confused as to what I want to do... need advice

Nurses Career Support

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Hi everyone... I am 19 years old, a rising junior in a small liberal arts school. All things working out I will graduate with a BA in Theater in 2012.

However... I'm feeling like I may want to become a nurse. Knowing well there are plenty of ways to do this, I'm not really sure which one to take. I don't know which paths are fully open to me (I will have little to no biology background when I graduate--though I love bio). Shoudl I take pre-reqs at a CC and then apply to nursing schools? How will I get financial aid (my parents are currently paying all of my schooling, and I know they won't want to take a stab at a second degree)?

But of course, my biggest question is if I want to be a nurse at all... I know this is silly to come to you guys with this question, but it's a big one for me. I'm good with blood, most of the time okay with puss, anything like that. I think I can handle cleaning poop and stuff. I love people and I love to help them. But I don't have the stomach for really intense wounds and stuff. Everything else is fine. Is this a complaint of most nurses and they get used to it? Are there careers in nursing where I can take care of people but not get heeb-jeebed out every day of my life? For example, I think being a nurse at a women's health center like Planned Parenthood would be cool... just a silly example.

Thanks for entertaining my stupid questions. I know I could do research about this on the internet but it's so much easier to just come to the people who can give me advice first hand.

Also, I would like it if people would not say "Well hun, you certainly aren't cut out for blahblahblah if you have a problem with xyz!!" I have had people say that to me about things many times and it is kind of condescending. Mostly the hun part. Hahahaha.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

Definitely keep gathering more information and if possible talk to as many different nurses as you can. It is such a wonderful broad field. If you are good with blood and pus my guess is that the really incredible wounds would be so interesting that you wouldn't have time to get creeped out. If you do there are so many specialities where you hardly ever see wounds that you could find other areas to work. I'm have no desire to work with incontinent issues on a daily basis so this is something I soul searched before becoming a nurse also. Possibly consider volunteering at a place you might like to work to get an idea Good luck!

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I'm really interested in psychiatric issues and mental health, so I considered mental health nursing. Does anyone have any input on this (as well as the schooling stuff)? I am definitely going to shadow some people...

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

A lot of us are 'born again' nurses who arrived here by some very convoluted career pathways. No education is wasted - the broader your education, the better nurse you will eventually make. I even know a practicing physician who went back and got his MA (liberal arts) because he felt that his medical educational was too limited.

By all means, go to a CC for your pre-requisites... avg annual tuition is usually less than $3500 and this would be covered by a Pell grant. If you parents have been paying for your education up to now, you would not have exhausted these funds yet. Whatever you do - avoid commercial (for profit) schools that are cropping up right and left. Unlike the more traditional route, they rely on fast-tracking potential applicants, so students don't have time to reconsider the big student loans ("no need to go anywhere else, we can do it all for you -- just sign here") that are required to finance their sky-high tuition rates.

As for your (very normal) negative feelings about blood and such -- during the course of your nursing education, you will develop a clinical perspective that takes care of this. It's all part of the educational process.

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To work in a mental health facility, do I just need to get my BSN (i.e. become an RN)? Or is there more degrees I need to get before that. Bleh. I wish I had a timeline so I knew exactly what to do.

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Also, how do I obtain a shadow to make sure that Nursing is what I want to pursue?

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I would do all non-nursing classes at a CC then apply to nursing school so when you actually get in, all you have to do is take NUR (nursing classes). That is what I did and it helped tremendously. I have noticed recently that a lot of nursing school require you to have all or most of your non nursing classes (Biology, Psychology, Sociology, etc) completed before applying. Many nursing schools require you be listed on the NA 1 registry before applying as well.

My advice would be taking a CNA class. It will give you a good idea if nursing is something you would like to do. I would highly recommend taking a CNA course. They are offered at just about any CC as a continuing education class. They are not very expensive and you will get clinical time to see exactly what it's like. You can also see RN's at work during this time, at least that's what my CNA class was like.

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However... I'm feeling like I may want to become a nurse. Knowing well there are plenty of ways to do this, I'm not really sure which one to take. I don't know which paths are fully open to me (I will have little to no biology background when I graduate--though I love bio). Shoudl I take pre-reqs at a CC and then apply to nursing schools? How will I get financial aid (my parents are currently paying all of my schooling, and I know they won't want to take a stab at a second degree)?

Your community college may offer an ADN, which is an associate's degree in nursing. You'll be an RN, just like someone with a bachelor's in nursing, and you'll be able to go on to get a BSN on your own terms after you begin practicing. I'm sure that a lot of your classes from your theater degree (your English classes, your math classes, your electives) will transfer, so you should only have science classes and nursing classes at the community college. You should also be able to submit your transcript again to the school where you decide to get your BSN and let them decide what will transfer, so that you only have nursing classes remaining. A lot of employers pay for their nurses to go back to school and continue to learn, so that would help with the how to pay angle.

If you think you're interested in nursing, shadow a nurse. Try a couple of different types of floors. There's psych, where there's nothing open and gaping, there's labor and delivery, where you would have c-sections, but you might be okay with that because they're intentional wounds and a baby comes out of them, there's peds, where the bodies are smaller, so the wounds usually are too. (I hate HATE HATE wounds. I was in the OR every week of my OB rotation for a c-section because I was so freaking fascinated by them.) The best thing about nursing is that there's a niche for almost everyone. You just have to find yours. :)

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Wow! Thanks a lot for the great advice.

The thing I'm worried about is going to get my ADN and then being unable to get a job, so therefore I can't get anyone to help me pay! :( The ADN sounds like the best option to me right now though, considering the money situation and the fact that I might be able to do it more quickly than a BSN. From all the advice I see on here, it seems that people urge others to go on and get their BSN. For me, I'd love it if a hospital paid for me to continue my education. I just don't know.

ALSO! Let's say I get my ADN.

Will I be able to get an entry-level job at a Psych facility? This is my real interest...

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Double post, sorry :(

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I've been doing more reading, and, as most people probably looking at this profession, I have seen a lot of negativity on here. Especially when talking about the pay/patient overload, etc....

Now, I am interested in nursing specifically because I want to help people, but like most, I also want an okay paycheck. I know, I know, I hear don't go into nursing for the money, but with a soon to be BA in Theater, I'm not likely to get anything more than 25K a year on that.

Is the pay really that bad? I am not interested in working in med/surg. My interests lie with Psych, Correctional, and Women's Health. Can anyone give me advice on this please?

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