I got this comment the other day from Trish, and I really have mixed feelings about it:
I just wanted to let you know I like your blog and you have impacted someone’s life (mine), in an unexpected way.
I’m starting college this fall after being out of school many years. I was planning on going into nursing. Deep down I suspected I would suck at being a nurse, especially when I found myself gagging while washing out my pottytraining toddler’s poopy underpants. Your blog, and this post, has pretty much confirmed my suspicions and I’m planning on doing something else now. Thanks for opening my eyes!
On the one hand, I feel bad. We need nurses and I hate to think that I’ve influenced someone to not be a nurse.
On the other hand, everything I write here is my honest and open opinion about the profession, and I write about what being a nurse really entails. And unfortunately, the further I get in this profession, the more I want out of it.
Despite that, I have no regrets as far as choosing this path, and spending the last three years (5 if you include school) being a nurse. It’s been a mind-blowing experience, one in which I’ve learned a lot about life and a lot about my self, and what I’m capable of doing.
To Trish I would say this: Do a little more thinking about what drove you to consider nursing in the first place, because there are many types of nurses that rarely come into contact with poop. (Isn’t it crazy that I’m writing a serious post about poop?) Psych nurses, community health nurses, and case managers are a few types that come to mind. And you can always try being a NICU nurse, because as thatguynamedtom said, “the poop is so much smaller there.”
One final thought: I used to be a person who was afraid of blood, and for years I wouldn’t even dream of becoming a nurse, for fear of having to actually draw someone’s blood. I later came to find out, however, that this was simply a matter of my own vasovagal response to giving blood. Years later I found myself up to my elbows in blood amongst the GI bleeders in the MICU, and I was as far from syncope as you can get. Instead I found myself pumped up with adrenaline and exhilaration at the chance to be saving someone’s life.
Now there’s a good reason to become a nurse.
Comments 6
Nice post. I hope Trish reads this. We definitely need more nurses. For sure, we need more where I am.
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 1:36 pm ¶Any hospital nurses out there, want to come to Denver during Democratic National Convention next week?
I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.
Eh, maybe I am being a bt hasty in writing off nursing. I’ve got several pre-requisite classes I need to get through before I can apply for the nursing program anyway, so I’ve got plenty of time to decide.
I’ll keep an open mind and continue researching my options, (and reading your blog!)
Take care!
Trish
Posted 14 Aug 2008 at 10:18 pm ¶I have wanted to talk about this for so long, the thing is, some people just shouldn’t be nurses. I can’t stand vomit but I love nursing and the medical field. I’ve met nurses who can stand any secretion sent their way but have horrible bedside manner and hate their jobs. We just have to look deep inside ourselves and see if we can do it, like you said.
Posted 15 Aug 2008 at 12:13 am ¶@Kim: Well said. I think that’s very true - some should just not be nurses, esp. those who seem to hate their job and yet stick with it.
@Trish: Thanks for re-commenting! It’s nice when one blog comment can inspire a whole new post.
Posted 15 Aug 2008 at 5:38 am ¶I say to the bloggers…keep doing what you are doing: Posting an honest first hand experience perspective. Let the readers digest your thoughts and discover their own conclusions. To me, it is worse to encourage someone to become a nurse that will be miserable once they get there. Nursing is a tough profession and it is not for everyone. You have to love it, because if you don’t love it, you’ll leave it. And if that happens, you will have lost time, money, and perhaps opportunity.
Posted 15 Aug 2008 at 11:03 am ¶I would add that while obtaining the basic nursing license opens many many doors in terms of possible career options for nurses, the acute care side of nursing - hospitals, are no cake walk. The job is very demanding both physically and mentally.
Unfortunately there are many inequities that exist in healthcare that nursing has to endure. Some facilities are clearly better than others, and with the fiscal problems that most healthcare facilities are experiencing these days things are tougher all around.
My advise would be to get school out of the way, get a couple of good years of experience under your belt and do some travel nursing until you find a place you really like. Than diversify.
Posted 15 Aug 2008 at 3:49 pm ¶Trackbacks & Pingbacks 2
Am I Contributing to the Nursing Shortage?…
I got a comment the other day from Trish, and I really have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I feel bad. We need nurses and I hate to think that Ive influenced someone to not be a nurse.
On the other hand, everything I write here is my honest…
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