Having been a full time nurse for the past 42 years in a variety of specialties. I have to say that I truly have no regrets.

I've been in nursing for 30 years and the changes I have witnessed are astounding. Starting out as a Med/Surg Staff/Charge nurse when Team Nursing was practiced was the best. We had staff and we all really enjoyed the work we did and working with each other. Since then I have been on a diabetic floor, CCU and ICU and during that time a for profit organization took over about 15 years ago and the changes are devastating to the hospital and to our profession. Money is the most important issue with big business. We have the union but it's pretty ineffectual when it comes to fair practices. They are all in it for the money and don't care about the work load and stress on nurses or other health care workers; like we are a dime a dozen. I now work in the OR and the way nurses are treated is so very wrong. I am continually astounded at the way people talk to one another, people above nursing, below nursing and the lateral violence by nursing to nursing is just incredible. I am just counting the days until I can retire, or find a job that offers close to the money I make now, anything except working with egotistical surgeons and the "lab coat, clip board nursing brigade" sounds like a dream. The joke in our OR is they can't hire any more nursing management because they've run out of clip boards! Good Grief! When we ask for help they hire more management! Which is sad because they have a job one week, and gone the next! Nursing has changed and not in a good way, I would never even encourage young people to get into nursing as a profession unless you have double thick skin. I come from a family of nurses and I admired the women in my family and how professional they were in their field of nursing, ER and OR. They have retired now and I tell them that they got out of nursing just in time because they would not accept or like what is happening today. Very Sad.

At times I feel like a waitress that gives medicines. I feel unappreciated and unfullfilled. Although at times I am motivated to see a bad case walk out the door healthy again. It is a chore sometimes to get up and go again. Am I alone?

Firstly, I didn't know nurses could never complain. I also didn't know doctors would be difficult to work with at times. I never thought there would be back-biting or politics in nursing. I didn't realize that the job would include an incredible amount of stress on your body and that there would be so many fires to put out throughout the shift.

No matter what anyone says, you can't 'leave work at work.' You are forever a part of your patients' lives, the good, the bad and the ugly. Its a very tough characteristic to have. I agree that only other nurses understand a bad day!

Barb C, you have totally hit the nail on the head. On another note, Re: Fulfillment I have found that the more I interact with pts. and families, the more I am fulfilled. I am continually reassessing pts, and often notice the subtle changes in conditions that could lead to catastrophe, whether meds are effective and SE, mental status changes, chance to teach pt. or family, all things that we are supposed to do anyway. Getting urine/stool specs. that had been delaying discharge is satisfying (cost savings). If we focused on these things, there would be less opportunity for politics and back stabbing, etc. Don't gossip about others (change the subject if necessary), try to stay friendly (even to those who do not reciprocate), forgive daily and set a good example. That is not to say I haven't cried on the way to or from work, promised myself I would quit the job/nursing, had my feelings hurt, been frightened etc. Over the years, though, the above has worked for me. Also, praying for the unit, and all the staff on the way to work has allowed me to see the power of prayer and what God can do when invited into a situation. Still love nursing.

My first nursing instructor, back in the days when they had the good sense to teach the nursing program over 4 years, I learned the incredibly valuable lessons of bed making and patient baths. There is nothing like the time you spend at the patient's bedside, speaking with them, assessing mental & physical status and family dynamics while making them feel clean and comfortable. The lessons learned the, the comfort I could provide with hands on care and listening, has remained with me throughout my career. From horror stories I've heard from recently hospitalized friends, and from doing some ED travelling nurse work, the short staffing, and need for RN's to spend more time with a computer than with their patients has drastically changed nursing, and not for the better. The comfort of touch and knowing you made a difference in a sick person's day is a two way street; the nurse derives satisfaction and comfort from that as well, and makes her want to remain in nursing. I thank God I'm retired now, and do not have to deal with the issues that staff nurses have to deal with now. My eternal thanks to all the good RN's, LPN"S and CNA's I've worked with over the years; you often saved mine and my patient's from wasted effort and ineffective interventions. The team nursing I did as a new nurse was always the best; it was a "team".

My mother was also a nurse, but finished in the 1950's before it became much more technical. I don't know if I would have come up with 5 things, but certainly 3--- l) I might have saved myself some stress and grief making wiser choices when it came to the areas I chose to work. 2) I may have wanted to look at pharmacy as another option had I known what I know now about the intricacies of its profession. 3) I would have preferred to made a better plan to complete an MSN about ten years earlier into my years of practice.

Yes I agree with most of the comments made. I have been a nurse for 29 years now. I to miss the eariler years of nursing back in the 80's. Durning the pass 8 or so years I have seen nursing go down the drain. While am being an preceptor I try to give them an honest view of nursing.For the most part I feel that the medical field has created a awful monster both with the patients and medical field. We give them medication that makes them sicker,aid their adication,enable them to just to lay there as if it is the whole worlds fault that they are in the shape they are.Yet time after time our pts leave and soon to return in the same shape or worse. But then there those great times when you really see the fruits of your labor and they go home and continue a healthy life and you some day will see them with their love ones and that's the day you thank God for his supreme guidness.We as nurse's are are just the clay in the potters hands.

#1 money is more important,(patients aren't suppose to know that). #2 patients are now customers and expect to be treated like their at a resort.management backs them up. anything to get the money in.#3 the workload is ext.heavy. its hard to do your best job.#4nurses eat their young, middle aged and old. we are not always nice to each other.#5 nurses are not valued by their employers even if they are a great nurse.they can be replaced easily and cheaper.

