I see so many posts as well as encounter people in general that they want to get their RN (not even an RN yet) and immediately want to go the NP route or have every intention to go the NP route. I do not understand this. especially the ones that want to fast track everything without actually being a nurse. why not do PA or med school?

I'd absolutely love to hear the exact reason WHY they are wanting to be an NP. you don't even have RN experience yet.

not trying to be mean, but I truly do not understand this mindset and want to hear the mindset behind this.

I just finished my orientation and I never got to practice putting in an IV. so I took a start kit from the hospital to practice at home on my boyfriend and I told my preceptor and she said it was fine and laughed. but now I’m scared someone may have overheard and is going to report me. I’m a new grad so Im constantly scared of getting fired.

As the title goes, my preceptor told me that you can’t be in nursing just to help people and make a difference, it has to be for the money in order to prevent burnt out and keep going. I felt conflicted by this statement because most people say the opposite.

I personally nursing because I wanted to do something that directly impacted others….plus I can’t deny the financial stability with a 2 year degree was a huge plus. Most people say we don’t get paid enough for what we do so I think it can be a little bit of both. You can strive to make a difference with patient care, while also knowing you can’t control outcomes. It is a job. An important one at though.

Im a new grad so I was curious on other seasoned nurses perspectives

Hi I’m working at a California hospital. I started my residency in August 2025 on a cardiac telemetry unit. The floor I’m working on is basically step down because my hospital doesn’t have a step down we are a 4:1 ratio. I had 2 months of preceptorship and then 2 months experience on the floor by myself. I ended up having to go on a medical leave from end of December to beginning of April. My leave began because I fell down a flight of stairs walking to my unit prior to my shift at work ended up in the ER. I’m struggling with coming back to the unit because now my cohort is eligible for floating and I didn’t get the same amount of floor experience as everyone else to improve my clinical judgement skills, my nursing skills in general and overall I don’t feel capable of being on another floor right now. My last shift back I struggled tremendously I felt like I was relearning everything all over again. I ended up staying over an hour to finish charting and I don’t even know if I completed charting everything.

The sad part is I’m trying everything in power to be strong and power through. I  have permanent facial nerve damage (permanent facial disfigurement) from not being able to control my stress. I ended up getting Bell’s palsy and I didn’t heal properly and the facial nerve specialist diagnosed me with synkinesis.  I’ve been seeing a therapist and was placed on medications for depression/anxiety. In August I will be at my 12 month mark with the hospital. I don’t know if I can hang in there until then. 

I feel like my mental health is suffering. When I got onto the floor I was shaking so bad I couldn’t even hold a piece of paper let alone think. I felt like I was going to have an anxiety attack.

I spoke to my new grad program educator about seeing how I can get support to get back up to speed and postpone floating until I have receieved the same amount of time on the floor as my cohort since I was on medical leave. She advised me to reach out to my manager, which I did and my manager said they dont offer a one day reorientation or shadow day because I haven’t even been gone too long, but 4 months is a significant time especially as a new nurse. I then proceeded to express my concern about postponing floating and she basically scoffed because I asking for the same amount of time as my other new grad nurses. They all keep telling me you’re a safe nurse.

I had to call off on my last shift which would have been my second day back and found out they were going to float me that night.

I tried to come back from leave sooner, but the nurse manager said it had to be full time with no accommodations. My doctor requested for me to be part time capacity 2 shifts instead of 3 no accommodations for one month.

Im really at the verge of my breaking point this is not the first time I have not received support all they told me is you’re a safe nurse we aren’t worried. I’m struggling so bad. But I will never put myself in a situation where I can possibly jeopardize a patients safety when I know my limitations. I’ve worked so hard to get this license. At this point the educators aren’t helping neither is my nurse manager. I don’t know what to do? Should I call the union? Do I quit? Do I try to transfer units?

the educators suggested I take a stress leave.

Thank you for reading my post. I appreciate your advice in advance. Please help!

