I didn't want to put this in the student section because I thought it was a topic more relevant to people who have graduated and are actually nurses now. I am supposed to be starting an Accelerated BSN program in a couple weeks. I feel kind of like I'm making a mistake. I have never really been excited about being a nurse, it's not like something I aspired to be when I was younger. I started nursing prerequisites last year, thinking that I would work on getting into nursing school and re-evaluate as I went. Now it's time to be enrolling in my first semester classes, and I feel like I have no idea how I got here. I know what I was thinking- good job, good pay, flexibility, a job that uses your brain, and helping people. I have always been a great student, so I know nursing school will be hard, but I'm sure I can handle it. I just feel like I don't have a passion for it- I just feel fine about nursing. I know that it might turn out that I love being a nurse, but I'm also worried that I won't like it, and I'll have wasted another year and $15K.
I guess I'm just looking for some opinions- do you think you need that "nursing is my dream" feeling to be successful? Do you think the potential of the job is worth the potential for getting a second bachelor's degree I don't enjoy using?
My mom was an NICU nurse for 15 years, and she is pushing hard for me to go, because she thinks that for the year/$ investment, I will have great lifelong job security.
The other problem is that I have no idea what I really would rather do than go to nursing school, but that doesn't seem like a very good reason to go .
I have a co-worker who became a nurse because she "saw all the RNs making way more money than the aides like me." She has a strong work-ethic and is among the most skilled nurses I know. And it's not because she has a passion for nursing - she never has. However, she works hard and does her job well. Perhaps you could be like her.
I very strongly disagree with the theory that nursing is a "calling" and that you have to feel it is your preordained destiny to become a nurse who both loves your job and is excellent at it.
I went into nursing basically for a lack of other ideas. I started out directly out of high school in a six year MD program. I hated it after the first semester and decided to transfer out. I had the grades in high school to pretty much go to any program I wanted and no clue what to do, as everything I had done up to that point was focused on the goal of becoming a doctor. My mom has been a nurse for 30-plus years so I figured, hey, why not. I didn't find the 4-year BSN program I ended up in to be difficult, but I did have a tough time finding a job. I worked as a patient care tech and unit secretary in a labor and delivery/postpartum/nursery unit throughout nursing school, and my first job out of school ended up being on a busy oncology unit, which was miserable. I am now in a NICU where I enjoy my job and find that I am good at what I do.
Do I have a passion for nursing? Eh. I like my job well enough, and the people I work with. I don't eat breathe and sleep nursing, however. I make good money, I have a secure job and work in a great unit doing very interesting and rewarding things. I still love my days off more than the days I go to work. But I don't think I'm any less of a competent, caring nurse because I didn't hear some celestial "calling" to join the profession.
To be honest, I didn't really want to go to nursing school either. My mom convinced me that it would be a good fit for me as a career since I was interested in healthcare, but didn't want the commitment of going to med school (Sounds like great reasoning, huh?). My first semester of nursing school, I felt sure I had made the wrong decision and absolutely hated my mom for "making" me go. She kept encouraging me and telling me she knew that nursing was what I was meant to do. I doubted her a lot, especially since she wasn't a nurse and we didn't really know any nurses personally. Second semester, I had a day in clinical where I just all of sudden knew I could do this. And I liked nursing--wasn't passionate about it--but I liked it. My third semester, I walked into the NICU (completely unsuspecting) and fell in love. That's when I became really passionate about something career-wise for the first time in my life.
Sometimes (not always, but sometimes), those who are close to us know us better than we know ourselves. Maybe you will have an "Aha!" moment the way I did. Or maybe you will just like nursing enough to realize that it is a great, stable career path with lots of options and room for growth. Either way, I don't think you're wasting your money going to nursing school.
I didn't want to put this in the student section because I thought it was a topic more relevant to people who have graduated and are actually nurses now. I am supposed to be starting an accelerated BSN program in a couple weeks. I feel kind of like I'm making a mistake. I have never really been excited about being a nurse, it's not like something I aspired to be when I was younger. I started nursing prerequisites last year, thinking that I would work on getting into nursing school and re-evaluate as I went. Now it's time to be enrolling in my first semester classes, and I feel like I have no idea how I got here. I know what I was thinking- good job, good pay, flexibility, a job that uses your brain, and helping people. I have always been a great student, so I know nursing school will be hard, but I'm sure I can handle it. I just feel like I don't have a passion for it- I just feel fine about nursing. I know that it might turn out that I love being a nurse, but I'm also worried that I won't like it, and I'll have wasted another year and $15K.
I guess I'm just looking for some opinions- do you think you need that "nursing is my dream" feeling to be successful? Do you think the potential of the job is worth the potential for getting a second bachelor's degree I don't enjoy using?
My mom was an NICU nurse for 15 years, and she is pushing hard for me to go, because she thinks that for the year/$ investment, I will have great lifelong job security.
The other problem is that I have no idea what I really would rather do than go to nursing school, but that doesn't seem like a very good reason to go .
