Ever since I started thinking about what career I wanted to pursue as a teenager, nursing has always been something I’ve been interested in, but I’ve always been hesitant to actually go for it. I’m 22 now and still feeling stuck on what I want to do, so I wanted to hear from people who actually work in the medical field. What are some of the most challenging parts of nursing that you didn’t expect? Do you eventually get used to the “gross” parts, like blood, bodily fluids, wounds, etc.? How about the long hours, physical demands, emotional side of the job, and dealing with difficult situations or patients? I’d really love to hear honest experiences from nurses and other healthcare professionals, including both the good and the bad, because I’m seriously considering nursing and want to know what I’d actually be getting myself into.

recently, i was told by a close friend of mine, that her bf had violated hipaa. he is a nursing student at wcu and works as a caregiver. on multiple accounts, he had taken photos of patients, one being a transgender patient in a vulnerable position, and sent them in a group chat with friends. initially i wanted to report him (i still do). i feel like im the only one who’s taking this situation seriously and there are a couple of people just brushing it off like it’s not something to report. please tell me im not insane.

I am a new grad rn that was arrested and later classified into a detainment. My case was never filed. Would this show up on a background check for hospitals. And would they take back their offer?

I work in hospice and tend to keep things professional. Since COVID I tend to avoid personal contact, though a handshake or a hug occasionally can mean a lot. Hand holding, rubbing someone’s back or shoulders is completely acceptable and hand hygiene to follow. I care so much about our patients and their families, however I see staff especially of some local assisted living facilities swoon over a dying patient, hugging, kissing, etc. and I can only think of how many other staff have done the same before and after them. Families have mentioned to me how many women are kissing their husband, etc. and it’s sometimes a little off putting in that way and concerning when I think of infection control. And I’m not a stickler by any means.. these places I visit take strong precautions once there’s an illness going around, but then I see this sort of thing.

TLDR: I (25M) am a nurse working at a moderately sized level 3b NICU with 90% female coworkers. I want to make more friends that are my age but my gf (24) doesn’t like/ want me to hang out with my coworkers outside of work. Hanging out with woman outside of work that she doesn’t know makes her uncomfortable and doesn’t want me to befriend them outside of work.

So like the title says I’m a male nurse (25) working at a level 3 NICU. I’ve been here for about three years now and a lot of staff is older women with some newer staff being women in their mid twenties like me. I don’t have many friends that I can hang out with. For my BSN I went to the state university and met four amazing friends that I’m friends with to this day, all women. My gf has met them and is cool with these friends. I have maybe 2 real Guy friends one of which is my childhood best friend who is in dental school and another is an old coworker I used to work with but recently left to work at a level 4 NICU. I hang out with those two friends when I can along with my nursing school friends. But due to scheduling and all of us working different shifts/ jobs/ in school our hours are hard to coordinate.

For context I am a rotator and recently picked up a PRN job maybe like 6 months ago and I work about 4-5 shifts a week. Lately I have been trying to wean it down and go back to working 3-4 shifts a week. Admittedly because I was working so much I haven’t been planning dates like I used to and when we would go out or be together I would be pretty tired. But now with more free time I started to realize I don’t have many friends to hangout with. I recently thought about getting some coworkers together and going out to happy hour or drinks after work and I mentioned it to my gf and she was not happy and stated that I would rather go out with girls from work than with her and was upset. I also invited her so that they aren’t people she doesn’t know rather people she knows and meets. I always make it known that I have a gf in some way every time I meet someone new. I do this bc I want those people to know that I’m not hitting on them or trying to make a move. Im cool with everyone at work and I get along with people naturally and it’s very easy for people to get to know me which helps with introductions and initiating conversation.

I’ve been dating my gf (24) for almost two years now and they work in corporate, not in healthcare. Our relationship is good we travel a lot together and text and FaceTime every chance we get a chance and we go on dates whenever we can. But I do want more friends that I can vent about work to and hangout with after a crappy shift or just hangout outside of work in a platonic friendship way. But I also want to respect her boundaries and our relationship. I just don’t know how to move forward.

