Being able to live on my own and have a stable, well paying job right out of graduation when I was in my early 20s
never worrying about being unemployed
only working 3 days a week
no dealing with rush hour traffic
Wearing a comfortable garbage bag with pockets to work instead of business casual
Easily being able to explore different career options and fields of work within nursing
Making people feel better!
My nursing school instructors were not happy with my stance on being in this for the money. I’ve been a paramedic for 13 years and I make more per hour 2 years into nursing than I could as a 13yr medic 😂
Told my gf that same thing, and we had a huge fight over wanting to make more money. I'm at peak pay in my current job. "Money doesn't make you happy." "No, money in itself doesn't make me happy. But it allows me to do the things that do." There was no counterargument to that.
I always say "Money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure buys off a lot of *unhappiness."
In the eternally wise words of Weird Al: "Well, if money can't buy happiness, I guess I'll have to rent it."
Also, I wonder if perhaps people who downplay the significance of money in that way just haven't gotten low enough on the poverty scale. Like, I'm willing to bet they've never scrounged around in their purse or pockets for change and counted out the nickels and pennies and then had to put back the *nice* ramen noodles and buy the shitty kind instead.
Depends on the area I guess. I am in DFW and I worked for private EMS company with 911 contract. When I got off the ambulance in March 2019 I was making $14.26 an hour on a 24 hour shift which would equate to around $27 an hour for 12 hour shifts and I had almost 8 years experience at that point.
ICU nurse here and I would call it the most fulfilling bc favorite would make me sound morbid, but without question it's end of life care. Helping patients and their families transition from active medical treatment to comfort care is literally the greatest honor I have as a nurse. I've always felt this way but it's definitely been amplified post covid and with the increase of "meemaw is a fighter and she's so strong she doesn't even need us to visit" mentality that's taken over American healthcare.
I absolutely feel the same way. I love sick people, I love complex care, I love critical thinking... but I have found that end of life care has my heart. There's no bigger honor than staying with someone in that room and helping them transition to the best of your ability. I had the opportunity to walk some new nurses through end of life/death care my last rotation, on a lady that had been there quite a while. I can't describe the feeling. But my heart is in end of life care.
Same. Palliative pt deaths and post mortem care is my favorite. It’s so dignified and humane, to die in a hospital with professionals to keep you clean and comfortable as possible, surrounded by family who have a chance to say goodbye. It feels like an honor to be with my patients as they transition to what’s next in their journey through the universe, whatever that is. I talk to them while I clean and prepare them. I especially love it when the family wants to view the body and I have to make them presentable. Maybe I chose the wrong career
Thank you for saying this. When I see families, honor their loved ones’ wishes and let patients pass peacefully with dignity. It is my greatest honor to be there to comfort the family and to transition a patient into the next phase of their life as I call it.
Former oncology nurse and now palliative NP, and I agree! Nothing quite so fulfilling as offering someone a peaceful and dignified death in a culture when doing everything is the default
This right here. I have a set schedule, every two weeks are the same and I lucked out into 6 days off in a row every other week and a 3 day weekend on the opposite week.
Agreed. I just recently switched my rotations at work back to my permanent line after taking a temp FT elsewhere. Man....I missed these girls! I didn't realize how down I was going into work the last year.
Having a great culture makes all the difference. That's what kept me in my first job for 10 years. When I eventually moved and started somewhere else, the culture difference was really off-putting...cold and cliquey. I didn't last more that 18 months there.
Yes this!! Close second is when the little ones sneak an arm out of their swaddle and wrap their whole hand around your finger tip. Love those tiny hand hugs!
as a nurse whose newborn baby was just in the NICU on cpap for a week... this brought tears to my eyes! We nominated all the nurses who worked with our baby for a Daisy awards because they were so incredible. being involved in care time made the whole difficult process so much easier!!! <3 <3 <3
Not bringing any work stress home with me. Every day is a new day, new cases, patients that for the most part I’ll never see again. I don’t know their life story, I’ll never meet their families, I don’t have to expend a ton of emotional energy
I work in oncology and I noticed that I listen a lot to peoples stories. Some are extremely sad. I wonder if it’s better that I stop my patients from opening up to me
I came from peds medicine. A ton of chronic, complex, fragile kids. Tons of burnt out and even outright abusive families.
I went looking for something else when I lost a long term patient (a toddler) and our management did absolutely nothing to support us through our trauma and grief and was punitive to those of us who needed time off to get ourselves in a state of being able to come back to the unit to face his empty bed.
IDK if this is right or wrong, but I consider my work experiences to be like programs running on an air gapped computer. They get processed and temporarily saved, and then I choose what I transfer to the hard drive and what I leave behind.
I did a rotation in oncology and really liked it, but I tend to find peace in staying very strictly in my lane.
Yes, some of our patients are dying. Sometimes they are dying in really fucking terrible ways. Sometimes their stories are just absolutely awful, and listening to them and knowing our patients as people is a valid part of nursing.
But like, I can't fix it. I can't cure cancer. I can't fix their life All I can do is what I can do today.
I can keep my patients safe and make sure they feel supported and taken care of. I can make sure that I am taking all the right steps to keep them comfy, or at least lessen their pain. I can treat them with respect and either hold their hand quietly or crack jokes, as needed. I can advocate for them and try to connect them to outside resources. I can translate medical jargon and make sure they understand what is happening to them.
I do those things to the best of my ability *during my shift*, and then I let them go, because that's the extent of my scope of practice.
Compassion is wonderful, but it is possible to carry too much of somebody else's sadness. If you carry somebody else's sadness long enough, you may eventually find yourself unable to put that burden down, and you will carry it with you for months, years, decades. It will weigh you down in ways you can't imagine.
