So many nursing majors in my class!

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Hey everyone! I'm taking my prereqs, and in my sociology class, every single person in the class is majoring in nursing. There are 32 of us. Is this seriously what its like? I read things on here constantly about the field being flooded... Is it really this bad?! I've been told many of these people will end up not making it or changing their minds, but its freaking me out a little bit.

Have you experienced anything like this?

Clearly he's one of those people we've all been talking about....that's pretty much just in it for the money!

Exactly, he is the prime example of a miserable nurse that hates his job. Dude needs to relax with all the negative talk. He says he don't hate his job, could of fooled me.

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Everybody earns their spot in the program fair and square and their motives for pursuing nursing are varied.

I suppose one can question motives... nothing wrong with questioning anything... but the reality is that one has to accept that we don't all share the same mindset.

Also know that, when you pose a question to a discussion board, discussion will occur and to accept that all members will not agree with you... and getting nasty does nothing to support your position.

Telling people to "go away" or "leave" the discussion because you disagree is not how we play here.

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You know what though? Even though some of those people may take our spots in the nursing program all because they wanted the nursing paycheck, they are the ones who will be unhappy in the end....wait till the first time they have to wipe an ass or get puked on...it will wear them down eventually. If you don't have the heart for it...you will not last. You may stick with it...but you won't be happy!

This is exactly the point I am trying to make whenever I say people should have their hearts in it. I love this website and it has been so helpful to me, but I cannot understand the hostility that gets drawn up the minute the word "calling" comes into play... People get so angry! Like you said, with the puking and ass wiping... You can't do that day in and day out unless you really want to be there making a difference. If it's just a paycheck for you, things like that are going to eventually really weigh you down like you said. Someone else who agreed with that miserable poster before said they wanted co-workers who are dedicated to nursing as a career, unafraid to speak up and advocate for better wages... I really am sorry that people don't realize that you can be both caring and career minded as a nurse. I was under the impression that a good nurse was both anyway.

And the thought that you don't have to think of it as anything other than a job... I find that ridiculous. In the nursing program I will be applying to, they have classes that really call your empathy into play and stress it as being something important. "Dying with dignity" is one of those classes. Anyone who thinks they can deal with the sick and the dying and handle it the same they would any other job... I can't understand that.

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What Dranger says is correct. His perspective is a humble and pragmatic one. To believe that oneself has "a calling" for nursing or subjectively has "more compassion" than someone is is an idealistic and egotistic perspective.

Neither approach is wrong, just different from each other. A nurse who is overly idealistic is going to be at a higher risk of burnout. A nurse who is so humble and pragmatic, that they come off as unrelatable and mechanical to their patients, will also be at a higher risk of burnout.

So find your happy medium. Focus on qualities like critical thinking, work ethic, interpersonal communication, and empathy for the human condition. If you can knock those out of the park, you really will be the best nurse ever! :)

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If you need to take A&P in a semester by itself, you probably won't make it through nursing school.

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What Dranger says is correct. His perspective is a humble and pragmatic one. To believe that oneself has "a calling" for nursing or subjectively has "more compassion" than someone is is an idealistic and egotistic perspective.

Neither approach is wrong, just different from each other. A nurse who is overly idealistic is going to be at a higher risk of burnout. A nurse who is so humble and pragmatic, that they come off as unrelatable and mechanical to their patients, will also be at a higher risk of burnout.

So find your happy medium. Focus on qualities like critical thinking, work ethic, interpersonal communication, and empathy for the human condition. If you can knock those out of the park, you really will be the best nurse ever! :)

How exactly was he humble or pragmatic? And how has anything I said come off as meaning that I had an idealistic view on things?

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If you need to take A&P in a semester by itself you probably won't make it through nursing school.[/quote']

I really value the opinion of someone who chooses a picture of a gremlin to represent themselves on a public forum. Justgoaway, justjohn.

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Honestly, I think aiming to find a job that can help support your family is an excellent goal. I do agree wtih Bluee about finding balance. If you are one extreme or the other, you won't be happy. The demands of the job will stress out both the overly idealistic and the ones who are just in it for the money. I also don't believe that anyone is in it just because it's their "calling" or they want to help people.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
I hope those who are do not have a burning desire, think of all of us that do and find something they have a burning desire to do and let us reach our dreams of getting our RN degrees.

Anyone who wants to become a nurse and put in the hard work should be allowed to pursue it. It does not matter what motivates a person to become a nurse, and no reason for entering nursing is superior to any other reason.

And while I'm here, let's make sure this thread stays on track. You're allowed to disagree with other members, but keep it to respectful debates and not personal attacks.

Thank you.

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Ok so if I ask you nicely, will you please go away? There is probably no one, on any thread anywhere interested in your nasty uncalled for BS. How do you even have time to sit around and pick arguments on the Internet? Maybe take up journaling?

You are right, I won't post anymore I have better things to do (Like being a nurse, what a shocker right?....) than argue with naivety. I just like to correct irony when I see it for you and whoever else feels that a calling is the only way to a profession. Maybe it's because I am a bit older or because of my military background I always lend an ear to people who have been there and done that. Obviously for you and your friends on this thread, that lesson growing up passed right past your heads. It's cool though nursing will humble you and I saw the same types of gung-ho calling folk in my pre-nursing class. Some made it many did not (OR quit after a short while).

Now's here's my counseling portion:

I get it you are young, idealistic ready to take on the world, but you HAVE to take things in stride. I was excited in pre-nursing as well, maybe for different reasons, but still I was excited to start my career. HOWEVER, like YOUR future patient population you will see people who come from all walks of life who have differing view that you as a nurse have to cope and deal with. Your personal views and biases on anything can never have an effect on your professionalism. So what does this thread have to do with patients? It doesn't, but it does show some writing on the wall for elitist, type-A tendencies which peers, preceptors and educators WILL pick up on throughout the course of your studies. For all you know I could be your preceptor down the road...My point is to just stop. Stop worrying about how many pre-nursing students are in your class, how many will drop, how many are in it just to become CRNAs, how many are just in it for family reasons or even as crazy as it sounds just doing it as steady profession.

The absolute BEST nurse I met who actually showed the most care while keeping a level head and an even keeled perspective on things went into it just because of job versatility. NO calling to be had....

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I think OP needs to be more concern with getting that 4.0 in his/her nursing pre-requisite courses than worrying about others' motive for pursuing nursing. A seat in any nursing program is earned not given. it's not earned by passion, it's earned by hard core academic skills as it should be. Nursing is a hot field right now and it is attracting a whole lot of smart folks, so if you want to be a nurse then you can study and volunteer and make yourself competitive. At the end of the day, if you are that passionate, your grades, past experience and volunteer work should reflect that.

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In my class we had about 70% attrition from start to finish. This was a BSN class. I understand that this percentage may not be far off from the norm. And, when you're talking about the number of people taking prerequisites, that percentage climbs even further.

Two things you might consider. First; in the past couple of years I've worked with two nurses from New Jersey (I'm in Texas). They both came here because they couldn't find work there. One was an ADN new grad but, the other had over two years in the hospital but couldn't find work after being laid off. Be willing to move.

Second; really, does it matter the motives of your classmates? If they pass the course,NCLEX and find employment the only thing their employer will care about is that they get the job done.

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