anyone not like nursing before they started? or needed to choose?

Wren · Dec 18, 2006

Davon,

You sound pretty confused right now! One thing that jumped out at me in your posting is that you are "horrible" in math. You absolutely must be able to do some math for dosage calculations as an RN. Maybe you won't work in an environment where you are administering meds but you will need it during your training. Just a thought as only you can know what "horrible" in math means! You will have lots of help with learning the math and it really isn't hard, just critically important.

I also wonder if your ideas about what nurses do is a bit unrealistic. I don't know what job makes "presentations" to doctors but isn't trying to sell them anything. The only thing that I can think of is educational programs but it doesn't sound like you have the background for that. Plastic surgery nurses will be happy to tell you that their jobs have an "ick" factor too!! :lol2:

There are many, many jobs that nurses can do that don't involve patient contact. Nurses work for insurance companies and health plans and others assist patients on the telephone and never see a patient. But I doubt that many went straight into those jobs from nursing school. You have to have a foundation of nursing practice to rely on and nursing schools would be unlikely to give you enough of that. There are many jobs though where you see patients that you won't have a ton of "icky-crap". It will totally depend on which unit or specialty you choose. The only way to know if nursing is for you is to accept the position you have been offered and try it out. I know from experience that clinical rotations that I didn't think that I would like, I loved.

I love nursing and think it is the best profession ever and I am a champion of anyone who wants to be a nurse. You must have had a strong interest in being a nurse at one point as you have made it through 2 years of pre-reqs AND got accepted into a program! That took hard work and commitment and I wonder know if you are now just a little scared? I know that I have talked myself out of things I really wanted in the past because I was afraid of failing. Fashion design probably looks like a piece of cake compared to the scary specter of the unknown nursing school world. :uhoh3:

Good luck with whatever you decide! :nurse:

LadyNASDAQ · Dec 18, 2006

ok. I have been done with all my pre-reqs for 2 years now- have been trying to get into nursing school since then.. havent been able to due to the fact b/c of my first degree I have a different gpa every school I apply to.. anyways, I finally just found out I was accepted to start this fall(i was on a waitlist)now, Im so confused.. I just assumed I wasnt going to get in..again.. and started looking elsewhere and was thinking about being a hygienist.. good work hours, better pay, etc.. now I dont know what to pick.. I like the variety of nursing since I dont want to work in the hospital anyways..(I want to do plastic surgery, dermatology, or even the nurses that go around and do presentation to doctors(not sales reps) since I have a business/comm. background. the thing is.. I dont care really about either one.. I know thats bad, but what I mean is im interested in the human body, I really do wanna help people etc.. but Id rather much be a fashion designer, mixiologist, wardobe stylist, etc.. and just volunteer with the needy, etc.. however I have 2 kids and one degree I dont use.. Im horrible in math, but great at english and reading.. oh and the fact that I havent taken any micro or anatomny in almost 2 years I feel might hurt me in starting school in 2 weeks.. I guess I know I could be a nurse, but nursing school and all the icky crap that goes along with it is scaring me.... and I keep hearing you gotta LOVE nursing.. well, if i go.. im not gonna quit unless I flunk out.. Ive done too much not to get in.. Im just not sure if I KNEW i could get into hygienist school.. what I would do... help@!!!

I think you should explore your options outside of nursing. This is a profession that is hard on you, very frustrating but I still am in love with it. I also know that the icky crap as you call it is worse than you know but many of us are so conditioned to it that it is part of the job.

I mean you could have a patient with runny diarrhea all day that can't turn themselves and yes, you will be cleaning this poor individual all day long. That's icky but again, a part of the job.

We as women have options that were closed to us. It isn't essentail to work in this field if you don't want to. Men more and more are entering this field and most enjoy it in spite of the icky crap stuff. I still see myself involved in it until I can't turn one more patient.

Explore what will make you happy and pays the bills. For me, Nursing is the way to go but even for me, I have other options if I ever wanted to do this.

SarasotaRN2b · Dec 18, 2006

Davoni, I can almost understand what you are going through...the indecision and fear...I"ve let that stop me numerous times. I'm currently waiting to get into next year's program and this time, I know I need to push through my fears. While yes, there will be icky moments that we all have to deal with, having had my mom in the hospital this past fall, the patient care/advocacy is what is pushing me. Imagine how a normally independent person feels who now finds themselves in the hospital in a totally dependent state. We need to, as nurses, take ourselves out of the equation, and just be there to help the patient understand that it is just physiological effect of what is going on...there is nothing that is their fault.

