Are you happy as an RN?

amother

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 10:48 pm

I'm working on my prerequisites for nursing school and reading these threads about people regretting their degrees is making me extra cautious.
If you did go through nursing school and are now a nurse or np, do you think it was a wise decision in hindsight? Is there something you wish you knew before?

For reference I'm located in NY

amother

Aubergine

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 10:53 pm

Yes, I'm thrilled. My parents discouraged me strongly. Sonic got a degree in another field but didn't have good earning capacity in that field without doing a lot more intense schooling. I went back to school for my bsn once I had a few small kids and have never regretted it. I love what I do and am grateful to be able to earn a respectable income while making a meaningful difference in people's lives.

Bluepink

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 10:53 pm

I love it! COVID has definitely made my work more stressful but still, I don’t regret for a second. There are so many areas in nursing. If you don’t like one, there are many many other options. You can also work with all different types of patients- geriatric, paediatric, obstetric, outpatient, inpatient, case management, oncology, hospice, the list is endless.
Great pay too Smile

Feel free to Pm with any questions

amother

Ecru

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 10:57 pm

Yes, I’m happy with my job and my decision to pursue a nursing degree.

Some things to keep in mind:

I, personally, had a very hard time initially finding an RN job despite graduating with a bachelor’s on top of my class from a very competitive program. I wasn’t anticipating having so much trouble. I ended up going straight back to school for a master’s and had a much easier time finding work as a NP. Not my original plan as I did want to work inpatient first as an RN.

As with any career, not everything will necessarily go the way you anticipate. The good thing about nursing is that there are many different paths you can take. You have to be open to working in different environments and letting hashgacha protis determine your path.

amother

Aubergine

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 11:06 pm

I work in an icu and while there is obviously following orders for the most part, one cannot do it blindly. On my unit, we have a good amount of autonomy and discretion on the care of the patients and doctors often take our input very seriously on rounds. It is frequently the instincts and intuition of experienced nurses that can push a patient to progress and to catch a patient who is heading in the wrong direction. We are the eye and ears at the bedside and can detect nuances in our patients conditions before the docs who may round for 10 min per day. The amount of autonomy you will have greatly depends on the field you chose to work in and the culture of that organization and unit. As others have said, there are so many options within the field.

amother

Ecru

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 11:07 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

One more question, is there any room for Independence and decision making in nursing or is it only about following directions from superiors blindly?

Absolutely not!

Nursing is ALL about using your critical thinking skills and knowing when an intervention is called for. As an RN you can't order tests or medications independently (you can as an NP), but if you see a patient going downhill it's your job to recognize the signs and initiate the proper action. Also, if you believe the wrong test or medication is being ordered it's your job to speak up and question that order.

I will also add that depending on what area/unit you work on there are "standing orders" that nurses can initiate on their own without needing to get a doctor's permission first.

amother

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 11:35 pm

Amother Ecru mentioned difficulty in finding her first job. While I do eventually want to become an NP I do not want to take such a large amount of student loans on at one time.
Can others chime in on what it was like finding a job out of school? Is there anything to be done to make it easier? Once you have some working experience, is it easier to find a job going forward?

amother

Mustard

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 11:40 pm

Another RN here thrilled with my choice! I must add that I started out in medsurge which I found stressful and challenging. Many of the nurses I worked with on the floors were unhappy with their jobs....
But I switched to a different area of nursing that I am passionate about and love it! I love the flexibility with hours and the pay is great. Going back for np now and that will get even better. There's definitely some autonomy in nursing but at the end of the day it is our job to follow orders and pass medication not prescribe it! It's great when we catch problems and alert the doctors or request a medication or make a suggestion but that's not really our job.

amother

Denim

Sat, Jan 23 2021, 11:52 pm

I work in a surgery center. I like my coworkers and patients but the schedule is wearing me out. I need to wake up every day between 430 and 5 am to make it to work by 6. I work 5 days a week. And when I get home, the kids are coming home then. So it’s just beyond exhausting. Would love to have a teachers schedule and hrs;) plus I miss dressing up vs wearing scrubs

Personally, if I could go back in time I think I would’ve chosen a field where I could be more creative... it’s very repetitive what I do

