What are the disadvantages of a nursing career?
Asked by Sophia
I am considering applying to study nursing in Australia, and I was wondering what are the disadvantages/drawbacks of this career, as well as the course? I appreciate if only nurses (preferably Australian) could answer this question. Also, I am fine with blood and guts etc, but I get a little queasy around vomit and I gag. If I decide to be a nurse, will I eventually become desensitised to this or will it be a problem throughout my career?

Best Answer:
I am only a CNA in the states so I can only tell you what the job it's self requires. Here are just a few main points: 1) odd hours, usually start out on the 3-11 shift or 7pm-7am shift if they do 12 hr shifts. 2) The holidays and weekends get hard to get use to 3) You have to be mentally prepared. Patients will cuss you out for nothing, throw things at you for just walking in the room, they physically hurt you and the bad thing is that you can not do anything in response to their outbursts. Just smile and take it. Good things 1) The thank you get for helping someone 2) The smile you get when you walk in the room and them saying I'm glade to see you here 3) Knowing that you made a difference insomeoness life today. Those are just some main points of good and the bad, it is just up to you if you are prepared for all that. Some people can not handle that, but I know that nurses also have a lot of office jobs to look over medical records or even take charge of a facility. There are many different areas in nursing and degrees, just do some more research and see what will the best fit.

I'm not a nurse, but I do work in the medical field as an EMT. Not exactly the same, but I have done shifts in the ER. So, here would be my list: Odd working hours. You can end up working the swing shift or the night shift. It might vary as well, making getting used to it difficult. It can be a very emotionally draining job, seeing people in bad shape all the time or seeing people die, which can lead to things like depression down the road (depending on how one copes with all of it).
Answered by JSatt

You will be desensitized to this. You'll have to clench your stomach the first few times, but you'll move on. The downside is sometimes you have obnoxious/overbearing patients, and you're around sick people. Nurses also on occasion work insane hours and are called in when there is a large emergency. Some days are quiet and boring, most are standard, some are a total mess. Tajia S has a better answer
Answered by Robert