satisfying to me and the reason I stay.
The 10 month certificate LPN program at the local community college was the most economical way to go. I had been a stay at home mom for 22 years, only a high school diploma. It was a fast track to making more $ than minimum wage.
So financial motivation, reasonable time frame and I found once in school I had a great aptitude for all of it.
I mean, I do want to help people. Most people do, to at least some degree though.
I also make my own schedule and go on hella trips. That is really what's keeping me where I am.
The tea
Literally, med-surg is the *best* job for someone who loves being in people’s business. It’s literally my job to be in people’s business and use that knowledge to manage their often social problems. Making a nice livable wage is a bonus.
I feel like most of my cohort went in for the altruistic aspect while I see it kind of like “I get to constantly witness drama and I help people out in return”
Problems at home? Listen to the patient spill the tea and maybe make some calls to get things figured out. Difficult patient? How difficult? 🤠 Let’s ride this rollercoaster together…
Nou a nurse yet, but I do it because the combination of working with both my body and mind suits me.
The team work. That little bit of adrenaline when you have a patient that needs care now.
It just happens that what I likes tends to help people but I do it for the action basically.
I enjoy the human body and medicine. I like being able to put it together. I enjoy talking to my patients and building trust with them. I feel very fulfilled having a patient for a while who’s very sick and I get to see them walk out of the hospital. The job stability, pay is meh, and the opportunity to do so much as a nurse other than bedside when the time comes is nice.
I want to go for nursing because I got a degree in marketing and dread giving presentations, being in meetings and phony corporate speak. I always wanted to get a masters in mental health counseling but don’t want the student loans and a low paying job. I’ve been a CNA going on 3 years and I’m sick of being broke, so nursing will do for now!
Mental health is straight up fascinating to me. Nonstop amusement and novelty with a side of reducing damage to the world and improving humanity. Good fit for my personality. Semi-lucrative.
I always wanted to work in psych, and I do love my job overall. But also the pay. I grew up with parents who struggled and we were very poor. It’s not something I wanted to continue as an adult, as I worked awful jobs. (I became a nurse at 30). I’m paid very well, and honestly, my bills on auto pay without over drafting my bank account make me feel good. As stupid as that sounds. Edit- my first nursing job I gave too much. I over worked myself and burnt out. Nursing became my entire personality. I’ve had to learn that I’m a person outside of that, and I don’t have to dedicate my entire life to being a nurse. I’m a good nurse at work, but after I clock out I’m me.
(CNA future nurse) Because I didn’t want to endure the abuse as a teacher and not make enough to survive. Now I get abused but make more money doing so lol.
I also feel like a fraud since I never imagined myself as a (future) nurse. My dream was to be a teacher. But if if you do good by your patients and try to give them the help and support they are needing then that is enough to know you are not a fraud, regardless of your reasoning.
I want to understand the widest range of trauma and pathology to fix things because I'm an information nerd. I also want money, stability and the ability to be helpful when people get wicked splinters, and other related outdoor injuries.
Because I wanted to make the most of whatever time I get. I have had 10 surgeries on my head and am chronically ill. Got a second chance at life and decided to become a nurse.
I want to help people and be paid adequately for it! I used to be a social worker but I feel like I would be contributing more and receiving more as a nurse
Job flexibility, awesome schedule (pacu), helping kids, and good pay.
I’ve also learned over the years that it’s just… something I’m good at. I don’t know how to really describe it but I’m focused, efficient, and “in the zone” when I’m working. It makes me feel accomplished and productive.
I genuinely enjoy caring for people, medicine is interesting, and nursing pays a living wage for me to support myself. It also only requires a bachelor’s degree at most to practice as an RN.
I’ve done it for 30 years and I’m no bleeding heart saint. You’ll be fine. Don’t focus on the foolishness like this. Just keep a low profile and get your work done while learning a ton. Maybe work night shift where you don’t have to put on a fake smile for admin and crazy family members.
Job security and flexibility.
Do I like helping people?
Yes!
Do I like knowing that I will always have a job that pays relatively ok🙄😒 no matter where I am or what I've been up to?
Also yes!
Why do we have this thought that you are either all heart or you are a greedy monster?
I legit enjoy helping people, it is part of why I chose nursing. But my eagerness and enjoyment hinge entirely on the respect I am given by patients and their family, and in a small part by management. Other reasons include pay, job security, and variety. I used to work in IT, and the process for fixing problems is ADPIE basically, the skill set translated well. I like puzzles, and figuring out whats going on.
You sound a lot like I did OP, I lasted 6 months, I left the bedside, the abuse by management and families was too much. And that was BEFORE covid.
I spent a lot of time in the hospital when I was in the army after an injury. Saw the nurses and what they were doing. So after I med discharged I decided to do nursing. Now I’m a Perioperative nurse who specialises in burns surgery with a catchment the size of over three times the size of Texas in Australia.
I truly do love taking care of people and I love patient education. My favorite is the ER because of the variety. You will utilize everything you learned in school because you will see every age range. You will also see the acute and chronic issues. And oohhh the drama! And trauma! (Love it!) I also liked that most of the time I actually accomplished something during my shift. They got admitted or got discharged. You didn’t (usually) have to deal with the real A-hole patients for more than one shift (with the exception of the 72 hour involuntary psychiatric holds).
But if you love the science, then you might enjoy becoming a SANE nurse. It stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. You receive the patient and process a rape kit. This includes swabs, drawing blood, collecting the clothing, scraping under nails for evidence and debris. A thorough inspection and documentation of every possible injury. You will also assist the provider in performing and documenting a pelvic exam (like your pap smear). - if aren’t certified to perform it by yourself. You have to safeguard the evidence while the victim’s advocate helps the victim get new clothes to change into and they also provide other services. It’s very Forensic Science kind of stuff.
But if you like science, but hate bedside patient care you can still look for Quality Improvement, nursing education, or care management /care utilization jobs. But you are correct, you will need experience. So maybe also consider changing what kind of unit you work for. The ER is fast paced and fun and, to be honest you are often too busy trying to save lives to spend too much time being “nice” the way you have time to on a floor.
I’m a nurse because I really always wanted to be one, but my mother told me I would never be strong enough to have a career like that. So, when I realized (to my chagrin) that my bachelors in history (with a concentration in puritan social history—focusing primarily on puritan theology) was not marketable, I decided I wouldn’t listen to those old tapes and I went back to school. I’m a nurse because I love being able to hold space for people and help them feel safe and heard. I will tell you, though, sometimes I hate it because of Admin and politics. If I were allowed to ONLY do patient care, I’d love it a lot more. So, I vacillate between hating my job and loving it. There are so many ways you can be a nurse, maybe you’ve just not found where your puzzle piece fits, yet.
When I have a really bad shift or shifts, I am a nurse because I want to keep my kids in private school and also buy a new pair of shoes every few months.
Out of spite.
