Career change to Nursing...not interested in Clinicals, should I continue?

[jbs203]

Hi I am 27 and have been working in clinical laboratory for 6 years. I have a great M-F 9-5 schedule in a great hospital. And I've been so eager to leave my field to find a career that will allow me to work anywhere, make decent money, and have a flexible schedule.

I've been reading forums and it's causing me to have doubts. Too be honest I'm not scared to take risks, but at my age and the foundation I built in my current career I'm starting to have doubts. I just started my first 'trimester' of nursing school and I don't understand how to study for the fundamentals. No matter how hard I study I still can't get a decent grade. And I always get Bs and As. I only get Bs if I start to forget content. I get Cs when I just can't understand the course and am not interested.

My questions for senior nurses and new grad nurses:

1) How was your first year on the job?

2) Do you feel burnt out from work more than anything?

3) Do you feel like you are getting paid well considering the duties you perform?

4) has obamacare really changing hospital healthcare?

5) Do you think you have a lot of free time when you are not at work to enjoy leisure activities?

I really need the HONEST truth about nursing as a career. Because I'm thinking of going to do Nurse Practitioner but I'm starting to think this is not the right path because I'm not totally interested in what I do in clinicals so far. Even though it's just basic nursing and it will change in later clinical settings.

[Fiona59]

So you want to be an NP without having to do the "icky" stuff and learn your craft from the bottom up (pun intended)

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Just wanted to chime in.

First of all, our working schedules are absolutely NOT "flexible"... heck, nurses are so rigidly scheduled that we are actively discouraged from ever calling in sick. srsly. We work weird hours and trying to get any vacation time is often a very difficult issue.

Most NP programs require clinical experience (as a nurse) in order to be admitted. Of course there are some programs that admit people with zero experience, but - at least in my part of the world - employers will not hire NPs with no clinical experience.

I think laboratory science is an amazing field... well respected & meaningful work. Very different from 'our' world. Nurses are the lowest professional rung on the acute care hierarchy. No power, minimal respect. . . responsible for all the scut work that no one else wants to do.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I thought I wanted to become a NP. or I had this vision that maybe I can be ok because I just have to get through clinical in nursing school then apply to MSN in NP.

I had similar thoughts (but not identical goals) when I was in nursing school many years ago. I knew that I did not want to be a staff nurse on an adult med/surg unit -- and that I simply had to endure the undergraduate clinicals in order to get the BSN that would open other doors for me. It was not easy, but I simply "sucked it up and endured it." Yes, my grades suffered horribly during those 2 years -- but I survived and perservered.

Fortunately, I found a clinical area that I enjoyed (NICU) and was happy as a NICU staff nurse for a couple of years. Then I went to graduate school and became an "A" student again ... and have worked in CNS/Staff Development/Academic roles ever since.

I guess it's just a matter of whether you have the strength to get through the parts of school that you don't like in order to reach your ultimate goals. Only you can answer that.

I won't say it was easy. It was incredibly difficult and I got a few permanent scars along the way. I have often wondered if I shouldn't have taken the difficulties of my undergraduate experience as a sign that I should have taken another career path. But I was stubborn and refused to quit. People see me today as someone who has a great job, good income, etc. nearing retirment. But still I wonder ...

[Cook26]

If you are looking to advance to the NP role without actually being a nurse, I don't think nursing is the right path for you. If being a nurse is something you have to put up with while getting an advanced practice degree, it doesn't seem fair to your patients IMO.

I don't know what your undergrad picture looks like, but I would suggest looking into PA. It would allow you to be a mid level without being a nurse.