To answer the question someone asked of what isn't great about the job. This might not be ALL nurses, but my mum worked in an understaffed surgical unit, so had a lot of stress trying to get everything done, regularly had to leave late (the shifts were already 13hrs long, 7am-8pm), got verbal abuse from relatives who weren't happy with the care as they were understaffed, and she was regularly asked to take charge of the ward despite not being paid to do so.
She was also regularly moved to other wards, sometimes even asked to take charge of them, and she found it stressful having to quickly integrate into another team, and provide care for conditions she had very little knowledge of.
Basically, she felt unable to give the care she wanted to give when she trained, as everything was just too stressful. She couldn't even stop to chat to the patients, which she believed was important. So she left.
For the poster saying you don't know what other jobs you could do, google Nurse Analyst and see what you think :).