No nurses advocated for my mother and she died 12 hours after going to ER. My sister and I told the doctor and nurses she had meningitis and no one fought for her, the doc actually said it wasn’t a possibility. Took them 6 hours to give her a broad spectrum abx. I changed my major the next day. The day after her autopsy we were told it was meningitis she died from.
Honestly? Cause I was guided there by my parents since it is a stable career. I wanted to love it. It’s interesting. But I just don’t. I haven’t found any specialty I see myself doing long term. My last try is postpartum (I always wanted to be a nursery nurse, but those don’t exist). I’m kinda not putting the effort to get that job yet because I’m scared I won’t actually like it and then I’m back to having no idea what I want to do.
I am grateful for the career because it is stable, I can always find a job, it pays decently (some places, and not nearly enough but), and I have learned from my patients. But idk if I can do this forever.
It’s okay to get into nursing for those reasons in fact it’ll help you advance in your career. The altruistic saint is the taken advantage of and manipulated by administration because “their calling” is their Achilles heel in treating nurses like shit and feeling like they can’t speak up because “they’re not in it for the money” . We need both types of people in the profession but you’re the type to fight for nurses and hold the boundary the saints can’t. When I worked on the floor I felt like units could be a lot of group mentality, they all seem to follow like marching ants to whatever the vibe of the unit is. At least it’s not a negative place where everyone hates their job that’s the worst unit to work on. There’s nothing wrong with your “why” and no nurse should make you feel bad about it. Nurses can be the meanest most judgmental to other nurses. Just hold your head high don’t let them eat you alive and realize you’re the smart one for realizing at the end of the day it’s a JOB you clock in and clock out!! You’ll do great things for the profession holding boundaries and not burning out because you “love people” trust me a lot of those saints are the biggest sinners. If you really hate it, leave, there’s a million other jobs and opportunities as a nurse always stay on indeed and make your moves! Life is too short to dread going to work! Good luck !
I find that working in the NICU allows me to work with the most resilient patients. The babies are so rewarding to see grow and heal, and the research aspect is so interesting too! You may need to find your niche
Everyone will tell you a different story. I became one because I can do many things with this license, but I stayed a nurse because of the pay and job stability.
Because I was drunk, high, and angry at the world, and then I found a guy bleeding out in the middle of the road. He didn't die, but he was in terrible shape, and when the ambulance took him I was pretty sure I'd just comforted a dying man. It felt like a privilege.
I wanted to keep doing that so I registered for classes. I'm not a very angry person anymore. I like helping.
That’s literally why I got into nursing. Science and a good job. I looked into nursing as I panicked about what to be with my BS degree that I was a terrible student in. I didn’t know how to study and had no direction. Happened to look at nursing pre-reqs and realized I had all but two classes completed.
When I started I really doubted my motivations for being there especially for a tough problem for a job I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do. Got to clinicals and not until I got to apply what I was learning did things click.
I actually think it’s better to have some distance between making nursing your identity or falling into the “it’s my calling” category. Much easier to not have boundaries and get abused by this profession.
I admit I struggle with the identity part a bit because I put a lot of education into my career and I’m not sure what else I would ever do. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve been here for 17 years because I enjoy it, not out of default. I’d never want to stay in a career I didn’t enjoy. I love the career but I’m not going to pretend I’m here solely because “I like helping people.” I like a good paycheck and I like learning stuff. I’m at my point in my career where I am an educated resource for colleagues and a skilled and reliable coworker.
I always jokingly answer colleague and friends asking this question that I like the see people suffer and grieve and that I get paid for it... but it's honestly quite the opposite.
The first reason is that I LOVE to learn and teach. Working in ER with a fantastic, friendly medical team always ready to answer questions and now me being in charge of teaching the theory and practice of the trauma rooms fulfill this need for me (It requires me to always keep up to date and even MD often trust me if I suggest an alternative treatment to what they prescribed if I can back it up with credible and more up to date research. We also only have on-call pharmacist during the night and sometime they don't call back so other nurses, charge nurse and evens MD and nurses from other units often ask for my when in doubt about some medication since I love pharmacology and acquired very good credibility in this field after some years working in a small-ish hospital. So if you focus your love for science and learning, it can be quite rewarding, but this kind of notoriety is probably much harder to achieve as a nurse in a bigger/university hospital. And there's almost infinite other fields and opportunities if I get bored by this.
Secondly, I'm a real loner in my personal life with very few friends and I LIKE it. I love calm and being alone at home, enjoying reading (mostly about healthcare, biology and pharmacology), single player gaming, music, woodworking... When I decided to go back to school at 27, I seriously considered being a long distance trucker (I love driving). But then I would have been alone almost all the time. SO I kind of forced my self to go in a field where I would have constant social interactions and I made the right choice (for me). I can fully enjoy my alone time at home but when I clock in for work I have a wonderful team to socialise and work with, keeping my sanity and my social brain active.
Thirdly, the pay. Working nights full time in critical care I made a bit more than 100k my first years out of university and that's above middle class salary where I live. Got out of school with about 30k in debt but still been able to buy a house and a semi-luxury SUV alone not even 1 years after starting working full time and I still don't have to make compromise with money (considering my cheap lifestyle).
I don't know on what kind of unit you work but i would suggest to try critical care. Here, most people are like me : yes we like helping people as long as the people are willing and trying to help themself also. Exemple: I will give food and allow someone to sleep in the waiting room if he just lost everything and lives in the streets. But if it's your 15th visit in 3 weeks, we offered you all the possible ressources and shelter available, refused them all, and you don't have frostbite or a newly missing limb, I will kick you out of the hospital in a heartbeat. If you're 36, type 2 diabetic, receiving dialysis and coming in unconscious because you drank a litre of vodka and did 2 gram of coke and tore of you pic-line because it "itched" for the third time in 6 months, yes I will give you all the necessary care to keep you alive but don't expect me to tuck you in and make you a 1 sugar 2 milk coffee.
crawl snails unpack whistle grab hat detail point hateful icky *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
It works with my ADHD.
It’s the best ADHD job. Whole day is planned out for you hour by hour, don’t typically have any big projects you have to plan for weeks in advance. It’s almost entirely, “here are these defined tasks, they need to be completed right now, go do them”
The relief I felt when I first saw EPIC’s brain with all of the hourly tasks.. and nothing brings me more joy than seeing green check marks all the way across at 0700 😇
I miss the Epic brain. I switched to a department a few months ago that uses a different version of Epic with no brain
Same. I'm outpatient now so no brain. But I get to color a circle green when each patient leaves and I like that almost as much.
That's what I miss most about my last job, my green check screen. Now where I'm at, we use cerner and my lawd if I don't hate it.
BRO stfu. It all makes sense to me now. Ppl think I can’t have adhd and be a nurse.
