I'm having doubts about nursing... :(

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Okay everyone, I am just starting my second semester of nursing school and I just had my first day at orientation on the med-surge floor that I will be at this semester. This is my first semester doing clinicals.. Long story short, I absolutely hated it. But there are several factors that may have affected my experience with it. Because it was orientation we were not set up with computer access so some of us were set up to shadow an RN, and others were set up to shadow a CNA. I got set up to shadow a CNA, I felt so unfulfilled.. We literally changed sheets, and cleaned poop the whole time. I was envious of my other classmates that got the opportunity to shadow nurses. The whole day I kept thinking to myself, am I really busting my a** in nursing school for this? It was extremely disheartening and discouraging. I went home almost in tears. Now let me back up and acknowledge the fact, that YES I WAS WITH A CNA, and I am sure it is much better actually shadowing a nurse. I was able to pop in and tag along with other classmates, but even then it was kind of boring. I know I should probably give it another chance but it was not a good first impression at all by any means.

I guess I just thought it would be more exciting... I would be able to use more of my nursing skills. I just don't know if I will ever like the med-surge floor.

Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.
Okay everyone, I am just starting my second semester of nursing school and I just had my first day at orientation on the med-surge floor that I will be at this semester. This is my first semester doing clinicals.. Long story short, I absolutely hated it. But there are several factors that may have affected my experience with it. Because it was orientation we were not set up with computer access so some of us were set up to shadow an RN, and others were set up to shadow a CNA. I got set up to shadow a CNA, I felt so unfulfilled.. We literally changed sheets, and cleaned poop the whole time. I was envious of my other classmates that got the opportunity to shadow nurses. The whole day I kept thinking to myself, am I really busting my a** in nursing school for this? It was extremely disheartening and discouraging. I went home almost in tears. Now let me back up and acknowledge the fact, that YES I WAS WITH A CNA, and I am sure it is much better actually shadowing a nurse. I was able to pop in and tag along with other classmates, but even then it was kind of boring. I know I should probably give it another chance but it was not a good first impression at all by any means.

I guess I just thought it would be more exciting... I would be able to use more of my nursing skills. I just don't know if I will ever like the med-surge floor.

I have no idea what "nursing skills" you have to use??

You have the nursing skill equivalent of the Florence Nightingale brigade when they were taking care of Crimean War soldiers keeping them clean and comfortable. Which, by the way, actually saved lives!

This nursing student has a LONG WAY to go to catch up with reality and second semester is not too early to start.

Specializes in 15 years in ICU, 22 years in PACU.
Coming from someone who is in a profession where you should show empathy and compassion daily, I came here to vent as a frustrating student. Not every specialty of nursing is for everyone, and just because I didn't enjoy my first day of clinical doesn't mean I should get grilled for it either. I notice that a lot of people get shamed for the posts they make in this forum and I don't believe that is right. I never said I was too good to be with the CNA, that I hate poop or anything along those lines. It was humbling to see the CNA interact with the patient because he did such a good job. I have the upmost respect for him. So let me make that clear. I was just looking to learn more in the process, I saw the EKG boards on the wall and I had to go find a nurse to ask a question about a rhythm on the monitor. Everytime we went into a patient room the CNA, did not know why they were being hospitalized. It was those types of things that I felt I missed out on. I wasn't expecting someone to come in a stretcher while coding, and everyone running around like crazy.....

And don't we all just LOVE being told what kind of nurse to be and how to treat the insulting new nursing student.

It is most helpful to lurk before jumping into the deep end and splashing around like chum.

Just adding my two cents....

1. I have learned a lot from the CNAs that I have worked with. The have saved my bacon more then once when I missed something or didn't respond quickly enough. They are your eyes and ears when you aren't in the room.

2. Think about how you learned about time management from that CNA. Did everyone get checked, turned, fed, bathed, etc. in an 8 or 12 hour shift? How'd that happen?

3. I agree with the other comments on nursing is a variety of "sit and wait" and "hop to it". If you want an adrenaline rush....go bungee jumping.

4. Welcome to the world of reality versus your expectations based on previously inaccurate impressions. Nursing is sharing, frustration, gratification, sadness, joy, do-overs, observations, craziness, death, birth, crying, laughter, and so many other things. Meeting your expectations is not what it is about.

5. Think back in your life...did you get/learn more from the experience/teacher who moved you out of your comfort zone to meet a new experience or when you got what you expected? The educators and experiences you will have as a student are only a very small taste of what you will have to meet when you are out of school. And there won't be an instructor to bale you out. Get used to being uncomfortable with your nursing future...embrace it and you will grow in knowledge and strength exponentially.

In Summary:

Nursing isn't always pretty or easy. Every nurse has had days when we are frustrated, shed some tears, or have our expectations dashed by a non-compliant patient/family/caregiver; an unkind coworker/supervisor; or the experience that left us doubting our ability. Yet in the end, the people who understand nursing is a calling, come to terms with all of this and find a way to stay in nursing. A caregiver, be it CNA, LPN or RN, will do what is right because she/he believes in a higher standard of care and getting hands dirty. We all share. We all teach. We are hooked!

