About to start Nursing School and having doubts

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Hey guys, I'm new here but I've actually been lurking for a couple months and have found this site immensly helpful. I'm a native of Canada, but I've beein in the US since 2000, and have been accepted to an accelerated BSN prgram starting in June, 2012. Maybe I'm just having cold feet, but I'm starting to get a weird vibe from the nursing field in general. It's almost reminiscent to me of the housing market bubble, and we all see how that went down! The whole schooling thing seems chaotic, and honestly I've been looking at the numbers of people being churned out every year and it doesn't surprise me that new grads can't get jobs. But when you try to explain that to people that aren't in the know, they all respond with the standard "you can't go wrong being a nurse". It's like everyone has been brainwashed. Before embarking on the university journey, I was actually an admittance advisor in a university in Florida, and I can tell you that no other department on campus had students with that much drive to get in. Not to be a cynic,but I can't believe that they all have that much desire to provide patient care; I think that the good pay the nursing field can provide was (understandably) a driving force, at least to some point. My good friend graduated from a private 2 year school that barely keeps up their accredititation with about 35k in student loans in May, and has yet to find a job. Only a few in her class have gotten full-time jobs. What other field would someone take on that much debt to enter?

Honestly, I'm not trying to be a downer, I'm just being realistic. I've always wanted to be a patient care provider, but I'm thinking of going a different route. Like I said, maybe it's nerves, but it just seems like this whole scenario isn't very good. The sheer number of nurses that are graduating yearly is daunting in itself.

So after my long-winded post, Id love to see if any of you have any insight. I'd love to be proven wrong, because this has been my goal for a long time and I'm sad to let it go! Cheers!

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Well, I think one thing to remember is you won't be done until around 2013-ish. Who knows what the job market will be like then? There's plenty of positions for nurses that SHOULD exist. However, due to economy changes, the hospitals won't replace RNs that leave and force the current RNs to just "make do". In a potentially better economy, there would potentially be more spots for more nurses - who knows what the economy will be in 2013? 2014? Who knows? No one does.

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I have to say that I've found your post so refreshing! I've had similar concerns and I've been feeling silly about them because I've wanted to be a nurse forever, and I'm finally applying for a Bachelors program for Fall! But like you I'm having some doubts. I brought it up to my counselor at school and she said there was always going to be a market for nurses and changed the subject rather aburptly! :uhoh3: True, there is a recession and it's tough in most job markets, but then other job markets aren't being flooded with as many new graduates. But like nohika said, who can predict the job market! I think I just need to do some serious soul searching!

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Specializes in MR/DD.

If your serious about becoming a nurse because you want to care for people then do it.

My suggestion is to get a position as an STNA or CNA while in school, those positions are easy to obtain. If you are working as an STNA you have a good chance of getting hired from your place of employment when you graduate from nursing school.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

I think it depends on the school, too. I live in a city where there are nursing departments popping up at every school (accredited or not, community/technical schools AND 4 yr. + universities.) The program I'm in is one of the older, more established ones although it is an ADN program. Graduates of my program are usually very well-received in the hospital community here even though it's a pretty small one (only 2 major networks.) This is because it IS well-established and hiring managers know that my school's graduates get more clinical experience than even the BSN grads at a notable university here.

I also think this goes back to your comment about your friend--HR departments and nurse managers KNOW which universities are just pumping out graduates and which ones are actually training nurses. I have heard horror stories of some grads at the 2 year private schools who barely TOUCHED a patient during their clinicals: never did a Foley or other basic skills.

Finally, as someone who is exiting the housing market, by choice, to go be a nurse, I can tell you that even when this market went bust, those of us with good reputations who were smart and hardworking were able to find jobs, even after getting laid off. That first job after layoff may not have paid as well or been as fun as our other job, but it was work. I think nursing downturns are the same way: some jobs may not be your dream nursing job, but they will get you experience and keep you current until that pendulum swings back the other way.

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Specializes in icu/er.

i know of and have met many a new grad that have passed boards working at walmart, delivering pizzas or doing construction and office clerical work that is totally non healthcare related all the while waiting to find a nursing job that first pays decent for the stress and in a enviroment they feel like has theirs and the patients intrest. i have met a new grad that has been lookin for a job now for over a yr, she has to take a nursing refresher course before long. good luck its tough goin out here.

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What keeps me looking on the bright side of things regarding this field are the different "branches" for nursing,.. research,traveling, teaching (although that talks more education), just that the direction that the field is going in, nurses will be able to do much more than the typical hospital/nursing home care setting.. the sky's the limit!