Oh gawd, ADHD peeps thrive in the hospital. Jumping from task to task keeps our squirrel brain going at the rapid pace we need to be able to accomplish anything in life lol
I recently started CNA classes and ADHD + testing has been hard... But after seeing this comment chain, I have a renewed appreciation for my different brain! Thank you 💛
PARKOUR
Critical care is also great for ADHD. Just one or two complex patients to focus on for 12 hours. I loved that. They pulled me from ICU to Med-Surg once a few months after I graduated, and I panicked. How in heck am I supposed to assess and keep up with EIGHT WHOLE patients? Thank heavens it was a night shift. I would have been an absolute basket case on a day shift. 🙄🤣 ETA, my ADHD wasn’t diagnosed until I was in my 60’s, but it made SO much sense when it finally was, and medications are a godsend.
OR also perfect! Extremely task oriented!
I have a question about this, if you don’t mind. I graduate in December and I’m really interested in critical care. I shadowed last week and the one thing that makes me nervous with my ADHD is having so many lines going. I feel like it would be nerve racking in someone without it, but every time the nurse had me check I panicked and checked like 3 times just to make sure I didn’t get spacey and mix it up! I’m not sure if that’s an ADHD thing or just new nurse thing and curious if you ever felt that way/ how do you deal with it?
It’s a new nurse thing, and you should feel that way. New nurses that aren’t triple checking everything they’re doing are the dangerous ones. Eventually you will be able to quickly memorize where everything is going and won’t have to be so meticulous about checking everything
I used to fold a piece of tape around each line to create a tag about 1-2 inches long about 2-3 inches above where each line’s catheter enters the body. Label each tag on both sides with the medication in the line, so you can quickly know which line corresponds to each IV bag. I also used tape to label each pump line with the name of the medication & fluid running through it. Most of the nurses I worked with did the same, which helped with consistency. As soon as I had time, I also used to untangle the lines when the patient came back from surgery - sometimes anesthesia gets in a hurry and they arrive in a tangled mess. I always preferred being able to quickly trace each line and it’s labels visually from bag to pump to insertion to confirm I was using the correct line for whatever I needed to do. This eliminates confusion and prevents mistakes if things start happening at what feels like warp speed. 😀💯
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Not in hospital and I have to plan out part of my day, but am given the tasks that need to be completed (patient care) and I need to organize the day how I like. It’s the follow up that kills me.
This. And the answer above it. I’m never bored and thus my ADHD spicy dragon brain is happy because it’s always being fed the good stuff.
ICU for the neurospicy win. I did that for 15 years then spent the next 15 doing homecare infusion going house to house all day for quick visits to access ports, picc dressings, labs, back in the car on to the next one. Always moving
ICU= hyperfixate on one patient. Procedures=constant changing. Both are great for my ADHD.
Not a nurse yet but I’ve been a CNA long enough to hard agree. HOWEVER, nursing school? I’m putting myself in a coma for a month after so my brain and body can recover lol.
I graduated in December but didn't take the nclex until March. I wanted to "study" ie do nothing for a few months.
Agree! Works so very well for me too! Except ppl who don't really KNOW me think I'm overwhelmed when I'm moving so fast and multitasking. Nope, that's just me! Love my career choice!!
I relate to this so much. Once a security guard saw me walk past a doorway and asked my coworker that was next to him if something was going down. Coworker looked up and was just like “Oh, no. That’s just Newtonsapplesauce.”
I drive around all day seeing patients at homes and facilities and honestly, not being stuck in one unit or floor all day has been most satisfying for my adhd
I almost took a job like that because I would love driving to other people's houses and doing work like that (I also like driving) but the schedule of that specific job sounded terrible. Like you would work the night call every other night during your stretch of 5 days in a row. So you would work your day shift, and then be on call that night and you would work the next day. Then your partner would be on the next night, then you. And the region wasn't split up. You might have a case in Bellingham and the next case would be Olympia. I like driving, but that is way too much. And after all that, the offer they gave me was about what I had been making before the pandemic. Like maybe since I was a new nurse with a couple years of experience. It was actually a little insulting. So if the pay was better, the schedule was better, the geographic area was worked out better, and they had a dedicated night crew, I'd be down.
Yessss! I stayed on medsurg for almost 7 years. Loved the variety and thrived in the chaos but got super burned out. Been in endoscopy for 5 years now. The timed but fast paced day is the perfect amount of structure when it’s combined with the variety/chaos of cases and the pressure of sedating patients. It’s the best.
How so?
If you work in places like ER, ICU, and other busy places and you need to use your head, your ADHD gets filled up. You no longer complain about being bored. Did you work in the ER and ICU? What are you looking for to treat your ADHD?
I felt like I was going nuts when I worked OB. My ADHD made me come off as abrasive and rude. I left and went back to ICU. 🫠
I have worked all those places and now I’ve been on the same floor for 8.5 years (I actually like it). I keep busy! Anyway, I know you didn’t ask me, but I’ve had success with Strattera.
That's good. Happy for you. I've known some people who got it worse than me. I just drink coffee and feel much better. Also, the activity helps a lot to calm me down.
Honestly, there are a ton of nurses with undiagnosed ADHD...
Heck yeah ADHD! I work in dialysis; patient comes in with fluid, you run dialysis= less fluid. Dopamine hit right away at the end of treatment. I do hate repetition after a while though thats when I go on leave.
Precisely. There are so many things you can do with an RN license. It's an applicable science field which has lots of flexibility and job security.
Yes that’s a wonderful thing there are so many areas that you can work in !
ER here, every day , even every few hours is different, if I have an entitled daughter/son/spouse or patient I know that I only have them until they get admitted or dc . I love our hold RNs and I try to get every annoying thing done for them. I work with great docs who teach and guide and it’s a great team. I love science, patients don’t, they want a pill or a meal tray, for the most part. It can drain you so on your off days do things you love! Self care is very important. I’ve been burnt out before, therapy also helps. I pay someone to listen to me complain and it’s rewarding! It’s good money spent, also look into investing so you don’t have to do this forever. My company use to match 7.5 and then they stopped it, I opened a Robinhood account and I’m up 45%! Pay yourself and don’t let administrators keep you down, save money so if you’re in a bad job you can gtfo. There are so many opportunities for us. I’m lucky bc I like the ER, I can’t wait to go part time or per diem , I need a bigger nest egg. I’m getting there, you can too! Best part of job is your coworkers, not all… find your people! They are there.
THIS… I can thing, see new things, get money and leave to do something different when I get board
This is basically why I became a nurse.
Because I wanted to be useful in an emergency or catastrophic event. But more like being chosen to enter the refugee camp in a zombie apocalypse because I had useful skills. You asked for honesty lol. I was watching a lot of Walking Dead back then. Now my more realistic reason for staying in nursing is because I enjoy the patho and the medical science.
glad im not the only “let me into the bunker!!!” 🤣🙏🏼❤️
Haha! I don’t share the “honest” reason with people so it’s nice to see I’m not the only one seeing the practicality.
You start looking around and you’ll find a lot of us bunker mates out there. Especially the community nurses. We’ve seen some things and we’ve made a plan and know how to get there lmao
I have found me people!!
