my college is scaring me

[Rhee]

I have a question...I'm a student finishing the prereque's for the nursing program (and I have to say I never thought I'd get hungry when disecting sheep parts, but it happened last week), and some of the students in my classes are scaring me....

All I hear is that everything is too hard, too hard, too hard, and irrelevant. I'm talking about comp I and a microbiology course. I'm wondering if any of you think that good English and writing skills are needed in nursing? I would think with all the paperwork, clear writing would be important.

I guess it just scares me that these people want to be medical personnel, but they want to be spoon-fed the things we need to know, because I know it won't be like that on the job. Will it change once I'm done with my prereque's?

I'm just nervous, I guess. I'm looking at my courses now as foundation for what I'll be learning later....I'm worried that with some of the people I go to school with that things will get kind of dumbed down.

Thanks,

Rhee

[SmilingBluEyes]

I have a question...I'm a student finishing the prereque's for the nursing program (and I have to say I never thought I'd get hungry when disecting sheep parts, but it happened last week), and some of the students in my classes are scaring me....

All I hear is that everything is too hard, too hard, too hard, and irrelevant. I'm talking about comp I and a microbiology course. I'm wondering if any of you think that good English and writing skills are needed in nursing? I would think with all the paperwork, clear writing would be important.

I guess it just scares me that these people want to be medical personnel, but they want to be spoon-fed the things we need to know, because I know it won't be like that on the job. Will it change once I'm done with my prereque's?

I'm just nervous, I guess. I'm looking at my courses now as foundation for what I'll be learning later....I'm worried that with some of the people I go to school with that things will get kind of dumbed down.

Thanks,

Rhee

here you go, CNM2be!

[susanna]

By Sussana

They are worlds apart.

Like you, I had the same expectations.

I left nursing school last year to pursue a degree in medicine as a physician assistant. I discovered that the nursing profession was too far away from medicine for my tastes. The reason I wanted to be a nurse was to blend my love for medicine with the patient contact of a nurse as the counselor told me was what nursing was about.

That is not the case

It is what you make of it though. You can certainly be knowlegeble of medicine as a nurse and use it to have a clue about your patients, but you will not use medicine in treating patients. That is why there is a gap between the two theories.

Can I ask what unit u worked in as a nurse? I want to work in ICU so I think there surely I should be using medicine and physiology knowledge to treat patients alot even tho I want be a doctor. No?

I aslo eventually want to go into anesthesia, which I hope combines the best of nursing (caring for the patient for what he cannot care for himslef) and medicine (the medication part/assesment).

[hobbes]

Right, and every licensed nurse is a saint and another Florence Nightingale. Gimme a break.

I'm one of those students who's going into the profession because there's a shortage. I've been downsized to death and, yes, I need a career with some stability. We all gotta eat and pay bills.

I also make good grades and take the responsibility seriously. Doesn't mean I'll be a bad nurse. I'm not trying to claim I'll be particularly great nurse either, but don't tell me that every nurse is an altruistic saint and isn't in it for the money too. The vacancies in lower paying nursing positions is proof of that.

BTW, I'd say the same thing during a lie detector test. Quite frankly, I'd trust a nurse who's honest about these things over a nurse who's constantly proclaiming they're an altruistic saint.

Here, here. I couldn't agree more. No, I haven't wanted to be a nurse for my entire life and my primary motivation is driven by the needs of my family and the fact that there's some stability. This, plus the fact that I have a genuine interest in medicine and enjoy helping people, make the decision logical for me.

[bargainhound, RN]

Don't worry about others in class. It is helpful to study current Nursing 2004 magazines and also buy extra books

on subjects currently being studied....nursing subjects.....all this will keep you up to date on current info

and help you on boards....and also will help you do better on testing in class.

[Peeps Mcarthur]

By Sussanna

Can I ask what unit u worked in as a nurse? I want to work in ICU so I think there surely I should be using medicine and physiology knowledge to treat patients alot even tho I want be a doctor. No?

I never worked as a nurse. I got through a semester of nursing classes and decided that the idea of blending medical and nursing theory was not what I thought it would be. I am very satisfied with my decision although 7 credits of nontransferable "B" shows up on my overall GPA.

I'm sure if you get to the ICU you'll be using some medical knowledge, some math and what I would call "medical intuition" but it will pale in comparison to actualy diagnosing and treating disease. You may form a relationship with doctors that allows you to express ideas about medical patient care, but those will be few and far between because your training as a nurse will be strictly nursing care. There is a big difference.

I chose to become a physician assistant from the call of medical diagnosis and treatment. I can still care for patients on a personal level and not have the headaches of a physician's responsibility level.

I wouldn't want to go into all the differences between medical training and nursing training but the nursing model is based in psychology and sociology, not medical science. Please do yourself a favor and read some mission statements from programs, ask to look at the curriculum.................look at the physician assistant training and see if that is more to your liking.

Anyway, I am only available through this thread for now. My private messages from here are disabled and I expect to be outright revoked shortly. I'm not pursuing nursing any longer and that doesn't sit very well with most that regard it as an insult somehow. I've helped a few like us transition to the medical side. Next year one of them will be entering a PA masters program.

Here's a little exercise for you that will give you great insight to the difference.

Look up NANDA for nursing diagnosis and careplans. Compare that with what you think a medical profession would teach. Take note that in my careplans I was deducted for putting anything medical in them.

Here is my email address if you are interested in talking about this further.

Make the topic of it obvious so I don't think it's spam.

[email protected]