Just One

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 12:01 am

amother [ Denim ] wrote:

Wouldn't you appreciate a more traditional hospital job where you could work 12 hour shifts 3x wk?
When I was in the NICU with my son there were several creative initiatives started and run by the nurses on the unit. One was a scrapbooking project keeping track of baby's stay. A beading project that kept track of milestones etc. Can you look for a job that allows for greater flexibility and/creativity?

eschaya

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 12:07 am

RN and now NP here. I absolutely love what I do. It was a second career for me, and one of the best decisions I ever made. Like others have mentioned, covid has made this past year difficult, but I still do not regret my vocation one bit.
And yes, there is definitely autonomy in nursing. This will depend on your unit and your place of work, but you absolutely do NOT mindlessly follow orders. That would be dangerous for your patients. My first place of work was in an ICU that had a fair degree of residents/interns. There would be times where the experienced nurses would tell the residents, "I need you to order xyz for patient A. I am starting to run abc so please make sure that order is in." And the residents would be so grateful for the help!! And now as an NP I definitely have plenty of autonomy and independence.
One of the best things about nursing is that there is so much room for growth and change. If you are getting burnt out with your particular specialization, you can move on to something else. Or go back to school for an advanced degree.
Hatzlacha!

amother

Lawngreen

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 12:23 am

I love working as a labor/delivery nurse. I definitely have some autonomy and feel like an integral part of the team. Though ultimately it is the doctors who put in the orders, my assessments and care play a part.
Working full time while also being a wife and mom to a large family is a challenge but I absolutely love my job and get great satisfaction. I appreciate the opportunity for patient/family education that is a large part of my field, along with the adrenalin rush of rapidly changing situations that are a normal part of L&D.
It took about 6 months to find my first job (I graduated in May 2017) and though I learned alot there (medical/oncology) I was happy to switch after a year to a field I was passionate about. Try and distinguish yourself.in school so that your resume will stand above the others when applying for jobs. Aim for an outstanding GPA, relationships with professors who will write letters of recommendation and try and meet personally with managers and HR during your clinical.
Good Luck!

amother

Ecru

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 1:22 am

I'm a pediatric NP working in primary care. There's a lot of room for creativity in my role. For one thing we see ages 0-21 so that covers a wide range of ages and stages and problems. The problems we see can be very basic and simple to very complex. Sometimes I see patients with conditions I've never heard of before. There's always something new to learn. And I can always decide I want to improve my practice in a certain area and then learn more about it. For example I see a lot of patients with headaches so I recently completed a series of online modules covering all aspects of diagnosing and treating headaches. Nutrition is a big area where I'm always trying to learn new information and more creative ways of sharing tips with parents for how to get kids to eat veggies or plan more nutritious meals. And of course general parenting and discipline techniques is a big part of our job, so anything I've ever learned in life or from my own parenting experiences gets applied.

amother

Navy

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 5:10 am

A lot of the time I get down about not being a doctor, even though realistically I know that being a doctor wouldn't have worked with my life (having kids early) and that I wouldn't trade my kids for a career. But I still have a hard time with the envy.

Part of it is that in my department there are a ton of brand new residents and they are about my age, a little older, some possibly a bit younger, and it's hard for me to see their energy and optimism - they go to my department for about a year then move on in their residency and I don't move on...

I want to switch to maybe a clinic nurse where there is like one old man doctor, then I wouldn't feel the envy.

amother

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 8:48 am

amother [ Navy ] wrote:

I hope this won't be a problem for me. It's been my dream to be a doctor since I've been a child. Maybe in my next lifetime..... Even nursing was strongly discouraged by my parents and I'm now going back to school after ten years of working in the business field.
I'm really excited though and hope I will get satisfaction from my job even though it isn't my absolute first choice

amother

Aquamarine

Sun, Jan 24 2021, 9:06 am

I work in group homes and our nurses are so multi faceted. They have flexible hours ( we are open 24 hours a day Smile

so they don’t miss any children activity in school. They just make up the hours in another time. They help with diagnosis and sending the residents to doctors and help train staff. So much for them to do. I am actually thinking of going to nursing school because of them.