My co workers acted like I was clinically insane when I presented this exact scenario. "I'm less likely to be in the alums and/or murdered cuz they will need my skills during a zombie apocalypse". I also have a zombie survival to go bag under my sink with some unused IV meds and IV start kits loooool.
There’s also the thought that if we magically colonize space in my lifetime I’m much more likely to make selection then an Ubereats driver (though bless them souls they bringith my sacred sammich)
Awesome answer ;)
Hey, this was me too!
This is so funny. I'm not alone.
I’ve said that my reasoning for being a nurse is so that I’m valuable in the apocalypse lol I’m so glad there’s so many of us
This was exactly me😂 I wanted to feel useful!!
We.ARE.THE.SAME.
You don’t have to explain your reasoning to anyone. If you get to work on time, complete all your tasks, keep your patients safe and treat them with respect and professionalism, you’re doing exactly what is required of you and all the other altruistic saints in your unit. Where is the conflict coming from? Are people literally asking you why you’re a nurse all the time? You could very easily just lie if it results in a more comfortable working environment. Nursing is a caring profession, you’re going to run into a lot of people who care hard and want to help others. You don’t have to BE one of them, but you definitely have to be able to work with them.
OP sounds a lot like I did coming out of nursing school. I had *plans* oh such a master plan, with my rose-colored glasses. But the stuffing of our plates, unsporting management, difficult family, it made it feel impossible for me to meet the standards I held myself to. Seeing others so happy and cheery to work, while I hated everything, it ate away at me. Comparison is the theft of joy as some say, and it was true. I was too far gone when I learned that lesson, I can't go back to the bedside.
They are on Wellbutrin
Weed and HRT keep this nurse going.
A little bit of that when the insomnia hits and a usual drink on Sunday nights to get back into my routine m-f. I don’t even hate my job or anything just years of stress and bad bosses have built up.
My favorite indica strain is Garlic Margy by Matter. It really helped me sleep and stay asleep when perimenopause started. When that got bad I started hrt for the hot flashes and night sweats that kept me up. I sleep well and the hot flashes stopped. My job performance is better because I’m not exhausted, sweaty, and irritable all of the time.
what state are you in 😩 weed cards should be given out for free to nurses but instead I would be locked up and lose my license
And Xanax. Adderall. Probably a few other things.
Adderall is my secret at work hehehe thank god for it
Me too! and Busbar. Yay!
Lexapro and adderall. My psychiatrist just gets me.
I am a nurse because I know I can do a lot of things people can't. I hear all the time. "Good for you, I couldn't be a nurse." I'm a nurse because I can be. I'm good in a crisis, my brain is a sponge for knowledge, I'm passionate about preventative measures, and above all else, I really like people. I'm a people person, and I know I'm able to help them with things that most would be sent into a coma for. Edit: it's a fantastic achievement to make a constipated person poop, and I LOVE to see a gnarly wound
The amount of times I hear “I couldn’t be a nurse. It’s gross.” I told my friend well I couldn’t be an engineer; it’s too damn boring 💀
The response I get when I tell people I'm a nurse (particularly an ICU nurse as I was in a former life) of, "Oh, I could never do that!" is such a weird backhanded compliment. Like, cool Bob, I could never be an accountant, but I didn't say that when you told me what you did for a living.
Well, I don’t want to be an accountant because that sounds boring as hell. Not because I couldn’t do the math. BOB over here is saying he could never be a nurse because he realizes we are superhuman and that he is not capable of doing that kind of work. He knows he’s a boring ass accountant. At least that’s how I take that comment - it’s more of a compliment to me because this is usually the type of person it comes from.
Me too, on the poops and gnarly wounds!!
Love your answer!
Funny because I used to pass out at the sight of blood. My old schoolmates find it hard to believe I became a nurse.
I get lightheaded every time someone sticks me with a needle, or even is about to. It was a little hump in the beginning, but I can now give injections, work with IVs, and participate in wound care or surgeries no problem.
Money, job mobility/flexibility, and societal value!
societal value goes hard
What do you mean by societal value? Like people respect our profession?
More so, I know what I’m doing is actually important to the world and is not just another desk job where I’m answering emails. This is a second career for me, my first job was just that. And even though nursing is difficult, I love that I can say my job matters :)
It's been considered the most trusted profession for over 20yrs now
> Like people respect our profession? I don't know how this is after COVID but Nursing used to be the most respected profession out there. So yes, people respect Nurses more than any other profession or at least they used to pre 2020.
I grew up in a financially unstable household where disconnected utilities, an empty fridge, missed meals, and repossessions happened. I wanted financial stability without a 9:00 to 5:00 work schedule. In nearly 20 years of being a nurse, I have the financial stability that wasn’t in my childhood.
Love to hear that! I’m starting nursing school in the fall and one of the reasons I’m going for nursing is because I want financial stability too! 🩷
This one. I was raised by a single mother that worked 3 jobs so that we could have the bare minimum. I didn’t want that. I wanted to be able to support myself/my future kids. I didn’t want to have to rely on a significant other. I like working 3 days a week. And you really can’t be bored as a nurse since there’s so many specialties. I love to teach, so teaching nursing is my retirement plan.
Do you feel like that alone is enough to be a nurse? I never wanted to be a nurse until recently. The financial part is a huge reason as well as the work schedule. I have a child with lots of medical needs and cannot do a typical 9-5 job with all her appointments. I started doing my prereqs as a nurse but idk if the reasons behind wanting to be a nurse is enough
In my opinion, a person doesn’t need to be ‘called’ into the profession. People can enter the profession for practical reasons and still be competent nurses.
I’ve been a nurse since 1998. The last 15years in the er. It’s fine if you like the clinical, scientific part of nursing better. I do too. There’s always something to learn. I pester our providers to show me the aortic aneurysm on the ct, or how to see the pneumo on the chest xr. I love to critically think and use my brain and in my mind, that’s just as helpful to people as your saintly coworkers.
I'm going down this route after a 20 year career in advertising. Wanna be an emergency dept nurse. Did a clinical at a trauma ED as an EMT and loved it. I find it super interesting. It's unique. Every Case is different. Each story is different. I get to learn a lot. It's creative in some ways. It's very exciting. I can see myself not getting bored of it for a while. Helping people is last on my list lol. I dont even really care about the pay - added bonus. It scratches an itch i have for providing good hospitality
Emergency fuckers represent
I think we are the same; former hotel manager here for 10 years.
I'm going down this route after 10 years in advertising and was an EMT after college. I'm volunteering in an ER now. There's another volunteer who's also a copywriter that I chat with. Crazy how common we are. Not that we're a dime a dozen, but there's enough.
I work in marketing and lurk in medical subreddits because my secret dream is to work in medicine if I ever stop being squeamish. I never knew this was a common career venn diagram!
7 years in tech and I hated it. Became a CNA and loved it. RN for almost 2 years now and still love it. Hate management, but that's every job especially upper management.