It is true that not everyone can do the nursing and if nursing was only an option for a better salary...then maybe nursing is not for you, and that's okay. You are the only one that can answer that question.

Also, please research dental hygiene...I'm sure that you are going to see a lot of icky stuff there too!

Curious1alwys, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2006

I was in exactly the same position as you when I started NS. Actually, I still am.

When I first started college, I went for Dietetics. I loved fitness and nutrition and loved learning about the human body, as you did. I poo pooed the personal trainer idea as I don't see that as a way to "pay the bills" atleast in the long run, I see that as a job to have on the side, in addition to your 'real' career. I never finished the degree but wasn't really thrilled about all the work of the degree program and to get out and make not so much money...blech! Fast forward ten years, in a going-nowhere job, what was I gonna do? I mean, really do? So began the process of elimination. :lol2: Phys Therapy? No-too competetive and too long, school too far away. Nutrition-too long, internship unpaid, competetive, not adequately compensated, can't find a job anywhere. Personal Trainer-not stable enough, have to "sell", didn't see that job as smart enough, wanted more....I could go on and on. I never really saw myself taking care of people and have never been a caregiver in my life. Never too sympathetic either, more of a "quit whining" type person. I loved learning so blazing thru the prereqs wasn't too hard. I just kept telling myself, "if she can do it, I can do it". How hard could it be if there were so many out there doing it? I told myself surely there'd be something I would like, what with all the nursing specialties out there!? I told myself I would be so smart by the end of school, I would just soak up all that knowlege like a sponge! All the while taking orders didn't appeal to me, I hate high stress jobs, am not an adrenaline junkie, didn't think I'd enjoy wiping butts all day. But I was still rationalizing it all, because I was ignorant. It was easy to rationalize when you had NO CLUE!

Fast forward into school, LOVE LOVE LOVE the bookwork, the learning. Fast forward to clinicals, check offs, and the anxiety is thru the roof. I don't like what I see at clinicals. The patients are OK and butt wiping not nearly as bad as I imagined, but treatment of nurses worse than I ever could have imagined. Doctors are often flat out mean and very condescending. Nurses run around all day like chickens with their heads cut off, are under tremendous pressure, and are responsible for people's lives where one mistake could mean the loss of a patient and/or that nurse's well being. You can get sued and lose everything! In clinicals I feel constantly stressed, constantly afraid, and when I envision myself doing this job, I shudder. I don't think I could ever be confident enough. I don't think I could suck down the insults from doctors and I don't want to "schmooze" them just to get by.:barf01:

In some ways, I suppose it is good that it is not the patient care that is making me run away as fast as I can. It is everything else. The stress. The million people you deal with everyday when you are a pretty introverted person. Watching people at their sickest, too busy to really help them. If nursing was slower paced and you could actually take time to truly CARE for patients and doctors weren't breathing down your neck all the time I would probably like it. But truth be told, I probably should have been a doctor. My personality is much more suited for it. But, that would take WWWAAAAYYY too long, way too much liability, no life, way too competetive, and I don't have the $$ or the grades to even begin that degree. So nursing was the next best thing.

Fast forward, I am entering BLOCK 4, my last semester. My opinion is still the same and I see myself as never really being competent enough in this profession. If I could find a position that really gave me the autonomy to make decisions AND gave me time to really THINK thru those decisions, I would probably love it. But now I am thinking this is found somewhere in the back office, definitly not on the floor of a hospital. Just getting there will require atleast a year of pure torture. Sadly, that is how I see it.

People told me when I started (you can search my threads) that I needed to rethink this. Problem is, I would rethink and rethink but I just went round and round in circles. If I abondoned this idea, another 10 years would go by and I still wouldn't have had a clue. Plus, I DO need to make money, I need to have a CAREER. My compromise has been that I can do nursing a couple days a week to make enough to pay my bills and then "play" in something I really enjoy the other days. Maybe become a personal trainer, just for fun.

Anyway, I don't really know what to say to you except that I know how you feel and you will never really know until you see it all first hand. Either you will say, "Wow, I can see myself doing this" or you will say "Oh my gosh, I HAVE to get out of here". :) Or you can think like me. It is a couple years out of your life and you will always have that degree. Even if you don't use it you will always have that knowlege and unlike other degree programs, you will be able to use that knowlege everyday in real life. That is how I tell myself it all isn't a total waste. It would be even worse if I had sat around and done nothing and was still THINKING and THINKING and THINKING........

Good Luck to you and I hope you make the right decision for YOU!

jjjoy, LPN · Dec 18, 2006

I appreciated your post thrashej. Your experience sounds similar to mine in several ways. Thanks for being so open.

