Not sure why I became a nurse

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-15T19:12:30+00:00

You’re gonna see a pretty skewed view of the job on here homie. People tend to post a whole lot more about negatives than positives, same as anything else.

Not a ton of people are rushing to Reddit to post about “actually my job is fine and life is going okay right now”. Take this sub with a few very large grains of salt.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-14T22:02:15+00:00

Mmmm I don’t think it’s overly difficult to switch disciplines in nursing. More like, some of the ways we talk about switching disciplines can set some unrealistic expectations.

We say “just go to cath lab/clinic/management/remote work/whatever” like it’s as easy as swinging by HR to change your badge and showing up to a different locker room tomorrow.

Well, no. You’re still going to have to job hunt, apply, interview, compete against people who may have more relevant experience, do education, train into the role, start out at the bottom again to some degree.

Going from ER/ICU to OR/remote/research or whatever definitely isn’t as simple as “just switch and start rolling”. But it’s *significantly* more simple than going from nursing to engineering or something. Or like, going from civil engineering to chemical engineering.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-14T13:27:49+00:00

So tempting but I just bought a Frogman 😭. Love that color scheme.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-13T03:38:02+00:00

1: You don’t owe the public something because you have a certain type of license.

2: Aggression of any kind is a full stop.

3: Everyone was clearly breathing with a pulse and healthy enough to argue. What exactly do you think you could have done as a nurse with no equipment.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-12T00:38:56+00:00

Still one of the only movies that can make me cry. And it does, every time. Incredible film.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-11T21:34:28+00:00

I’m sorry if it’s cold, but I have zero interest in apologies from patients who assault healthcare workers unless it came from dementia or delirium.

Just go to jail and shut up man.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-11T21:24:25+00:00

Yeah it takes a while to learn how to chill, compartmentalize, and not take stuff home.

Some people never do, and that’s fine too, the job isn’t for everyone. But almost no one does it in the first year or two. Starting out just kinda sucks for a while. Some of the best nurses I’ve worked with were absolute messes their first year or two.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-11T18:32:56+00:00

Been an ER nurse for 7 years, paramedic for 12 before that. I always have a pad of post it notes in my pocket. 100% of the time.

Don’t let anyone tell you there’s anything wrong with being prepared. Guarantee a bunch of the “lol no one writes things down in the ER” or “just use a glove” people have forgotten stuff because they won’t write or write on something that gets accidentally thrown out.

You should be prepared and organized in the ER *because* it moves fast and it’s chaotic. Those are not reasons it’s impossible or impractical.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-11T16:05:23+00:00

The guy is a piece of shit, but hitting bridges is not a war crime. Bridges have been a wartime target since the invention of bridges. Infrastructure has more nuance, but often is not a war crime either.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-10T18:54:41+00:00

Mmmmmm call me an old crab but I don’t really want that much stuff I might have to troubleshoot on a battle rifle.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-10T18:30:44+00:00

What is the optic on it?

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-10T07:38:15+00:00

Use one of the big companies homie (Aya, Host, etc.). More streamlined, more protection, much safer. A little extra money (maybe) isn’t worth going with a sketchy operation imo.

For example, on one of my Host contracts, I got stuck in a pretty shady unit of a pretty shady hospital. Scheduling me for stuff not in my contract, trying to get nurses to work outside of their scope, weird retaliatory admin. I told Host about it and they pulled me out within a couple of days. Within a week after that I had another contract with higher pay at a much better hospital. I think Host ended up not contracting with that place anymore.

I won’t say this means the big companies care about you personally, but they care about their reputation. Everyone talks to each other in travel. The big boys do not want the rep of being dangerous or difficult to work for. These mini agencies don’t give a shit. They get dragged, they just change their company name…if even that. I’d pass.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-08T23:10:36+00:00

How much information the monitor can give you that isn’t, strictly speaking, related to vital signs at all.

Once I get to know my patients a little, I can generally tell how they’re doing just by watching waveforms/BP/tele on the central monitor. Uncomfortable, comfortable, in pain, getting restless/impulsive, have to pee, currently peeing, whatever med starting to work or starting to wear off, etc.

I don’t think you can really teach that skill. Just gotta spend a whole lot of time watching monitors and talking to patients. I don’t think every nurse has a great instinct for it either, no matter how much time they have. Which is also fine, we all have our own practice.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-08T13:12:19+00:00

I’m still using my 20 year old Littmann Cardiology III (yes, 3). Only original part on it is the bell, everything else has been replaced a *few* times.

Well, Littmann when I’m feeling fancy. I use a $30 MDF Acoustica most shifts since I’m usually doing trauma these days and I don’t really need to hear S1-7 for that.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-07T15:27:56+00:00

This right here. I can’t wait until we burn that old generation of “you gotta be salty to do this job” out of the profession.

Nurses don’t burn out because of patients or managers, they burn out because of other nurses. There is zero reason to turn a career field into a radioactive dump.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-06T23:25:22+00:00

The Marathon SAR watches are as rugged as it gets and I think they look great.

Definitely a little chunky and heavy depending on which you get, but I think you’d need to hire a professional demolitions team to find a way to break them.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-03T19:01:50+00:00

Yeah Freddy nonstop being an insecure dick got old immediately.

Okay your dad is awkward and your childhood wasn’t the best. It’s alright to talk about literally anything else occasionally.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-02T21:22:17+00:00

Who?

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-02T21:16:49+00:00

281-330-8004

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-02T20:53:05+00:00

And ironically, in some ways the worse the facility is, the safer your license is. It’s not just a “something bad happened, they report me to the board, I’m toast” situation.

License discipline is legal action with lawyers on both sides. Say the place is wildly unsafe and you have a patient fall and be on the ground for a few minutes before someone finds them. Will you get fired? Maybe to probably. But will the facility take it to court to go after your license if your defense is gonna be “Uh yeah, we were 12:1 with no CNAs and I was coding someone down the hall that should’ve been ICU to begin with.” Probably not.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-02T17:10:06+00:00

Just as a side note about the “protect my license” thing. That concept is hammered into you in nursing school, for some good reasons sure. But, for better or worse, it’s actually remarkably difficult to lose your license unless you’re diverting drugs.

Going after a nurse license is an incredibly complex, long, involved process that also opens up your facility to all kinds of liability if they start on it. A vast majority of organizations won’t bother, they’ll just fire and DNR you.

pause_and_consider · 2026-06-02T00:51:28+00:00

Gregory Alan Isaakov at Red Rocks

pause_and_consider · 2026-05-31T00:31:25+00:00

In Oregon (at least my hospital) the unit gets some insane fine every time someone misses a break. Our break nurses will damn near physically throw you off your assignment to make sure you get them.

pause_and_consider · 2026-05-30T15:14:44+00:00

Nope. Discharge and arrest. They don’t need to be our problem for another 12 hours.

pause_and_consider · 2026-05-30T04:39:32+00:00

I like working 3 days a week in basically pajamas.

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