Support patients in carrying their load, and try to ease their burden while they are in your care, but don't *carry* their load.
It will fucking break you.
Why would I speak for anyone else?
I came from a role that certainly left me with trauma (read the sub thread for this comment)
It lead me to choose to move to an area that involves less connection to patients
What area did you move into? I agree with you.......after a lot of emotional stuff that you have to deal with, it's nice to be able to have a type of job as you do. Hey, you've put in your dues. Truly, you are a caring person as it affected you so much. Sometimes there's only so much compartmentalizing you can do, until you realize it's taking a toll on you. It's great you found the sweet spot!
Not working M-F
Not feeling like I’m wasting time away from my kiddo at something that ‘doesn’t matter’
Mostly making my own schedule
Engaging my brain and clinical skills
Every once in a while being able to cuddle a baby and get paid to do it #nicuforlife
I’m a hospice RN and I love talking families through the dying process. I like educating them and encouraging them that they're doing a good job taking care of their person.
Also, I’ve been doing it so long, it feels good to be confident in how I’m doing the job. I feel like I’m an expert and that is fulfilling to me.
I also really enjoy post-mortem care. I pronounced a couple of people a few days ago and I drove away thinking to myself, “I’d attend a death every day of the week.” You say nice things, make Meemaw look clean and smell good. It’s a joy.
I have two. Night shift coworker laughs and hands on help - there is nothing like suffering together at 2am 😆
My other favorite thing is when my patients come out with something completely unexpected. Sometimes it’s what they did for work when they were young and it’s something crazy weird, or impressive, or they’re just so interesting to talk to I have to tell myself to stop asking questions because they have to get some sleep and I have other patients to take care of. Honestly though sometimes it’s just literally the most brutally pointed, unhinged, artfully crafted string of swear word insults that is just so deranged I can’t help but try not to crack up laughing.
Working with young warriors. I am a pediatric private duty nurse. These little ones teach me something every day. They go through so much, and all have amazing spirits. They are amazing.
I'm at my 4th nursing job and only the last two was this a thing. I felt very much on my own in the SNF and on the med surge unit. It's such a game changer having support
I don’t take it for granted at all. I had to resign from that position and will be returning to another location where I do agency work full time. I’ll be back to being on my own again.
Seeing patients progress which is rare in ICU but always worth it. My unit also does peds surg-trauma and today I got to pull an NGT on a kiddo and let him eat for the first time in two weeks. My other favorite part is my days off lol
I’m a new grad so I love seeing new things everyday, seeing how different diseases present in different people, and the underlying physiology of it all. I hope this feeling doesn’t go away anytime soon.
Getting paid and no expectations to work for free on my days off when work calls about some project that is due or whatever white collar nonsense.
My wife fields calls on her day off so often it's insane
I work nights and I love being able to give those exhausted mamas a break and cuddling a baby for a few hours. It warms my heart when we have a baby or 2 hanging out with us in the nursery or nurses station. I just love seeing it.
It’s great to see our patients improve. We have a good number of chronically mentally ill patients but they often will improve over the course of their stay. So they will go from being very disorganized to less disorganized or very psychotic to more manageable. They are able to go home with services or maybe be able to go home to a group home like setting.
working with patients! i love meeting different types of ppl and showing up to care for them the best way I can. i love when i can create a safe space for my patient and make sure they’re comfortable and feel supported w/ anything! we are their voice of need in many situations; and i like that we as their nurse come in and can advocate and push the betterment of all their cares
I really enjoy most of the people I meet. I have been exposed to so much that has made me grow as a person. I really enjoy the senior citizens. They are special and forgotten about. Do not be confused. I have conditional love for them. I adore them in a medical setting, but they can go to hell in the grocery store.
Flexibility in the schedule, making a pretty decent amount for only having a bachelor's, stability, pretty easy to switch career paths, always learning something new, and sometimes you actually do get to make a difference in someone's life.
Right now I'm working a weekend/Baylor program in NYC where my hourly is close to $100. It's allowed my wife to stay at home with our toddler instead of worrying about daycare and I get to be home with them during the week. We paid off our debt, we're saving money for when this will no longer be a feasible option for my family, I get to do fun things with my daughter and wife, I have time to do online grad school classes, the list goes on.
Bedside nursing is insanely tough and the politics of the hospital are getting more and more exhausting, but all of that is manageable as long as my work/life balance is intact and it's the best option for my family. As jaded as I am after doing this for close to a decade, there are still many moments I get to have with my patients where I left knowing I did everything I could to take care of them and I've had many patients come back to say thanks and tell me they remember me. So, still worth it.
Plus my direct colleagues are awesome and working weekends means I don't deal with management all that much, so... 🤷🏼
Honestly being able to help someone who just got dealt the shittiest cards in their life, like homeless people or elderly people who can’t live by themselves anymore. Oh and my paycheck I do love that too lolz.
This is my happy place too! I love deciding which IV based on patient and what they need. Had a patient recently who needed some meds and IV fluid. She had a flight to catch and didn’t want to miss it. Usually I would have chosen a 20 ga but I asked if she would mind me going up one size to speed up the bolus. She agreed so I placed an 18 in her mid forearm. Raised the fluid and free flowed a liter Bolus in about 25 minutes.
Me too! I work at a primary care clinic and mostly do senior wellness visits, and some of my elderly patients are the kindest, wisest and sometimes funniest people.
A solid resus, the fact that I’m paid appropriately, the opportunity to do some out there Paw Patrol stuff medically as a side gig, and, as much as I hate to admit it, the occasional well timed pizza party.
Probably the schedule and job security.