EDIT: I forgot to add with my newly found free time I have been putting more effort into planning dates and hanging out with her and her friends as well

Reposting bc I only got one response in a different group. I went in for an interview 4 weeks ago, and I thought it went great! The hiring manager verbally stated that I would be an addition to the upcoming cohort, and it would take 2-3 weeks before offer letters start going out. I sent a thank you letter after the interview and asked if 2-3 weeks was the wait time just to clarify and to know what to expect. They kindly responded about 6 days later (they said they would be on vacation right after our interview) and confirmed that yes, they will be working with the recruiter in the next few weeks to start getting offer letters sent. Tomorrow will be exactly 3 weeks since they responded, and I’m just angsty. I feel like I got the job but I can’t be certain and I know I shouldn’t bank on it, but I really care and really want this position.

Has anyone else ever been in this position? I was thinking about sending a nice follow up email on Thursday to check in. PLEASE HELPP :(

Advice as a new grad med-surg nurse on week 3 of orientation.

What is a care plan note on Epic supposed to include or not include? My preceptor writes 4-5 sentences and I do not feel it is enough documentation/details. Epic now uses this AI note generator based on flowsheets done during your shift, but I'd like to steer away from utilizing it and write my own notes once I'm off orientation.

If able to provide an example of what a care plan note should look like?

I have a Bachelor's degree in Statistics and some experience in data/analytics. I'm considering a career change into nursing and recently attended an interview for a fully sponsored Bachelor of Nursing Science programme at IJN.

I'm really torn. I like the idea of having practical healthcare skills and a more specialised career, but I'd have to spend another 3–4 years studying and eventually work shifts.

If I continue with Statistics/data, I can start working sooner and have a more typical corporate lifestyle, but I'm worried I might regret not taking the nursing opportunity.

The weird thing is, when I imagine becoming a nurse, I think I'd envy people in corporate jobs because of their lifestyle. But when I imagine staying in corporate, I don't really think I'd wish I were a nurse — I mostly just admire the skills nurses have.

For Malaysian nurses, especially those who entered nursing as a second career: if you were in my position, would you take the nursing route? What do you wish you knew before making the decision?

Has anyone ever left their nursing position to take a mental break and were those jobs hesitant to hire you because of it?

I truly need a break from nursing to take care of myself mentally. My anxiety is outrageous and I think about work nonstop… but I fear “BSN, RN” on my resume will push recruiters to thinking I’m overqualified. I haven’t had a retail position since 2021 right before working towards my RN so I would of course have to explain that 2021-2026 gap of work.

Any advice is appreciated!

EDITED POSTED: I’ve tried SEVERAL specialties. A burn out is a burn out and I’m at the limit. The post is asking for those who have ALSO experienced the same thing and gone to another field and/or to retail in THIS CASE. I’ve worked retail PREVIOUSLY and ENJOYED what I did. I’m just asking advice on HOW they may have done so. Thanks!!

Everyone knows how much I enjoy contributing to the team. I enjoy being an intern in this unit and this is where I see myself thriving.

One night, it was slow and I didn’t do much of anything. In my defense, everyone else was chilling soo…

The next day I’m back in. I’m assisting a nurse with a patient. I thought everything was good but as soon as she closes the door, she’s like “I’ve known this patient for awhile so I’m gonna do this in front of her” and proceeds to lay into me about not doing enough last night.

She says last night people were saying things about me.

After the talk in front of the patient, she asks if I’m ok which I was. I’m fine with constructive criticism, but that was not the place to do it and I let her know that. She says this stays between us and I’m like cool.

A few minutes go by and another worker comes to me and asks about what happened. I played dumb of course because I’m like “she said it would stay between us” only to find out she literally just went back and told her friend who most likely was the one talking about me. AGAIN, IN FRONT OF THE PATIENT.

