My name is Elaine and I'm 23 years old. I got accepted into nursing school at my local community college in the fall semester of 2013. Nursing Wasn't my first choice, in fact I wanted to pursue culinary arts. My family members are all nurses and they pushed me to pursue a degree in nursing. I took all my prerequisites and actually enjoyed them so I assumed I would enjoy nursing too. I worked as a nursing assistant for about eight months and to be honest I didn't really enjoy it. I even volunteered at my local hospital and for some reason every time I stepped foot in the hospital, I never felt excited or eager. But despite those feelings I decided to stick it out anyway and I started nursing school in July.
I was excited because most of my close friends were in the program with me. As soon as we started learning how to do skills like inserting catheters, cleaning wounds and starting IVs, I felt incompetent but most importantly I felt out of place. I started questioning why I even decided to pursue nursing in the first place. I just couldn't picture myself becoming a registered nurse and realized I may have been pursuing it for all the wrong reasons. I broke down one day after coming home from lab and started crying and venting to my boyfriend that I didn't Want to do nursing anymore. My friends tried to convince me to stay but I couldn't. There was no motivation left in me so I withdrew from the program.
My parents especially my dad keep asking me if I am going to change my mind and go back to nursing but I don't really think that's going to happen at this point. My question to all you readers out there is have you ever felt this way about your career or major? Should I feel bad for quitting so early? I kind of feel like a failure especially in front of my parents.
I also feel stressed out because I don't really know what direction to head in now. I do like working with kids so I can do something with children or pursue a career in dental hygiene since I'm obsessed with cleaning my teeth.
I just feel a little lost and down any advice would help. Thanks for listening, this was quite a lengthy post.