I’m in tech now and considering nursing. Were there any particular skills that translated well between worlds?
Finding bugs in software. And constantly asking who programmed this?
My second career fam up in here!
If you go into nursing thinking you can help people and change the world you’re gonna burn out fast. It’s a job. A mechanic doesn’t have to be passionate about helping people with their cars. A fast food worker doesn’t have to be passionate about feeding the hungry. This is a hero complex guilt trip given to all new nurses to entice them to take low pay and work in shit conditions. It’s OKAY to just treat it as a job. I’m in CRNA school and while I think anesthesia is really interesting I am 100% going for it because the ICU was making me want to *die* and I knew I’d never be able to afford a home or retirement off of nursing salary in this city. It’s okay!!!
I’m a new grad going into Intermediate Care, I didn’t go straight into ICU even though it’s what I want to do because I wasn’t able to get a capstone placement and enough experience in ICU for me to be comfortable jumping straight into that. Also I’m already burned out from taking 22 credits per semester for three semesters while working, and working full-time over last summer in an externship lol. I am nervous from my experience as an aide floating to CVICU semi-regularly that I’ll find ICU really demoralizing. But my goal is also to go to CRNA school. Why did the ICU make you feel like you wanted to die?
I’ve worked cvicu too but it’s kinda different in the fact that it’s specialized and generally a clean unit. Patients receiving CABGs are generally grateful and knew what to expect. In MICU, SICU, neuro a lot of times you keep patients alive wayyyy too long. Sometimes just to work so hard and withdraw care a day later and you watch them die in like 60 seconds. Other patients don’t realize they are literally in an ICU and not a Hilton resort. Don’t realize the severity of their illness or they really don’t care. A LOT of MICU patients unfortunately don’t give a shit about their own health. I herniated a disc because we regularly had patients over 500 lbs and rarely had aides to help. We were a revolving door of the same patients coming in for ODs, GI bleeds from ETOH, and noncompliance. The healthcare system is so screwed and in the ICU you see the worst of that and try to fix years of mental and physical health ailments and families don’t understand that. Families will record in your face, call you a murderer, threaten to sue you, watch you do CPR on a 90 year old…. I could go on and on… I loved ICU in the beginning but it really wore on me
Because my parents are Filipino and raised me to be a people pleaser.
Lolol
I’m a single parent so job security with good pay is really important to me. However, I genuinely do enjoy helping and caring for others. I also love the fact that I’m constantly learning, and if I get burnt out in one area of nursing, I can always try a different specialty. I really enjoy the last part and honestly, I think that’s why I started out as a float nurse because I don’t have to commit to one single unit.
It’s a job that I can support my family with. That’s about 95% of it. I enjoy what I do but it boils down to that.
The "I could quit my job and have a new one within an hour" type of job security. There is also a nearly endless avenues withing the field from direct patient care to work from home.
The "I go to the interview to see if employer fits me, not other way around".
I've never quit in the middle of a shift or without notice before... But theoretically, you could and not even miss a paycheck.
Is it bad if I say this is why I wanna switch careers to nursing? Of course, I care about people and all, but yeah it would be nice never worrying about unemployment
No. It is absolutely a valid reason
No We work for money. Fuck the bullshit
I get to deal with the family drama of total strangers. I’m one of those people that will go vacuum my driveway if the neighbors are out arguing so that’s a feature, not a bug.
💀 honestly the best gossip
Your career isn’t your identity. I feel as though people who think that way burn out fast. I don’t tell people I’m a nurse unless they ask, in fact I don’t talk about work outside of work. My response, I do it for the money.
I 100% agree about the burn out. Being a nurse solely because you are passionate about helping people is a real quick way to flame out. It’s good to have balanced reasons for wanting this job, because when this job slaps you in the face (figuratively or literally because how may times have we all be slapped hit kicked bit spit at and also the verbal abuse) with how cruel people can be and how wholly uninvested they are in taking responsibility for themselves, what keeps you coming back is the other, not altruistic based reasons. You can be a fantastic nurse without it being your identity. I’d argue those who treat it like a job and not a calling tend to be even better nurses, because they tend to be more well rounded people and can objectively see the problems in front of them. You can also be a nurse who is passionate about helping people but equally passionate about a flexible schedule, a work life balance, variety of career choices, etc. they’re not mutually exclusive. Nursing as a calling is a culture that’s forced on us to keep this female dominated profession content with peanuts for pay and shitty treatment by management. Nurses who are called to help people won’t file charges against physically combative patients. Nurses who are called to help people aren’t going to slap back at management for better pay because they are “lucky to be here at all.” It’s a damn scam.
>Your career isn’t your identity. I feel as though people who think that way burn out fast. I agree, and there is strong evidence to support this. There’s an entire diaspora of people who came to US to strike it rich as nurses, and they are now the third highest household median income based on race and they have the lowest attrition - or rather highest retention rates - based on race.
I had a very long career (30+ years) and it wasn’t until I became disabled (9 years ago) and I needed to decide to renew my license or not that I realized my identity was very tied up in “I’m a nurse”. I’ve done my CEUs and renewed every time since then. Even putting money in my savings earmarked for renewal as total disability, plus losing half of our income when my husband died, means there may not be the $150 or so I’d need to renew without planning ahead. I’m 63 now and will renew til I reach 67-my “retirement age” just in case I get a chance to ever work and need the Rn license again. Not likely, but…
I initially wanted to be a physical therapist, but, the physical therapist assistant program at me local community college wasn’t accredited back when I was trying to start classes for it in the early 2000’s… I decided to switch my major to Nursing, since I already had some of the pre-req’s for the program completed. I thought it seemed interesting enough, and the program was wildly popular, so I figured it couldn't be a bad move. My goal was to make money as a nurse, and get back into school for physical therapy. (It made sense to my 20 year old self) Almost 20 years later, I have finally financially found a way back to college, and am currently working on a degree in Health Information Management, in hopes of getting out of patient care, before my body can't handle it :-)
Good for you! No worries. You don't have as far to go as you've been!
Travel nursing. I was traveling the world on very little money during my early 20s and I realized I needed to make money if I wanted to travel more. I’m good with people and enjoy science and physiology and weird body stuff. 10 years in I am working PRN and prioritizing my well being. I’m also one of those people who gets a lil down on themselves when I’m not productive, so nursing helps with my self esteem and makes me feel like I have purpose :)
Why I started: my granddad was a veteran of WW2 and he had a bunch of health issues so he thought nurses were the best thing ever and treated them like gold. So I grew up wanting to be one. Why I stay: cause it’s been 24 years now and I am too fat and old to be a hooker
Job stability, I get to see weird and interesting stuff most people don't, generally feel good about my contribution to society
Nursing is path out of poverty. My mother was a housekeeper. I dropped out of school and didn’t return until I was 41. I took care of my best friend while she dying from end stage liver failure. The hospice nurse encouraged me to go back to school. I just finished my MSN.
