Nursing Profession

Pros: The opportunity to make a difference in someone's life; decent pay; flexible schedules.
Cons: Short staffing; floating requirements; little respect; dealing with bodily functions.

As a Registered Nurse working in my primary field of Medical-Surgical Nursing for over 4 years now, I’ve learned many things along the way that many new graduates (including myself) have no clue about before deciding to enter the nursing...

Pros: Still today a caring profession
Cons: It has become a business, double work load.

Why are patients and families feeling they are getting less attention, and sometimes less than adequate care in a hospital setting? I wrote an article on nursing, why, when, and how I got involved a few days ago. One of my comments caused me great...

Pros: Hand holding, Watching lives being saved
Cons: Long hours, the ones you lose

As a kid I remember giving more bloody noses then I fixed. So I ponder, why did I fall in love with nursing, when and how? I remember as a child wanting to be a veterinarian, I loved animals, people I could take or leave. Yet, here I sit...

Pros: Self-gradifying; great need for caring nurses
Cons: Work weekends, holidays and usually short staffed!

When I was a little girl I always thought that I would be a singer and marry Paul Anka! I thought I would live a glamorous life and travel around the world. Of course, being the youngest of three daughters, I ended up following my sisters into Lynchburg G ...

Pros: After about fifteen years you can make as much as a factory worker
Cons: You have to work impossible hours to do it

Don't you just hate to read something that starts off," Oh I could tell you stories? Me too. That's why I'm just going to TELL you the stories, and you let you judge for yourself. The overall plan is to tell you as much as I can of the positive...

Pros: Ultimately Fulfilling, Satisfying, Above Average Pay, Experience Opens up multiple career options (Travel Nursing, etc)
Cons: Backbreaking Work, Expect To Work Shortstaffed, Expect To Be Unappreciated By Employers

Updated 01/04/03:

This review has come under a lot of fire since I first published it. It's sole purpose is to shed light on the darker side of the Nursing Profession. The side and the details you won't hear about working as a nurse from...

Pros: Touching and being touched by others. Nursing is a calling, not just a job.
Cons: Very few people will ever know the good you do, or appreciate your efforts.

I have been a registered nurse since 1976, and worked in Health Care since 1971, a fact few people on site know. I am going to give you some personal history here, from the depths of my soul, so if you don't want to take the journey with me, take the...

Pros: Not as many as I once believed; a chance to prove your humanity
Cons: Often we lose the very thing that was most important, our humanity

This will be the last of the series! Aren't you glad? I am!

This is the wrap-up of my advice to those of you considering entering the profession of Nursing as a Registered Nurse, or wondering if you should stay. There are two other parts lost...

Pros: There is no feeling in the world like helping someone who really needs it and you see some neat stuff
Cons: Mediocre pay, work weekends, holidays, forced overtime, getting pooped or puked on

A review by of my favorite writers (SurgRN911) about the nursing profession prompted me to write my own review. You can read her original review at http://preview.epinions.com/srvc-review-5573-FD6C471-3A01B539-prod2

I am not a nurse. I...

Pros: Noble Health Care Profession
Cons: Low Pay, Highly Stressful Working Conditions, & Frequently Entails Working Overtime, Days Off, And Overtime With Little Or No Advance Warning or Notice

All across America, There are shortages of Registered Nurses (RN's) and Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurses (LPN's/LVN's), and Nurse's Aides entering or remaining in this most important health care profession. Many Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Clinics, and...

Pros: the joy of assisting the elderly
Cons: working short, long hours with very few days off, working most holidays

Nursing in Rural Areas, As a Geriatrics Nurse

My career in nursing began 26 years ago in Eden, Texas. It is located in the center of Texas, population 1576. San Angelo Texas is the nearest city being 45 miles away one way, 90 miles round trip....

Pros: Highly Gratifying Interventions, Lower Stress Level Environment
Cons: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Is A Real Risk

I first encountered the term triage when I was taking some Red Cross training as a teen. A French term, triage initially was a means of assigning a priority to those injured and waiting to be treated. The moderately injured who get a toe tag...

Pros: Jobs Available Across The U.S. & Beyond
Cons: Managed Care Limits Direct Patient Care

This editorial will be an overview of one nursing professional's journey, spanning 25 years of various health care training. Individual articles on LVN and RN practice will follow, with the specialty fields of Mental Health and Telephone Triage Nurse...

