In nursing school, you will learn the fundamentals of being an effective registered nurse. By the time that you graduate, you should be confident in your clinical skills and in your ability to help patients. As well as nursing school may prepare you, however, it can only do so much. The fact is that there's a lot more to learn, but the only way to learn it is through experience. Learn some less-known truths about nursing by reading below.
If you are thinking about becoming a nurse or are already on your way there, it helps to have some idea of what the work will actually be like. Until you slip on those scrubs and hit the floor, however, you won't truly know. Still, plenty of nurses have gone before you, and their advice is readily available. The following eight truths about nursing are sure to help you prepare more effectively for this demanding career:
1. The work is often thankless.
Don't go into nursing if you expect to be lavished with praise throughout the day. Just because you spend your day caring for others doesn't mean that you'll be treated well. The fact is that when people are ill or otherwise unwell, they don't tend to take time to thank nurses. Coworkers also often come across as rude and ungrateful, but the truth is that everyone is so busy and things are often so hectic that it's just par for the course. Try not to take it personally.
2. You'll have to get your hands dirty.
If you are a germophobe or otherwise skittish about getting dirty, the field of nursing may not be for you. Most newly minted RNs start out trying to stay as clean as possible during the course of the day. Eventually, however, those who go on to have successful careers learn to get over their disgust. At the end of the day, helping others is what matters. Many times, that means getting a little dirty.
3. Your schedule will always be a problem.
Like many new RNs, you may have seen the typical nurse's schedule and thought that it looked manageable enough. After all, it must be nice to work 12-hour shifts to have more days off, right? In reality, whether you work the night shift, the day shift or anything in between, you're going to come to hate your schedule. No matter when you work, you are sure to work long hours. There will be times when you'll be expected to work late one night and early the next. This is just a fact of life in nursing.
4. You'll provide more than medical care.
RNs do much more than provide clinical care to patients. The first thing that you must do, then, is shed the idea of "that's not my job." As a nurse, you will be expected to pitch in whenever and however you can. You will find yourself acting as a mediator for relatives of patients or as an IT expert when asked to work with electronic medical records. Sometimes, you will feel more like a housekeeper than a nurse, as you will spend a lot of time cleaning up after others. All of these things are part of the job.
5. You'll learn not to sweat the small stuff.
One of the first things that you should remember is that mistakes happen. Even with extensive training and education, you and other RNs are only human. If you get too caught up in feeling bad about those mistakes, the quality of your work will suffer. Rather than beating yourself up when you make a mistake, own up to it and learn from it. Do what you can to avoid repeating the mistake in the future. That's precisely how you grow as a nurse.
6. Your sense of humor will change.
If you've ever wondered how some people can have such sick senses of humor, you're about to find out. Nursing is stressful and often emotionally charged work. You will undoubtedly experience the deaths of patients, and you will be thrown into many other upsetting situations. Many RNs and other medical professionals find that humor is one of the best ways to cope with such situations. After being a nurse for a while, you're sure to find that your sense of humor is a lot edgier than it once was.
7. Your body will hurt.
Regardless of how old you are or how in shape you happen to be, you will be achy and sore at the end of most shifts. That's because you're not only on your feet moving a lot, but you are often helping to move patients and doing other physically demanding work. The stress of the job also may make it easier for you to injure yourself, so be sure to be gentle with yourself.
8. Everyone you know will want free medical advice.
Don't be surprised if shortly after earning your RN license and taking a job, friends, relatives and others start turning to you for free medical advice. At first, this may be a bit flattering due to the novelty. Before very long, however, you're likely to tire of it and will probably find yourself dreading such encounters. Giving a little generic advice is great, but don't be afraid to remind people to see their doctors if they are experiencing actual medical issues.
As you can see, working as an RN isn't quite how they tend to depict the profession on TV and in the movies. The work is often thankless, and you will encounter many stressful situations. Still, like so many nurses, you are likely to find the work to be rewarding enough to stick with it for the long haul.
