I want to start a second career in medicine. Shortly I will be starting an ADN program, but I'm struggling mentally with a few things about nursing. I took a nursing assistant class as a warm up and I've just dropped it. The classwork was interesting but I just can't tolerate the clinical work were doing at the nursing home. Wiping asses, feeding demented patients who can't carry on a conversation with you, don't open their mouths for oral care, patients who have to be moved with total mechanical lifts who do nothing but lay there all day...it's horrible, just miserably depressing and unbearable awful.
My question is: Can I work as a nurse and avoid spending a lot of time on activities of daily living? Call me arrogant, but I really feel that my time (even untrained!) is too valuable to spend feeding a patient. Anyone can feed a patient, they don't need two to four years of schooling and clinical training to do it. I want to start IV's, clean wounds, give meds, educate patients, stuff that requires training. What are the best departments to work in if you don't like ADLs? ER?
I truly do not think you should choose nursing. It requires so much empathy for the human condition. If you feel that you don't want to spend time a$$wiping, I don't hold out much hope for you when say you have to empty a disgusting suction cannister etc.
Remember, thank God that there are nurses because some day the a$$ that needs wiping might be your own or one of your family members. Would you honestly want to be under the care of a nurse who believes a$$ wiping insults her intelligence? What if it was you who had to lie in a pile of excrement until someone who wasn't put out with having to engage in such a demeaning activity, was found so you could get cleaned up?
Have you considered art, floral designing, law schoolor possibly hospital administration?
This wasn't meant to flame you but realistically how in the world would you be able to do the jobs required of you in nursing? Rather than putting yourself in that postion, why don't you avoid it in the first place? Sometimes, poop is the LEAST of a nurse's problems. You can't imagine some of the disgusting things we have to see or do!
I'm putting on my flame-retardent suit now...here goes...
I appreciate what nurses and especially what nurse aides do. If I'm ever in the hospital for more than a day, I hope I get a very caring, attentive nurse. If I'm ever in a nursing home, I hope I don't live a long time even with good care. Now, some of y'all gave me some good, objective advice and I thank you. I obviously touched a nerve on some others.
FYI I'm still unconvinced that nursing requires extraordinary intelligence. It does require above average intelligence and an extraordinary amount of caring, patience and empathy (and who knows, some nurses probably are brilliant). I'm not brillant, but I do think my brain's a little bigger than my heart, thus I'm probably better off doing something a little less touchy-feely.
I'm enjoying my EMT class so maybe I'll be a paramedic for a few years. Then maybe I'll go back to school and become a rad tech or a PA. I CAN STILL BE A GOOD PERSON AND HELP PEOPLE WITHOUT SPENDING HOURS AT THE BEDSIDE! There's room for many kinds of people in medicine. Some of you nurses need to get over your 'holier than thou' attitudes.
Ah hell, just skip the middle paragraph of the above post. I'm just raw at the idea of spending years in school only to end up doing things that just don't seem that complicated to me.
Soon enough everyone will need an associate's degree just to work the grill at Jack-in-the-Box.
Does anyone else think education levels are starting to get out of hand? People are paying thousands of dollars to get certificates and degrees that net them jobs that pay about $10 per hour. Whatever happened to on-the-job-training? Is there no way to learn a new skill outside a classroom and without receiving some sort of certificate?
I'm putting on my flame-retardent suit now...here goes...
I appreciate what nurses and especially what nurse aides do. If I'm ever in the hospital for more than a day, I hope I get a very caring, attentive nurse. If I'm ever in a nursing home, I hope I don't live a long time even with good care. Now, some of y'all gave me some good, objective advice and I thank you. I obviously touched a nerve on some others.
FYI I'm still unconvinced that nursing requires extraordinary intelligence. It does require above average intelligence and an extraordinary amount of caring, patience and empathy (and who knows, some nurses probably are brilliant). I'm not brillant, but I do think my brain's a little bigger than my heart, thus I'm probably better off doing something a little less touchy-feely.
I'm enjoying my EMT class so maybe I'll be a paramedic for a few years. Then maybe I'll go back to school and become a rad tech or a PA. I CAN STILL BE A GOOD PERSON AND HELP PEOPLE WITHOUT SPENDING HOURS AT THE BEDSIDE! There's room for many kinds of people in medicine. Some of you nurses need to get over your 'holier than thou' attitudes.
Good luck in whatever you attempt to do. Sincerely.
No nursing doesn't require a lot of intelligence. Average or above average intelligence will do, but intelligence is required. I hope you didn't think we are holier than thou because we spend time with ADLs. Yes there is room for all in medicine, and please don't choose something you are going to unhappy at.
Also, about the intelligence thing. It's hard to describe nursing to someone who isn't a nurse, and who is only looking at tasks. Sure a monkey can give an injection. But to understand what the injection is, what it does, why to give it, when to give it, what it's going to do to body, what outcomes are expected, what possible side effects, etc. all takes education and intelligence.