Pros: rewarding, making a difference in people's lives, flexible hours, many different career options
Cons: backbreaking, stressful, little respect

Wow.. a chance to give my opinion on nursing.. here goes.. :)

When I was in college, I thought I wanted to be a math teacher. As I got higher in the math classes, I started to hate math and realized that it wasn't what I wanted to do. I had a...

Pros: Wide variety of choices in specialties and work environments, Interesting and satisfying work
Cons: Pay, Lack of Support, Physically and emotionally hard work

When I was faced with choosing a career I was not clear exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I enjoyed the sciences and helping people, and with high unemployment rates in the mid-1970's I chose to enter the nursing profession. I felt that it...

Pros: Nurses are always needed,The experiences are priceless, You do make a difference
Cons: Often unappreciated, Mandatory overtime, Low pay, High liability

I've experienced many things throughout my life but nothing can compare to those in my years of nursing. I have been a nurse 6 years and I have seen my share of gore, patient abuse and goodness. These years will be etched in my memory forever. I became a...

Pros: ending abuse
Cons: none

I have been an R.N. for 28 years. My range of experience encompasses nearly all aspects of critical care and pediatrics. I am a bedside nurse; that is my forte. I give quality nursing care; I am a good teacher; I am empathetic and intuitive....

Pros: The overwhelming feeling you get when you know you've helped someone.
Cons: The lack of flexibility in scheduling (hours, weekends,holidays).

The Decision to Become A Nurse

When I was starting to decide on a career after high school I wanted to cry.

All I ever wanted to do was become a teacher. So, I applied to college. Being an honors student, I was accepted into...

Pros: semi-decent pay, diversity of specialties
Cons: long hours, weekends, holidays, pitiful employer recognition, non-conducive to family life

Being a Nurse

by

Cindy Pickering, RN


To be a nurse or not to be a nurse? That is the question. A...

Pros: Nursing has much to offer men in certain specialities.
Cons: Men or highly discriminated against in delivery, OB-GYN and female health.

Are you a male and thinking about entering the world of nursing? Have you ever wondered why they're so few men in nursing? If you are young, single and available then you have a chance in nursing. If you're an older, married or unavailable male then...

Pros: easy to find job
Cons: weighs too heavy on finances

I am not sure why I became a nurse. I enjoy the smile on the face of someone I have helped. I worked Emergency and got quick fixes and instant gratification for being able to think on my feet. Most recently, I have been an office nurse. I have good...

Pros: broadbased opportunities; directly benefits others; recession-proof industry; perpetual educational opportunities.
Cons: renumerative constraints; proliferation of chieftans; territorialistic cannibalism; burnout; costs of remaining current.

Once upon a time, a nursing student was introduced to numerous Theoretical Constructs of Nursing Practice. The list of models seemed endless: Behavioral Systems Model, Theory of Goal Attainment, Self-Care Deficit Theory, Interpersonal Relations Model,...

Pros: noble profession, spiritually full-filling, friendships among co-workers
Cons: emotionally draining at times, feeling unappreciated at times

I have been a nurse for 12 years. There are a lot of great things about being a nurse. You really get a chance to make a difference! You have a variety of work opportunities from hospital, home health, doctor's offices, clinics, schools, teaching,...

Pros: niche can be found, lots of patient teaching
Cons: impact of understaffing can be avoided, miles driven

There is a shortage of nurses. That is a given. I have a large amount of respect for LPN's. My sister is one in Kentucky. She has been one for 32 years. She does not want to become a RN. She said that in her hospital, EMT's are being utilized for...

Pros: Heartwarming, much needed, you'll always be able to work Somewhere
Cons: too many patients, too much business emphasis, too little time and money

We all know that there's a Nursing shortage. If this is so, what are the "powers that be" doing about it? I've read the other reviews, and it spans the gamut of the profession as we know it today. There are Males who feel unappreciated, by their Female...

Pros: Gratification in knowing that I made a positive difference.
Cons: seeing people feel so helpless

I decided to become a Nurse because I wanted to make a difference in the world. I wanted to understand science and medicine and be able to communicate to people what was happening to them or their loved one. So I could maybe somehow bridge a gap of...