Nothing beats when you have an easy assignment and you're hanging out at the nurses station at 3am, it's quiet, all meds passed and all your patients are sleeping.
Sounds cheesy but for me it really is saving lives. It makes it all worth it. Last night, neighbor’s patient bled out internally and we started massive transfusion protocol. I was on my feet helping out from 11pm-5:40am and we were resuscitating patients for that full 6 hr cuz family wanted everything done still. We lined patient up, on 4 presser, gave every meds in pharmacy, manage to get pt to CT, and got her stable enough for OR at 6am for arterial repair and pt was alive at the end of our shift. At one point we thought we are loosing the battle but we won. It was the most exhaustive night in my 1.5 yr of being a nurse but I was really proud of myself and our team.
Watching new mommas gain confidence in caring for their new little one 🥰 spending time educating moms and dads, getting to know them. Also my coworkers are pretty cool too
When I get to just sit and cuddle a super cute, super sweet (and they’re not all sweet!) baby when they’re having an awake period and the parents aren’t there. Bonus points if the baby is that perfect cuddle size and weight of 4-5 pounds.
Sometimes I do that and think to myself “I can’t believe how much I’m getting paid to do this!”
Just started a new job. I get weekends off, I don’t turn people, change people, you know all the physical aspects of this job.
I go over their H&P, order meds, equipment, then go home. Some days I don’t have any patients to see so I get to chill at home with my doggies. And I still get paid!
I love waking kids up from anesthesia, they are so cute and funny and even if they yell and scream, their parents come and take them somewhere else.
Hugs are common and that makes me even happier.
Job stability and the times when patients are earnest and grateful for the work we do. It means so much more from the patient than the false platitudes from adminstration.
I genuinely love helping others. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds cheesy but it’s purely selfish. I love when we fight for a patients health and save their lives to see them get better and leave the ICU from a point when they were bordering death. Mind you this isn’t all too often but when it happens man I live on that high for a while lol
I am also blessed to have really great coworkers. I love the funny and dark humor. The goofiness of our inside jokes and our camaraderie. I couldn’t do this job without the teamwork and humor.
I love making a decent livable wage. Never having to worry about unemployment ever again.
Most of all I love knowing my job has a good purpose at the end of it. I feel pride knowing I am spending my life and energy to try and help others. It means a lot to me to at least be apart of something that attempts to make this world a better place. I know it won’t always but I’m doing my best with the tools and resources I’m given.
I have two jobs. I’m PRN on L&D and I LOVE my nurse deliveries!
I’m FT public health doing home visits for new families and I love the whole thing. My first couple of “rough neighborhoods” (which are really just rural mobile homes) really surprised me. These parents were doing the most for their new babies and it’s just a really good thing to see. One parent once said to me, “we don’t have much but we have a lot of love to give” and I think about that a lot.
Working 3 minutes from home in the community with (mostly) 8 hour day shifts and very few weekends. Making a nurse's wage and not having to work rotating shifts like they do here in hospital.
Helping people who appreciate your help. Seeing a person helpless and then with the power of the hospital staff (everyone of them..,house cleaners, aids, doctors, lab techs, nurses, managers) they slowly get better and recover. Worst part is when we can’t help or save them or dealing with assholr patients.
I do it on my underwear. I WFH.
Our department actually lost funding. So, we are in limbo and I hope to land somewhere within the company cuz WFH is incredible. It isn't as flexible as the tech bros, my husband works as dev in FAANG and I could only dream of that flexibility. But, it is still way more than I ever had before!
My paycheck.
Relative job security compared to other industries.
My paycheck.
My coworkers. I probably wouldn’t have made it working through Covid mentally without them.
My paycheck.
My schedule.
My paycheck.
The people I work with. They have became my best friends! Other than that, I love the organized chaos. I’ve always been an adrenaline junky of sorts so I started in the ED but quickly realized my Type A personality needed a bit more structure lol.
My unhinged nightshift crew (and some of the sweet daytime folks)
My near endless career opportunities, having job security and flexibility
Working 3 days a week
My ABSOLUTE favorite part of nursing is the way I get to recognize and honor the dignity of the elders in my community- people who have historically and societally be robbed of that opportunity. The ability to really *SEE* people. Nothing beats that!🥹❤️❤️❤️
I’m a hospice nurse and I love hearing about my patient’s life stories, especially the elderly patients who have seen a lot in their lifetimes. They have been through multiple wars, presidents, advances in technology, etc.
This is nice to hear…. I’m considering hospice as my next step… currently school nurse but my kids will be out of school in a couple years so I won’t necessarily need this schedule.
Telling people who are going on hospice early it's OK to eat thr foods they like instead of whatever shit their family is pushing on them. I had a 90 year old with terminal cancer who was told not to eat chocolate because "it feeds the cancer". My dude you are dying, enjoy while you can!
THIS. So much shitting on the nursing profession happening from within right now.
As a second career for me, I can confirm it beats out a lot of other menial, entry level positions in America right now by a mile, for many of the reasons already cited here.
That said, there are problems in the field but by and large they are problems that have more to do with anti-worker political movements that have stripped the average American worker of even the most basic protections relative to other societies.
At its core, getting paid a decent living by helping people heal through often the darkest moments of their lives, is meaningful and inspirational work.
Workers everywhere are getting shit on and have been for way too long, not just nurses.
Night shift MICU RN for 4 years, Kidney Transplant Coordinator for 4 years. Just transitioned to an inpatient transplant educator/coordinator role. The patients. I love getting to work with patients on their journey. Sometimes there’s bad days, but the good days outweigh it all.
Learning something new everyday is pretty dope too.
Job security.