This is not a flame, but if you look at nursing as tasks like wiping butts, and doing things that don't require a brain, you're missing the most exciting parts of nursing.
I truly do not think you should choose nursing. It requires so much empathy for the human condition. If you feel that you don't want to spend time a$$wiping, I don't hold out much hope for you when say you have to empty a disgusting suction cannister etc.
Remember, thank God that there are nurses because some day the a$$ that needs wiping might be your own or one of your family members. Would you honestly want to be under the care of a nurse who believes a$$ wiping insults her intelligence? What if it was you who had to lie in a pile of excrement until someone who wasn't put out with having to engage in such a demeaning activity, was found so you could get cleaned up?
Have you considered art, floral designing, law schoolor possibly hospital administration?
This wasn't meant to flame you but realistically how in the world would you be able to do the jobs required of you in nursing? Rather than putting yourself in that postion, why don't you avoid it in the first place? Sometimes, poop is the LEAST of a nurse's problems. You can't imagine some of the disgusting things we have to see or do!
Warm personal regards,
PappyRN
I don't really think that Manyquestion should be flamed, as she/he is, it was as she/he said in her/his original post a serious question for him/her.
The answer is yes, after school, there are many jobs that you can have in nursing away from direct patient care.
Stick with the ADN program, you will have to do clinicals, which involves direct patient care, but after graduation, you will find out that nursing has many opportunities and many diverse fields that may interest you.
To all others.....
Butt wiping and feeding my not disgust you, but maybe this person just couldn't stomache that part of it, so what? I have things that I have come across, that I have said, I sure hope I never have to do that again.......Doesn't mean I'm not a good nurse, people are just different.
Just because nursing means taking the holistic approach doesn't mean you have to like or do every aspect of the job, and to tell someone that they aren't nursing material just because they don't like wiping a**es, is a little extreme.
Most replies have said, "Not flaming you here, but get out of nursing, or chose another profession, well..........I just think that is sad.
And Manyquestion is correct when he says it doesn't take much intelligence to be a nurse, 10% of nursing is knowledge the other 90% is common sense.
You know what, Many Questions? You must do what you feel is right for you. Nobody can tell you what to do, you must feel it in your gut. We can advise/flame you, but at the end of the day, this is your decision!
You may carry on with Nursing school and turn out to be a terrific nurse and feel that it was the best thing you stuck with............... or you may move into another field and be really happy there.
All I'm saying is, there are lots of 'Urgh! YUK!" in nursing. I'm afraid it comes with the job. You put up with it or you move on.
Whatever you decide, I wish you heaps of luck. Do what's in your heart; what you feel is best you.
ManyQuestions - I think you are absolutely right to explore the question of whether or not you would be suited for nursing before investing your time and money in education. Quite honestly, from the limited amount of information you have posted here, I think looking at other options would be a good choice.
And just to let you know, the gentle "warmth" in the posts here is NOTHING compared to what you would get from some nursing instructors if they got wind of the thought that you "shouldn't" have to perform some "demeaning" tasks!
This is not a flame. But I would not want you working where I work.
Yes I work at LTC. I am the Nurse supervisor so I don't have to do any of the ADL's.
I do make it a point to help these people. Just because they have lost there ability's' to care for themselves doesn't mean they don't deserve the love and tenderness of all there care givers. I have delivered food fed residents, oh and yes i have even wiped there backside when they are not capable.
These peole are someone loved ones. Do you not think for a minute that someone you love could not end up in the same situation that seems so repulsive to you???
How old are you??? We have some residents that aren't yet 30.
Please find another career.
Most Nurse's do there jobs out of love for there chosen profession.
We don't chose whom we take care of we just give everyone the best care possible with all the love in our hearts
Allrightey then. Get some ice chips for me to munch.Thank you for your uh, tongue lashing Nursie30. That sure was nice of you. There's NO need for you to direct your hostility towards me and others who don't share your opinion.
I clearly stated that my intention was NOT to flame. It is out of my control when I state my intentions and they are then interpreted in a way I didn't intend them to be. Should I jump through the monitor and yell "No, that's NOT the way I meant it"? I say what I mean and I mean what I say. I said it was NOT meant to be a flame. It can't be much more clear than that. When posts and replies are found to be inappropriate, the moderators enforce their predetermined remedy. "Nursie30" perhaps you should take a cold shower and cool off. Lighten up, please! There's no need to be so intense.
I believe I have adequately stated what my intentions were. I have always felt that nursing was one of those fields where you felt either a strong desire to be one or a strong aversion against being a nurse. If a person already knew for sure that he/she would HATE wiping hineys and other equally distasteful tasks, WHY would someone choose to go into a profession that necessitates that experience both while training and when practicing as a registered nurse? Why would we encourage someone who states objections to performing those tasks, to enter the field when we know those tasks to be a part of this profession? Manyquestion's talents would probably then be put to better use if the position doesn't require tasks that involve excrement or mundane but completely necessary tasks such as feeding a patient.
