I've been a nurse for a long time --
probably longer than most of you reading this have been alive. Had I
known what I was getting into, I probably would not have gotten into it.
Fortunately, I had no idea. I say fortunately, because nursing has been
an interesting and flexible career that has afforded me a nice
lifestyle and kept me from being bored. I wouldn’t go back and change my
mind about going into nursing if I could..
If you're considering a nursing career,
make sure you're clear on why you're considering it. I'm not here to
cast aspersions on anyone's motives for wanting to be a nurse. After
all, mine weren't all that altruistic. I wanted a degree that would
enable me to be a sought-after employee rather than me having to face
rejection after rejection while hunting for a job. I know that doesn't
apply now, but it did then. And my mother, who had always wanted to be
an LPN, told me that I should go to school to become an RN because “all
they do is sit at the desk and drink coffee and flirt with the doctors
while someone else does all the work.” It should be noted that my
mother’s closest proximity to hospital nursing were her two stays in the
maternity ward, as they called it then. The fact that she didn’t know
what she was talking about has NEVER stopped her from having a strong
opinion, however.
Some people go into nursing as a
"calling." They figure that all they need is a compassion or a desire to
help people or a willingness to put the patient first at all times and
pour heart and soul into their care. Those things are nice, but a
calling alone is not enough. You need to be a good enough student to
graduate from a very difficult course of study and then a good enough
test taker to pass the licensing exam. You need to be able to memorize
drugs and their standard doses, uses and side effects, read and
understand written English and be able to make yourself understood both
orally and in writing. You need to be able to prioritize, to multitask
and to run your buns off for twelve hours straight with only the
briefest of breaks. Compassion is nice, but I'll take the nurse who has
mastered critical thinking . . . I've worked with both and been under
the care of both. In the best of all worlds, a nurse has both compassion
and critical thinking skills, but compassion can be faked. Critical
thinking cannot.
A strong stomach helps, too, but is not
essential. That, too, can be developed. Do you hate the sight of blood?
You can get over that. My husband did. But it's not just blood. Sputum
is my own personal vomit trigger. I've seen other nurses puke right
along with their patients. You'll have to clean up poop and pee and all
sorts of other bodily fluids, and you'll have to do it with a smile and
without making the patient feel worse about it than they already do.
There are those who go into nursing so they can take care of cute
little babies all day, or maybe it's sweet little old ladies. I've taken
care of a number of sweet little old ladies, but then there are the
emmigrants from Hades who make your entire shift a misery, and you have
to take care of them as if they were likable, too. The cute little baby
who "fell off the table while I was changing his diaper" for the fourth
time this month may wind up in your care and no matter what you think of
the mother, you can't tell her. If you don't think you'd have the
backbone to contact Child Protective Services, consider growing one.
Pediatrics is a popular choice because everyone loves little children.
Consider the fact that some of your patients may be victims of child
abuse, and the abuser is right there in the room with them asking when
they can go home. Or that sweet little boy with the big blue eyes may be
dying of leukemia. The neonate in your NICU may have been born addicted
to heroin and is going home with his mother anyway. No body likes to
see this things happen, but as a nurse, you'll see them. And worse.
It’ll tug on your heartstrings, or it’ll rip your heart right out of
your chest and shred it. But you WILL see these things or worse, and
you’ll need to deal with them.
Can't deal with crazy people?
Obviously psych won't be for you, but you'll deal with psych patients
in ER, ICU and Med-Surg as well. And in Rehab, the endoscopy suite and
even in the nice outpatient clinics with the great fountains and real
paintings. Not just crazy patients, but crazy visitors as well. You'll
also have to deal with people who are drunk or DTing, high on drugs or
withdrawing and with people who are just plain entitled, nasty and mean.