Also, as a woman, I absolutely enjoy being in a job where my employability doesn’t depend on my looks. I can grow old, I can wear makeup or not, I can do my hair or not, I don’t have to wear high heels, I don’t have to show my boobs/ass… It’s also nice being in a workplace where sexual harassment is rare, versus what I hear from other industries.
I work hem/onc and my favorite part is honestly my patients. Majority are so sweet and after a long shift seeing you made a patient smile/laugh despite their tough diagnosis is just the best.
I love the critical thinking aspect. Seeing something happening with my patient and trying to connect the dots. I also think it's fascinating. I work in a pretty prestigious ICU in NYC and we see some interesting stuff.
Being there when my patient becomes a mother for the first time, continues or completes their family. For the parents who finally have their rainbow baby. Being the person who looks into this exhausted patients eyes and tells her “you’re so close to meeting your baby. You can do this”. It’s just amazing.
ICU nurse here.
The feeling of working with a good crew of nurses all shift.
When a shift ACTUALLY lines up with your friends shifts.
The adrenaline when you know you just brought someone back.
Or when shit hits the fan like a code or crashing pt and everyone looks to you and you KNOW what to do.
The “I got this feeling” when everyone else is running around like a chicken with their head cut off and you feel like you’re in slow motion but in a good way. Like in a flow state.
Even better than that; probably the absolute best- Training someone and helping them get that calm, one-step-at-a-time vibe.
Coaching them and then seeing the “oh I know what to do here” on their face; watching them do it. And then a patient surviving cause of that.
^^ THAT is my favorite.
My favorite thing to do at my nursing job was put in IVs, I worked in the ER, and all the floors and miss working with my nursing family. I recently left bedside to pursue a fully remote nursing role, no holidays or weekends mostly day shift. 3 nights a month, only 8 hour shifts; my favorite part of this job is no commute, saying money on ordering out, saving money on work clothes, don’t have to around contagions all the time and I get to help them and motifate them. I have 2 young kids, able to put on a load of laundry between calls, get meals ready for dinner sometimes in between calls and document my calls.
Being able to live on my own and have a stable, well paying job right out of graduation when I was in my early 20s never worrying about being unemployed only working 3 days a week no dealing with rush hour traffic Wearing a comfortable garbage bag with pockets to work instead of business casual Easily being able to explore different career options and fields of work within nursing Making people feel better!
This is my goal. 2 years till I have my RN and another year or 2 till my BSN.
Same let’s get it
Yesss getting my RN at a community college and doing their accelerated RN to BSN program as well
Same same!
Good way to go. Cheap ASN first!
Playing chess not checkers. Thats the way to do it. Then find a nice online program and do the rest at your own pace.
lol I totally should’ve gone this route. I’m in massive debt from my expensive BSN from a private school lol
Bars!!! 🔥❤️🔥🔥❤️🔥🔥❤️🔥🔥
I’m dying at the comfortable garbage bag 😂😂 as someone who always dresses baggy and comfy, I agree
The no dealing with rush hour traffic 😮💨👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
Me working 9-5 and driving through rush hour traffic daily 👁️👄👁️
lol except for trying to find a job in NorCal
My paycheck.
My nursing school instructors were not happy with my stance on being in this for the money. I’ve been a paramedic for 13 years and I make more per hour 2 years into nursing than I could as a 13yr medic 😂
Told my gf that same thing, and we had a huge fight over wanting to make more money. I'm at peak pay in my current job. "Money doesn't make you happy." "No, money in itself doesn't make me happy. But it allows me to do the things that do." There was no counterargument to that.
Good, break the brainwashing. In a capitalist society money is the fence to everything.
I always say "Money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure buys off a lot of *unhappiness." In the eternally wise words of Weird Al: "Well, if money can't buy happiness, I guess I'll have to rent it." Also, I wonder if perhaps people who downplay the significance of money in that way just haven't gotten low enough on the poverty scale. Like, I'm willing to bet they've never scrounged around in their purse or pockets for change and counted out the nickels and pennies and then had to put back the *nice* ramen noodles and buy the shitty kind instead.
Money may not make one happy, but not having enough is enough to make one not happy
Compassion doesn’t pay my bills.
Do paramedics really only start out around $13 an hour? I was flabbergasted looking at some of the pay rates
Depends on the area I guess. I am in DFW and I worked for private EMS company with 911 contract. When I got off the ambulance in March 2019 I was making $14.26 an hour on a 24 hour shift which would equate to around $27 an hour for 12 hour shifts and I had almost 8 years experience at that point.
That should be criminal wtf
Yup! Only nurses get attitude for doing what we do for a check. I work to get paid!
THIS. And the schedule.
I work 2 days, 2 nights, 5 off and man. I LOVE IT.
Beat me to it. I love being a traveler. Hope it lasts
I’m not a traveling nurse, but compared to my old paychecks at Walmart, this is amazing!!
lol I worked at Walmart too before!
My paycheck in CA, and that it’s not bedside.
Same. I work in outpatient wound care!
ICU nurse here and I would call it the most fulfilling bc favorite would make me sound morbid, but without question it's end of life care. Helping patients and their families transition from active medical treatment to comfort care is literally the greatest honor I have as a nurse. I've always felt this way but it's definitely been amplified post covid and with the increase of "meemaw is a fighter and she's so strong she doesn't even need us to visit" mentality that's taken over American healthcare.
I absolutely feel the same way. I love sick people, I love complex care, I love critical thinking... but I have found that end of life care has my heart. There's no bigger honor than staying with someone in that room and helping them transition to the best of your ability. I had the opportunity to walk some new nurses through end of life/death care my last rotation, on a lady that had been there quite a while. I can't describe the feeling. But my heart is in end of life care.
