Confused senior

[SN12345]

Hello!

Lately I have been feeling very discouraged. I am a senior in a BSN program. I am in the top 3 of my class and excel in the classroom setting.(I'm not saying that to be pompous just to give some background)I love school work and I love taking care of my patients. I work 3 jobs and play a collegiate level sport. Lately I have been in clinicals and feel like I'm lagging behind where I should be in terms of skills. We don't get to do as much hands on work as I would like. I can give medications(and know everything about them), assess my patient, and do all of the care they need. I am just not sure how I could do so many patients care at once and not make a mistake or not give my patients the highest quality of care possible. I love my patients and helping them overcome their struggles. Lately I have been up crying and contemplating whether I can be a nurse. The floor nurses seem so miserable and stressed all the time. I also never really wanted to stay a floor nurse but go to the next level and become a nurse practitioner and get my DNP/FNP. I am very interested in public health and I would love to start there as an RN. However from my understanding it is very hard to get a job in that field without the experience. Do not get me wrong, I know that staff nurses are some of the most brilliant people out there. The job is just not what I envisioned for myself personally. I was wondering if anyone had gotten a job in the outpatient setting right out of school, and if you did, how did it work out for you? I also volunteered in Haiti and that experience is what directed me towards nursing. I love the patient and nurse relationship, but on a floor I believe you can only do so much. Of course you are always making an impact, but I am thinking more on the community scale and even globally. I would love to be the reason people do not end up in a hospital in the first place. I also am a writer and would love to write a book on my experiences/encounters or conduct research and publish it. I also don't care about making less money, which I know is an issue for public health. I have also been told there is a shortage of professionals going into public health due to the smaller salary. I am just wondering if anyone had a similar goal or experience that could help? Thank you so much in advance :)

[NICUismylife, ADN, BSN, RN]

Med-surg is not for everyone. Do not base your desire to be a nurse just on your clinical experience in med-surg. I'm a NICU nurse and I leave work every day looking forward to coming back, but I struggled to get through my med-surg clinicals in school. Don't get me wrong, I gave it my best and was consistently told by my instructors that I did it well, but it just wasn't my niche. Med-surg nurses are rock stars IMO. I couldn't be happy doing what they do on a daily basis, and don't even get me started on the ratios.