Please keep that in mind when you think about the comments here and your decisions on what nursing means to you. Good Luck!

I'm going to respond from a slightly different angle than others.

I want to reassure you that, regardless of the career, nursing, teaching, IT, you name it, there is going to be a sort of disconnect when you actually leave the purely academic environment and head into the hands on arena.

I'll be honest; my entire nursing school clinical experience was absolutely nothing like I anticipated and it had me questioning my career choice the entire time. Like, researching other majors in a panic type of situation.

Mercifully, I was able to look outside my experience and observe the nurses on the various floors and see what it was that they actually did. And I was eventually able to see that while my clinicals didn't resemble what I wanted to do with my life, that the actual work that I saw the nurses do was in fact what I wanted to be doing.

I don't want to chastise you for your feelings. Why? Because honestly, thoughts come into our head uninvited and nobody on this planet can control what pops into their head. What we CAN control is what we do with that thought, whether or not we entertain it and hang onto it. Feeling disappointed isn't right or wrong; it is what it is. It won't be the last time nursing disappoints you either.

I get it; the experience was built up in your head and when you were one of the few who didn't have an RN to shadow on that first day, it felt disappointing.

I want to challenge you. Situations like this won't be restricted to shadowing a CNA. Some days your preceptor with have an assignment that disappoints; maybe you get stuck in two weeks worth of clinicals where you basically have the same diagnosis or patient types day after day. You feel like you need variety, but you will regardless be stuck with something that is beginning to feel tedious. I challenge you to own your education, do your best to swallow the disappointment, and do your best to perfect those repeated skills, find ways to become more efficient, do whatever you can to get every drop of knowledge from the experience.

I'll be honest; I didn't learn how to efficiently change an occupied bed until after I was a solo RN. And it actually gave me anxiety when I had to change an occupied bed on a vented and paralyzed patient because I was slow and made the situation uncomfortable for my patients. Then one day I got floated to a rehab floor where everyone was total care. I spent hours that shift hand-in-hand with a particular CNA; I actually came clean to her that I basically sucked at changing beds and could she please teach me her technique, because dang that woman was so good! She didn't shame me and she smiled and together we changed about 20 beds that night. And let me tell you, I was so grateful to her because even though at that point I could titrate epi, vecuronium, fentanyl, milrinone, and midazolam per protocol with my eyes closed, trouble shoot a vent, etc., I had never shadowed a CNA or had an experience in nursing school where I did nothing but change beds where people couldn't get out of the bed.

I know it sounds silly, but that is a valued nursing skill. When I moved into PICU on nights, we didn't have CNAs. And I was so glad that I knew that basic skill before I had gotten there; my previous experience had been straight NICU and changing a sheet for a 500 gram premie is NOTHING like changing a total bed for a 300 lb 15 year old burn victim. But being that NICU nurse that floated to peds rehab that night, I got a very valuable education that I really should have gotten back in nursing school but didn't.

Even the most remedial tasks are lessons to be learned; but I want you to know that it's okay not to particularly love those experiences. I don't know any nurse who loves cleaning up "Code Browns" for an entire shift.

I encourage you to use those experiences regardless and do your best to get whatever you can out of it. Shadow a CNA and challenge yourself to get very fast with those changes, to learn body mechanics to keep yourself from getting injured, to learn how to move the joints of the patients to minimize their discomfort.

Just know that nursing school isn't at all like practicing nursing and you just have to get through it. You have choices in nursing, where and when you work, that you don't have as a student. You can do this!

Best wishes and best of luck to you.

OP you didn't mention if you had any previous experience working in the medical field? If not, that may have been the reason you were scheduled with a CNA. Our clinical instructor made sure that those of us who hadn't worked as a CNA previously (me and about half of our class) had one day with a CNA in order to get a good feel for the hospital, what the CNAs do, where things are, etc. It was a good way to get acclimated and it won't put you "behind" your peers at all, if that is of concern to you. It certainly gave me an appreciation for the amount of work they do and it was useful, for me at least, to practice the basic tasks on a person instead of a simulation mannequin.

Specializes in Med/surg/ortho.

nursing isn't a glamorous job most of the time, you'll learn that. And it was just one day just wait.

I just don't think you should base your opinion of nursing on just one day at clinicals. Once you learn more skills and get checked off on them, there will be more stuff that you'll be able to do. Then you might enjoy it more. Plus, when you graduate, you don't have to work med/surg. Nurses work in schools, hospice care, home health, doctor's offices, long term care facilities...the list goes on and on. The odds that you'll find an area of nursing that you really love are pretty high considering all the environments you could work in. Definitely give it another chance.

Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
There were people on here who were rude before she began throwing attacks back. I know nursing isn't sheltered, but I do feel like sometimes people's remarks or tones can be unnecessary. And I'm not just talking about this particular thread. I've seen this happen many times in the 4 or so months I've been a member. I'm not saying to not criticize her attitude about the ordeal, but there's a difference between criticizing and insulting.

Your last paragraph- I don't think there's anything wrong with her complaining about her first day. Saying that if she complains about her first clinical day she'll torpedo herself is a bit over-dramatic, isn't it? I don't think it's any indication of what she'll be like as a nurse. I don't know how old OP is, but people develop maturity and wisdom as they get older. My mom will be quick to laugh and tell me about how much maturing she did between 20 and 30. If her attitude is problematic or unjust, we can talk about it without being nasty, is all I'm saying.

I guess I can just imagine myself coming home to complain to my husband about my job, as I did when I worked in retail. I'd vent a bit, and he'd talk to me and give me advice. It wasn't a big deal, I thought, and I'd change my attitude the next day because I knew I was being a baby, but it just felt good to vent because I'm human.

If someone feels member(s) are engaging in personal attacks, or any other TOS violation, they're actually encouraged to report the post via the button towards the bottom. It's a yellow triangle with an exclamation point inside.

Even if that member isn't sure if the person(s) posts cross the line, the mods will take a look at it.

Before you can lead, you have to follow. You can't delegate appropriately as a nurse without first experiencing every single aspect of patient care. Your patient will have illnesses, they will have incontinence. You are not experienced, I understand, but take the experience you did receive and understand that /that/ is basic human care and needs. To be a nurse, you can't let things like that get to you. But if you can't deal with these sort of things that will pop up in nursing, then it is not the career you thought it was, and there is no shame in going elsewhere.

I think your crazy. You had the best day ever!!!

We are opposites in this as I would LOVED to have traded you for that kind of a day. My first semester at the hospital, we were forbidden to use the computers due to hospital policy. All of our charting was done by old school paper formatting, which was time consuming, but really helped hone in on charting as a skill. Our documentation was shredded at the end of our shift anyway, because we were in frequent verbal contact with our assigned nurse who did the charting on the computer. I BEGGED to have a day with a CNA because they were short staffed. I wanted to perfect my skills, because I may have to delegate, or in the future, I may be assigned as a CNA, even though I'll be a licenced nurse, to do nothing but take vitals because there is a CNA shortage (or if someone is sick). Eventually I got to shadow a CNA. It gave me a great appreciation of what they do in such a short amount of time. And let me be clear, there IS NO SUCH THING AS CNA WORK. CNA WORK IS WITHIN THE NURSING SCOPE. You should be happy that you got that experience as a student, and take advantage of every opportunity, because this is your time to make mistakes and learn from it and get better at basic skills. You may not get that opportunity again after nursing school.

A little kindness wouldn't go amiss here, folks.

I suspect (although I could be wrong, of course) the OP is a younger, starry-eyed student. When I say she lacks maturity, I don't mean she's immature or childish, I simply mean she is younger and hasn't experienced the "real" nursing world as many of you have. I get the impression she was simply feeling a bit despondent and disappointed after having higher hopes for her first day.

To a seasoned nurse who has experienced many aspects of nursing, including boring days, the OP might have come off as myopic in her outlook....I get that. It would be much like a new army recruit venting about first day of field-work being made to clean guns and not getting to fire them .... and venting to someone who's done 3 deployments to a warzone.

My daughter left for university recently and this morning she was complaining that, "I can't believe I have to pay for EVERYTHING!" (thank goodness we were on the phone so she didn't see how high my eye roll was!!!!!) but anyway ..... should I tell her, "do society and yourself a favor and forget being a adult!!!!" ...... of course not, it's just part of the maturity learning curve....much as the OP is on. And that is not a dig at OP, it is just a statement of fact - how can she possibly know how it feels to be a nurse of 20 years when she's only a student?

I just feel the responses could be handled with a little more kindness and compassion when considering who made the post.....

Peace -

No big issue! why do people say you're not empathetic or compassionate? haha, so what? nurses now have to say they love cleaning poop to then be called "empathetic" and compasionate? haha I've been an RN for the past 4 years and haven't met anyone who "enjoys" that part of our job. Yes you definitely need the skills of a CNA or AIN, as we call them in Australia, but that you can learn too when ur paired with an RN, there is no way in Australia a nursing student would be paired with an assistant in nursing, those are basic skills that you can learn as you go during your pracs, we go to uni so we can dedicate more time to those things we do the most once we become nurses, medication administration, patient safety, etc.

I don't know how it works in America but I would definitely complain if i was paired more than one shift with a CNA.

Regarding you're dislike for the profession now, well don't worry, there are so many areas in nursing it's just a matter of finding the one where you feel more comfortable in. There are wards in which you don't have to clean faeces at all, simply because of the condition of the patients or there are enough CNAs, etc. Anyhow, all the best.

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