Need help..don't know if i should continue nursing

Nurses General Nursing

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I am doing my pre-reqs for nursing in a ASN program at a county college. I have done research on rn, pa, and cls. I am in school full time with a 4.0 gpa and I work as a certified clinical medical assistant. Therefore, i don't have the time to volunteer and shadow any RNs or PAs. I know first hand how drs can treat their help and how some patients are nasty but i never worked in the hospital before. I love science and medicine but i find myself having a low tolerance for dealing with ******** at work. Whether its from the drs or patients. I like to help others but i tend to be brutally honest and take no bs. I believe everyone has a job to do and should work together for the best interest of the patient. I believe in doing my job and i take it very seriously. However, I am not an emotional person and very introverted when it comes to small talk. I don't know if i should continue with becoming an rn or change into becoming a PA or clinical lab. scientist. I do not like stress (from dealing with bs) and want to come home from work in peace. I want to make good money doing what i love in medicine. I just need to know what it is truly like to be a rn. beyond the so-called explanation of it being a calling or helping people. what is the real deal? is it a fight to keep your licensure everyday? is it alot of bs? I just don't know what career path to take. I am 27 years old with no children and know i am starting a career late so my dream of becoming a doctor & going to medical school would be out for me. So RN, PA or CLS (i really don't like their low pay though). any advice would be greatly appreciated b/c i am honestly stuck:confused::crying2:

Specializes in Prior military RN/current ICU RN..

I have two bachelors...Business and Nursing. Being a nurse is hard work..but what isn't.. The KEY is thinking hard and making a decision. What do you want to do? I know a guy who is a cytotechnologist. He looks through microscopes all day, makes the same as me..and works M-F. He likes it..I would go nuts doing it. I would say keep looking around and try to see what is what you want to do. Then..once you decide you hit it hard. And if you change your mind..then you change your mind. Life is short..you have to hit it hard and just go for what you want. There will be pain involved, but you will make it.

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you should probably just stay out of the medical field all together becuase your attitude is poor , you should re-read what you wrote and take a long good look at it...sounds like you are the problem ...my opinion STAY AWAY FROM NURSING

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Your love of medicine will not convert into a love of nursing. Medicine and nursing may co-exist but on two different waveforms. Your people skills appear to be in question, do yourself a huge favor and do not consider RN. I love science and I love the study of medicine. You integrate science and medicine into your practice of nursing, but it is not the foundation. You will likely have many tasks to perform as a nurse that you may feel are just not your idea of fun. Go do something else and be happy with that, think long and hard about what a nurse Actually does on a daily basis. I also had a 4.0 GPA prior to nursing school, and you should be smarter then I was and get out now and not waste years of your life on a career that will never live up to your expectations.

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My opinion FWIW is that someone who is 27 does not have enough world experience to be "brutally honest" with people. It's really not a very effective strategy for dealing with people, no matter what your age.

As a nurse, or any kind of healthcare professional, you will meet people whose life experiences are vastly different from the yours, who are -- in the moment you are with them --going through crisis situations that you have no way of understanding, and who have formed very different coping skills, behaviors, belief systems, and expectations from life.

Or, in the moment that you are with them, have lost the ability to behave rationally or respectfully.

Healthcare is a very stressful field and you will be dealing with a lot of stressed out people, many of them nice, others not so much, a lot of them with more experience than you, many of them flawed, some more than others, and you will need to learn to get along.

You will need to demonstrate compassion when you don't feel it, you will need to learn when to talk or not to talk, you will need to learn to get along with people who you think are a**holes, because some of them, despite their personality flaws, are amazing at their jobs.

Or, they have power over you and you will need figure out how to get along if you want to earn a living. Because everyone sooner or later realizes that to have a decent life you are going to have to play nice to hold onto your job so that you can feed your kids, pay your bills, take your vacations, and hang onto your house.

That's pretty much what your going to find no matter what profession you go into.

On the other hand, please don't discount your professional choices because of your age. Plenty of nurses on this site started very late; I'm in my second career and am ancient compared to you. I've known several people who went on to get advanced or second degrees or even medical school when they were even older than you.

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Specializes in NICU.

Any field that has direct patient contact (and that includes nursing AND being a PA/NP/MD) is going to have to deal with a good amount of stress and challenging patients/co-workers

Then again, don't all jobs in the history the world come with some degree of this?

:lol2:

point being--healthcare probably comes with more than its fair share as compared to other fields. I'm totally okay with it and have learned (and am continually learning) good ways to handle challenging families and co-workers. Not a good field for you go into, if you know at the outset that you don't want to do that though...

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Specializes in Community Health/School Nursing.

"I do not like stress (from dealing with bs) and want to come home from work in peace. I want to make good money doing what i love in medicine."

So, what your saying is that you want a job where you are paid what you "think" you are worth? Also, to come home and not worry or be bothered by anything from your work?

Good luck. It's not the medical field.

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I honestly dont think nursing is for you. I think you would be much happier in more of a lab type environment.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

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Though one can learn and improve people skills with age and more life exposure, one cannot change his or her innate personality. You're lucky to realize your own personal shortcomings at a young age; do a thorough personality and job match search. I do agree that you are more suitable for a lab. or research which deals mostly with data. Good luck!

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Specializes in none.

Become a Scientist.

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a cls is a clinical laboratory scienctist

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Your love of medicine will not convert into a love of nursing. Medicine and nursing may co-exist but on two different waveforms. Your people skills appear to be in question, do yourself a huge favor and do not consider RN. I love science and I love the study of medicine. You integrate science and medicine into your practice of nursing, but it is not the foundation. You will likely have many tasks to perform as a nurse that you may feel are just not your idea of fun. Go do something else and be happy with that, think long and hard about what a nurse Actually does on a daily basis. I also had a 4.0 GPA prior to nursing school, and you should be smarter then I was and get out now and not waste years of your life on a career that will never live up to your expectations.

thanks so much for your honesty. i believe that was where my confusion lies. deep down inside i knew that nursing didn't involved alot of medicine but i was in denial. i wanted something to do fast but i understand the difference btw what i love to do and what nursing is.

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Sweetpumpernickel,

Let me start off saying that you are not too old to start med school if this is something you really want. I am 46 and doing my prereqs for Nursing. If this is something you REALLY want to do, then go for it or you will think about it all your life and say I wonder what life would be like IF!!

Now let me say this. I don't care if you are a Dr or CEO of some business. Even Drs have Dept Heads or Hospital Administrators that they have to deal with. You will always have someone over you that can be be a jerk and make your life miserable!! I worked in the Medical Field (Telemedicine) for several years and yes there are Drs. that think they are GOD and will do anything to belittle anyone that does not have DR in front of their name. But also have had the pleasure of working with some really WONDERFUL Drs. as well.

As for the patients you will always have to deal with them whether you are a Dr, RN etc if you go into anything medical. The really sweet ones make it worth all the NASTY ones!! I find if you try to be sweet to the nasty ones 9 out of 10 times they will lighten up or even turn around, then that 1 out of 10 will always be a pain and you just have to not take it personally (that part will be a bit tough)

I guess it all comes down to what you really want to do for a living??

I know of several people who went back to school in thier 30's to start Med School and have loved it!!

So don't think about the jerks you MAY have to deal with.

No matter what field you decide (Medical, Business, etc) you will always run across a sour grape but there are so many others out there that make working in your field enjoyable.

I know I kinda rambled on, but I hope this helps a little!!

GOOD LUCK

thanks alot. my problem was that i did think that i was too old.

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