A totally different career path please

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I graduated in May 09 with my BSN. I can honestly say that for me, nursing was the WORST career choice I could have ever made. I had family members try to talk me out of even going to nursing school, but I didn't listen, so here I am- jobless and miserbale. I worked one month and 2 weeks on a med-surg floor and then I quit. I can't handle nursing. I literally cried my self to sleep at nite, woke up crying the next morning, and squalled all the way to work on my hour long drive & all the way back home. I made myself so sick that I couldn't eat. It was horrible. I wish I wouldn't have stayed in nursing school, but I did b/c I thought I could maybe work in a dr's office.I love working with geriatric patients, and so I'd thought about going into speech therapy. But now I'm not so sure. I've also looked into medical coding. My cousin does that and I like it because its a lot of repetition. If you already have your BSN- what else is available to you that doesn't require actual in-hospital pt care? I've also thought about medical transcription - just wondering if anyone knows how hard it would be for someone like me to get a job in those areas? Or if anyone else has any other job ideas that I could do with the degree I already have?

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

Do you mind if I ask, how did you get all the way through 4 years of nursing school and just now you think you don't want to be a nurse? How does that happen? Im not being sarcastic, I really don't understand this. :confused:

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Specializes in Psych, Pediatrics, GI, Diabetes.

Have you tried psych? You can still use your nursing degree, and psych isn't exactly "bedside" per se...

Good luck whatever you choose, I'm going through the same thing myself trying to figure out exactly where I fit in this whole scheme of nursing... :)

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I can honestly say that i hate med-surg with a passion (a big thanks to all those nurses who can!) and the hate started with my first clinical rotation in med-surg. At that time, I began to question my decision to go into the nursing field but for some reason i stuck with it and found some other areas that i really did enjoy. As graduation approached, I was terrified of the med-surg year that everyone insisted was a "must-do" for a new RN. I graduated in the 90s and was blessed by a nursing job shortage....blessed because no one was hiring new grads for med surg! I did a short stint at a step-down unit where i learned peritoneal dialysis, refined my skills with ua caths, ng tubes, pca's, dressing changes, etc. Then I was blessed to get a job with the state where I learned from a wonderful NP how to do an assessment and triage.

Long story short....hospital jobs are not the only jobs out there for RNs and Med-surg is NOT a requirement for being a Good RN. They great thing about nursing is that it is so vast that almost anyone can find their niche. It is your duty to yourself to explore those options and don't give up. Explore new areas and don't be afraid to try new things.

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Specializes in LTC/Skilled Care/Rehab.

Have you considered working in a doctor's office? If you like Geriatrics you could also consider Geri-psych. Hopefully you can find an area of nursing that you like. There are so many different directions you can go. Good luck!

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Specializes in Cardiac.

Doctor's office for sure, I also know someone that did medical coding for a dr office with little experience as an RN. At least this way you'll gain some experience and then maybe do a Master's degree and teach.

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Specializes in Home Care.

What exactly was it you didn't like about med/surg? Once you can identify what part of nursing you don't like you'll have an easier time figuring out what may interest you.

Don't waste your BSN, you earned it.

Look under the Specialty forums, start reading about all the different nursing careers and ask questions.

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

If you like geriatrics, you make like nursing homes. I didn't mind my patients, I didn't like the patient load, but I was an LVN. I dont know how RN's are treated at nursing homes. I'm sure you can find one to hire you.

Not everyone is meant to be a hospital nurse, but don't leave nursing because you can't stand one job. There are a lot of opportunities in other places out there. Just saying.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
Do you mind if I ask, how did you get all the way through 4 years of nursing school and just now you think you don't want to be a nurse? How does that happen? Im not being sarcastic, I really don't understand this. :confused:

Because the "textbook" nursing learned in the classroom is nothing like the real world of nursing. In the textbook, the environment in which you're working in is perfect: no staffing problems, assignments are not too large, every resource--person or item--you need is readily available, you've got no time issues to deal with, and diseases as well as their patients follow a predictable course.

In reality, hospitals (and patients) aren't like that. Short-staffing, unpredictable, you don't always have the medication/supplies/tech/etc. you need right away...

Also, it's a big leap going from structured clinicals where you always had your instructors/classmates/preceptor to hold your hand and guide you, make the big decisions for you, and intervene when things go wrong...to being out there to find that YOU are the one that's now accountable for everything, those big decisions are yours to make, and there might not be someone available who can help or make wrong things right

There's an actual term to define these feelings and transition...I think it's called "reality shock."

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You very well can teach. I agree that you should not waste all you have learnt to get your bsn. Wages are not as high but teaching is a different path for you.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

OMG - I just cannot believe that people are advising someone who "hates nursing" to become a nursing teacher. *****?? Our nursing students deserve better than that. Teachers should be passionate about nursing and love what they are doing. They should inspire their students and serve as role models.

Is an MSN going to magically transform someone believes that "nursing was the WORST career choice "?? Especially with the miserable salaries paid to academic instructors. Srsly??

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There are so many different nursing specialties. Maybe you need to shop around for the one that is right for you. If you like patient interaction, but just not on the med-surg, maybe you could look into Dr.'s offices or clinic work. You may even like another area of the hospital such as ICU, psych, OB, or surgery. I have heard of nurses working for private companies such as insurance agencies. I'm not sure what the job description would be. There is also nursing research. If you find out that there is no nursing specialty that you particularly like, you may want to consider looking into jobs in other fields that simply require a 4 year degree but do not require a specific major. I don't recommend your MSN in education though because even my instructors who taught specialized classes such as OB and Psych also taught Med-Surg and did clinicals on a Med-Surg floor.

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