Manyquestions if you truly feel like your intelligence exceeds the range that you assign as probably adequate for nursing and you enjoy intellectual challenges, you would most likely be disappointed. I suspect your post and questions were really not as much about ADL's as about getting into a field that is exciting, stimulating and challenging.
In my own case, my desire to become a nurse far outweighed the thought of having to do unpleasant tasks. It had been my childhood dream to pursue a career in nursing. I had never experienced any doubt about choosing to be a nurse.Pediatrics and neonatology were my areas of specialty. Neonatology was truly one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't always a picnic. It was a very busy unit where the census and acuity levels remained very high. There were many young (11-15) teenaged Moms who were every bit as much a part of my assignment as the babes were and who required extensive discharge teaching.I found it preferable to work in the NICU step down- the Special Care Nursery as the acuity levels were lower and I was able to spend more time with the families and be able to also hold the babies etc.
BUT...that all ended for me eight years ago with an on the job injury to my neck and rt dominant shoulder/arm/hand and I now battle the excruciating pain of both reflex sympathetic dystrophy and severe fibromyalgia/CFIDS.
I never even gave being a PA a thought. I think that would be a great job to have. I believe in most cases it requires about 2 years of school to become a PA. If you like intellectual challenges, why not try to get into law school? IF, you still decide to attend nursing school, there is the legal nurse consultant area of specialty. There is also nursing infomatics if you prefer working with computers.I am unsure of all that it entails but I imagine you would review cases and possibly function as an expert witness for some. I could be wrong but possibly you should check into that.
I do disagree with you to an extent, Manyquestions, about not needing to be of more than average intelligence to be a nurse. Of course, it's not a necessity to possess extraordinary intelligence but there are many specialities in nursing that really do require the nurse to have above average intelligence to function.There are many situations that do require the ability to apply critical thinking skills and analysis along with problem solving. There is a lot of memorization which just about anyone can do but there is also the necessity of being able to apply all that you have memorized. I may be old fashioned(a VERY likely probability) but I also feel that nursing is one of those professions that you either love or hate. If you are a person who fully embraces nursing, you will have a passion for it and wont be hesitant to enter this profession. You are very correct when you said there's room for many kinds of people in medicine.
I wasn't trying to flame you Manyquestions, just like I said, but I believe when someone asks a question they want an answer. I am sorry if my directness offended you but I also do not consider my attitude to be of the holier than thou type. I just say it like it is. But again, sorry if you found my reply offensive.
I have to agree with you about all these requirements for degrees or certificates only to find yourself doing work that could have been done without those things and getting paid an insulting amount for the time, effort and money you expended in school. I imagine some employers just like to know that the 'paper proof' is on record.
Sorry to hear about your being poor. I'm in that same boat as was my husband until approx one month ago. He has a business degree but was unable to find steady work except for temp agency positions and one 1 1/2 year stint at a company that went bankrupt. In the last EIGHT years, he has only worked sporadically for several weeks at a time. Of course, there were NO benefits so that was really tough as I am disabled and on disability. Problem was, my meds cost over $750.00/month so that left us $50.00/month to stretch for groceries. Fortunately, depending on how one looks at it, we had retirement money saved that we had to dig into because without it, we would have lost just about everything. I hope you are not in a similar situation. Good luck in whatever you decide is the best career for you. I think there's definitely a certain amount of excitement in being a paramedic with a very busy fire department. I'm sure you will be successful at whatever you decide to pursue.
Evidently not "anyone can feed a patient". You couldn't. Real nursing involves intimate care of people who cannot care for themselves. If this is a turn off maybe you should try another field. We don't need any more prima donnas
Thanks pappyRN and others for your words of wisdom. PappyRN I hope you find some work that allows you to use your accumulated knowledge without aggravating your injuries. I will find my way eventually and I'll be ready to put 100% effort into it when I know it's right.
pappyRN
60 Posts
Manyquestions,
I truly do not think you should choose nursing. It requires so much empathy for the human condition. If you feel that you don't want to spend time a$$wiping, I don't hold out much hope for you when say you have to empty a disgusting suction cannister etc.
Remember, thank God that there are nurses because some day the a$$ that needs wiping might be your own or one of your family members. Would you honestly want to be under the care of a nurse who believes a$$ wiping insults her intelligence? What if it was you who had to lie in a pile of excrement until someone who wasn't put out with having to engage in such a demeaning activity, was found so you could get cleaned up?
Have you considered art, floral designing, law schoolor possibly hospital administration?
This wasn't meant to flame you but realistically how in the world would you be able to do the jobs required of you in nursing? Rather than putting yourself in that postion, why don't you avoid it in the first place? Sometimes, poop is the LEAST of a nurse's problems. You can't imagine some of the disgusting things we have to see or do!
Warm personal regards,
PappyRN