Last semester but.. I Hate Nursing!

Nursing Students General Students

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I really didnt know what I was getting into with nursing. But now that i've had more experience with clinicals, i'm thinking this is not the job for me! I can't stand the idea that if I forget one little thing I can kill someone- literally. (And my memory sucks, let me tell you.) When I started this program I really thought there would be more safe guards for when you are set loose to patient care. All through out schooling I would voice this concern, and they would reassure me with "It's ok, you will be trained to handle all of these situations" well here we are, I graduate in 2 weeks and strongly feel I have not been prepared. I am a 'straight A' student and grasp the concepts well, but most of what we are taught has no use in the real world. I am starting to wonder- are there any degrees where I can apply my nursing credits? Or are there at least any jobs in nursing that are relatively low risk?

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I feel empathy for you. While I don't know much about where you can or should go from here I wanted u to know u should still be proud of all you have accomplished.

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Specializes in Emergency; med-surg; mat-child.

I think it's GOOD that you're feeling this way. You get that an error can have dire consequences, so you'll be careful. Graduating is a huge milestone and it makes you realize that you may soon be in a position to work on your own, and that's scary. Let yourself be scared, but don't let it stop you.

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Maybe you could look into clinical/outpatient nursing or maybe becoming a school nurse. That way, you will be working with everyday health issues, rather than acute problems that could easily become deadly.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, OB/GYN, Informatics, Simulation.

Your training doesn't really stop with graduation though, most hospitals do additional training for new grads and partner them up with experienced nurses. You're not expected to know everything when you gradute, they understand that you will make mistakes (everyone does and it's ok you're human, hopefully no one will die because of it). They expect you'll know when your patient is really ill and when you need to get help. Take it with stride and be proud of the fact that you are worred, like pockunit said, alot of students can get over confident which is when most errors are made.

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The things you can do with a Nursing degree seem infinite, especially if you are in a BSN program. Just stick it out, see where life takes you. I have had multiple nurses at work tell me, "You don't learn anything until you start working at your first job, and then everything you learn starts to CLICK." New grad residencies are MONTHS long and noone expects you to be an expert nurse right out of the gate. You obviously are doing something right since you are able to keep high grades throughout the program. Get your year of experience in, and then the opportunities are endless. I just got done googling the career of Legal Nurse Consultant...they work with law firms assissting the lawyers with the medical end of cases and can make up to 200 dollars an hour!

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Clinical research compaines I believe hire nurses as well as consultant work

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I can definitely relate to you. While I'm starting my senior year of the BSN in the Fall, I still have no idea how I'm ever going to feel capable and confident by the time I graduate. Of all the nurses I've expressed this concern too, they all said they felt the same way when they graduate. In fact, they didn't remember a lot of what they learned and most of their learning occurred when they graduated and got a job as a nurse. Good luck!

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I am beginning to feel this too.. I have worked in internal medicine as a medical assistant or 13 years and have gone to school part time for the past 6 years ( someone has to pay the bills right?), getting my pre reqs and I m finally nearly at the end of my ADN and am FREAKING .. but my grades are not that good.. this being the worst semester I have ever had grade wise..

I am holding on to that" you don't feel like a nurse till you have a year's experience" thing..

I am holding all you seasoned nurses to that! :nono: :loveya:

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I feel what you're saying, OP. I'm in the same boat...sort of. I thought I was going to make a career change when I got into nursing school. I was in a rut with my existing career and wanted something new. I really never went through a formal application process since the program was new the director was taking anybody with a modicum of qualifications. I made a call and got in. I graduate (actually I'm not going) Friday, and I have no desire, at all, to work full-time as a registered nurse. I think the provider role in an outpatient setting is pretty cool, but nurses don't do a lot that I find appealing. I used to be rather interested in medicine and healthcare, but I realize now that nursing is not medicine and am thus disinterested. I'll probably stick with my current career although since last summer I have experienced a renewed vigor and savor going to work. At any rate, I'll take the NCLEX, but I have no intent to apply for a nursing job at least not in the near future.

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Specializes in School Nursing.
Maybe you could look into clinical/outpatient nursing or maybe becoming a school nurse. That way, you will be working with everyday health issues, rather than acute problems that could easily become deadly.

There are plenty of acute problems that come with school nursing, and this is NOT the place for someone who lacks confidence. In my first year, I had two students with open fractures that ended up requiring surgery, a pregnant mother who slipped and fell in the cafeteria, severe asthma attack requiring 911 call, a teacher with a cardiac history complaining of chest pain...shall I go on? School nursing is not for someone who is intimidated by life and limb threatening illness/injury. There is also what is know as failure to rescue...if you miss something on assessment that you should have caught, and harm comes to the student as a result.

As far as the OP, I am a firm believer that if you truly feel that nursing is not for you, look at your other options. What about physical therapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, radiology, social work, counseling, psychology, etc.?

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Thank you all for replying, you really have encouraged me. I think a lot of it may just be as you have said, newbie jitters! Also I think I am strongly leaning towards office nursing, which I realize now is mostly what I thought of as a nurse originally- taking histories, vaccinations, strep throat, and so on. I honestly think I wouldn't even mind working a med-surg floor if they weren't all so ridiculously under staffed. But when you have 5 or 6 patients you're just running from paperwork to meds and there's very little patient "care"- and lots of room for errors because you're always rushed! Not my idea of a good time :/

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