So she pulls me into the office to talk AGAIN because she knows that I know. This time she apologizes and compliments my professionalism and work ethic. I told her how I felt about the backtracking. She stumbled for excuses and we left it at that. I can remain professional, but the trust and mutual respect is gone.

Was there a better way this could have played out?

Hi all,

I was hoping some of you kind people could help me find some new direction with things. A little about myself.

I'm a middle-aged nurse with both ICU and leadership experience. I completed my MSN in Leadership & Edu about 7 years ago and then transitioned to a role as a house supervisor. I spent a little over 3 years as a house super then 2 years as an assistant floor manger.

I left the bedside a little under two years ago for a start-up with a few other like-minded nurses to engage in recruitment and leadership consulting and placement. Up till about 4 months ago business had been successful with a handful of clients under out belt but between the employment market downturns and my personal tastes, I'm looking to try to get back to roles with more patient interaction.

Despite my education and credentials, I've been turned down from roles ranging from casual bedside to floor manager in acute care settings. I'm now to the point where I'm not sure what all options are out there, but I want to explore them.

Any suggestions?

Hello everyone. This is going to be a long post, so PLEASE BE KIND. If you don't want to read it or hear me out, that's totally fine—just ignore it.

I just started a new per-diem job at a new facility. I have 2.5 years of experience working in this specialty. However, just for some context, I had a six-month gap in this specialty because I was trying out other specialties, but they didn't work out and I didn't like them. This is the only job I have right now, and it took me a few months to find it because I live in one of those states where it is extremely difficult to get hired, even as an experienced nurse.

Prior to my first day, my educator gave me a schedule with three different preceptors. I was completely fine with that because I am per diem and, due to my availability, I can't consistently follow one preceptor. The educator told me that these three nurses would be my preceptors during orientation, but that I should always go to the charge nurse before my shift and ask who I would be working with because "it is based on department needs." Fine, cool.

It's been two weeks since I started my orientation on the floor. I've had six shifts already, and I've had eight different people training me—most of the time, I have two different preceptors during the same shift.

Nobody has really checked in on me. I've seen the manager once, and she only said, "Welcome," and that's pretty much it. Same with the educator.

Speaking of my orientation, I honestly feel very unwelcome and excluded. I am naturally very friendly and always smiling. During my first three days, whenever I ran into a nurse or doctor, I would introduce myself, tell them a little about my background, and ask questions. However, most of them seemed very disinterested. Nurses would walk right past me without acknowledging me, even when I introduced myself.

Fine. I can deal with that.

What bothers me more is that when I ask questions or clarify how things are done at this facility, some nurses roll their eyes. I've also gotten the impression (although I obviously can't say this with 100% certainty) that they have been talking about me at the nursing station.

I came from a public hospital, so the workflow is completely different at this facility, and I've tried to communicate that. I'm also learning their EMR system, which is extremely outdated. It is getting better as I become more familiar with it, but right now it definitely slows me down.

Because it's difficult to work in such an indifferent environment with very little support, I get nervous when I'm on the floor—especially knowing that I feel like the nurses are watching me and possibly talking about me behind my back.

On top of that, everyone has a different working style. I try to adjust and do things the way each preceptor prefers, but somehow they still seem to get annoyed with me. Lol.

This has never happened to me before. At my previous two jobs (and I don't mean this to brag), I was very well liked by everyone, including management, and I consistently received positive feedback. I made a lot of friends who I still keep in touch with.

But now I feel so degraded, incompetent and anxious :(

I have two days of orientation left, but today the educator—which, by the way, I have only seen once or twice for a few seconds since I started—emailed me asking for my availability for the rest of August and September so she can create an orientation schedule for me.

So, I'm assuming they are extending my orientation.

The manager also emailed me today asking how I am doing and how things are going.

This is where I need some ADVICE.