One thing I learned - RN's save lives. Nursing assistants save RN's - there have been many nights that I would not have been able to get through if it wasn't for good nurse's assistants. There are some LPN/LVNs that I would trust with my life more than some RNs. Just because they are not RNs, does not mean they cannot teach you a thing or two. I also did not realize that I did not have to accept horrible nurse to patient ratios without filing an objection. When a nursing supervisor told me (when I was a new RN) that there was nothing wrong with my ratio, I just needed better organizational skills, I kept my mouth shut and took another patient - 11 patients in an acute care hospital without a nursing assistant. The other RN had 10 patients. (in 2004 in NY state) I did eventually leave that position. Don't be afraid to speak up. You worked hard for your license, you don't want to loose it and you don't want to make a mistake that could cost a patient his/her life because of the ratios. I currently live in California where state law states a nurse cannot have over 5 patients.

I read these comments with great interest. I'm retired from nursing and glad. When I see what nurses have put on them today, I'm well out of it. I'm not sorry I pursued nursing. I, too, loved my patients but my fellow nurses did "eat their young" Instead of supporting and caring for their peers, they butchered them and threw them to the doctor or patient wolves. Sadly, I received less understanding and support from fellow nurses. I ended my career in hospice nursing (homecare) and I loved that. More autonomy and more one on one with the patients. The burn-out rate there is high due to the nature of the business. Even there, however, you had nurse managers who sat and filed their nails while you struggled to keep your head above water with the work load. The pay is insultingly low there. So sad. Where would we be w/o nurses to care for us? I've been on the other side of those bedsheets and I KNOW what stinky nursing care looks like. I loved certain aspects of nursing, but I wouldn't do it again given the "if I could live my life over again".

Similar story 32 years and RN added BSN after 20. Worked through school as and NA. Labor and Delivery, ED, ICU, CCU, QA&Risk Managment, Discharge Planning, Clinic Manager. Most nurses myself included are enablers. Many never learn that it isn't the administration or the doctors or other nurses that mistreat us. We mistreat us and the others just follow the lead. Nursing has allowed me to achieve financial security and maintained my interest for 30+ years I have been able to have many roles without shattering life changes from one carrer to another. I work in one of the most respected profession in the world. Almost universially saying "I am a nurse" brings a response of interest and respect. 1. You are your own primary pt. 2. No one cures another we can support someone as they cure themselves. 3. School never stops, it just changes location. 4. If your paycheck bounces you aren't working you are a slave. Reimbursement is more than money. 5. If you want to smell the roses you have to haul the shit to fertilize them. 3.

As a nurse for 10 yrs (LVN for 9, RN for 1), I have worked in multiple settings, i.e. med-surg, nursing home, ER, and now public health. While the majority of my career has been spent in the ER, I have an appreciation for the different aspects of nursing. Unfortunately, what many people don't know is that more & more college presidents are telling instructors to "spoon feed" their nursing students so they will keep the passing rate up. Hmm...do I want to wind up in the ER & wake up to a spoon fed nurse? No thank you. If we don't teach our nursing students to work hard & be responsible, how can we expect them to have those qualities in their workplaces when they become licensed? On to the subject of this discussion...Five things I wish I knew before becoming a nurse. 1) Even though you breathe the same air as the doctors, you always breathe lower air. 2) Don't give up on working where your passion is. If you love ER, strive to get there. But remember, not everyone is cut out to be an ER nurse, just like not everyone is cut out to be a Hospice nurse, a nursing home nurse, a L&D nurse, or even a pediatric nurse. 3) You become your family's doctor - not just your spouse & kids, oh no. You will get calls from aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, etc. all asking what you think is wrong with them when they have a strange pain or rash. 4) Your facility is not there to back you. They generally care about the patients' money, not your's. 5) Your nursing family will sometimes be closer than your blood family because you go through so much more with them than you ever do with your blood family. Don't ever forget why you became a nurse. If it's for the money, your in the wrong field. If it's for the glory, your in the wrong field. If it's because you love to help people, get exposed to strange illnesses while working tireless unappreciated hours, you're in the right field. God bless nurses!

One thing that came as a surprise (I'm not sure why) is that there are times you find yourself "set up" or "trapped" by a doctor. I don't even mean bad doctor...just sometimes when the world of doctors (avoiding liability suits) collides with the world of nurses (avoiding liability suits)there is a clash. I hadn't realized that before.

I have been a RN since 1990. I went through alot to get that degree and appreciate all those that I worked with inorder to obtain it. My pet peave is when someone who doesn't like you make all kinds of trouble for you. When you are lied on, about or whatever, it just isn't fair. I try to help my CNAs and LPNs with whatever they need help with and still get lied on. I lost my last job due to this and I couldn't prove that I didn't do the thing my boss said I did. I don't know if they are jealous of the kind acts that we do or what but I always thought to do your best and it would be appreciated even if they (patients) don't say so. Iv'e received alot of thankyous from my patients and they would even go to bat for me but I don't want them involved with all the nastiness that goes with nursing. I am now staying in the field of medicine but in a different context- Health Information Technologist (HIM) and love it. Go back to school- those of you who are not satified with your career as a nurse, even if you are still go back to learn more!

I have been a nurse for 47 years and although I am " retired", I still have to work full time.I am currently a nurse onsultant for the Dept of Health. The most pronounced negative is nurses who love to report other nurses. Met one nurse who overheard a phone call from a nurse and reported that the nurse was paranoid and she got fired.( the nurse was joking with her cousin, who also worked for the State.The Supervisors enable these nurses to do this. They told the fired nurse she was being "downsized". My favorite job was working in ICU where we actually worked as a "team" and took over another nurses patients if she/he got tied up with a code. The doctor's were great and also helped teach us. Administration has added to the problems by allowing "suck up nurses" to get promoted. I do encourage others who want to go into nursing, and let them know the different areas and specialties available. I chose to learn everything I could, not just transfer around.Would never again do hospital nursing. Nancy L 4/15/10 10:00 AM