Long term care isn't for me - does this mean I'm not cut out for nursing?

Hi everyone -

I'm applying for an ADN program to start this fall, and in the meantime I decided that volunteering might be a good thing for me to do to get an idea of whether nursing is right for me. (It would be a second career for me). The local hospital volunteer program told me that I wouldn't get much real patient interaction there, and that I should try volunteering at their 115 bed LTC facility.

I'm on my second week as a volunteer in the LTC facility now, and I already know that it isn't something I'd want to be doing. I find the environment there to be extremely depressing - most of the people are not alert and some are on feeding tubes or catatonic. The smell in there is really terrible as well - a combination of bleach & cleaning chemicals, urine & sometimes strong feces. I am pretty much just changing ice water, but from observing the staff I can say that the work looks to be depressing and quite boring as well.

So I'm worried now that this might be an indication that I'm heading down the wrong path. I know nurses work HARD and that the work can often be emotionally draining. But I'm looking for advice as to whether it might just be the long term care environment that is wrong for me, & how to figure out if that's the case. I chose to apply for nursing school because I am looking for something to do where I can use my brain and heart, have some meaning in my career, and quite honestly to be able to have some job security and flexibility.

Any advice/experiences would be much appreciated.