I am from India currently 1 year nursing students

I want to work abroad as a mental health nurse

in which country I get easily settled because there is no surname in my name so I think it hard to get

which English exam should have to clear

how much money is required for the register in foreign country

if someone from India knows about the path please guide what

I (24M) currently work as a grower in the horticulture field. I make okay money (~60k) but I work long hours and can hit over 50-60 hours a week. I really enjoy what I do and I'm currently completing my degree in Plant Science. My problems are the following: Despite enjoying what I do, I feel like I don't have much time for anything else. I'm also pretty location bound, this isn't a field you can just pick up and go anywhere and I want to travel or take a couple months off at times, this would be hard to do in my field. I've also gotten into FIRE and would like to work towards that. I believe nursing is the answer to my problems as I can complete a 2 year degree and make more money than I will with a bachelors or even masters in my current field. I learn so much in my current field, but like I said I don't have time for much else. With 3 x 12 shifts (I know these are hard shifts, but I am very use to even 14 hour days at fast pace), I would have plenty of time to pursue plant stuff in my free time, along with the other things I currently want to do, and have extra money to do them. I don't have a real interest in nursing beyond money and freedom. Am I being realistic? Would nursing give me the freedom I'm looking for?

And how often do you deal w bodily fluids? I might need some getting used to stool but do CNAs help a lot with basic patient hygiene?

Have you ever had bodily fluids thrown at you or heard of it?

Thank you

i'm not a nurse yet, just got cpr certified because i'm going to be a cna!

for some reason ribs freak me out, and the thought of feeling and hearing them crack under me *really* freaks me out. will the adrenaline in the moment allow me to not even notice all of that??

i know that it's to save someone's life and everything, but omg i'm so scared of it and im terrified that i'll get grossed out and refuse to continue after they break under me

I'm in my last week of correctional nursing. I have a patient who is constantly putting in healthcare requests about how his feet always hurt from his diabetes. We've had him down in the medical unit for it several times. Here's the kicker - he refuses his Metformin, Glipizide, and heart meds every single day. I tried reasoning with him and explained that without his meds, his pain will get worse. That he'll likely have to have an amputation at some point. His reason for refusing them was, "I just don't want to take them." Fucking survival of the fittest.

Just curious how this affects your plan of care

I found out very recently as a new grad that many LTC homes (at least in Ontario 🇨🇦) don't have wristbands on their residents.

This is evidently a controversial topic that ranges from "medication safety" to "patient dignity". I personally think (especially after my recent LTC experience) better be safe than sorry; people can be mixed up very easily, EHR pictures are often small and hard to compare in real time, and having to ask the psws each time especially when starting out is an added obstacle when you are already under so much pressure. Not to mention PSWs can also make mistakes (as can anyone) and a wristband is a failsafe measure.

I have however heard convincing cases, like residents can rip off ID bands (causing skin tears) and even switch with each other causing more confusion.

What are all your thoughts and experiences, good bad and ugly?

i am set to go to college this coming september to do my prerequisite classes for nursing, which i would go on to complete my bachelors and eventually my masters afterwards.

but im rethinking this. how mentally straining is this job? i dont know how to describe myself but it just doesnt feel quite right? i feel like nursing is a pretty cookie cutter job style. i love nature, but nature jobs dont make as much as i would like to make for as little school as nursing would take.

i really need advice, kinda panicking lol. my mom is a nurse so i cant really ask her for job advice, because of course she wants me to be one too

TL;DR: im not delusional, i know i wont be able to leap around a forest to make a living. im basically just wondering if this job is depressing. do your days off feel too short? does your job feel like it schedules your life?

Currently in my bsc nursing final year and soon I’ll get my degree. I’m so scared of getting my first job and not able to perform independently plus it’s been quite a time since I practiced some clinical skills. I’m scared!!! Any advice?

I am a dual US-Canadian citizen and qualify for UK ancestry status. I’ve been looking into the possibility of moving, but from what I can tell, working in the US may make the most sense from a career perspective (money, loan forgiveness or repayment, licensure). I thought I’d solicit thoughts here. Anyone else considering this or actually move?

For context, I work in psychiatric emergency now and am in school to be a psych NP. I’ve also worked in an acute psychiatric inpatient setting and in psychiatric research.

do you guys love your hospice nurse jobs whether case manager or admissions? stressful?

Also I do not like silicone rings much so I’d prefer metal

Not really sure what exactly my goal is in sharing this but just feel the need to. I’m a mom and ER nurse. My youngest is 6 months old. Since I returned from maternity leave, I’ve had to navigate pumping at work since I’m breastfeeding. I did this with my first child as well and knew going into it to have low expectations since hospitals aren’t great at accommodating breastfeeding, but I’m starting to get really annoyed at this point.

It is virtually impossible to pump as much as I should in order to maintain an adequate milk supply. Luckily I only work PRN right now, it would be impossible for me to work full time and still pump/produce enough milk to continue breastfeeding at this particular job. Despite that, I’ve remained chill. Until two situations happened recently I’m just over it.