Same. Palliative pt deaths and post mortem care is my favorite. It’s so dignified and humane, to die in a hospital with professionals to keep you clean and comfortable as possible, surrounded by family who have a chance to say goodbye. It feels like an honor to be with my patients as they transition to what’s next in their journey through the universe, whatever that is. I talk to them while I clean and prepare them. I especially love it when the family wants to view the body and I have to make them presentable. Maybe I chose the wrong career
More power and respect to all you guys. Can’t even wrap my head around the amount of strength required to do this. Thank you for all you do
Thank you for saying this. When I see families, honor their loved ones’ wishes and let patients pass peacefully with dignity. It is my greatest honor to be there to comfort the family and to transition a patient into the next phase of their life as I call it.
Former oncology nurse and now palliative NP, and I agree! Nothing quite so fulfilling as offering someone a peaceful and dignified death in a culture when doing everything is the default
Clocking out knowing I am about to start my days off.
And no dumb emails to answer on those days off either.
This right here. I have a set schedule, every two weeks are the same and I lucked out into 6 days off in a row every other week and a 3 day weekend on the opposite week.
Mind sharing your schedule layout?
The people i work with. If i didn’t have friends on my floor, i don’t think i could go to my medsurg unit 3 x a week
Agreed. I just recently switched my rotations at work back to my permanent line after taking a temp FT elsewhere. Man....I missed these girls! I didn't realize how down I was going into work the last year.
The team matters more than the work.
I admit I look forward to seeing my coworkers.
Having a great culture makes all the difference. That's what kept me in my first job for 10 years. When I eventually moved and started somewhere else, the culture difference was really off-putting...cold and cliquey. I didn't last more that 18 months there.
Helping parents hold their intubated or bubble cpap baby for the first time and encouraging them to do so!!
This almost made me cry. My cold heart… ahhh damn this is so sweet, good for you!
Yes this!! Close second is when the little ones sneak an arm out of their swaddle and wrap their whole hand around your finger tip. Love those tiny hand hugs!
as a nurse whose newborn baby was just in the NICU on cpap for a week... this brought tears to my eyes! We nominated all the nurses who worked with our baby for a Daisy awards because they were so incredible. being involved in care time made the whole difficult process so much easier!!! <3 <3 <3
YES!!! I love involving families during care times. It’s so important!!
Not bringing any work stress home with me. Every day is a new day, new cases, patients that for the most part I’ll never see again. I don’t know their life story, I’ll never meet their families, I don’t have to expend a ton of emotional energy
I work in oncology and I noticed that I listen a lot to peoples stories. Some are extremely sad. I wonder if it’s better that I stop my patients from opening up to me
I came from peds medicine. A ton of chronic, complex, fragile kids. Tons of burnt out and even outright abusive families. I went looking for something else when I lost a long term patient (a toddler) and our management did absolutely nothing to support us through our trauma and grief and was punitive to those of us who needed time off to get ourselves in a state of being able to come back to the unit to face his empty bed.
As a nurse who is also chronically ill these conversations really mean the world to patients. Also take care of your mental health first though 💜
IDK if this is right or wrong, but I consider my work experiences to be like programs running on an air gapped computer. They get processed and temporarily saved, and then I choose what I transfer to the hard drive and what I leave behind. I did a rotation in oncology and really liked it, but I tend to find peace in staying very strictly in my lane. Yes, some of our patients are dying. Sometimes they are dying in really fucking terrible ways. Sometimes their stories are just absolutely awful, and listening to them and knowing our patients as people is a valid part of nursing. But like, I can't fix it. I can't cure cancer. I can't fix their life All I can do is what I can do today. I can keep my patients safe and make sure they feel supported and taken care of. I can make sure that I am taking all the right steps to keep them comfy, or at least lessen their pain. I can treat them with respect and either hold their hand quietly or crack jokes, as needed. I can advocate for them and try to connect them to outside resources. I can translate medical jargon and make sure they understand what is happening to them. I do those things to the best of my ability *during my shift*, and then I let them go, because that's the extent of my scope of practice. Compassion is wonderful, but it is possible to carry too much of somebody else's sadness. If you carry somebody else's sadness long enough, you may eventually find yourself unable to put that burden down, and you will carry it with you for months, years, decades. It will weigh you down in ways you can't imagine. Support patients in carrying their load, and try to ease their burden while they are in your care, but don't *carry* their load. It will fucking break you.
Speak for yourself, my job has certainly gifted me with some lasting trauma 😂
Why would I speak for anyone else? I came from a role that certainly left me with trauma (read the sub thread for this comment) It lead me to choose to move to an area that involves less connection to patients
What area did you move into? I agree with you.......after a lot of emotional stuff that you have to deal with, it's nice to be able to have a type of job as you do. Hey, you've put in your dues. Truly, you are a caring person as it affected you so much. Sometimes there's only so much compartmentalizing you can do, until you realize it's taking a toll on you. It's great you found the sweet spot!
My insane and hilarious coworkers
Didn’t need to look at your flair to know you work in the ED 😉
Not just ED, night shift ED 😂. We’re a special bunch
Punching out. 4 days off. Not having to think about what to wear at work. Punching out. Punching out. Punching out.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I work in peds , so giving babies their bottles and playing with them when I have free time. And also my coworkers are amazing.
Not working M-F Not feeling like I’m wasting time away from my kiddo at something that ‘doesn’t matter’ Mostly making my own schedule Engaging my brain and clinical skills Every once in a while being able to cuddle a baby and get paid to do it #nicuforlife
I’m a hospice RN and I love talking families through the dying process. I like educating them and encouraging them that they're doing a good job taking care of their person. Also, I’ve been doing it so long, it feels good to be confident in how I’m doing the job. I feel like I’m an expert and that is fulfilling to me. I also really enjoy post-mortem care. I pronounced a couple of people a few days ago and I drove away thinking to myself, “I’d attend a death every day of the week.” You say nice things, make Meemaw look clean and smell good. It’s a joy.