Still interested in a career in nursing? Understand that
hospitals are open for business 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
Working nights, weekends and holidays is a given. I don't understand how
so many people manage to make it all the way through nursing school
without it dawning on them that they, too, will really have to work an
overnight shift, but there are some every year. And there are those who
are convinced that they are so special they shouldn't ever have to work
those undesirable shifts. Honey, if you're that special, don't take a
job in the hospital. (But that's where the money is, you say? Make up
your mind. If you want to work in the hospital setting, you take the bad
with the good)
If you live in the snow belt, you will be
expected to work when it snows. Even if it snows a lot. Every year,
there are posts from new nurses who don't feel they should have to drive
to work in a blizzard. They have small children or their car isn't good
in snow or they've never learned how to drive in the winter. None of
those are good excuses, and you WILL be expected to work. If there's a
hurricane, bring four days worth of clean underwear and prescription
medication, because you'll be at work for the duration. Or you won't
have a job. Have a plan for your dog, your children and your elderly
parents because part of working in a hospital is coming to work when
everyone else stays home. And while I’m touching on that topic, you will
be coming to work when the neighbors are hosting the neighborhood Block
Party, when your husband is out of town on business and when your kids
are sick. Have a plan in place for those times.
We see posts
frequently from folks who want to know which specialty requires the
least math, or if they really have to be able to do math at all. The
answer to the second is "Yes." The answer to the first is less polite.
Your patient is 198 pounds and the physician has ordered 2.5 mg. per
kilogram of medication per day in two equal doses. How much do you give
now? And that's an easy one.
There are the posts from those
who wish to choose the specialty with the lowest stress level. My stress
level peaks when I’m in the well-baby nursery and those kids start
shrieking for what is probably a very good reason, but I can’t figure it
out. Home Health makes me shudder . . . I remember my Community as
best Nursing College in India
as a special slice of hell and hope I NEVER have to enter a patient’s
home again. A nice calm, code, though is another story. Your milage may
vary. I haven’t heard of ANY non-stress specialties, however, and even
if there WAS one, you’d have to get through nursing school and acquire
some experience before you’d be qualified for a job like that.
If you’re the type of person who looks for unfairness or bullying
everywhere you go, you’ll find it in nursing . . . whether or not it
actually exists. Better to go into it looking for smart, helpful team
workers who will save your butt when it needs saving and teach you
something while they’re doing it. You’ll find more of those if you’re
looking for them. And if you cannot handle criticism, get over it. Lives
are a stake here, and if I see you doing something stupid, I’ll tell
you about it BEFORE you can harm your patient. In private if possible,
but if not, not. One thing nursing schools
don’t teach -- and should -- is the ability to handle negative feedback
constructively. It’s a valuable skill in any career, but it’s vital in
nursing.
If you've read all this and you still think you'd
like to be a nurse, good for you. In the 34 years I've been a nurse,
I've been spit at, slapped, kicked, punched, cursed and threatened. I've
also been the recipient of grateful smiles, wonderful thankyou notes
and boxes of chocolate. I've had horrible days where I couldn't do
anything right and felt behind the whole day, and I've had wonderful
days when I know I really made a difference to someone. I've worked
night shifts, days and evenings and I've worked all of them in the same
week. I've worked Christmases and Thanksgivings and Mothers Days and
Easter. But I've had my birthday and my wedding anniversary off every
year, and not many office workers can say that! When my car's engine
needed to be replaced and I had no money, I worked overtime. Lots of it.
Can't do that in the office. When I needed to be home with an elderly
parent, I arranged my schedule so that either DH or I would be home at
all times. Can't do that in an office, either. I worked every weekend
when I was in graduate school, going to school full time and working
full time. When my then-boyfriend moved out on Christmas Eve, I traded
shifts with a nurse whose boyfriend unexpectedly flew back from the Gulf
War for Christmas, and when my father knew he wasn't going to make it
through the winter, someone traded shifts with me so I could drive 1000
miles to cook him Thanksgiving dinner. Not only would that not be an
option in office work, office workers probably would not even think
about it as valuable.
I've learned to laugh at things that
would make me cry if I didn't, and I've learned to appreciate what I
have because plenty of people have less. I cannot imagine what my life
would have been if I hadn't been a nurse, and if I had to do it all over
again, I would.