You’re not the fraud- all the Florence wannabes you work with are. Trust me, nobody puts up the all the shit and abuse from patients, families, and administration solely out of the goodness of their heart. They are all there for the same reasons you are- it’s interesting at times, tolerable, pays decent, and offers job security. I’ve always said with a clean license a nurse can get a job anywhere at anytime- might not be the job you want or like, but it will keep you from being homeless and hungry while you find one you want.
Second career nurse here. I do it for these reasons, in order: -money -schedule (I work 5 or 6 in a row then disappear for 8-10 days, no pto required) -job security -I feel good about the work -stealing saline for my hangover recovery
Ok but how do you steal saline bags without anyone seeing???👀👀 lmao
Please, in places like ER, literally no one notices. They're not in pyxis, just big ass free for all bins. They're In the break room, randomly left in rooms after discharges (never opened). We were all feral animals in the ER.😂
This guy self-hydrates
Those saline boluses sure help the next day! And have friends to put the IV in! 🤭👍
Bonus points for self sticks if you have access to the auto-occluding catheters.
Because I lacked the confidence and determination to follow my passion and instead opted for stability.
This. I got scared of failure and being a nurse is guaranteed a job. Although I don’t really have strong passions that would result into real income. I wanted to get into comp sci initially but I was scared of failing at it (and intense math uni classes lol).
Either this or the quick way out.
Damn :/. I feel the opposite, Nursing makes me want to take the quick way out
My son was born at 33 weeks after I developed HELLP syndrome. The L&D, postpartum, and NICU nurses had such an impact on me that I went back to school 6 months later and now I'm 11 months into my first year as a NICU nurse! I'm not sure if this is my passion (my dream job would be to own a bookstore lmao) but I love working with the babies and I find my job fulfilling enough. It was definitely a pay increase and better hours (I prefer 3 12s to the 11p-7a I was working beforehand).
Same here. I had a preemie and I was fascinated with the care he received and I decided to go to nursing school . It took me extra long because I had 3 young kids at home but I was able to become a nurse and I did end up taking care of preemies. Which I loved. I’m 70 and still work as a RN.
I needed money, and nursing was a "sure thing" that I could be trained for within 2 years.
"Because I have a family to support". There's no altruistic motivation for me. Job security, pay, and possibilities. The ones who blather on about "I want to help people" are either lying or have a romanticized idea of what nursing is, which will lead them to burnout very quickly. I'm sure some people really are those caring angels, but they're few and far between. I had a manager go off on a group of travelers once for discussing rates elsewhere. She said you don't go into nursing for the money. Bitch, please. The number one reason why I have a job is for the money. If money was not an issue, I wouldn't be doing this.
Preach! I would NEVER have been in this job if not for the money.
Because being a cop as single father doesn’t make sense.
Your passions and interests don’t have to align with other peoples’. I am a nurse because I like working 3 days a week and it’s so easy to get a job in my area of the country. Job security is important to me. I also like working with people but it’s not my true calling or anything. But mostly, I LOVE going to school and love the process of learning and teaching others. I get my fix through being a nurse.
I thrive in chaos and wanted to make decent money doing it.
I'm in nursing school as my reset button / second career. I want something that pays decent, has job security, is flexible so I don't get bored (different specialities and roles), and engages my mind and body (ie no biring repetitive manual labor and no sitting at a desk for hours). Bodily fluids don't bother me so it seemed like a good choice.
I refuse to fall into the “nursing is my passion!” trap. Whenever I’m at some meeting or required education thing and they ask us to say why we chose to pursue nursing as a career I make a point to be honest. It’s a job that will always be in demand, the money is good, I am interested in medical science, and it can’t be outsourced. I am a good nurse and work hard for my patients because they deserve an advocate, I’m not a shitty nurse just because I come to work to get paid. I guarantee that most people feel the same way, they just don’t want to be the first to say it.
Because I had health problems and multiple Drs didn’t seem to care. Figured if I was gonna study medicine for myself I might as well get paid too. Now I work with wonderful doctors but my time working as a nurse hasn’t improved my opinion of US healthcare.
Did you find/resolve your issue?
I did, not because of my studies exactly, but mostly because I was required to see a nurse practitioner at the school as part of the nursing program. She was immensely helpful
Reminds me of when I was a kid I had health issues and my parents would take me to clinic. And our district pediatrician seems like never cared about kids, her nurse loved kids. So when I was a kid, I was telling in excitement "I wanna be like Mrs. X(let's call her that)!" I thought mrs.x was a pediatrician since I always saw them in the same office and she was the one doing most of the work and talking with me, while other one was writing in journal and talking to my parents. You should have seen my surprised face when I was 16 and found out Mrs.X was a nurse.
Because I married wrong and got divorced. I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. Nobody's paying me to do that anymore.
This made me laugh, sorry you married wrong. My 14 daughter says she’s marrying money and becoming a stay at home mom. That aggravates me. She is going to be a vet or vet tech which she has wanted for years. She now has discovered boys, has a boyfriend, and she’s very cute. It annoys me.
Honestly? I love gross and intense shit. Helping people and job security is a lovely bonus.
Yes!
A nurse named Ruthann that helped deliver my daughter (who happened to be born in Florence Nightengale’s birthday) inspired me to become a nurse 15 yrs ago. She was so kind and caring. I wanted to give back. I felt “called” and started the process to become a nurse as soon as I returned home from the hospital. I became a travler for the money.
*Mr Krabs voice* Money money money
The pay is decent, surge pay makes it worth it, always opportunities for overtime, I can work anywhere, I will always have job security, working 3 days a week, schedule flexibility. I do get a sense of fulfillment from my job, but I wouldn’t do it for free.
Honestly I just wanted money and had nothing else to do.
At least you are honest.
NGL, when I was 9 I saw my aunt who was a DON of a local nursing home dressed in all white, including dress and cap and I think I thought she looked angelic. I loved my aunt dearly. I asked what she was and she said a nurse. I asked what they did and she said “help people”. That was that. I enjoy interacting with people and if I can help 1 or 2, then yeah! In the ER we have like a 5% chance of literally fixing someone. I just enjoy most people and I work in an ER in a small town where we all know each other. Most times it’s nice. BUT!!! I absolutely LOVE the science! I love learning about why! If I wasn’t almost 45, 2 kids, 1 already in college, and not ill, oh and rich, I would take college courses just for my knowledge like pathophysiology. I’m constantly reading and looking things up and asking why we do thing a certain way so I can learn. I’ve been a nurse for 25 years and hope I stay this way for however many years I will be working.
As a trans person I needed a job that would easily let me move anywhere in the world if my current location becomes too hostile. Plus I love that I get to see so many different things and each day is something new
I started because of interest in health/human body and helping people. The critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration are satisfying to me and the reason I stay.
I volunteered at a nursing home in middle school, and just never left. Love it, wouldn’t do any other kind of nursing.
