So what do you actually like about nursing?

5 The title is kind of tongue-in-cheek.

I realize that this forum is where people do a lot of venting about the profession. Venting is both normal and healthy. However, as a result most of the threads here tend to focus on negative aspects. Not all, but most. But there's got to be some positive stuff too, right?

So what are some things that you really enjoy about being a nurse? What are some things that pleasantly surprised you about the job, or at least turned out to be nowhere near as bad as you thought it would be?

Thanks and bacon planks.
Well, if you are offering bacon planks, I'll bite.I have a fantastic preceptor and work on a really great floor. Being new where I am is not a sin and my questions both flow freely and are answered freely. My mistakes and forgetting of details are both handled matter-of-factly and with professional patience. I love the situation I am in for learning. I love that thus far the "eating their young" part has not happened for me.I love it when I am able to be a conduit for a patient with a terrible new diagnosis to go from feeling helpless, scared and angry to a place where they are starting to come to terms with their diagnosis and are open to learning how to help themselves. I love it when I earn the trust of my patients and when I earn the trust of their family members. I love it when I have a patient who has been tense, unhappy and flat actually smile at me or even laughs with me over something.I love it when I face down a personal demon (ie: trach care scared me to death. Had my first fresh trach this week.) and find that I am capable and competent. I love it when the peices start coming together and things I didn't know or easily forgot start to become base knowledge in my mind.I love it when my patients thank me. That's better for my spirit than any paycheck could ever be.And I love love love nursing humor. Belonging to this profession makes me happy.

I was pleasantly surprised by how helpful the veteran nurses are on my unit, and how welcoming everyone is to new nurses or nurses new to the unit.I love knowing that I am making a difference every night I go into work. Perhaps the patient isn't awake or even oriented enough to know what I am doing, but I know the interventions and advocating I do for them (as far as asking for certain meds/procedures, etc) makes a difference in their outcome.I love that I am never bored. I could not work a job where I had a lot of downtime during the day/night. I rarely have any down time, and I'm thankful for that. There's always something to do; even if you're all caught up, there's always a nurse that's not and needs help. I love not knowing what I'm going to get when I walk in the door or what my admission will be like (if I have an empty bed when I get there).I love easing families' anxiety (since they end up being the patient (emotionally) when the patient is sedated or more critical).I love the continuous learning, whether formally through ceu talks/lectures/certifications or just learning on the job and reading on your own.

Not knowing what's going to happen next. The endorphin rush of working a true emergency (not an adrenelin rush which fight/flight but the time slows down and everything needed to be done is crystal clear and easily accomplished endorphin rush). Instant gratification - treat or street. My great (for the most part) co-workers. 11a-11p.

I like the detective work that comes along with someone coming in with what seems to be a minor complaint. I also like the satisfaction that comes along with doing the work that so many nurses look down upon, such as cleaning someone's poop covered butt, bed baths, and linen changes. I thought wiping butts would suck, but there are a lot of things in nursing that are far worse than wiping butts. I had no orientation to working the floor at my current job but when I was given the choice to sit for a psycho loony patient or work on the floor, I chose the floor, despite my lack of orientation.

I like working with docs...I like the camaraderie with my colleagues...I like the rare hug, note, or letter to the paper which expresses gratitude...I like not being grossed out by things that so many people find revolting...I like sticking needles in people...I like the adrenaline hit when things are going nutz...I like making a difference in a way that really counts...I like knowing all the cops who work in the area...I like knowing all the ambulance crews, too...I like riding in the back of an ambulance going code 3 and realizing that it's all for real... and for keeps...I like solving problems that others fail to solve...I like being nocturnal...I like being paid double-time when I go over my scheduled shift...I like working 3 days per week...I like having an excuse to miss certain family gatherings...I really like being an ER nurse... most of the time, anyway.

Funny, if you go into other professional forums, you will find a fraction of the "venting" found in nursing forums.Gee, I wonder why (insert roll-eyes emoticon here). I like medical applications, science, physiology, and I like solving those medical mysteries as well as the hollistic (human) aspect of nursing. I like collaborating with other departments and peers. I don't like what "nursing" is today, for the most part. I'll leave it at that.

While I was a Rehab Tech in a nursing home, I was talking with a 99 year old resident who spent about half a century as an elementary school teacher.I asked her, "What was your favorite thing about teaching?"She paused, thought about it for a few second and replied:"The check."Still cracks me up.

I have to agree with a previous poster.A simple "thank you" or "you explained that very well" from a patient or family member does more for me than my bi-weekly paycheck.I am a new nurse, and nursing is my first and hopefully only career. Those words boost my spirit and confidence.

needless to say, nursing has come a long way, since the knight of larzarus and ms. florence nightingale. however, the main focus remains the same, to provide a high caliber of nursing to those in their time of need. therefore, as a nurse i am the advocate for my patients by improving patient care. moreover, by integrating theory into practice and placing aside conventional wisdom at times for the sake of innovation, as a nurse i thrive on the front lines of healthcare for patients at all levels. having said that, nursing to me is a passion or a calling... if you will.

I like it when I run a code all by myself (correctional setting, no other healthcare people on-site), and it works. I save a life. That feeling is enough to carry me through the bad days.

i agree with mofomeat. i'm taking prerequisites for a nursing program right now and come here for motivation and information. the site does have lots of venting and negative, doom-and-gloom threads. hope it gets more positive as time goes on...

The inner workings of the body fascinate me, whether they are working right or not - both are interesting. I like it when I look at my patients condition, their support, their medical dx & meds and understand the physiology of exactly what is happening, sometimes down to the cellular level.I love feeling competent: taking only one poke to start and IV or get blood, going to the physician and being prepared to answer all his/her questions and having correctly anticipated his/her new orders, looking a patient that looks non-specifically "bad" and finding out later that I was right (not that I want patients to go bad, but glad that I made the right call). Part of competence is when I get assigned the sickest patients or the most difficult families and when those families say they like it when I take care of their loved one.I love knowing that I REALLY did save a life today - even if I 'only' saved it by administering a tube feeding or IV fluids or an antibiotic. Dehydration and infection did and still do kill. A dose of ampicillin isn't chest compressions but antibiotic therapy is life-saving. Along with the idea of saving lives: I KNOW my work matters in the grand scheme of the world and that what I do "makes a difference."I also love the flexibility offered by 12-hour shifts, the protection and benefits my union offers, the pay I earn in relationship to my educational level......and that "hospital" smell. :heartbeat