As Nurses, we are wonderful creatures and good at a lot of things. This is far from bragging. I speak the truth, and we all know it. We wear a lot of hats in our profession. You name a job, we can do it! But, there are some jobs that we wouldn’t excel at doing no matter how we try!
A list of some careers that nurses CAN’T EXCEL AT
1. Lawyer
We’ve got all it takes to excellent in this career path, don’t get me wrong. But first, it would be unbelievably boring compared to nursing. And secondly, we’re bad liars. Nurses are bluntly honest. We would fail miserably in court.
2. Fashion Designing
We can advise you on the best brands of scrubs. Other than that, most of us probably don’t keep up with the latest fashion trends. Our closets are mostly filled with scrubs and uniforms. Outside of work, we struggle with what to wear to dinner dates, parties, etc.
3. Modeling
Nurses are beautiful and handsome but our professional ethics disallowed some kind of dressing/ accessories. Nurses have healing hands, it’s true. But, they’re ugly. Clean, yes. But ugly. All those hand soap and alcohol-based hand sanitizer take its toll after a while. Not to mention we’re not allowed to have nail polish, fake nails or glue on decorations. nurses don’t have pretty feet. They sweat in tennis shoes or nursing shoes for 12+ hours a day. We don’t have the time or energy to invest in pedicures. And plantar fasciitis is real. An average African nurse can not wear a tattoo neither can she do a heavy makeup.
4. Banker
Although Nurses have strong IQ that can make them outstanding in the banking industry but we are smarter than being a banker. Moving from ER to the main ward and vice versa nursing our patients is what we are good at. Sitting down for long hours counting money will be too boring for us.
5. Marketer
Marketer are know for their sugar coated mouth to deceive customers into buying their products, Nurses though have sweet voices but finds it difficult to lie. Empathy is one of our greatest value.
6. Comedian
Nurses are hilarious–to other nurses. But something tells me that we would be bombarded with tomatoes by a “normal” audience who don’t find our nursey jokes very funny. I’m not disputing the fact that some nurses are naturally funny however not all nurses will make a good comedian.
7. Car Salesman
See number 1. Nurses aren’t good liars. Our job is to help you, to heal you and care for you. Our job is not to make money unjustly. We’re not trying to sell you medications, we give them to you to help you. So, I, personally, wouldn’t sell you a crap car. I would tell you it was a crap car. Therefore, I would make no money.
8. Drug Dealer
The problem is we have too much knowledge. I would tell the client all the possible side effects. And then they may not buy the drug. Again, see #1. Nurses are bad liars.
9. Pest Control
Have you ever seen a nurse enter a room of a patient who has bed bugs or scabies? Better yet, have you ever had a patient who has had those? Point made. No infectious disease in the world can freak a nurse out like a bed bug can. We go in there with full body armor and head gear like the SWAT team. I can’t handle it. We’ll leave that job for someone else, thanks.
10. Gambler
Nurses don’t have good poker faces. We try to. But we would lose all our money in a hurry as a professional gambler.
So, there are 10 bad career shift choices for nurses. Though we’re good at many things, some careers just aren’t for us, so I’m happy there are people out there doing them!
What bad career choices for nurses can you think of? Kindly share with us.
Oluwatosin K. Odunayo, RN
