I have a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and have worked in a local Intensive Care Unit for the past 4+ years.
First and foremost, it's a stressful job; one of the most stressful things you can do. Second, a degree in nursing can be used for a variety of things, not just floor nursing. It's also a rewarding job, if you're into that sort of thing.
We work odd hours for mediocre pay. We have the constant threat of the .Gov fucking with our reimbursement, which in-turn, affects us. Most patients are unappreciative and often times downright nasty, not to mention severely non-compliant. And your stupid fucking management expects you to take this with a smile on your face because the stupid fucking government bases hospital reimbursement off of some silly surveys we send out to these unappreciative and nasty patients.
We deal heavily in nasty body fluids. We see death and disease all the time. Happiness and sadness (mostly sadness). We see people rack up thousands and thousands of dollars in hospital bills trying to keep their 95yo grandmother alive for one more month; a bill they will most likely never pay. I'm most likely a carrier for every known biological disease that exists. I work with a large amount of women all day long (this can be good or bad.....mostly bad; bitches are catty).
With all that said, I do enjoy it most days. I'm extremely good at it; mostly because I think like a man (serious about this). Most women are emotional in this job, whereas I tend to be logical. I find the human body to be quite similar to say, a car. If you know how it works, you know how to troubleshoot it. That's why I kick most of their asses.
I also do not plan on doing this the rest of my life. I'd hurt somebody if I had to do this (floor nursing) another 5 years. With how good I am at this whole medical thing, I (and a lot of other people) think I should go on to med school. I'm torn on this decision. I'm also leaning towards CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) school. It's a masters/doctorate program and would take another 2-4yrs of schooling to complete, but I think it would be worth it versus another 10+ for med school/residency.
Anyways. That's what I do currently and am planning on doing in the future.