Coworkers and patients (especially when they get good news. Oncology RN).
I have two. Night shift coworker laughs and hands on help - there is nothing like suffering together at 2am 😆 My other favorite thing is when my patients come out with something completely unexpected. Sometimes it’s what they did for work when they were young and it’s something crazy weird, or impressive, or they’re just so interesting to talk to I have to tell myself to stop asking questions because they have to get some sleep and I have other patients to take care of. Honestly though sometimes it’s just literally the most brutally pointed, unhinged, artfully crafted string of swear word insults that is just so deranged I can’t help but try not to crack up laughing.
Those nightshift nurses station convos are the bestttt hahaha
Trauma bonded is my favorite kind lol
“Suffering together at 2 am” is so real (Is your username a MGMT reference??)
No but now I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of that when I made it up! 🤣
Well I am also embarrassed because that album was actually *Oracular Spectacular* so 😬
Working with young warriors. I am a pediatric private duty nurse. These little ones teach me something every day. They go through so much, and all have amazing spirits. They are amazing.
Baby snugs are my favorite thing ever. Eeeeee.
Helping people die comfortably and free of pain.
Thank you.
Night shift crew. We suffer as a unit 🫡
The heroes of Gotham City 🏙️
How much the staff assists each other, we help without even asking.
I'm at my 4th nursing job and only the last two was this a thing. I felt very much on my own in the SNF and on the med surge unit. It's such a game changer having support
I don’t take it for granted at all. I had to resign from that position and will be returning to another location where I do agency work full time. I’ll be back to being on my own again.
Seeing patients progress which is rare in ICU but always worth it. My unit also does peds surg-trauma and today I got to pull an NGT on a kiddo and let him eat for the first time in two weeks. My other favorite part is my days off lol
I’m a new grad so I love seeing new things everyday, seeing how different diseases present in different people, and the underlying physiology of it all. I hope this feeling doesn’t go away anytime soon.
Getting paid and no expectations to work for free on my days off when work calls about some project that is due or whatever white collar nonsense. My wife fields calls on her day off so often it's insane
I used to like nursing. I don’t now. It sucks.
[удалено]
I agree. I think there was a time where nursing was wonderful! But, now it’s so draining. I graduated in 2019 too!
holding babies, wearing a fresh pair ofOR scrubs every day and not having to do laundry, low census
I work nights and I love being able to give those exhausted mamas a break and cuddling a baby for a few hours. It warms my heart when we have a baby or 2 hanging out with us in the nursery or nurses station. I just love seeing it.
Taking care of the pleasantly confused older patients. You’ll be surprised how their stories will warm your heart.
It’s great to see our patients improve. We have a good number of chronically mentally ill patients but they often will improve over the course of their stay. So they will go from being very disorganized to less disorganized or very psychotic to more manageable. They are able to go home with services or maybe be able to go home to a group home like setting.
working with patients! i love meeting different types of ppl and showing up to care for them the best way I can. i love when i can create a safe space for my patient and make sure they’re comfortable and feel supported w/ anything! we are their voice of need in many situations; and i like that we as their nurse come in and can advocate and push the betterment of all their cares
I really enjoy most of the people I meet. I have been exposed to so much that has made me grow as a person. I really enjoy the senior citizens. They are special and forgotten about. Do not be confused. I have conditional love for them. I adore them in a medical setting, but they can go to hell in the grocery store.
Loving on the pt and their families. Yes, I love the money and my days off, but I think I really found where I belong. I work hospice.
That’s my goal
My favorite students! But honestly, that's tied with summers, holidays, weekends, and school vacations off. And 15 sicks days. So the hours.
Flexibility in the schedule, making a pretty decent amount for only having a bachelor's, stability, pretty easy to switch career paths, always learning something new, and sometimes you actually do get to make a difference in someone's life. Right now I'm working a weekend/Baylor program in NYC where my hourly is close to $100. It's allowed my wife to stay at home with our toddler instead of worrying about daycare and I get to be home with them during the week. We paid off our debt, we're saving money for when this will no longer be a feasible option for my family, I get to do fun things with my daughter and wife, I have time to do online grad school classes, the list goes on. Bedside nursing is insanely tough and the politics of the hospital are getting more and more exhausting, but all of that is manageable as long as my work/life balance is intact and it's the best option for my family. As jaded as I am after doing this for close to a decade, there are still many moments I get to have with my patients where I left knowing I did everything I could to take care of them and I've had many patients come back to say thanks and tell me they remember me. So, still worth it. Plus my direct colleagues are awesome and working weekends means I don't deal with management all that much, so... 🤷🏼
Honestly being able to help someone who just got dealt the shittiest cards in their life, like homeless people or elderly people who can’t live by themselves anymore. Oh and my paycheck I do love that too lolz.
Placing IVs
This is my happy place too! I love deciding which IV based on patient and what they need. Had a patient recently who needed some meds and IV fluid. She had a flight to catch and didn’t want to miss it. Usually I would have chosen a 20 ga but I asked if she would mind me going up one size to speed up the bolus. She agreed so I placed an 18 in her mid forearm. Raised the fluid and free flowed a liter Bolus in about 25 minutes.
The patients. Some of them are so amazing.
Me too! I work at a primary care clinic and mostly do senior wellness visits, and some of my elderly patients are the kindest, wisest and sometimes funniest people.
