Career path advice

[BirthBabes&Boobs]

Hi all,

I am a second year nursing student. I already have a BA in sociology and a minor in psych. I decided to go to nursing school after working at a drug and alcohol rehab facility doing utilization review for 3 years.

I want to go for my master's degree no matter what. The problem is, I HATE clinical! I absolutely LOVE the material and all the info. I just don't want to play with poop! I was thinking about research nursing but I'm not sure what that envolves or what the salary is. I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice in career paths for someone who doesn't want to have direct patient care. I'm that nurse who would love to sit by the bedside and read books to the patient or educate them on their condition, as long as I don't have to touch them! Is that horrible? Any career info would be helpful. thanks . . .

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

You're going to have to learn direct patient care in order to get your RN, it's just part of the deal. You can then go into pysch nursing, alcohol rehab nursing, or research or any number of things but the clinical experience must be suffered through.

Good luck!

[deeDawntee, RN]

I am a little concerned that you have such an aversion to "touching" your patients. And I know your joking, but "playing with poop" is really not what we do....

A couple of things, I think some of what you are feeling is a normal reaction to being new at the bedside, but it concerns me that you don't see it as a potential problem with your ability to be a good nurse, even if you do Psych or Research...because you will still be touching people and need to have a huge tolerance for their humanity and your own (including bodily functions).

I certainly think this is something you can overcome, especially if you commit yourself to it. Don't cut yourself off from people so readily. Use your time in nursing school, to challenge your aversion and find out how healing it can be to 'touch' your patients both physically and spiritually.

[BirthBabes&Boobs]

thanks for the advice. of course i know "playing with poop" is not all you do, i was trying to put a little humor on something that really upsets my stomach. and yes, it does bother me that adversion to touching patients could get in the way of being a good nurse. isn't that why i wrote the thread asking for an area of nursing that i could do more holistically or focus on info alone? i have always looked up to nurses and am amazed at all they know and have commited to memory over the years. i love learning all that info too. i was just hoping for a little direction towards an area of nursing that possiblely deals with more of the everyday care and assessments.

[HealthyRN]

There are areas of nursing that do not require any direct patient care. I have one right now- I work in community education (although I'm about to return to acute care). There are lots of opportunites for nurses away from the bedside, particularly if you have a BSN (in your case, your BA will probably help). However, I will caution you that nearly all of these positions require some of that bedside experience. I only put 10 months in before getting my community education position, but this is the reason that I am returning. I believe that my lack of acute care experience may affect my future job opportunities. I am currently enrolled in an FNP program and I want to be able to have my choice of jobs when I graduate. So even though I'm not crazy about returning to the bedside, I'm doing it because it will open many more doors in the future. Keep this in mind.

The other component may be that you just need some time to get used to the duties of a staff nurse. After awhile, tasks will become more routine and you will probably become more comfortable with patients. Good luck!

[jjjoy, LPN]

Use the search feature on this site and check out threads on non-clinical nursing and non-bedside nursing. You'll find lots of suggestions and advice on this topic as well as read others' experiences with similar feelings. If you still have more questions, post away!!