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if you go in negative, your going to have a negative outcome....So put into yourself what you want out. As for me I have one year of school left. And I live in Philadelphia one of the tougher areas to find a job, but I have no fear. It is what it is and you will get out of it what you put in! Whatever you do, good luck :)

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Question...Do you want to be a nurse? Are you willing to do the school work and then the leg work to get a job. If the answer is yes, then go to the nursing program and good luck. If nursing is a passing fancy due to the salery and availability of jobs, please reconsider. Nursing is not a route to other things. Nursing is nursing. As for the one who replied that the sky is the limit, please take this with a grain of salt. Nursing is a very hard profession. It is not for the weak or for those passing time. The days of getting a job by showing up are over ( I really do not even believe they existed-but thats another post). The fact that you have misgivings now is good. It will force you to think about the time and money you are about to invest to get a nursing degree. The sad part is no nursing program really prepares you to work as a nurse upon graduation. At best you have a very broad overview of the fundamentals of nursing. You get your experience and skills working on the floor. It is your employers orientation, preceptorship and ongoing learning on the job that makes you a nurse. When dcotors finish medical school, they must go through an internship/residency to attain the basic skills of their speciality area. The residency provides the young doctor with mentorship and on the job training. After completing the required years (3-5 years) the doctor sits for his speciality boards and is now able to practice independently. Nursing education does not allow for the student to obtain the on the job experience until they are graduated. With the way things are going, hospitals do not want to absorb the cost of training new nurses. Nurses are an expense that is on the top of things to be controled and reigned in. Having been in nursing for exactly 20 years, I can say that this is not like before. A new normal is settling in and the days of nurses have unlimited options and opportunities is over, really over. If nursing is your calling, be prepared to work nights, be mandated, work holidays, not get paid OT or receive comp time, go to work when you are sick and plan your life around your job. Nursing is becoming a really non female friendly profession. Its all about money. As the money drys up so will the opportunities. Others have replied that by 2013, 2014 the economy should be better so jobs will return...I tend to doubt the jobs will be returning. Even a rebound in the overall job market does not change the fact that hospitals are constricting and that labor cost for health care have to be reduced. Adding to the issue of the glut of nurses is the fact that new nurses who have been out of school for several years are losing the rudimentary skill they attained in school. Nursing is a practice discipline. In NYC, it is common to see graduates as far back as 2007 not getting jobs. We are 3 weeks away from 2011 so to say the market is saturated is an understatement. If nursing is your calling, join us. If you want a quick buck or to pass the time think again. I know of facilities that are firing nurses for the slightest infraction because it is easier to fire with cause then to lay off (no bad press, results the same-lower head count=lower payroll cost). Good luck what ever you decide to do. Happy Holidays.

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If your serious about becoming a nurse because you want to care for people then do it.

My suggestion is to get a position as an STNA or CNA while in school, those positions are easy to obtain. If you are working as an STNA you have a good chance of getting hired from your place of employment when you graduate from nursing school.

Where I live you can barely get a CNA job in a SNF due to the sheer volume amount of applications they are receiving. I just done a research paper on this same particular topic on New Grads not getting jobs. After talking to a few nurse recruiters they felt like many things may not ever go back to the way they were. One explained to me that there are too many variables coming into play this time that are different from previous downturns in the market for nurses. For example...there are more nursing schools among other things.

I agree with the OP, whether you want to be a nurse or not you must always evaluate your options especially when you are taking on a serious amount of debt. Even when trying to get hired for non-nursing position that require nursing degrees, they still want people who have acute experience. Lately I have been having the same doubts but it's hard when you have wanted to be a nurse for so long but you have to be realistic, in my case that is. Good luck in whatever you choose.

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It seems that every post I read from a nurse who's been at it for many years is very negative. Don't listen to it. Follow your dreams. I was a hairstylist and salon and spa owner for 15 years and I could say the same thing about becoming a hairstylist. You don't learn anything in beauty school, you learn it all when you get out. There will always be nursing jobs and there will always be hairstylist jobs. Maybe not what you want in the very beginning, but you can move up.

The negativity of these nurses is irritating me. They should find a new career, after all, it's changing.

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Specializes in rehab, long-term care, ortho.

I would strongly recommend you listen to your gut feelings, OP. I so wish I had. There are many different healthcare positions. What about OT, PT, radiology tech, etc...

Excellent post, DNS.

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