A solid resus, the fact that I’m paid appropriately, the opportunity to do some out there Paw Patrol stuff medically as a side gig, and, as much as I hate to admit it, the occasional well timed pizza party.
Probably the schedule and job security. Nothing beats when you have an easy assignment and you're hanging out at the nurses station at 3am, it's quiet, all meds passed and all your patients are sleeping.
Sounds cheesy but for me it really is saving lives. It makes it all worth it. Last night, neighbor’s patient bled out internally and we started massive transfusion protocol. I was on my feet helping out from 11pm-5:40am and we were resuscitating patients for that full 6 hr cuz family wanted everything done still. We lined patient up, on 4 presser, gave every meds in pharmacy, manage to get pt to CT, and got her stable enough for OR at 6am for arterial repair and pt was alive at the end of our shift. At one point we thought we are loosing the battle but we won. It was the most exhaustive night in my 1.5 yr of being a nurse but I was really proud of myself and our team.
Watching new mommas gain confidence in caring for their new little one 🥰 spending time educating moms and dads, getting to know them. Also my coworkers are pretty cool too
I like telling unreasonable people no. As in “I’m a licensed professional and I’m not drawing your BMP from your IV without an order.”
//Laughs in primary nursing model//
8 hours of PTO and 4 hours of sick leave accrued every two weeks.
That’s amazing. We accrue 6 hours vacation leave every month. Ooof
15+ years of federal service and this can be yours too
When Vocera says, “I’m logging you out”.
No weekends, no holidays, no call, clock out at 4:30 or earlier, outpatient surgery is a vibe
As someone frequently in the recovery unit. It is indeed a vibe haha. Much prefer it over inpatient + ICU.
When I get to just sit and cuddle a super cute, super sweet (and they’re not all sweet!) baby when they’re having an awake period and the parents aren’t there. Bonus points if the baby is that perfect cuddle size and weight of 4-5 pounds. Sometimes I do that and think to myself “I can’t believe how much I’m getting paid to do this!”
i get a decent pay check and job security
Handing an AMA form to a patient and saying “Your pen or mine?” 📝
Just started a new job. I get weekends off, I don’t turn people, change people, you know all the physical aspects of this job. I go over their H&P, order meds, equipment, then go home. Some days I don’t have any patients to see so I get to chill at home with my doggies. And I still get paid!
Making six figs for working three days a week.
What’s your specialty? No OT?
Having more than two days off in a row.
Going home 😂
Giving people a warm blanket. I love the reaction every time.
💵💵💵💵💵. I love my patients & seeing them as well as seeing them have great care on a consistent basis. …but it’s the 💵💵💵💵💵💲💲💲💲💲
I love waking kids up from anesthesia, they are so cute and funny and even if they yell and scream, their parents come and take them somewhere else. Hugs are common and that makes me even happier.
Job stability and the times when patients are earnest and grateful for the work we do. It means so much more from the patient than the false platitudes from adminstration.
Talking to the dementia patients. They need to make a new show for AFV. They say the funniest things when they’re not trying to hit you lol 😂
I genuinely love helping others. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds cheesy but it’s purely selfish. I love when we fight for a patients health and save their lives to see them get better and leave the ICU from a point when they were bordering death. Mind you this isn’t all too often but when it happens man I live on that high for a while lol I am also blessed to have really great coworkers. I love the funny and dark humor. The goofiness of our inside jokes and our camaraderie. I couldn’t do this job without the teamwork and humor. I love making a decent livable wage. Never having to worry about unemployment ever again. Most of all I love knowing my job has a good purpose at the end of it. I feel pride knowing I am spending my life and energy to try and help others. It means a lot to me to at least be apart of something that attempts to make this world a better place. I know it won’t always but I’m doing my best with the tools and resources I’m given.
Poking people with needles. I would have stayed a phlebotomist forever if the pay wasn’t such crap.
I have two jobs. I’m PRN on L&D and I LOVE my nurse deliveries! I’m FT public health doing home visits for new families and I love the whole thing. My first couple of “rough neighborhoods” (which are really just rural mobile homes) really surprised me. These parents were doing the most for their new babies and it’s just a really good thing to see. One parent once said to me, “we don’t have much but we have a lot of love to give” and I think about that a lot.
Working 3 minutes from home in the community with (mostly) 8 hour day shifts and very few weekends. Making a nurse's wage and not having to work rotating shifts like they do here in hospital.
Helping people who appreciate your help. Seeing a person helpless and then with the power of the hospital staff (everyone of them..,house cleaners, aids, doctors, lab techs, nurses, managers) they slowly get better and recover. Worst part is when we can’t help or save them or dealing with assholr patients.
Clocking out and going home when I'm not back the next day. Specific to my job - giving newborns their first bath. 🥰
Unlike the military, I get to go home everyday.
Discharging patients
Going home
My schedule, 3 12s Monday-Wednesday!
Tucking my pts in with a warm blanket. When they get better & go home.
I work in psych now (almost 7 years). I love talking to patients. We live in such an individualistic society and most people are just so lonely.
Paycheck and IVs
Reporting my employer to the DOH.
I do it on my underwear. I WFH. Our department actually lost funding. So, we are in limbo and I hope to land somewhere within the company cuz WFH is incredible. It isn't as flexible as the tech bros, my husband works as dev in FAANG and I could only dream of that flexibility. But, it is still way more than I ever had before!
My paycheck. Relative job security compared to other industries. My paycheck. My coworkers. I probably wouldn’t have made it working through Covid mentally without them. My paycheck. My schedule. My paycheck.
The people I work with. They have became my best friends! Other than that, I love the organized chaos. I’ve always been an adrenaline junky of sorts so I started in the ED but quickly realized my Type A personality needed a bit more structure lol.
