Should I do nursing or follow my dreams?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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I decided to do nursing last year. I wanted to be a broadcast journalist or print journalist or editor. But, I decided that it was too much risk to go to school and get a degree in a field where it's difficult to find a job. (Much less a well paying one...)

I don't particularly like nursing (HATE hospitals. HATE THEM.) or science. I do really enjoy health and nutrition and psychiatry. I was really looking into PA school (Nursing seems like the most logical major to lead to PA school...) or getting a Masters and being a NP.

Nursing has many things that are important to me. Job stability, good pay, benefits. My only real concern are the 12 hour shifts or overnight shifts. I don't ever want my job to become my life. I want a family. I want to be able to travel a little. I want to be able to save money.

I also don't want to regret my decision to become a nurse. I don't want to regret not going for my dream career in journalism.

What do you think? Could someone maybe give me the pros and cons of being a nurse from a nurse's prospective?

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

You can be good at your job without loving it, whether it is nursing or not. You mention job stability, benefits and pay as pluses. Make sure that is the case where you live before you decide on nursing as a job that will be a sure thing. In many areas new grads as well as experienced nurses are finding it very difficult to find employment. If you don't have the ability to move for work do not decide on nursing just because you think it will be easier to get a job.

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Without reading your post, I say that life is too short: if you don't want to be a nurse, don't. Go follow your dreams instead.

After reading your post...go follow your dreams instead. All of the things you cite as being important in nursing are not guaranteed. There is no nursing shortage. There is no guarantee that the job outlook will improve...3 years ago it was supposed to be better now, and guess what? It's not!

It's difficult for new grads to get hired. It's hard for experienced nurses to get hired. Job stability is a myth even for experienced nurses. There are travel opportunities but you need experience...which is hard to get if you can't get hired. Most jobs are only hiring PT or PRN to save money. Salaries are not as high as you think they will be. As for benefits, most full-time jobs have them...and there are none specific to nursing anyway.

And all of this applies to NPs as well.

I personally don't subscribe to the "you have to have a calling to become a nurse" ideology. There's nothing wrong with wanting to become a nurse for reasons other than beneficence. But you need to have some interest in the field, and a willingness to take the rough with the smooth: you'd have to be willing the accept the 12s, the nights, the crappy schedules, the blood and poop, etc. as part of the package.

Based on what you write, you are not. So I don't think nursing is the best choice for you.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

Specializes in ICU.
A nurse is suppose to care about his/her patients. of course it's good pay, but helping others is also important.

I bet you wouldn't want me taking care of you either since I went into nursing for the pay. It doesn't matter to you that I get more compliments on how much I care from patients and patient family members than my coworkers, or that they tell me they really felt like I respected them and treated them as people and not conditions. Caring about money does NOT equal not caring about people... you can want the money and care at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive.

OP, I'd say shadow a nurse. You never know, you may end up liking things that you didn't think you'd like.

I agree with the others about not having to be passionate about nursing to be a nurse. I know many who didn't want to be a nurse at first and actually end up liking it and getting the most compliments from staff and family members of the pt. Good luck!

I decided to do nursing last year. I wanted to be a broadcast journalist or print journalist or editor. But, I decided that it was too much risk to go to school and get a degree in a field where it's difficult to find a job. (Much less a well paying one...)

I don't particularly like nursing (HATE hospitals. HATE THEM.) or science. I do really enjoy health and nutrition and psychiatry. I was really looking into PA school (Nursing seems like the most logical major to lead to PA school...) or getting a Masters and being a NP.

Nursing has many things that are important to me. Job stability, good pay, benefits. My only real concern are the 12 hour shifts or overnight shifts. I don't ever want my job to become my life. I want a family. I want to be able to travel a little. I want to be able to save money.

I also don't want to regret my decision to become a nurse. I don't want to regret not going for my dream career in journalism.

What do you think? Could someone maybe give me the pros and cons of being a nurse from a nurse's prospective?

I see a lot of people are telling you that you don't have to be passionate about nursing to be a nurse. I'm not here to tell you what to do, but I disagree. Those 12 hour shifts and the dirty side of the job are going to be torturous if its not what you really want to do. Being smart in today's economy is crucial, but take into consideration that jobs in nursing are hard to come by these days also. You should find something that you'll enjoy doing that can also be lucrative. Be very cautious in your decision, nursing has a high burn out rate even for the ones who absolutely love it.

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
I decided to do nursing last year. I wanted to be a broadcast journalist or print journalist or editor. But, I decided that it was too much risk to go to school and get a degree in a field where it's difficult to find a job. (Much less a well paying one...)

I don't particularly like nursing (HATE hospitals. HATE THEM.) or science. I do really enjoy health and nutrition and psychiatry. I was really looking into PA school (Nursing seems like the most logical major to lead to PA school...) or getting a Masters and being a NP.

Nursing has many things that are important to me. Job stability, good pay, benefits. My only real concern are the 12 hour shifts or overnight shifts. I don't ever want my job to become my life. I want a family. I want to be able to travel a little. I want to be able to save money.

I also don't want to regret my decision to become a nurse. I don't want to regret not going for my dream career in journalism.

What do you think? Could someone maybe give me the pros and cons of being a nurse from a nurse's prospective?