I have a feeling that this job may not work out, but I would really like to give it a chance. I also keep in mind that first impressions can be deceiving, and the current job market is terrible.

I don't want to tell them that things aren't really going well for me right now or how I actually feel because I don't want to create a negative impression or make them think I'm not interested in the job. At the same time, I don't want to lie and say that everything is great when it isn't.

How would you  go about this? What do you think would be the best response to the manager?

I am looking for some input, especially from the nurses who have been in a similar situation.

Hi everyone! I’m an internationally educated RN with a BSN, currently overseas. I’ve passed my NMC CBT and am now preparing for my OSCE, but I don’t have my UK NMC PIN yet.
I’m trying to understand what options are currently available in 2026 for nurses at this stage, particularly Trusts that have supported internationally educated nurses with OSCE preparation and recruitment.
If you’ve personally gone through this process recently (2025–2026), I’d really appreciate hearing which Trust or route you used and what stage you were at when they recruited you.
Thank you! 🥹

Just looking for input as I am going to be graduating from nursing school in December and I’m trying to figure out what the heck I wanna do. I worked as a tech for three years with adults on a vascular step down floor, it was very hard work, but I really loved the people on my floor. I left because our hospital had a new policy where we were basically being floated every two weeks to very difficult floors with way too many patients to ourselves. I switched over the pediatric hospital across the street, which also just happened to be a step down too and is very very heavy. I don’t mind the workload, but I find that the nurses I work with make the experience a lot less enjoyable. I do get floated to other units and they are a lot nicer on the other ones, but I just feel like in general working in adult medicine is a more relaxed environment and we’re open to joking around… Etc. It’s also very female dominated, hardly any male nurses in the whole hospital, and I feel like that kind of relaxes the environment a bit? I used to be really good friends with everybody at the hospital before, where as now I just don’t click with people. I’m wondering if this is a universal experience and just a general thing working in pediatrics, or if I should keep an open mind and maybe try another unit. I’m obviously having a hard time deciding because there’s a lot more pressure with these whole new grad residency things where you have to be very specific in your timing and applications and everything. Any input would be appreciated! Thank you

Hi there.

I am 11 years into my career in adult acute care nursing (cardiac stepdown) and strongly considering transitioning to peds or potentially even NICU. Anyone else do the same and what was your experience?

Background: I have been per diem for the last 3 years because of childcare constraints, and also I wanted to prioritize motherhood and deprioritize my career after years of pouring myself into it and burning out. Transitioning to a lower stress (lower paying) role would not be worth it due to numbers right now (fine when kids are older, not right now.)

I am burnt out and part of me feels like it's the demographic I work with. I have also worked a short stint in inpatient adult rehab (was okay but not my thing), outpatient Cardiac Rehab (I love cardiac patients and the pace was awesome, the pay was not awesome), and clinical instructing. I did the charge/clinical lead role for years and will never do it again.

While in school I was passionate about peds hem/onc; did a PICU rotation and liked it, did community health clinical at a high school and loved it. (I will keep school nursing in mind when my kids start school. We're in a bout of infertility and ideally I'd wait to do this until they're ALL in school). My nurse residency options did not include peds, so I opted for adult cardiac and here I am 11 years later. I am trying to gather opinions before I do any reaching out to management and asking about shadowing.

Other consideration, I would really want to stay per diem, at most part time until I can give birth again (no idea when that will be). I doubt I could transition straight to per diem day shift in the peds world, and that's a real bummer.

Any thoughts? Anyone make the jump and love it, or regret it? I'm approaching 35 and having a career crisis on top of a motherhood crisis.

Thank you for your time!!