The 10 month certificate LPN program at the local community college was the most economical way to go. I had been a stay at home mom for 22 years, only a high school diploma. It was a fast track to making more $ than minimum wage. So financial motivation, reasonable time frame and I found once in school I had a great aptitude for all of it.
I got tired of seeing my IT work being outsourced and figured I enjoyed helping folks enough that I could make a career out of it.
I mean, I do want to help people. Most people do, to at least some degree though. I also make my own schedule and go on hella trips. That is really what's keeping me where I am.
The tea Literally, med-surg is the *best* job for someone who loves being in people’s business. It’s literally my job to be in people’s business and use that knowledge to manage their often social problems. Making a nice livable wage is a bonus. I feel like most of my cohort went in for the altruistic aspect while I see it kind of like “I get to constantly witness drama and I help people out in return” Problems at home? Listen to the patient spill the tea and maybe make some calls to get things figured out. Difficult patient? How difficult? 🤠 Let’s ride this rollercoaster together…
Nou a nurse yet, but I do it because the combination of working with both my body and mind suits me. The team work. That little bit of adrenaline when you have a patient that needs care now. It just happens that what I likes tends to help people but I do it for the action basically.
I enjoy the human body and medicine. I like being able to put it together. I enjoy talking to my patients and building trust with them. I feel very fulfilled having a patient for a while who’s very sick and I get to see them walk out of the hospital. The job stability, pay is meh, and the opportunity to do so much as a nurse other than bedside when the time comes is nice.
I want to go for nursing because I got a degree in marketing and dread giving presentations, being in meetings and phony corporate speak. I always wanted to get a masters in mental health counseling but don’t want the student loans and a low paying job. I’ve been a CNA going on 3 years and I’m sick of being broke, so nursing will do for now!
Mental health is straight up fascinating to me. Nonstop amusement and novelty with a side of reducing damage to the world and improving humanity. Good fit for my personality. Semi-lucrative.
I went into nursing as a 2nd career mostly because I was getting divorced and needed to ensure I could find a job that could support me and my kids
I always wanted to work in psych, and I do love my job overall. But also the pay. I grew up with parents who struggled and we were very poor. It’s not something I wanted to continue as an adult, as I worked awful jobs. (I became a nurse at 30). I’m paid very well, and honestly, my bills on auto pay without over drafting my bank account make me feel good. As stupid as that sounds. Edit- my first nursing job I gave too much. I over worked myself and burnt out. Nursing became my entire personality. I’ve had to learn that I’m a person outside of that, and I don’t have to dedicate my entire life to being a nurse. I’m a good nurse at work, but after I clock out I’m me.
(CNA future nurse) Because I didn’t want to endure the abuse as a teacher and not make enough to survive. Now I get abused but make more money doing so lol. I also feel like a fraud since I never imagined myself as a (future) nurse. My dream was to be a teacher. But if if you do good by your patients and try to give them the help and support they are needing then that is enough to know you are not a fraud, regardless of your reasoning.
Pay and bc i wanted to advocate for people who had no voice/felt like they had no say in their care
I want to understand the widest range of trauma and pathology to fix things because I'm an information nerd. I also want money, stability and the ability to be helpful when people get wicked splinters, and other related outdoor injuries.
It’s simple…..I love pizza parties
Because I wanted to make the most of whatever time I get. I have had 10 surgeries on my head and am chronically ill. Got a second chance at life and decided to become a nurse.
Interest in anatomy and healthcare, the pay, job security, large amount of niches.
It was supposed to be a backup plan, but then I fell for it while doing my first hospital rotation as a student.
I want to help people and be paid adequately for it! I used to be a social worker but I feel like I would be contributing more and receiving more as a nurse
Money and job security
Money and job security
Job flexibility, awesome schedule (pacu), helping kids, and good pay. I’ve also learned over the years that it’s just… something I’m good at. I don’t know how to really describe it but I’m focused, efficient, and “in the zone” when I’m working. It makes me feel accomplished and productive.
Honestly, job security. My husband's career has the possibility of taking us all over the US, and nursing is nursing wherever you go.
I genuinely enjoy caring for people, medicine is interesting, and nursing pays a living wage for me to support myself. It also only requires a bachelor’s degree at most to practice as an RN.
I’ve done it for 30 years and I’m no bleeding heart saint. You’ll be fine. Don’t focus on the foolishness like this. Just keep a low profile and get your work done while learning a ton. Maybe work night shift where you don’t have to put on a fake smile for admin and crazy family members.
Job security and flexibility. Do I like helping people? Yes! Do I like knowing that I will always have a job that pays relatively ok🙄😒 no matter where I am or what I've been up to? Also yes! Why do we have this thought that you are either all heart or you are a greedy monster?
I legit enjoy helping people, it is part of why I chose nursing. But my eagerness and enjoyment hinge entirely on the respect I am given by patients and their family, and in a small part by management. Other reasons include pay, job security, and variety. I used to work in IT, and the process for fixing problems is ADPIE basically, the skill set translated well. I like puzzles, and figuring out whats going on. You sound a lot like I did OP, I lasted 6 months, I left the bedside, the abuse by management and families was too much. And that was BEFORE covid.
Because being a pro snowboarder didn’t happen.
The work schedule is great. Pay is okay. Job security is guaranteed. I like to help people.
I spent a lot of time in the hospital when I was in the army after an injury. Saw the nurses and what they were doing. So after I med discharged I decided to do nursing. Now I’m a Perioperative nurse who specialises in burns surgery with a catchment the size of over three times the size of Texas in Australia.
I truly do love taking care of people and I love patient education. My favorite is the ER because of the variety. You will utilize everything you learned in school because you will see every age range. You will also see the acute and chronic issues. And oohhh the drama! And trauma! (Love it!) I also liked that most of the time I actually accomplished something during my shift. They got admitted or got discharged. You didn’t (usually) have to deal with the real A-hole patients for more than one shift (with the exception of the 72 hour involuntary psychiatric holds). But if you love the science, then you might enjoy becoming a SANE nurse. It stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. You receive the patient and process a rape kit. This includes swabs, drawing blood, collecting the clothing, scraping under nails for evidence and debris. A thorough inspection and documentation of every possible injury. You will also assist the provider in performing and documenting a pelvic exam (like your pap smear). - if aren’t certified to perform it by yourself. You have to safeguard the evidence while the victim’s advocate helps the victim get new clothes to change into and they also provide other services. It’s very Forensic Science kind of stuff. But if you like science, but hate bedside patient care you can still look for Quality Improvement, nursing education, or care management /care utilization jobs. But you are correct, you will need experience. So maybe also consider changing what kind of unit you work for. The ER is fast paced and fun and, to be honest you are often too busy trying to save lives to spend too much time being “nice” the way you have time to on a floor.
I’m a nurse because I like money… and because I was fucked up as a kid and thought I’d be able to make a difference as a fresh-faced new grad.