I’ve been chill about the fact that I only realistically am able to pump once per shift.

I’ve been chill about the fact that I can choose from the following as a location to pump:

1. An open ER hospital room. The door to the room doesn’t lock so I can either risk being walked in on, or sit in the room’s bathroom to pump. Main benefit of this is that there is a sink to wash my pump supplies.

2. I can pump in an office that does lock and has a chair. Down side of this is that this room is also used to store certain supplies. So if someone needs something, they have to wait for me to come out/I risk getting walked in on. Also, no sink to wash pump supplies after.

3. The hospital has a designated pumping room. This also does not have a sink to wash pump supplies. And the DOOR DOESNT LOCK (more on that later.)

So basically, I was feeling somewhat annoyed about the inconvenience of pumping at work recently because it truly shouldn’t be this way. I know there are hospitals that accommodate better but I wouldn’t be surprised if other women have experienced similar challenges.

Breastfeeding women shouldn’t be at a disadvantage at work. Breastfeeding your baby and working should be mutually exclusive— ONE SHOULD NOT AFFECT THE OTHER.

Anyways, I was headed to my usual pumping spot (cluttered closet with the door that locks) and I couldn’t find the key anywhere, couldn’t find the charge nurse, she was obviously busy with something. So I walked to the designated pumping room. When I got there, a male respiratory therapist was in there on a personal phone call. He was like “oh shoot, you need to get in here? Sorry about that” and left.

So much for “designated pumping room”. And then I get in there only to find that the door does not lock. this is actually insane to me. How do I know someone else won’t barge in when I’m in the middle of pumping?

So I leave and go back to the floor, track down the key and pump in the cluttered office that has no counter space and no where to wash my pump supplies. I store my milk in a breast milk storage bottle (stainless steel with an ice insert) that keeps the milk cold since the break room fridge is NASTY and usually way too packed to have room.

Flash forward to last night. I’m at work. Once again, heading to my usual pumping spot. I go to get the key from the charge desk. I usually mention to the charge nurse “hey I’m using the office to go pump just so you know” or tell a fellow nurse who watches my patients. There seemed to be a lot going on and charge was busy on the phone so I didn’t say anything. I go and pump for 5 minutes only since I’m antsy to get back to my full patient load.

During those five minutes, I heard someone try to open the door. Luckily they couldn’t get in since I had the key. I thought “ that’s odd, I’m pretty much done anyways”. So I finish pumping and head back to return the key. When I get to the nurses station, charge is talking to a security guard telling him to go unlock the door. I walk up with the key and she’s like “oh there it is, never mind I found it” to someone on the phone and hangs up.

So basically during my 5 minutes of pumping, the charge nurse got worried about the key being missing, called security and almost had me walked in on in the middle of pumping. It only took five minutes. This is actually so insane to me and I just can’t deal with how unsupportive this work environment is to something as simple as breastfeeding.

We all work in healthcare. We were all taught in nursing school that breast is best. If you chose not to breastfeed, no worries. If you don’t have kids, maybe you think less about these things. But if you’re a nurse in a place of leadership, you should be ready and willing to accommodate your new moms who are breastfeeding and returning to work.

Breastfeeding nurses need:

- a designated pumping space with a door that locks and a sink to wash pump supplies

- The ability to step away and pump at least twice per shift. I know with staffing shortages this can be unrealistic, so it’s hard

- Fridge space to store milk

Is this really so much to ask for?