Here is the deal......unfortunately...nursing isn't a path line with gold streets. It might have been at one time...but it is not any longer. There is no nursing shortage right now and some estimates say it will not return until 2025 or 2030.

There are some parts of the country that new grad employment is 47%....just like every other college grad graduating and unable to find a job. The economy stinks. Nursing does NOT lead to PA school and if you want to be a PA you should find a PA school/program.....they are different.....like apples and oranges....while they are both fruits they are NOT alike.

Something to consider......nursing is, for the most part a 24/7 job. You will work holiday's and weekends...whether or not you work nights. You will be...for the most part low man on the totem pole for your entire career. Nurses carry immense responsibility, very little authority, and are blamed for everything by everybody.(partially stolen from my favourite poem....Being a nurse means)

While it isn't necessary to have a "passion" for nursing....it helps......it makes putting up with all the crap...both literally and figuratively....more tolerable.

You will make good money in most places and great money at a few....depending on where you live.

The plus side....the schedule is flexible.....you can work around your children's schedule and not pay for day care (exorbitantly expensive). You do have options if you really don't like nursing like sales or pharmaceuticals...or equipment rep/clin spec. You can be a school nurse or become a NP.

The thing about life is that it is short.....I have always tried to live life with no regrets and harming no one. I wish you the best......to sum up nursing.

Being A Nurse Means....

You will never be bored

You will always be frustrated

You will be surrounded by challenges.

So much to do and so little time.

You will carry immense responsibility

and very little authority

You will step into peoples lives

and you will make a difference.

Some will bless you

Some will curse you

You will see people at their worst

and at their best

You will never cease to be amazed

at peoples capacity for

love, courage, and endurance.

You will see life begin....and end.

You will experience resounding triumph

and devastating failures.

You will cry a lot

You will laugh a lot

You will know what it is to be human

and to be humane......

-Melodie Chenevert

It's a great job....if you are strong enough

Follow your dreams :-)

"But, I decided that it was too much risk to go to school and get a degree in a field where it's difficult to find a job."

Really?!?! Definitely DO NOT go into nursing. It took me TWO years, my relationship with my boyfriend taxed and over, home in foreclosure, my car on its last leg, and $70,000 in student loans for me to find a nursing job (and pays at $7.50 less an hour than starting rate for new RN's."

"But, I decided that it was too much risk to go to school and get a degree in a field where it's difficult to find a job."

Really?!?! Definitely DO NOT go into nursing. It took me TWO years, my relationship with my boyfriend taxed and over, home in foreclosure, my car on its last leg, and $70,000 in student loans for me to find a nursing job (and pays at $7.50 less an hour than starting rate for new RN's."

Well, that's your experience, and I'm sincerely sorry you had such a bad one.

On the other hand, some of us had a relatively easy nursing school experience, found a decent job shortly after graduating and are finically stable.

The OP shouldn't base his/her decision on your personal experience. Or my personal experience, for that matter.

I totally agree that the nursing shortage is a myth. And the perception that new nurses will be beating back the recruiters with a stick is has done a lot of new grads a lot of harm. But let's not over exaggerate here. Nursing is still a fine career choice with lots of potential and a great return in terms of investment when it comes to comparing cost of education to compensation.

Just because it isn't the super cool flight nurse or L & D nurse job right out the gate dosent mean it's not a good career. Of course the reality is disappointing when compared to the ideal. No ideal has ever, ever withstood the truth of reality. And it's probably the "nursing is my heart's desire" crowd that get hit the hardest by this, sadly.

Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

My husband is a journalist and while he loves writing, journalism is a dying field. The majority of the people he graduated with (be it undergrad or his master's) never found work as journalists. While my husband has been fortunate to find work, he has been furloughed several times and layoffs are currently in his near future (and he works for a major national journalism company). There is no job stability in journalism. For every job opening in journalism you see, there are 100's out of work experienced journalists applying for that job.

I am not saying you should be a nurse, but I am saying journalism is a very tough market to break into. I personally would think more about free lancing or blogging while having another more dependable job.

Life is too short. No matter the situation, if your question is "should I do 'insert something here' or follow my dreams" your answer should always be FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS. If you love what you do and are passionate you will find success. No amount of money or stability is worth looking back at your life and wishing you had pursued what makes you happy when it has become too late to undertake that journey.

"If you're going to reach for the stars, reach for the lowest one you can. That way, nobody cares when you fail."

-Jerri Blank, Strangers with Candy

Joking, joking. Sorry, all this 'follow your dreams' talk brings out my sarcastic side.

In all seriousness, the poster who said the OP should test the waters of a journalism careeer, while maintaing a more stable, steady-paycheck career, probably gave the best advice.

Unless the OP has already established him/herself as someone with a talent for writing and journalism, investing four years into a batchelors of journalism at this point is probably a terrible idea. One doesn't simply say one day, "I'm going to be a journalist", go to college and then a job in the field. It isn't that kind of a job. This is why so many highly educated people with these kinds of Liberal Arts degrees end with jobs that involve paper hats and asking people if the want fries with that.

The OP should definetly persue his/her dream of being a journalist. If she/he has the talent and the ambition it will happen.

But I'd bet just about anything that most succesful journalists had more mundane, steady jobs while on the road to that goal. Telling the OP that he/she shouldn't be a nurse because it's not his/her "deam job" just strikes me as terrible advice.

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