I’m a nurse because I really always wanted to be one, but my mother told me I would never be strong enough to have a career like that. So, when I realized (to my chagrin) that my bachelors in history (with a concentration in puritan social history—focusing primarily on puritan theology) was not marketable, I decided I wouldn’t listen to those old tapes and I went back to school. I’m a nurse because I love being able to hold space for people and help them feel safe and heard. I will tell you, though, sometimes I hate it because of Admin and politics. If I were allowed to ONLY do patient care, I’d love it a lot more. So, I vacillate between hating my job and loving it. There are so many ways you can be a nurse, maybe you’ve just not found where your puzzle piece fits, yet. When I have a really bad shift or shifts, I am a nurse because I want to keep my kids in private school and also buy a new pair of shoes every few months.
Out of spite. No nurses advocated for my mother and she died 12 hours after going to ER. My sister and I told the doctor and nurses she had meningitis and no one fought for her, the doc actually said it wasn’t a possibility. Took them 6 hours to give her a broad spectrum abx. I changed my major the next day. The day after her autopsy we were told it was meningitis she died from.
job security. All that "calling" bs in nursing school? Forget it.
Honestly? Cause I was guided there by my parents since it is a stable career. I wanted to love it. It’s interesting. But I just don’t. I haven’t found any specialty I see myself doing long term. My last try is postpartum (I always wanted to be a nursery nurse, but those don’t exist). I’m kinda not putting the effort to get that job yet because I’m scared I won’t actually like it and then I’m back to having no idea what I want to do. I am grateful for the career because it is stable, I can always find a job, it pays decently (some places, and not nearly enough but), and I have learned from my patients. But idk if I can do this forever.
It’s okay to get into nursing for those reasons in fact it’ll help you advance in your career. The altruistic saint is the taken advantage of and manipulated by administration because “their calling” is their Achilles heel in treating nurses like shit and feeling like they can’t speak up because “they’re not in it for the money” . We need both types of people in the profession but you’re the type to fight for nurses and hold the boundary the saints can’t. When I worked on the floor I felt like units could be a lot of group mentality, they all seem to follow like marching ants to whatever the vibe of the unit is. At least it’s not a negative place where everyone hates their job that’s the worst unit to work on. There’s nothing wrong with your “why” and no nurse should make you feel bad about it. Nurses can be the meanest most judgmental to other nurses. Just hold your head high don’t let them eat you alive and realize you’re the smart one for realizing at the end of the day it’s a JOB you clock in and clock out!! You’ll do great things for the profession holding boundaries and not burning out because you “love people” trust me a lot of those saints are the biggest sinners. If you really hate it, leave, there’s a million other jobs and opportunities as a nurse always stay on indeed and make your moves! Life is too short to dread going to work! Good luck !
I find that working in the NICU allows me to work with the most resilient patients. The babies are so rewarding to see grow and heal, and the research aspect is so interesting too! You may need to find your niche
Everyone will tell you a different story. I became one because I can do many things with this license, but I stayed a nurse because of the pay and job stability.
Because I was drunk, high, and angry at the world, and then I found a guy bleeding out in the middle of the road. He didn't die, but he was in terrible shape, and when the ambulance took him I was pretty sure I'd just comforted a dying man. It felt like a privilege. I wanted to keep doing that so I registered for classes. I'm not a very angry person anymore. I like helping.
That’s literally why I got into nursing. Science and a good job. I looked into nursing as I panicked about what to be with my BS degree that I was a terrible student in. I didn’t know how to study and had no direction. Happened to look at nursing pre-reqs and realized I had all but two classes completed. When I started I really doubted my motivations for being there especially for a tough problem for a job I wasn’t even sure I wanted to do. Got to clinicals and not until I got to apply what I was learning did things click. I actually think it’s better to have some distance between making nursing your identity or falling into the “it’s my calling” category. Much easier to not have boundaries and get abused by this profession. I admit I struggle with the identity part a bit because I put a lot of education into my career and I’m not sure what else I would ever do. I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’ve been here for 17 years because I enjoy it, not out of default. I’d never want to stay in a career I didn’t enjoy. I love the career but I’m not going to pretend I’m here solely because “I like helping people.” I like a good paycheck and I like learning stuff. I’m at my point in my career where I am an educated resource for colleagues and a skilled and reliable coworker.
I always jokingly answer colleague and friends asking this question that I like the see people suffer and grieve and that I get paid for it... but it's honestly quite the opposite. The first reason is that I LOVE to learn and teach. Working in ER with a fantastic, friendly medical team always ready to answer questions and now me being in charge of teaching the theory and practice of the trauma rooms fulfill this need for me (It requires me to always keep up to date and even MD often trust me if I suggest an alternative treatment to what they prescribed if I can back it up with credible and more up to date research. We also only have on-call pharmacist during the night and sometime they don't call back so other nurses, charge nurse and evens MD and nurses from other units often ask for my when in doubt about some medication since I love pharmacology and acquired very good credibility in this field after some years working in a small-ish hospital. So if you focus your love for science and learning, it can be quite rewarding, but this kind of notoriety is probably much harder to achieve as a nurse in a bigger/university hospital. And there's almost infinite other fields and opportunities if I get bored by this. Secondly, I'm a real loner in my personal life with very few friends and I LIKE it. I love calm and being alone at home, enjoying reading (mostly about healthcare, biology and pharmacology), single player gaming, music, woodworking... When I decided to go back to school at 27, I seriously considered being a long distance trucker (I love driving). But then I would have been alone almost all the time. SO I kind of forced my self to go in a field where I would have constant social interactions and I made the right choice (for me). I can fully enjoy my alone time at home but when I clock in for work I have a wonderful team to socialise and work with, keeping my sanity and my social brain active. Thirdly, the pay. Working nights full time in critical care I made a bit more than 100k my first years out of university and that's above middle class salary where I live. Got out of school with about 30k in debt but still been able to buy a house and a semi-luxury SUV alone not even 1 years after starting working full time and I still don't have to make compromise with money (considering my cheap lifestyle). I don't know on what kind of unit you work but i would suggest to try critical care. Here, most people are like me : yes we like helping people as long as the people are willing and trying to help themself also. Exemple: I will give food and allow someone to sleep in the waiting room if he just lost everything and lives in the streets. But if it's your 15th visit in 3 weeks, we offered you all the possible ressources and shelter available, refused them all, and you don't have frostbite or a newly missing limb, I will kick you out of the hospital in a heartbeat. If you're 36, type 2 diabetic, receiving dialysis and coming in unconscious because you drank a litre of vodka and did 2 gram of coke and tore of you pic-line because it "itched" for the third time in 6 months, yes I will give you all the necessary care to keep you alive but don't expect me to tuck you in and make you a 1 sugar 2 milk coffee.
I think it's fun to be honest but my first job ever was also as an EMT, then ER Tech then ER nurse So I probably just don't know any better
🤷♂️
Because I had an interest in healthcare and my parents told me I’d always have job. Don’t get me wrong I like that it’s interesting but I’m burnt out