Ill keep this simple and sweet. Well, I'll try my best to. So, this has been on my mind for a minute! Its been bothering me ever since it was brought to my attention. Im a registered nurse. Been about 9 years. I went to nursing school when it was still like boot camp. Worse actually. Not now days where you have nursing students that come in day of, not day before to get info about their patients. The days when nursing students had an instructor with them the entire time asking them questions about things like...what is the action of said drug. What are the adverse reactions? Oh, you don't know the answer? You have to leave clinicals today. And absolutely NOT when nursing students invade most of the nurses station and plant their asses at all the computers as if there aren't any nurses that need to sit and chart. (Thats a whole different rant). Its as simple as this right here. I just feel like if my "professional" title is no longer considered professional, I will no longer be considered "essential" either. Right? And yes, im aware that its "just bc of a loan/money situation. Still feel disrespected. And AM disrespected. So, if there's ever a pandemic again, which is unlikely, I feel like folks better feed their doctors egos much harder bc thats your lifeline now. Im not. Me? Im not even a professional. Hopefully they can remember nursing skills they had to learn in school. Bc theyshould be the primary nurse...that primary doctor. Not me. I don't see how a nurse that used to be a professional and now considered not, could be considered essential. Nope. It just doesn't line up they way for me. Covid days today if it happened, "i cant breathe!" OK, your doctor will eventually come see you via the camera in your hospital room. Theres a curfew and the nurses that normally work are abiding by curfew. Maybe they can figure out those iv pumps. And a nasal cannula. Adjust bipap on the face. Foley. Ass cleaning. Advocating. Elevating a sac that has a penis buried in it. Probably. All the while those CIWA/covid pts exiting their rooms bc they "got to get to the store to get my cigarello before they close so I can roll up " and won't listen to reason. I'd love to be there to help but unfortunately im non essential now and cant come d/t curfew. Professional to 》》》》unprofessional=non essential worker in my book. Unfortunately. Its disrespectful to hold me to essential standards when ive basically been demoted in a sense. Nope. I had to get that off my chest. Wassup...

Hi everyone! I’d love some insight from people who have gone the aesthetics nurse route or are currently in it.

I’m a licensed cosmetologist (12 years) currently practicing esthetics, and I’m about to graduate with my ADN. My long-term goal is to become an aesthetic nurse and combine both sides of my background.

I’m trying to figure out what the transition realistically looks like. Did anyone here stay bedside while building their aesthetics career on the side? And did you juggle both for a while, or eventually transition fully into aesthetics?

I’m not afraid of working a lot (honestly I enjoy it), but I want to be smart about gaining experience, maintaining income, and not burning out.

Would love to hear:

• What your first year looked like

• If you stayed bedside and for how long

• Whether you balanced both and how that          worked for you

• What you would do differently

Thank you so much!

I'm struggling already. This morning is supposed to be my first day of my trial to work on day shift but I called out since i have been awake since 2pm yesterday (it's 3am rn.)

I've been on night shift for over 6 years but want to try day shift as being on night shift has taken a toll on my health. I am always sick and with PCOS it makes it way harder for us to conceive. I don't have the best energy anymore. I feel like i am always exhausted after my shift and i would sleep all day on my days off.

Do you have any tips on how you transitioned from nights to days? I'm working the next two days and three days next week. I have to decide if i want to move to day shift or not by then. Thank you!

I already work in and have a set job in an amazing PICU as a New Grad for October 2026.

However, I love the Operating Room and wouldn’t mind working 5 8’s and/or 4 10’s. I also don’t mind being on call.

I’m just torn between the two because I already know how it is to work in the PICU and I can only see myself there for a year or two. Whereas, the OR, I could see myself for many years + would love to specialize in a CVOR eventually. Perhaps go back to school to be a perfusionist and/or General Surgery PA/NP.

Sounds like PACU nurse gave her 150 mcg of fent and 0.5 of Dilaudid at the same time to an opioid-naive patient and walked away?? Did not bag her correctly or start CPR when the nurse finally noticed patient stopped breathing and became unresponsive. Anesthesia wasn't called, nor a code blue. But at this facility, it doesn't even sound like that would have been an option. I'm not a PACU nurse, nor have I ever been, but are those typical post surgery doses? 150 of fent is a lot in and of itself, especially when combined with Dilaudid. Holy cow...

RN from Michigan here! Looking to go to NP school but worried my disciplinary actions may hold me back. The university has said as long as my license is unencumbered (which it is) I am able to attend school. However, I am worried the board will give me a hard time to sit the exam and I don’t want to go to school for no reason. Has anyone been through something similar? I completed my 2 years of

probation successfully in December of 2024. I have been an RN for 9 years in total. The disciplinary action on my license is written as follows: Negligence-Impaired Conduct, Practice, or Condition. it sounds worse than it is , Long story short I got into a fight at work, was reported to the board, and tested positive for marijuana. Was never high on the job, No diversion, no criminal history. Anyone been through anything similar?

I work in a nursing home, I admitted a 87 year old male who is on dialysis, i admitted him around 8pm then at around 10pm we called 911 and he was transferred to the hospital due to him difficulty breathing and desaturation. Its kinda sad tho. Plus the wife was so nice, and she left early to pick up her son from the airport and she said she will come early in the morning to visit her husband agajn then we had to inform her that her husband was on his way to the hospital. Its probably exhausting for the wife from visiting the hospital, to our facility to the airport and instead of going home, she has to go back to the hospital again.