I agree that in some cases you just can't "think it out." You've got to DO something and go from there because you need the actual experience to be able to make certain judgements. Sometimes the "wrong" thing is better than nothing! It depends on the situation, of course!!

Davoni444 - it sounds like your head is spinning and maybe you need to give yourself some room to experiment and not pressure yourself to figure it all out. Others may seem to know what they want but it's okay if you're not sure. It's okay to try something out, see how it goes, re-evaluate and see if you want to continue or go a different way. Good luck!

davoni444 · Dec 19, 2006

thanks everyone for the advice..Im more confused than ever..lolololol.. no seriously though.. I just took a CPR class that was geared toward the "professional rescuer" and im sorry but that test was hard.. allthat critical thinking and the answers are so similiar.. OH did I metion I am VERY analytical?..lololol.. too the point its a pain though I think through everything.. I also know nursing exams are like this. the wholle poop thing other posters are writing about .. I hope in dermatology I wouldnt have to deal with that too much.. I guess I should metion my unlce is a doctor does botox and so I have connections in the derm field already.. anyways I dont remember the poster, but the one who wrote that long post.. THANK YOU that was insightful.. made me think I will be the same way if I continue though..;)lolol.. I dont take criticism well, never wanted to be a doctor b/c of all the legal responsibilty(which I guess nursing has).. Is it just me though or do most nurses that dont like their job work in a hospital? Im hoping to get out some of that stuff by working in derm/plastic surgery/ or like I said in the business side..I dont know.. like the other poster said.. (and I feel you !!!) I just want a career!!!. and Im sorry.. but have many different interests.. but I have 2 kids and cant afford to "follow my dream" while I cant even keep food on the table.. I guess im leaning more towards nurses cuz there are soo many other things you can do with it.. but now hygienist is looking so much better.. hours.. pay rate.. etc.. dont want to do either forever.. im rambling I know..;.. and I know I have to decide.. UGGH I need a silver spoon.. ..lololol..

arizonanurse · Dec 20, 2006

I went to nursing school because I wanted to become a CNM. I didn't want to be a nurse, never thought I'd like it, hated clinicals, never thought I'd work as an RN. I planned to get my RN and move straight on to CNM school. Well of course, once I had that RN license I decided to get a job in a hospital - and I loved it. I work in med/surg, which I intensely disliked in nursing school, but as an RN I love it. I guess what I'm trying to say is you're never going to know until you try it. Now, there are a few things that would risk you out - if you can't handle blood, stool, and vomit, don't even try. If you're not a good time manager, don't even try. If you can't put up with criticism or doing five (or ten or twenty) things at once, don't even try. But if you like dealing with people, like being busy, and have good critical thinking skills and a lot of common sense, go for it.

nurseangel47 · Dec 20, 2006

do what makes you happier...if you DON'T wanna be a nursing student now, DON'T! I realize you're confused due to the long wait on the list to even be accepted....but life is TOO short to be put thru the miseries of studying so long and hard in nursing school to put yourself thru it if before you even start it you aren't sure if you want to do it! Most nursing students feel a great need and or calling to become a nurse. If you don't have that passion for nursing, you won't be a successful student...do the hygiene school student thing, or whatever it is besides nursing you want to pursue. Good luck in your ventures. We support whatever you decide to do for you!

Curious1alwys, BSN, RN · Dec 22, 2006

I guess what I'm trying to say is you're never going to know until you try it. Now, there are a few things that would risk you out - if you can't handle blood, stool, and vomit, don't even try. If you're not a good time manager, don't even try. If you can't put up with criticism or doing five (or ten or twenty) things at once, don't even try. But if you like dealing with people, like being busy, and have good critical thinking skills and a lot of common sense, go for it.

Good advice. Well said. Very true. I agree with this 100%. I do think time management can be learned though...

ralegen · Dec 27, 2006

When I decided to do nursing long time ago, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I was initially pursuing the LVN, and I heard about the decent compensation for the job. At this time, I figured that I would just go from LVN to RN school someday. The money and the fact that it was a good back up job (in case you wanted to do something else during your 4 days off) were the main decision points for me.

In the beginning, I took lots of CNA courses to get points towards the LVN school, and on my first day of clinicals, I had to change an old mans diaper. I was like.. "i have to do what?" It totally didn't cross my mind that nurses normally did this, but I did it. At first it shocked me, but "dude, it's part of the job" I told myself. I just did it, and I didn't see any icky thing out of it. Just wipe, clean, get it done, and walk away. Becoming a Doctor also suited my troubleshooting personalilty; however, I'd prefer being able to get a great paying job while I pursue my higher degrees.