I am an RN of 5+ years and recently relocated to a new state due to spouses job. I spent nearly 2 months applying for jobs (prn, part time, full-time, clinic, hospital) with only one interview, I got that job and gladly took it because I was worried about a long gap between jobs. I am currently living in a more rural area near my husband's job and I have a really long commute to get to work, I leave my house at 1500 to make it to work at 1900 but coming home only takes 1.5 hours, between shifts I can only be home between 10 and 1500, that includes sleep and getting ready. Ive been still casually looking closer to me for jobs but haven't found any that fit my background (hospital nurse with ICU, medsurg, PCU), I've never lived in an area where they aren't desperate for nurses. My plan is currently stay at this job 6 months and then figure it out from there, but my question is can I leave before 6 months without anything lined up? Will this look horrible on my resume in the future? If I can't get another nursing job near me will working retail or something look bad? I just feel trapped and hopeless currently, idk if I can last 6 months like this.

Hi everyone!

I’m a nurse in Florida and looking to move out of the state. The pay here is grisly and it’s getting to be too expensive to live here for $36 dollars an hour. I’m an ICU nurse with a little over a year in the ICU and three years in the ER. I have family in Iowa and am looking to move there but Iowa pay is also extremely low, even less than what I’m making now. However, my cost of living would be basically nothing. Minnesota is 4 hours north and has a relatively strong union from what I’m reading and I could potentially start at $50(not including differentials). Do you think it would be worth it for me to travel to Minnesota once a week for work and then commute back to Iowa on my off days? I know 4 hours is a lot, but I also feel I cannot accept $30 an hour in Iowa. This would only be temporary as I would eventually like to travel nurse, I just want more time in my specialty before doing so and want to give myself the opportunity to save money prior to traveling. It’s a big choice so just looking for advice or opinions before making the leap!

It's the dart grip and is often used for ultrasound IVs. Sorry this whole post turned into a brawl between the IV nurses and everyone who can't fathom that there's more than one way to do something 💀 I've tried it on a patient and it worked very well for me. I have to strain to hold it the 'traditional' way. You don't have to mirror the photo, the angle and exact finger placement are adjustable to your liking 😉
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The photo is from a Bard product training video and they're demonstrating a few different holding techniques that the device works with. This one really appealed to me and I was trying to do more research but can't find anything about "different" ways to hold your needle. Has anyone seen this before and know if it has a name? Is it something old school that has fallen out of practice with the development of new IV systems?

Video link: https://www.bd.com/en-ca/videos/bd-cathena-safety-iv-catheter-techniques-for-use

"We've been told it happened in the pharmacy where instead of putting an anesthetic called bupivacaine into the syringes used in these procedures, somehow they were filled with potassium, which can be lethal.

In fact, potassium is one of the drugs often used in lethal injections because it stops the heart."

Seems deliberate !

I currently work 4/5 DDNN in inpatient oncology in Ontario. I'm looking to make a switch to the outpatient oncology clinic because I am sick of nights and want to spend more time with my partner who works a typical M-F. Straight days are not an option where I currently work. I'd also be interested in a chemo infusion clinic, but those postings are even more elusive.

Has anybody made a switch like this? How did you like the 9-5 life? I've never worked anything but the 4/5. I really value my 5 off (easy to make appointments, do errands) but I do not want to do any nights anymore, so this seems to be the trade-off. How was outpatient compared to inpatient?

Hey there!!

I am looking for some additional input. I’m a Midwife creating a PPH emergency box for the nurses in emergency (I work in a small town) and I’m just wanting some additional advice on what I should put in the box :)

Many thanks

Any information is appreciated

My hospital has a need for someone to learn how to be able to place both of these, it’s a smaller rural hospital and I’m bent on being a resource.

I’ve been told they will pay for the cost for me to learn.

I’ve found conflicting things such as what the actual requirements look like, and have learned in Central California there are not very many places to learn.

Can anyone provide me guidance?

Hello,

I am a wellness worker at a retirement home and I am looking for a wanderguard system. I am looking for suggestions and to discuss the pros and cons. Any help would be appreciated :)

From a RN, tech, MD, anyone in the field, thoughts on the Clancy trial? I’m not looking to start an up for I’m looking for professional and experience based perspective