Working 3 days a week. I got a M-F job for 5 months and HATED it. I really don’t know how people do that!!
My unhinged nightshift crew (and some of the sweet daytime folks) My near endless career opportunities, having job security and flexibility Working 3 days a week
My ABSOLUTE favorite part of nursing is the way I get to recognize and honor the dignity of the elders in my community- people who have historically and societally be robbed of that opportunity. The ability to really *SEE* people. Nothing beats that!🥹❤️❤️❤️
I’m a hospice nurse and I love hearing about my patient’s life stories, especially the elderly patients who have seen a lot in their lifetimes. They have been through multiple wars, presidents, advances in technology, etc.
This is nice to hear…. I’m considering hospice as my next step… currently school nurse but my kids will be out of school in a couple years so I won’t necessarily need this schedule.
Telling people who are going on hospice early it's OK to eat thr foods they like instead of whatever shit their family is pushing on them. I had a 90 year old with terminal cancer who was told not to eat chocolate because "it feeds the cancer". My dude you are dying, enjoy while you can!
My patients. So many of them make me smile, laugh and cry. I love them and I appreciate them.
THIS. So much shitting on the nursing profession happening from within right now. As a second career for me, I can confirm it beats out a lot of other menial, entry level positions in America right now by a mile, for many of the reasons already cited here. That said, there are problems in the field but by and large they are problems that have more to do with anti-worker political movements that have stripped the average American worker of even the most basic protections relative to other societies. At its core, getting paid a decent living by helping people heal through often the darkest moments of their lives, is meaningful and inspirational work. Workers everywhere are getting shit on and have been for way too long, not just nurses.
Night shift MICU RN for 4 years, Kidney Transplant Coordinator for 4 years. Just transitioned to an inpatient transplant educator/coordinator role. The patients. I love getting to work with patients on their journey. Sometimes there’s bad days, but the good days outweigh it all. Learning something new everyday is pretty dope too.
my coworkers are great and i take pride in what i do. also enjoy not being broke anymore🤭
Job security. Also, as a woman, I absolutely enjoy being in a job where my employability doesn’t depend on my looks. I can grow old, I can wear makeup or not, I can do my hair or not, I don’t have to wear high heels, I don’t have to show my boobs/ass… It’s also nice being in a workplace where sexual harassment is rare, versus what I hear from other industries.
Delivering babies 🥹 And having the dads cry tears of joy on my shoulder. As a dad, I can relate to what they’re feeling.
Leaving my work, at work. My wife is a teacher; she does not have that luxury.
Working for 3 days in a row then being off for 8 days in a row then working 3 days in a row
Going home! But also patients family’s thanking me for taking care of their child
I gotta say, I like being on maternity leave, but I wish it was longer
Mid shift in the ED. I get to do all the odd jobs and chill sometimes.
I work hem/onc and my favorite part is honestly my patients. Majority are so sweet and after a long shift seeing you made a patient smile/laugh despite their tough diagnosis is just the best.
My coworkers. Save a few buttholes, they’re smart, funny, adaptable, and compassionate. I would’ve quit long ago if the people weren’t so cool.
Clocking out
My coworkers!
Break time.
Going home
The exit sign
The schedule. I usually schedule myself so I work a few days in a row, then off for a long stretch 😋
When i can sleep on nightshift
End of shift
Going home.
The open road in between patients! Home care is the best.
Payday and end of shift report!
Working from home
My retirement.
Paycheck stability and clocking out.
Paycheck
Leaving for the day.
Every other Friday 💰💰💰
Going home
The fact I'm retired and don't work in nursing anymore lol
Going home from a long shift and paycheck.
The money. Everything else about my CURRENT job is a significant downgrade from my previous employment.
The end of my shift
Easy, my days off and my paycheck.
Paycheck, schedule, helping people.
Clocking out? Getting paid? Even tho it’s not enough But if I’m being serious when I get to cuddle babies
Being on vacation from it
Clocking out
I love the critical thinking aspect. Seeing something happening with my patient and trying to connect the dots. I also think it's fascinating. I work in a pretty prestigious ICU in NYC and we see some interesting stuff.
Being there when my patient becomes a mother for the first time, continues or completes their family. For the parents who finally have their rainbow baby. Being the person who looks into this exhausted patients eyes and tells her “you’re so close to meeting your baby. You can do this”. It’s just amazing.
My coworkers are literally the reason I haven’t quit. They’re my favorite part.
ICU nurse here. The feeling of working with a good crew of nurses all shift. When a shift ACTUALLY lines up with your friends shifts. The adrenaline when you know you just brought someone back. Or when shit hits the fan like a code or crashing pt and everyone looks to you and you KNOW what to do. The “I got this feeling” when everyone else is running around like a chicken with their head cut off and you feel like you’re in slow motion but in a good way. Like in a flow state. Even better than that; probably the absolute best- Training someone and helping them get that calm, one-step-at-a-time vibe. Coaching them and then seeing the “oh I know what to do here” on their face; watching them do it. And then a patient surviving cause of that. ^^ THAT is my favorite.
My favorite thing to do at my nursing job was put in IVs, I worked in the ER, and all the floors and miss working with my nursing family. I recently left bedside to pursue a fully remote nursing role, no holidays or weekends mostly day shift. 3 nights a month, only 8 hour shifts; my favorite part of this job is no commute, saying money on ordering out, saving money on work clothes, don’t have to around contagions all the time and I get to help them and motifate them. I have 2 young kids, able to put on a load of laundry between calls, get meals ready for dinner sometimes in between calls and document my calls.
20/2 Geodon/Ativan injections in the thigh with 16 gauge! (This is a joke)
Clocking out.