Its my first year in nursing school and Im thinking I may have made a mistake. I really enjoyed all my prereq classes (a&p, micro, psych ect) and the beginning of the semester was a whirlwind of information. I first started to get concerned when we hit lecture on nursing process and roles of the nurse. I guess I didn't fully understand that a nurse had her own system different from doctors. I am much more interested in the scientific portions- what their disease/illness is, how it affects the body system, what can be done to treat it ect- the study of pathology basically. I'm not very much a fan of this nursing process/patient education. Im not a teacher, never have been able to teach/train anyone in my working past. I was hoping that once clinical started that Id be able to see that side of things but my first day was awful! I despised every minute of it, and I know nursing students basically get the crap end of the stick- helping pts to the bathroom and cleaning up after them, but I realized that I don't have the best bedside manner, Im actually pretty awkward and really bad at small conversation and questioning. I was just very uncomfortable with the whole experience. The nurse we were assigned to was barely around and only saw our patient maybe 3 or 4 times the 6 hours that we were there and i know she probably had 5 or 6 more patients but I found myself wondering what she was doing the entire time she wasn't with them? Im learning that Im much more interested in like the scientific/clinical aspect- testing the patient and figuring out whats wrong with them or any anomalies and stuff like that, the medical stuff. I really don't know what to do from here. I don't wanna waste time and money to just 'get through' nursing school to find out that they don't have a branch that pertains to what I like- minimal patient contact and disease processes.
If you are paying tonnes of money then maybe take sometime off after the semester to reflect and think on your likes and dislikes. It would be sad to have spent tens of thousands of dollars on a degree you really don't care for.
Do not decide to become a nurse because you already spent the money. From what I see on a day to day basis that is the #1 problem that I see...a whole bunch of nurses who have no business being nurses but they heard the pay was good or they had already spent all that money. You may change your mind as time goes on about how you feel, but to me you seem pretty sure already that it's not your thing. There's so much that you can do in the medical field besides being a nurse. Look at your other options and listen to your gut.
Specializes in Float Pool, acute care, management/leadership.
I know nursing students basically get the crap end of the stick- helping pts to the bathroom and cleaning up after them
Not just nursing students - you'll be doing this as a nurse as well and you'll be constantly dealing with crap...literally.
Im actually pretty awkward and really bad at small conversation and questioning. I was just very uncomfortable with the whole experience.
Communication is huge in nursing - you're going to have to be the advocate for the patient when no one else listens, the person that calms them down when they're irritable, and the person that comforts them when they feel down and out.
The profession might grow on you as you progress through nursing school, but perhaps you would be better suited for a mid-level provider role such as a PA. Another option is being an NP, but even then you would have to persevere through nursing school. There's always the MD route as well - especially if you enjoyed your science prereqs, then you would probably enjoy the pre-med prerequisites even more.
SuperStarRN
111 Posts
Do not decide to become a nurse because you already spent the money. From what I see on a day to day basis that is the #1 problem that I see...a whole bunch of nurses who have no business being nurses but they heard the pay was good or they had already spent all that money. You may change your mind as time goes on about how you feel, but to me you seem pretty sure already that it's not your thing. There's so much that you can do in the medical field besides being a nurse. Look at your other options and listen to your gut.