Advice for soon to be BSN student

[djohnsonn1990]

A little about me: I am a soon to be BSN student with a start date in a little over 6 weeks. While I am very excited to get the ball rolling and finish school, I am deathly afraid I am making the wrong decision with pursuing nursing. I quickly learned throughout my prereqs that I love science and that I love the science involved in healthcare, specifically. I excelled in anatomy, micro, physio, pathophysio, chemistry, intro bio, pharm, all of it. However, from volunteering and working as a sitter for the past 2 years, I also quickly realized I am extremely uncomfortable in the acute care hospital environment. I am not even in the position of an acute care nurse, but the thought of working on a busy med/surg floor one day, or any medical floor for that matter, creates an anxiety I have never felt before.

It's not the direct patient care that I find off putting, it's the acuity of patients that are found in an acute setting. The reason I chose nursing was not because it was a passion or for money, but solely because I have an interest in medicine and I genuinely am a guy with a big heart who finds it extremely rewarding to help those in need. My nursing program, if I finish successfully, will provide me a PHN certificate in addition to my BSN. Knowing that I'll be a certified PHN is really one of the main reasons I have yet to give up nursing altogether. I work in the float pool at my hospital and have seen the role of nurses in the ER, pulmonary, med/surg, sub-icu, CVICU, etc. I am not your typical adrenaline junkie type of guy who wants to work in the ED or ICU. and I am not someone who does well with change and having to make important life saving interventions. I am definitely a very low-key type B personality who would thrive in an environment where the patients are stable and I would be allowed to spend 1-1 time with them providing them education and therapeutic communication.

While learning skills like starting IVs, inserting foleys, hanging IV meds, etc. are all very interesting, I know that I do not have the personality for an environment where I am doing those things for 12-13 hours for 5-6 stable, but still pretty sick patients. I have soooo much respect for the nurses I see at work who are able to juggle admits, discharges, changes in patients statuses, angry docs, etc. but I KNOW for a fact that with my personality, I would absolutely crumble under the stress of that environment.

My question to any of you that have made it this far into my dramatic "woe is me" post, am I right for wanting to pursue nursing? I could see myself working in psych, outpatient clinics and most definitely community/public health roles. I love the idea of having info on numerous diseases and be able to use that knowledge in the role of health promotion and health education. I do not, however, see myself working in a hospital unless its on a psych floor where medical procedures would be minimal (I've had my fair share of psych patients as a sitter and feel it would not be that bad working as an RN in that type of environment)

I know I should be more excited than I am about starting nursing school, but I am apprehensive because I fear that I am severely limiting myself with being stubborn and not wanting to face my fears and work in a hospital after graduation. I know that having my bachelors and a professional license will open a lot of doors for me, but I feel like a phony wanting to pursue non-traditional areas of nursing while most of my peers do. Any of you out there that knew they didn't want to work in a hospital but kept pushing forward? any regrets on not listening to your gut that direct patient care may not be your cup of tea?

[NICU Guy, BSN, RN]

Keep am open mind and see how your clinicals go. Many, many nurses vowed to never go into peds, psych, ICU, etc. before nursing school and ended up loving it.

[Lev, MSN, RN, NP]

You will find your niche. You may surprise yourself. People go into nursing schools with all sorts of ideas of what they want to specialize in. I wanted to do L&D. Ended up in the emergency department. Never thought I would be an ER nurse. Confidence comes with skill and experience. You may find that you excel at dealing with those sick patients and may even come to enjoy them. You may fall in love with the complexity of disease seen in critical care. It's natural to worry but you have two years to figure out how you want to start your career.

[loriangel14, RN]

Working in a face paced acute care environment can look scary when you don't have the education and experience. You will be surprised at what you can handle once you learn what to do. Plus you are seeing experienced nurses in action. In time you could be as good as they are. School will expose your to many settings. Don't decide where you want to work just yet.

[Dranger]

Some of those outpatient jobs besides maybe LTC require experience.

Also, prepare for a pay cut outside of acute care.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I do not, however, see myself working in a hospital unless its on a psych floor where medical procedures would be minimal

I'm another nurse who absolutely hates performing hands-on procedural skills. If I never had to start another IV line or insert another urinary catheter for the rest of my life, I'd feel at ease.

The people who want to bust their butts at in the acute care hospital setting can have it all to themselves. Meanwhile, I have carved out a totally different niche in nursing that involves flexible scheduling, good income, more clerical duties and no hands-on patient care.