Pros: money
Cons: unstable,no bene's,on call

I have been an lvn since 1993,first starting in a local nursing home then moving on to home health. In my experience the pay was reasonable and work was steady. Once home health was no longer viable i moved on to the local hospital nearby, But what i...

Pros: you can instantly see the result of your hard work.
Cons: The demanding schedule poses a conflict for family time .

They said that America is in great need of committed nurses. I really wonder why? America has the best nursing school. America can provide quality trainings for nurses. You have all the high-tech equipments. America has all the necessary workforce....

Pros: many choices
Cons: on your own

Whether you are a new graduate or a seasoned professional you will at some time question "So now what do I do?"

One of the most important decisions you will make in nursing is where you choose to work. The choices are only limited to...

Pros: Excellent professional opportunities in a variety of settings
Cons: Long hours, poor recognition at times, especially for males that aren't in management roles.

Although male nurses occupy many of the leadership and policy-making positions in nursing, men remain relatively invisible and unrecognized in the profession. For the most part, the imagery of nursing is manual labor, primarily performed by women....

Pros: Variety of settings and specialties,
Cons: Secretions, urine, feces, blood,odors,

1. Pays better than the waffle house, though the hours aren't that good.
2. Fashionable shoes and sexy white uniforms or scrubbs
3. Needles, It's better to give that to receive.
4. Reassure your patients that all bleeding stops...

Pros: Excellent explanation of practice
Cons: none

As Andrew described in his article, nursing is a tough profession at the moment. The reason why there is a current nursing shortgage is that a lot of us nurses that have been in the field at least fifteen years, found today's nursing to be extremely off...

Pros: The ability to offer care,to teach and help patients & their families.
Cons: Working short staffed and not being able to offer all of the above.

The other day a pharmaceutical representative came
into the department to introduce a new product. We began talking and she told me how much she admired those nurses who could "stick it out in a hospital".
I asked for an explanation. She said...

Pros: the feeling you get when you helps someone
Cons: short staffing, not being able to save everyone

I see nursing as either feast or famine. This meaning you either have too much staff or not enough. Too many patients or not enough. You love it too much or not enough.

I first got into the nursing field as a CNA in a Long Term Care...

Pros: Caring for people, making a difference.
Cons: Lack of Respect from RN's and CNA's

When I got out of the LPN program in 1991, I just knew that I was going to be the best nurse that anyone had ever seen. I thought that it would be just like nursing school, but better. Well, I was in for a shock. What I did not understand is that...

Pros: Very good pay, especially at entry level, feeling of accomplishment
Cons: Many interpersonal conflicts. Bias against nursing.

Nurses who find their way into management may be shocked to find that many of their career expectations were unrealistic. Nursing management is viewed by other areas of health care administration and management as being a "separate" or "second class"...

Pros: IN DEMAND, Flexibility, Respect, Meaningful and Rewarding
Cons: High Standards, Takes Determination and Creativity

I am a registered nurse with a BSN. For the past three years I have worked for an independent elementary school. Upon graduation, several years ago, I spent a few years as a hospital floor nurse. It is true that nurses are notoriously under...

Pros: Able to find work anywhere, to support self & family, autonomy, caring for fellow humans.
Cons: Stress, feelings of disempowerment, mainly by hospital administrators, pay does not reflect what we give.

The rewards come from within, yet, what other white collar profession tops out at $50,000? Can you care for yourself as well as you care for other people? Hospitals are open 24/7 but nurses are human beings & not able to work without rest. Are you able...

Pros: BSN nurses have higher level of education
Cons: BSN are criticized for degree

In response to the insinuation made that BSN nurses aren't up to par with other "technical" nurses (I'm assuming that's who he was comparing them too) is not the true picture at all. I, as well as many nurses who graduated from 4 yr colleges...

Pros: Patient care is rewarding.
Cons: Too many patients. Not enough time.

I want my daughter to be whom she chooses to be. Choosing a profession should come from your heart and head. If you choose a profession that is not going to support you financially, then it is not a good choice. I choose nursing strictly for financial...

Pros: Review opens minds of new nursing students, everything is not all painted white any longer.
Cons: Review touches on all negative areas. Perhaps comment on the positive areas also.

This review was well written and although hard to swallow she states the true facts. You sound like a very professional writer. All of the details were complete and organized thoughts. I can relate to every one of the ten concepts you wrote on. Well done.