I never had the dream or the calling or anything else. Many times I have woken up from pre reqs to working as a nurse thinking, "how the hell did i get here!" I have no idea what to tell you since I do not know you well enough to know your personality, how you generally think/view events etc. If all you will owe is $15k and you do not accumulate other debt, and find a job as a nurse full time right after school, you can pay that off fairly quickly-pending you do not have really big expenses. That is kind of how I thought about it, If i hate it that much I can always quit. But that becomes harder and harder to do, me at least, the more invested you are in being a nurse. Have you ever had a full time job before, what was your first degree in ?
I had no great passion for nursing, I ended up here in a sort of karmic game of tag...it was my turn to be "It" when my youngest daughter was born with cancer. My only previous medical background consisted of being a pharmacy tech for about 5 years prior to having her. I learned so many things while caring for my daughter that, when facing a divorce about 5 years after she went into remission, nursing didn't seem too scary and was something that would allow me to support my two children...and I figured that if I could give shots, change central line dressings, insert NG feeding tubes etc on my own infant, doing it to strangers wouldn't be too bad.
Fast forward to the present: I've been an RN for 3 years now, I'm relatively content with my career path, and my youngest has been in remission for over 10 years. I love certain aspects of my job and I hate others parts of it, just like many people in any job.
Have you ever had a full time job before, what was your first degree in ?
I have had a couple full time jobs. I have a degree in International Business, and I have worked in retail and as the Administrative Director of a graphic/web design firm most recently.
Fast forward to the present: I've been an RN for 3 years now, I'm relatively content with my career path, and my youngest has been in remission for over 10 years. I love certain aspects of my job and I hate others parts of it, just like many people in any job.
Thank you for your message, and I'm glad to hear that your daughter is doing well!
I am with the group that didn't start out with this "passion" for nursing that people keep on talking about. I went into nursing because it made sense. Any other career that I thought I might enjoy had little to no chance of getting me a job, unless I suddenly became a super driven and talented person. My career choice was not an emotional response. I was never inspired by a personal encounter with a nurse. Rather it was more of a calculated and logical decision based on my strengths and my personality.
Now I have been a nurse for almost two years. It isn't just a job to me and I truly love my job and my coworkers. I won't go as far to say that I look forward to going to work in the morning, but while I am there I enjoy it, even on the tough days. When I was in school I never looked at nursing as more than something to do with my life until I did my senior preceptorship and really experienced what nursing would be like.
Thanks everyone for your responses! I feel pretty encouraged and quite a bit calmer about the program today. I really appreciate you all taking the time to tell me about your experiences, thank you!
Hey, my first degree was business too (general, not International). My mom is a nurse too. I probably could have written your post before my first semester. I found once in nursing school that there was so much I did not know about being a nurse, and that I actually did develop a passion for it. Hospital nursing did not work out for me, but I found my niche in School Nursing and could not be happier.
I say go for it...at leave give yourself the first semester and you will have a more clear picture of whether or not this is for you. If after the first semester you can't see yourself doing this, you can look into other options. Good luck!
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Hi everyone,
I didn't want to put this in the student section because I thought it was a topic more relevant to people who have graduated and are actually nurses now. I am supposed to be starting an accelerated BSN program in a couple weeks. I feel kind of like I'm making a mistake. I have never really been excited about being a nurse, it's not like something I aspired to be when I was younger. I started nursing prerequisites last year, thinking that I would work on getting into nursing school and re-evaluate as I went. Now it's time to be enrolling in my first semester classes, and I feel like I have no idea how I got here. I know what I was thinking- good job, good pay, flexibility, a job that uses your brain, and helping people. I have always been a great student, so I know nursing school will be hard, but I'm sure I can handle it. I just feel like I don't have a passion for it- I just feel fine about nursing. I know that it might turn out that I love being a nurse, but I'm also worried that I won't like it, and I'll have wasted another year and $15K.
I guess I'm just looking for some opinions- do you think you need that "nursing is my dream" feeling to be successful? Do you think the potential of the job is worth the potential for getting a second bachelor's degree I don't enjoy using?
My mom was an NICU nurse for 15 years, and she is pushing hard for me to go, because she thinks that for the year/$ investment, I will have great lifelong job security.
The other problem is that I have no idea what I really would rather do than go to nursing school, but that doesn't seem like a very good reason to go .
I think you need to have more than a"passing interest" in it. I don't believe in all that "being called" to be a nurse, but what you're describing sounds like a recipe for a disaster. You may want to seriously reconsider and get out before you have sunk more money into it.
I don't think you need to have a "calling" for nursing but I do believe that you should be able to see yourself enjoying the profession. Accelerated nursing school is HARD. Nursing is not all peaches either. It can be worth the physical and emotional strain if you have passion in nursing, but if you are already feeling like you might not have interest in the job I'd say save yourself the expense and stress of nursing school and look for a non-nursing job. As in any other area, there is NO job security in nursing these days anymore.
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AnonRNC
297 Posts
I have a co-worker who became a nurse because she "saw all the RNs making way more money than the aides like me." She has a strong work-ethic and is among the most skilled nurses I know. And it's not because she has a passion for nursing - she never has. However, she works hard and does her job well. Perhaps you could be like her.