my problem with allnurses...why so pessimistic?

9 why is all nurses so negative and inaccurate? I checked this website before I ever went to nursing school and read all kinds of post about how 85% people are rejected from nursing school and it is impossible to get in unless "you know someone." I didn't find this true at all. Seriously, i had a 3.37 GPA overall in college and still managed to get into accelerated nursing school. Also, while in nursing school i read about people who had applied to "over 300 jobs" and had yet to even get an interview. When i applied to nursing school i applied to ten place and got 6 interviews and had my pick of jobs( this was in 2010). I only know a few people in my nursing class who are truly struggling to find work. Now I work in area that has very few young educated people and has many elderly people who need medical care. So we have a good amount of jobs. But i truly believe that the majority of people who post on here were the unlucky ones who are strugling with their career. Just an FYI to all the nursing students out there: study hard, remember common since rules, and don't worry too much about what people say on allnurses.com.
in answer to your initial question, the answer that springs immediately to mind is because we're a bunch of cranky old ******* who don't ever want to share our hard-won experiences because we looove watching newbies sink or swim and it's in our best interest to keep the flow of new nurses down to as close to zero as possible so we can have all the fun and glory (and poop) to ourselves. can i hear an amen?ummm, no, i thought not.although she is right about one thing. if you have come this far in your education and still do all your "research" on line because you believe that everything you read on the net is true, this place will disabuse you of that notion fairly quickly. learn to make your own judgments. listen to others' experiences, but always do your own research. ::smiling::

I've been a nurse for awhile now and this economy is the worst I've ever seen it. I see the stress on everyone's face nowadays, not just nurses. So, I think its just a sign of the times. You are lucky.

I'm glad you've had such an easy time, but people will post about their own experiences and they may be different from your own. I found a job easily after graduation, too....but I didn't get a $6000 sign-on bonus like my aunt who graduated way before me did....and I see the market getting tighter and tighter for those coming after me. My hospital is cutting out LVNs, decreasing new graduate positions for RNs, decreasing new graduate pay for RNs and taking away new graduate shift differentials (which added about $5 - $9 extra an hour). I feel like I made it just in time....And I used to be under the impression that nurses could travel anywhere in the USA and easily find a job, but if that was ever true it has also changed. I'm stuck where I'm at for now if I want to stay gainfully employed.

People that are unhappy are generally louder and more vocal that those that are happy. So it's easy to see why the number of negative posts outnumber those that are positive.

Many times people come here for support and advice when they have a problem or a question. That doesn't make them extremely negative. Just because you had an easy time doesn't mean the person who didn't is pessimistic

PYM,Please keep in mind that this forum is a "safe place" for nurses, nursing students, and new graduates to feel free to vent about the challenges they are facing. Since this is an international website, there are varying responses regionally. Some of what you will read on this forum will be negative. Nurses generally cannot vent while at work, so they rely on their e-colleagues here in order to get a different perspective, ask questions, or to simply let off steam. We must be very composed and professional in the working environment. As you know, our jobs are very stressful. It is very healthy to vent-and if you so choose, this forum is one way to vent!Sometimes we have had a bad day and will post about the day's events. Most of the time, we are looking for validation...a sort of "what would you have done?" or "what would you have done differently?", or "I keep running into this problem, what do y'all think?". This forum has proven to be very valuable to its members because they can seek out the advice of more experienced nurses (for example, I will always weigh the advice of LeslieD, Ruby Vee, rn/writer, clear, and MANY others) to get their opinion. Realize that we aren't all Debbie Downers. Most of us are actually very positive.

"Now I work in area that has very few young educated people and has many elderly people who need medical care"Well, now. hmmm.

wow, didn't expect to get that many posts that quickly. I know I was lucky and consider myself very fortunate. i just wanted to point out that allnurses has way more negative/sad narratives than positive ones. thanks for your feedback.

Thank you OP! I have thought that myself and nearly been discouraged. I did some face to face research with nurses in my area, recently graduated from the RN and BSN program I'm considering. Totally different version of the world from them, in a great way! So yes, I think that the greatly dissatisfied are louder than the really happy people in general, not just nurses. Makes sense to me, the happy people are out enjoying their non-work hour instead of stewing and brewing on a forum. And there is nothing wrong with seeking validation, it just creates an inaccurate picture for newbies.

I wasn't trying to make anyone mad. I just wanted to give people an optimistic perspective. I hope that a little optimism didn't make anyone mad.

Quote from HorseHeyThank you OP! I have thought that myself and nearly been discouraged. I did some face to face research with nurses in my area, recently graduated from the RN and BSN program I'm considering. Totally different version of the world from them, in a great way! So yes, I think that the greatly dissatisfied are louder than the really happy people in general, not just nurses. Makes sense to me, the happy people are out enjoying their non-work hour instead of stewing and brewing on a forum. And there is nothing wrong with seeking validation, it just creates an inaccurate picture for newbies.

Well chalk it up as a little street knowledge then. Should you run into situations similar to what you have read as negative here, and boy you betcha they are real and quite possibly in your future ...or not - you might know how to navigate those bad situations just a bit better having read some negative post and all the advice given to that poster. Be happy if good luck is your lot and be blessed that what you've read here so far is not yours to endure.